At the pinnacle of dedication to False ideals, all bets are off. They’ve set their plans in motion, and all that remains is to push over the first domino, kick back, and watch everything come up their way. And if the price is high, well, better to pay up now than let the Contagion mug them in an alley for everything they’ve got later. It’s too late to back out. They’re in it to win it, and when someone wins, someone else always loses. The False will — and do — give anything to fall squarely in the former camp.
Steering the Contagion for their own benefit gives the False a unique and peculiar insight into the God-Machine’s workings, even if they weren’t looking for any — and the more they understand the Machine, the further into itself it draws them. To probe the plague’s source and tease out its secrets means to peer into the Machine’s cancerous innards and lay bare the methods it uses to direct its mobile parts. Just as God commands the angels, so do the False command the Contagion’s victims.
By this level of investment in the Vector, the False know full well they’re courting disaster. They’re confident the ends justify the means, but the risks mean they can’t just sit on their laurels once they’ve done their damage; most False factions dedicate resources to seeking Contagion cures just to make sure they themselves don’t join the unfortunate souls they’ve doomed.
Two hunters and their Frankenstein colleague fight off the endless stream of Contagious horrors an infected matrix of manholes vomits forth from the sewer. A Fairest and a Makara distract the Guardian angel with conversation while their Acanthus ringleader walks the garden along rune-shaped routes to find the bush with black roses — and burn it to ash. Three Sanctified eschatologists capture and interrogate a Messenger angel to learn the message it would deliver to the contaminated God-Machine cult.
System: This Vector affects everyone within a number of yards equal to (10 x lead’s Supernatural Potency trait) who has a Contagion Condition (or is Contagious) with the effect listed under the relevant specialization, below. False who have no Supernatural Potency trait, such as hunters, default to 10 yards but may spend Willpower to increase the area by 10 square yards per point spent.
Participants who have Contagion Conditions themselves are immune to this Vector’s effects, but they may not selectively exclude anyone else in the area.
After this Vector takes effect, if any of the participants have the Contagion-Touched or Infected Condition or an outbreak-specific equivalent, those Conditions progress by one step to the next Condition.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Requirement: Three False must work in concert to interact with Infrastructure directly in some way for at least five minutes
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion vs. each target’s Resolve + Supernatural Tolerance
Action: Instant and contested Duration: One full chapter
Edges
Beasts, Hunters, Werewolves: They may be False, but they still understand the importance of looking after their own. They can spend extra Willpower to selectively exclude one valid target per point any participant spends.
For the chapter, the Beast treats Unchained, any Contagious, and the God-Machine’s angels as though they were descended from the Dark Mother for purposes of Kinship abilities, although demons may still attempt to spoof Family Resemblance. All other non-Beast supernatural beings no longer count. In addition, the Beast’s Lair gains the Diseased Lair Trait at grave intensity, and anyone it affects gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step.
For the chapter, the hunter becomes temporarily stigmatic. She gains the Unseen Sense (God-Machine) Merit and three dots’ worth of other Supernatural Merits, can see the gears unaided, suffers the usual stigmatic visions, and gains a glitch as normal. Whenever she risks Willpower, the infect- ed Machine lashes out at her assertion of will over fate. The Storyteller chooses one other character present in the scene who gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step. Activating this Vector is a Code breaking point at low Integrity.
For the chapter, the werewolf gains the Infrastructure and Open Conditions, becoming part of the God-Machine’s plans and allowing angels — including Contagious ones, who have Influence: Contagion — to Fetter to her or Materialize in her immediate vicinity wherever she goes. She treats angels as though they were spirits, and suffers a breaking point toward Spirit with a –3 modifier.
Sin-Eaters: In their liminal state, the Bound can affect not only the material world with this Vector’s effects, but also any infected, death-related creature or character in Twilight (and their Twilight environment, in the case of the Crucible Initiative’s Inferno Tilt). For the chapter, the Bound gains the Infrastructure and Open Conditions, becoming part of the God-Machine’s plans and allowing angels — including Contagious ones, who have Influence: Contagion — to Fetter to her or Materialize in her immediate vicinity wherever she goes. She treats angels as though they were ghosts, which includes the angels gaining the ability to physically interact with her in return.
Changelings: In addition to her False group’s specialization effect, the changeling may incite Bedlam in everyone in the Vector’s area of effect for free, without an additional roll or cost — whether they have Contagion Conditions or not. After activating this Vector, she suffers a Clarity attack with five dice. For the chapter, she may make kenning rolls without spending Willpower to reveal angels, Infrastructure, stigmatics, cryptids, Unchained, and any Contagious, regardless of her current Clarity; instead of the usual roll, the Storyteller rolls her maximum Clarity to detect these things. The Storyteller may spend her Goblin Debt to inflict the Contagion-Touched Condition on anyone with whom she interacts, for two points per victim.
Demons: All mortal targets who succumb to the Vector (and survive it) become a four-dot Cult for the demon for the chapter. The demon suffers a compromise with a –3 modifier, as usurping the God-Machine near Infrastructure draws its attention. For the chapter, the demon gains the rote quality on attempts to angel-jack; but if the angel-jack- ing is successful, she and anyone who aided her gain the Contagion-Touched Condition or progress an existing Contagion Condition by one step, as the new Cover be- comes infected.
