Success Level

Result

1 Feel the strongest emotions associated with the object in the recent past (one day or less), and gain some sensory glimpse of the person feeling that emotion. This is not a full-face portrait though (sorry, the villain doesn't get revealed until the end of the Episode, remember?), but it could be a flash of someone's shoes, the smell of their perfume, the sound of music playing in the background at the time, or some other (more or less) useful clue. This level reveals items that are supernatural in nature.

2 Impressions go back further in time (a week or less) and get more precise for more recent (one day or less) events. If the visions are frightening, time for a Fear Test. This level reveals a few vague hints about the potential uses or powers of any supernatural item.

3 Impressions go back one month or less. Can now detect more than one wielder/owner within that time frame if they left a good psychic 'imprint' (i.e., felt strong emotions while in contact with the item). Clues are even more plentiful, but they are rarely complete. Events of extreme emotional or magical power can be glimpsed, no matter how long ago they were. This level reveals if an old knife was used to perform a human sacrifice 300 years ago, but would likely not show anything more than a shadowy glimpse of who performed the deed or where it was performed.

4 Impressions go back one year or less. Visions are granted about every owner/wielder of the object or those in contact with it (in the case of a murder weapon, that would include both the killer and the victim if the weapon was a knife or something that had to touch the victim). This level reveals most of the powers and uses of an enchanted item. This level also reveals a bit more information about powerful events that happened many years or centuries before. It would show that a knife was used by a tall vampire to perform a human sacrifice in the ruins of a large church, and might even show a partial glimpse of the victim's face or a general sense of why the sacrifice was being performed.

5-9 Impressions go back between ten to fifty years. The visions are stronger and incredibly detailed. They are also imprinted more firmly in the psychic's mind, and may be revisited at a later time even if the object is not available. Clues from beyond that time are also more complete. These kinds of Success Levels are the most subject to Director whim.

10+ This brings up any scene concerning the item or place in the last century, or at any time if it involved significant supernatural events. These visions may be entered, walked around in, slowed, frozen, or otherwise experienced in full sensory mode as if part of the holodeck. Your Director should withhold only specifically warded or totally plot-destroying information.

P

3-POINT/LEVEL QUALITY

Some psychics can start fires through the power of their mind alone. To use this power, your character rolls and adds his Willpower and Pyrokinesis levels. Each Success Level inflicts one point of fire damage per level of Willpower. For example, a pyrokinetic with Willpower 4 who got four Success Levels on his roll inflicts sixteen points of fire damage (more than enough to put the hurt on someone).

The amount of damage determines what can be ignited with this power. Highly flammable objects (gasoline soaked rags) require only one to three points of damage to start burning. Dry wood needs five to six points, regular clothing or wooden furniture requires ten or more points, and synthetic furniture and the like need twenty or more points to start burning. Using this power on a human both inflicts damage and sets his clothing on fire. Once something ignites, it burns normally (see p. 58 for details on Fire damage).

R

D

Some critters aren't easy to damage like normal folks. A demon from a fiery dimension might take half damage from fire or heat, for example. Vampires are highly resistant to bullets and falls due to their undead nature. This power comes in three levels. The first reduces damage by half, the second divides damage by five and the third drops damage by a factor of ten. Damage is rounded down, to a minimum of one point. In all cases, the base damage is adjusted after Success Levels have been added. Damage type modifiers are not applied. The cost of the trait depends on what form of damage is affected. it'd be neat to be nearly invulnerable to everything but that's gonna cost quite a bit.

Everything: Applying Reduced Damage to all injuries costs five, twenty-five, or fifty points, respectively. Specific Attack: If something specific but relatively common is affected, the cost is three, ten, and twenty points, respectively. This covers damage like fire/explosions, all kinetic attacks (fists, bullets, falling safes, pimpslaps), and so on.

Limited: This is a single specific type of attack, such as bullets, falls/large blunt trauma, or metal weapons. This costs one, five, and ten points respectively.

R

1-, 3-, OR 6-POINT QUALITY

You can't keep a good demon down. Or a bad one for that matter. Some supernaturals heal very rapidly. The amount healed is equal to the character's Constitution Attribute. The faster this amount heals, the more expensive the power is. Healing Point per hour costs one point. Healing every minute costs three points. The very handy regeneration-every-Turn runs six points. While regeneration allows the regrowth of limbs, it does not convey immortality or invulnerability. No matter how fast a character heals, if he gets into the negative Life Points, is forced to make a Survival Test, and fails, it's curtains for the mug.

