Mortal Player Guide

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
- Clarke’s Third Law -

Rose City Guild Initiation

Though the RCG is a Mystery Cult, it does not count against the MCI cap or 5 dots, and all mortals may receive 1 free dot of Rose City Guild Initiation at Character Creation.

• Members of the Guild know one another and gossip flows freely, they gain Contacts (•) •• It’s a dangerous world and established members of the Guild have safe houses to retreat to when necessary. This may be combined with other RSG Safe Place dots to create a larger and more secure safe house used by multiple guild members. Safe Place (RSG) (•) ••• Awareness of the supernatural creatures in the city have heightened guild members perceptions over time. Unseen Sense (••) •••• The guild leader’s unseen senses become enhanced and she gains the Unseen Sense, Advanced (•••) merit. ••••• The highest tier of guild leadership gains the Unseen Sense, Epic (•••) merit.

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Supernatural Merits

Biomimicry Options

The following can be chosen as purchase options by those with Biomimicry.

The merit is still limited to 4 dots

Aquatic Adaptation

The Mimic gains the ability to breath underwater, as well as slightly webbed toes and fingers that give a +1 to both Speed when swimming and Swim rolls.

Raptors Sight

The character’s eyes take on the sharpness of a bird of prey, removing up to 3 dice of penalties from perception rolls relying on sight.

Pit Sensors

The Mimic gains a form of thermographic sensing, like those of the Viper family of snakes, becoming capable of ‘seeing’ via heat alone.

Wall-Walking

From the spider to the lizard, to the ant and many things in between, gravity isn’t the end all be all. Maybe it’s tiny hairs, or sticky pads, but you have a knack for denying gravity by climbing up seemingly flat walls, and even hanging from ceiling.

Run like a Gazelle

Maybe the length of your arms and legs shift to allow you to run on all fours, or maybe your knees bow backwards like a gazelles, but you have adapted for speed and mighty leaps! When running on all fours, add +4 to her Speed and double all jump distances. Like most Biomimicry additions, these changes are always fairly visible and obvious.

Augmented Dexterity (••-••••)

Public/Private

Public

Prerequisites

Protocol at equal level

Effect

At 2 dots this grants a +1 Dexterity boost, at 4 dots it grants a +2. This affects all derived traits. This can take your character above her normal Attribute limits.

Deprived

You use your Dexterity for calculating Defense.

Leeching Touch (•-••••)

Public/Private

Public

Prerequisites

Psychic Vampire, Psychic Vampirism •••

Effect

The hunger of a Psychic Vampire causes many to find non-violent ways to feed, but there come times when a Psy Vamp is forced to act in a more brutish fashion. Some of the older of the Psychic Vampires have come to learn a way to defend themselves more efficiently, turning combat into a feeding frenzy, at the pinnacle of their mastery. This fighting style does not break the limitations of spending or holding ephemera, nor do they allow you to damage creatures that would not originally be effected by the Psychic vampire’s abilities. It is strictly effective in hand to hand combat, up to and including combat with a psychic vampire who is under the effects of their own Shapeshifting Skin.

• Deep (•): The Psychic Vampire’s knowledge of the flow of Ephemera allows him to coax it out through the skin. Upon successfully striking (whether damage is done or not), Ephemera ruptures from the victim’s body, causing a single level of additional damage based upon the Psychic Vampire’s mastery (Bashing for levels that do not allow lethal damage to be done, bashing or lethal for those who can pull lethal damage from their feeding)
• Hungry Aura (••): Cost- 1 Ephemera to activate for a number of turns equal to the character’s Psychic Vampire rating.

Every inch of skin can be used to feed, and the initiates of the fighting style have learned to capitalize on this, dealing one bashing to anyone who strikes them, adding that single ephemera to their pool (will not increase above their maximum ability to hold ephemera.)

• Overloaded (•••): Upon successfully striking an opponent, the psychic vampire may spend a point of Ephemera to effectively load it into the victim, causing 1 automatic bashing damage per turn that is not affected by armor or defense. This effect lasts a number of turns equal to the character’s psychic vampirism level.
• The Best Offense… (••••): The character can opt to use their feeding roll (Intelligence+Occult+Psychic Vampirism) instead of their usual dodge roll. Successes rolled are subtracted from the damage dealt, and half (rounded downed, minimum of 1) are dealt back to the attacker.

Ritual Sorcerer (•-•••••)

Public/Private

Private

Prerequisites

One Mental Attribute at 4, Occult 4

For every dot in this merit, you may choose one non-damage dealing supernatural merit (Omen Sensitivity, Mind of a Mad Man, etc). You may now perform a ritual to utilize the merit without spending Willpower as outlined below. Each roll made = 1 hour. The power goes off when the ritual is completed. If the number of successes matter for the power - such as determining the number of questions that can be asked - make the correlating activation roll.

Additionally when purchasing the first dot of this merit you may gain a ‘mastery’ in a particular subject such as making charms or summoning a particular type of spirit. When making rolls related to this subject, gain a +1. You gain an additional mastery at dots 3 (+2) and 5 (+3).

