The Contagion is metaphysical filth, the corrosive seepage of wounded reality. The hungers of the False drive them to extreme measures though, and there’s power to be had from wallowing in such corruption. Like an animal rolling in muck to mask its scent, those willing to use the Contagion as a shroud can conceal themselves from the infected — but make no mistake, smearing oneself in world-gangrene leaves a lingering stench.
It’s akin to inoculation, using the Contagion as a veil so that other manifestations of its sickness perceive the shroud and nothing further. The False can pass entirely unnoticed through an infected herd, and beard the lion in its den with little fear. There’s something to the thrill of arrogance and power that comes with being able to so boldly dupe the supposedly-terrible Contagion.
A vampire draws blood from an infected then smears it onto the throat and collarbone of her comrade, masking the pulse of their life beneath its foulness. A werewolf carves corrupt sigils into the flesh of his fellow False, marking them as unseen to the symbolic gaze of the infected spirits. A demon has his allies re- peat gibberish code taken from a broken piece of Infrastructure, and the machines gripped by otherworldly madness see the False as more of their own.
System: Two False working in tandem can mask them- selves from the Contagion. By drawing from an infected source, the characters create a shroud that makes it appear as if they themselves have contracted the Contagion, warping the perception of others.
To characters with the Contagion-Touched Condition, the False are hard to notice. Contagion-Touched suffer a -3 penalty to any dice pools to spot the False, pay heed to their actions, or remember them.
To characters with the Infected Condition at any stage, and to true creatures of the Contagion, the False are simply imperceptible. The signs of their passing may draw attention — knocking things over or causing havoc will not go unnoticed — but as long as they are careful, the False could walk into a thronging hive of infected, monstrous horrors and be left unmolested even as the things clamber all over them. Supernatural powers used by the Contagious to spot the False require a normal Clash of Wills. Infected who become aware of their presence — such as through the False launching attacks — still cannot directly perceive them and are subject to the constraints of the Blinded Tilt for the purposes of directing attacks at and defending against the False.
Additionally, the Shroud prevents the False from contracting Contagion. It passively shields the characters from any latent contamination from the environment or background effects the False are exposed to, and provides a +5 bonus to any dice pools to contest Contagion directly targeted at them.
Unfortunately, the shroud is a fragile thing. Taking so much as a single point of lethal damage breaks it, and any Contagion that does manage to pierce the shroud’s inoculation also causes it to fail. Furthermore, the shroud causes the characters to appear as Contagious to those who are not, themselves, infected. Even the controlled exposure to the shroud’s infection carries its risks; failing a breaking point roll while shrouded inflicts the Contagion-Touched Condition.
Cost: 2 Willpower
Requirement: Must have contact with an Infected character or substance
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Subterfuge Action: Instant
Duration: One chapter
Edges
Beasts, Mummies: The strong-willed can better maintain the integrity of a shroud, preventing it from spilling out of control. The first time the shroud of such a False would break, it immediately restores itself after one turn. The second time, it breaks as normal.
Changelings, Prometheans: Blending in with a crowd despite being profoundly different is a familiar experience to some who dwell in the world’s shadows. Rather than passing unseen, these False can choose to appear as a specific infected individual to other Contagious, although the shroud will break should they act too out-of-character for their charade.
Deviants: Better to burn out bright and hot than skulk in the shadows. When a Deviant’s shroud breaks, all Contagious present suffer a point of lethal damage and receive the Blinded Tilt for the next turn.
Demons, Hunters, Mages: Walking among the enemy unseen offers the perfect chance to observe and analyze. These False gain a +2 bonus to Investigation and Empathy dice pools directed against the Contagious while shrouded.
Sin-Eaters: Marring the shroud with death’s heavy weight stirs a sympathetic sluggishness in other Infected. Contagious characters exposed to such Sin-Eater False suffer a -2 penalty to all Wits-based dice pools and to Initiative rolls.
Werewolves: Apex predators can thin the herd without the prey panicking. If a werewolf shrouded by this Vector incapacitates or kills a Contagious target within one turn, other Contagious remain entirely oblivious to the fate of the prey and will carry on as if nothing has happened.
Vampires: The tainted energies of the shroud resonate with the corrupted life energy of those who have fallen
under the Contagion’s sway. A vampire shrouded by this Vector is aware of the precise location and health of all Contagious characters present in the scene, regardless of even supernatural attempts to conceal them.
Specializations:
The Crucible Initiative: The Initiative knows the purpose of stealth is to achieve an advantageous position for attack. A Fire-Bearer under Contagion Shroud gains a +4 bonus from all-out attacks, rather than the usual +2.
The Machiavelli Gambit: The unseen puppet-master is the most powerful of them all. A shrouded member of the Gambit can perform social maneuvers on Contagious characters without the targets becoming aware of the presence of the False. While the usual rules for social maneuvers apply, the victims find themselves arguing with their own thoughts or hearing strange voices rather than noticing the False right next to them, whispering ideas into their ear.
Naglfar’s Army: An Antediluvian moving unseen among the Infected agitates them and makes them more unstable, a hidden irritant that sows chaos and madness among the already-corrupted. Each member of Naglfar’s Army under a Contagion Shroud present in the scene causes everyone else outside the faction to suffer a -1 penalty on all Social dice pools interacting with the Infected, with failures inciting the Contagious to violence or madness.