S

5-POINT/LEVEL QUALITY

Some people have the spark of magic. They can use the dark arts more easily than normal students of the occult. Your character’s Sorcery level is added to spellcasting rolls up to level five (after that, additional levels only help with repeat casting penalties, see p. 80). It is also used for other witchcraft powers, like telekinesis and sensing the presence of magic. Characters with Sorcery can cast some spells faster than normal, allowing them to actually use magic in the middle of a fight — your basic witch-fu. Don’t get cocky though; Sorcery is no magic bullet against the unpredictability and dangers of magic use. Reach for the spells too often and something potentially very nasty is going to come your way. You’ve been warned. Magic and the role this Quality plays in it are described in Chapter Four: Playing With Primal Forces.

S

M

2-POINT QUALITY

Your character can see (and talk to) dead people. While not everyone leaves a ghost, many people who have been murdered, especially those killed by magic or monsters, do. While only a few ghosts can actually appear to ordinary mortals, this character can see all of the faint and intangible restless spirits that lurk on the edges of the mortal world, hoping that someone like her will see them and heed their pleas for justice and vengeance.

Unfortunately, your character has no choice about hearing these pleas. If they are talking, she can hear them. They can also hear her, so if your character yells at them to shut up and leave her alone, the more timid ones may do just that. On the other hand, all the living people nearby hear her shouting at the air like a lunatic— not the best way to make friends or get a date. The worst part of this ability is that ghosts can tell that your character can hear them and often follow her around. Learning some simple wards like the Circle of Binding (see pp. 97-98) might be useful, but then you have to figure out how to get the spirit to enter the circle.

S

A

VARIABLE QUALITY

Maybe your supernatural can expel fire out of some unmentionable orifice, or spit gobs of acid, or something equally nasty. This type of attack is not dependent on the critter's Strength (unlike Natural Attacks). The more damage the attack does, the more it costs. How far the attack reaches also plays into the cost. Close combat attacks (use Kung Fu and Dexterity to 'hit' the enemy) are cheaper than ranged attacks (use Gun Fu and Dexterity to 'shoot' the attack, or, if the attack is something unusual, a Wild Card Skill instead of Gun Fu).

Ranged attacks fire as far as a pistol (see p. 56); those that can reach rifle ranges do half damage. Minor: The attack inflicts twenty points of damage. It costs four points for close, eight for ranged. Major: The attack inflicts thirty points of damage. It costs seven points for close, twelve for ranged.

Deadly: The attack inflicts fifty points of damage. Fifteen points must be spent for close, twenty for ranged.

Massive: The attack inflicts one hundred points of damage. It costs thirty-five points for close, forty for ranged.

S

F

1- OR 2-POINT DRAWBACK

Let's face it- you're going to get second glances if you're a big red bipedal lizard with a prehensile tail. But not all demons look like demons; some actually look like supermodels. For the unfortunates who don't, having a supernatural face is a Drawback.

Some critters can instantly switch back and forth between a human shape and their real one (pausing just long enough for cool morphing FX). In some cases, they have to change into their non-human form to use their special powers.

Definitely Not Human: Your character just can't pass himself off as human. His favorite time of the year is Halloween, 'cause then he can at least show his face. This is a two-point Drawback and carries with it an Attractiveness -2 feature. Additional negative Attractiveness levels can be acquired for extra points. Alternatively, positive Attractiveness levels can be purchased separately to neutralize the downside of always having your supernatural side up front.

Dual Shape: The being has a human and a supernatural form. He can switch at will and nearly instantly, although sometimes anger or surprise (or sneezing) brings forth his true shape involuntarily. This costs no points unless the human form is weaker (for example, any supernatural powers only apply to the demon form), in which case this is a one-point Drawback. The character can have a split Attractiveness level, one for each form (which is purchased separately). If Life Points are increased in the demon form, reverting could bring the human into a world of pain (and negative LPs).

S

S

VARIABLE QUALITY

Any level of this ability enables the being to tell by sight (or smell or sound or in particularly intrusive cases, taste) if someone is a human, a vampire, or a demon. Others have more sharply defined powers. In some cases, they can actually 'feel' people, 'read' their auras, or pick up mystical clues. A Perception and Notice roll may be required and the Success Levels dictate the depth of the information gathered. Sometimes the input is overwhelming and just can't be missed (all this in your Director's discretion). Mortal mages commonly have these gifts.

Basic: Your character can tell a being's basic nature- demon, vampire, magician, etc. Rarely is a Perception roll required. This costs one point.

Empathy: The being can tell what someone is feeling. People are generally pretty poor at hiding their anger, grief, or smug confidence. Most of the time, the empath can only read the strongest emotions a target is feeling. With particularly strong feelings or a very good Perception roll, the being learns about exactly how the target feels. This runs two points.