The Ritual

Action

‘ Extended (TN = +5 for every dot in the merit. Example:′ Automatic Writing would be a TN of 10)

Roll

‘ ’ ‘ Mental Attribute + Occult

• Dramatic Failure: The ritual backfires. Choose one of the following conditions: Spooked, Shaken, Madness, or Fugue
• Failure: Something went wrong, the ritual doesn’t work
• Success: The ritual works as it should
• Exceptional Success: The ritual works better than expected. Ignore the Drawback of the Merit

The Beast’s Darling (•••)

Public/Private

Private

Prerequisites

Beast Whisperer

Effect

Unlike the beloved merit, the vampire who finds their frenzy in your presence may have no feelings for you at all. But the beasts of the kindred have an instinctive fondness, a desire to protect you from themselves and maybe sometimes even from others. While you may not serve as a test of their detachment, you do serve as a balance to their frenzy. The beast is less inclined to frenzy in your presence, less willing to risk you, and if they do frenzy more likely to listen to you…….failing any of that you can always count on the fact, that at the very least, the beast will turn on you last…

System wise, Kindred in your presence gain +2 to resist frenzy and if they fall into frenzy their blood potency is treated as if 2 lower, to a minimum of 1. For the expenditure of a WP a beast in the throes of frenzy, who isn’t already antagonistic you, will instinctively become protective of you.

Drawback

There are few drawbacks as strong as a vampires grief. To wake from the frenzy and find friends, loved ones, torn assunder by the beast, and you still standing. It’s a quick way to draw the punishment of all those delightful stages of grief….in a very cold….dark….and lonely place, for many years or life times. If you have not soothed the beast before their frenzy finds their friends…..it might be best to stop trying and just go with the bloody flow.

Telekinesis, Advanced (•• - •••••)

Private

Prerequisite

Telekinesis •••••, Resolve ••••, Occult •••

Effect

Your telekinetic abilities are raising to frightening levels, more and more its own muscle, and destructive. The two-dot version of this merit allows your telekinetic attacks to deal lethal damage. For each additional dot taken, you may also add 1 to your effective merit rating for Telekinesis, allowing it to go above 5. For instance, at 4 dots of this merit your effective Telekinesis (and the strength derived) is 7.

Drawback

Transcending your prior limits like this is changing you. Acquiring this merit is a breaking point.

Unseen Sense, Advanced (•••)

Prerequisite

Unseen Sense

Effect

Your characters sixth sense for a type of supernatural creature is increased. By spending a point of Willpower she can extend the range of her unseen senses to 100 yards. As with Unseen Sense, the player can accept the Spooked Condition, in exchange for which the character can pinpoint where the feeling is coming from; this reveals all triggers of it within that range. If the target is using a power that specifically cloaks its supernatural nature, however, this does not work (though the Condition remains until resolved as usual), nor does it work against powers that use mental illusions to conceal or otherwise hide the character.

Unseen Sense, Epic (•••)

Prerequisite

Unseen Sense

Effect

Your characters sixth sense is increased to detect any supernatural creature, and she is able to distinguish between them. As with Unseen Sense, Advanced, the player can accept the Spooked Condition, in exchange for which the character can pinpoint where the feeling is coming from; this reveals all triggers of it within that range. If the target is using a power that specifically cloaks its supernatural nature, however, this does not work (though the Condition remains until resolved as usual), nor does it work against powers that use mental illusions to conceal or otherwise hide the character.

Velocity Drag (••)

Public/Private

Public

Prerequisites

Telekinetic Evasion

Effect

While using Telekinesis to avoid a fist or a baseball bat is easy, what happens when someone comes at you with a pistol or shotgun? Being mortal means being able to die, but someone with the power of Telekinesis can learn to lessen the impact of ballistics on their body by creating a field of drag around them that bullets must pass through. While this effect has little notice on slow moving objects like melee weapons or brawling fists, high-velocity rounds are restricted in their speed or misdirected to less sensitive areas. Characters with this merit may spend an additional willpower for a scene to treat their dots in Telekinesis as Ballistic Armor, providing the same sort of defense against guns that mundane armor would. This armor protects against Armor Piercing tag as well. This can be applied in any scene where you have telekinesis active.

Drawback

Firearms attacks made from weapons you wield while inside the protective barrier suffer from the same Ballistic armor against your opponents, the drag works both ways.

Wired Reflexes (•• or ••••)

Public/Private

Private

Prerequisites

Protocol at Matching level

Effect

This augmentation increases the speed at which the Lostboy’s body responds to threats of danger utilizing the users own subconscious reflexes to jerk them out of the way. At two dots, this translates to a +1 Defense, the fourth boosts the Defense by 2 instead.

Deprived

No added bonus to Defense, At 2 dots May add half defense roundup vs Ranged Attacks, at 4 dots Full Defense vs Firearms.

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