Deviants, Vampires: The Remade know well the touch of uncontrolled mutation, and Kindred have long suspected the Blood has a will of its own, hungry to spread. These False can make the Vector’s effects viral. For the chapter, whenever an affected target leaves the area and physically interacts with someone else who has a Contagion Condition — including anyone they infect with that touch — that per- son also suffers the Vector’s immediate effects (but not the chapter-long lingering effects).
For the chapter, the Deviant replaces one of her Loyalty Touchstones with an angel or stigmatic character loyal to the God-Machine; if she doesn’t know any already, the God-Machine provides one who happens to conveniently enter her life. For the same duration, whenever she gains an Instability, the Storyteller chooses one other character present in the scene who gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step.
Activating this Vector is a Humanity 2 breaking point for Kindred. The vampire gains the Dependent Condition, as the Daeva clan bane, but instead of a mortal, she becomes dependent on an angel or stigmatic character loyal to the God-Machine; if she doesn’t know any already, the God- Machine provides one who happens to conveniently enter her life. This Condition resolves upon the death of that character or after one full chapter, whichever comes first. Anyone who drinks the vampire’s Vitae or succumbs to her predatory aura gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step.
Mages, Mummies, Prometheans: These False are used to warping reality around them on a larger scale. The Vector’s area is double its usual size, plus 10 yards per extra Willpower any participant spends. Activating this Vector is an Act of Hubris against Falling Wisdom for mages; it risks Memory loss with five dice for mummies; and it risks a step backward on the Pilgrimage for Prometheans.
For the chapter, the mage replaces one of her Obsessions with one about the God-Machine. At the end of any scene in which she didn’t pursue her new Obsession, she gains the Spooked Condition, as distracting thoughts of the Machine’s eternal Mysteries hound her constantly. For the same duration, anyone her Nimbus Tilt affects gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step. The subject of the willworker’s Focused Mage Sight suffers similar infection whenever she rolls a dramatic failure on a Revelation, in addition to muddying the Mystery.
For the chapter, the mummy’s kepher detects Infrastructure instead of relics, and recognizes the God- Machine’s ineffable calculations as magical sympathies to track proxies. She feels the pull to possess these as though they were relics, regardless of whether they’re infected, harmful, or functional only until they’re removed. For the same duration, anyone the Arisen’s Sybaris affects gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step; those who experience Sybaritic omens receive visions leading them to encourage the Contagion’s symptoms.
For the chapter, the Created can sense and track the God-Machine’s gears, sources of aetheric power, and any Contagious as though they were Azoth, but loses the ability to sense actual Azothic radiance that way. Meditating on the Azothic memory for Elpis visions attracts interference from the Machine, causing it to send its own visions instead. Disquiet doesn’t affect stigmatics, angels, or the Contagious. Anyone the Promethean’s Disquiet affects gains the Contagion-Touched Condition or progresses an existing Contagion Condition by one step; Wastelands that Fester to category 3+ due to her actions carry Contagion with them, increasing the city’s stage by one with each Wasteland potency increase.
Specializations
The Crucible Initiative: Working together, Fire-Bearers enact purges to wipe the Contagion off the map. Affected targets take one point of aggravated damage, plus one point of lethal damage per additional Willpower any participant spends, as cleansing flames consume them. In addition, the entire area of effect gains the Inferno Tilt (p. 284). For the chapter, the entire area is a safe haven from pure Contagion; the Contagious take one lethal damage per turn they spend within its boundaries, and anything else thoroughly and irretrievably tainted bursts into flames even if it’s not usually flammable.
The Machiavelli Gambit: Through this Vector, the Princes achieve the ultimate in precision contamination, rendering their victims extremely suggestible. Each affected target gains the Leveraged Condition, which any member of the Gambit can take advantage of. Each also has an effectively perfect impression of all Svengali for purposes of social maneuvering, even if their actual feelings differ, for the chapter. For the same duration, any participants in the Machiavelli Gambit may transfer their supernatural resource or Willpower points among them by touch, one point per donor per scene; the recipient may convert the transferred points to whichever resource she likes, though this doesn’t allow her to exceed her maximum.
Naglfar’s Army: The Antediluvians thrust those drown- ing in Contagion further into the drink, holding their victims under so they can skip across the stepping stones the bodies create. Affected targets immediately progress their Contagion Conditions to the next step; carriers be- come Contagion-Touched, and those at the third level of Infection become Contagious. The city’s overall Contagion stage increases by one, worsening all general symptoms significantly. The players of any Naglfar’s Army participants each choose a Merit among the following: Allies, Contacts, Library, Mentor, Resources, Retainer, Safe Place, Staff, or Status. Each participant temporarily gains three dots of the Merit her player chose for the chapter, as the Army takes full advantage of the sudden chaos to capitalize wherever it can. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether the chosen Merit makes sense given circumstances.