Enhanced Senses: This gent has one or more incredibly sharp senses (sight, hearing, smell, and so on), enabling him to track by scent or hear a whispered conversation a hundred feet away. The power requires the Acute Senses Quality (for each sense to be enhanced) and a minimum Perception 5. Where applicable, it doubles the bonuses of Acute Senses, but most of the time, no roll is needed. These senses cost three points each. Fortune Telling: The character can catch glimpses of the past and future by looking at someone or something. This can work like Psychometry (see p. 32, except with the possibility of future visions) or it can be dictated by your Director according to the needs of the plotline. This costs five points.

Insight: The supernatural can see detailed truths about a person (including Qualities and Drawbacks) by reading his aura-his nature, feelings, desires, fears, even possessing entities or other abnormalities. It can also be used to track, particularly by attuning oneself to the aura of certain beasts- this may require one or more Perception and Notice rolls. Any use requires at least a Turn or three of concentration. This power costs five points.

The Sight: Your character can see magic and traces of supernatural power. He can also tell if someone is preparing to cast a spell and see at a glance if an item is magical. He can even see a faintly glowing residue indicating that magic has been used in an area during the last few hours. If the being spends a minute or so looking closely at someone and makes a Perception and Notice roll with two Success Levels, he can tell if the person is a normal human. If he makes the roll by three or more Success Levels, he can tell if the person is a psychic, vampire, demon, or something undefined. The character cannot actually see ghosts in detail, but if one (or some other invisible supernatural being) shows up, he can notice a faint glow of power in its vicinity (no need

for the normal invisibility Perception roll, see p. 55). With sufficient Success Levels (Director's call), he can also tell at a glance if someone is possessed. Three points must be spent for this ability.

T

3-POINT/LEVEL QUALITY

This is your basic ability to move objects with the power of your mind. To use this power, your character rolls and adds his Willpower and Telekinesis levels. The Success Levels equal the 'strength' of the levitation effect. So if the roll resulted in five Success Levels, your telekinetic could move an object with a Strength 5.

When tossing people around using telekinesis, the damage done is two times the Success Levels in Bash type. The telekinetic Strength (the Success Levels in the roll) must be sufficient to lift the person off the floor, though (see p. 7). Precise tasks (guiding a key into a keyhole, manipulating a keyboard) require a Perception and Telekinesis roll (with appropriate Success Levels as your Director demands). Attacks use Dexterity or Perception (player's choice) and an appropriate skill (staking a vamp would use Getting Medieval, firing a gun Gun Fu). All remote tasks suffer a -1 penalty because the telekinetic manipulates the object at a distance. Damage is set by the weapon and uses the telekinetic Strength level rolled. Tossing small objects requires only a Willpower and Telekinesis roll, and must overcome the target's defense roll. The damage value of such an attack is two times the Success Levels rolled.

Telekinesis requires some effort to maintain. After a number of Turns equal to your character's Willpower, he has to make another Willpower and Telekinesis roll to maintain the power, at a cumulative -2 penalty. So, a psychic with a Willpower 4 would suffer a -2 penalty on the fifth Turn and a -6 penalty on the thirteenth Turn that he maintained an effect or used successive effects. This penalty applies to all telekinesis rolls until the psychic gets at least three hours of rest (as in magic use, see p. 80) between uses.

Let's Revisit: If a character with a Willpower 4 was swinging a large axe with her Telekinesis (beats chopping wood by hand) and rolled a 16 (four Success Levels), she would have an effective Strength 4 for the next four Turns. On the fifth Turn, she would reroll Willpower and Telekinesis and subtract two; this could change her psychic Strength value.

T

5-POINT QUALITY

Your character can speak into the minds of others. While doing this, he can also hear any thoughts directed at him in response. A telepath can mentally communicate simultaneously with a number of people equal to his Willpower. The duration in minutes and range in ten -foot increments depends on the Success Levels of a Willpower (doubled) roll. An exception may exist for those the telepath knows very well (as long as your Director buys into that). In that case, your character can communicate with such targets at any distance, as long as he can see them or knows where they are.

If the telepath touches someone or looks into his eyes, he can listen in on what the being is thinking. In this case, the subject resists the telepath's Willpower (doubled) roll with one of his own. If successful, your character's Success Levels dictate the time (in minutes) that may be spent probing and the depth of the 'read' (consult Mind Probe Chart). Using eye contact for mind probe telepathy only works if the target is less than five feet away. Sorry, no long distance or binocular-aided mind probing permissible.

Successive attempts to communicate telepathically or read someone's mind before resting at least three hours suffer a cumulative -2 penalty. So, for the second attempt, the roll suffers a -2 penalty; on the fifth attempt, an -8 penalty.