Observing the shades,
interpreting signs;
reporting the patterns
row by line.
Liturgical tales I live and tell,
infused and entwined like threads in the tapestry.
Samantha Brookbank
Petra Piper
NPC
Abilities
Merits
Eye for the Strange (••) - Advantage
Prerequisite: Resolve ••, Occult •
Effect: While your character does not necessarily possess a breadth of knowledge about the supernatural, she knows the otherworldly when she sees it. By perusing evidence, she can determine whether something comes from natural or supernatural origins. Roll Intelligence + Composure. With a success, the Storyteller must tell you if the scene has a supernatural cause, and provide one piece of found information that confirms the answer. With an exceptional success, she must give you a bit of supernatural folklore that suggests what type of creature caused the problem. If the problem was mundane, an exceptional success gives an ongoing +2 to all rolls to investigate the event, due to her redoubled certainty in its natural causation.
Hobbyist Clique (••) - Advantage
Prerequisite: Membership in a clique. All members must possess this Merit, and the chosen Skill at ••+
Effect: Your character is part of a group of hobbyists that specialize in one area, represented by a Skill. It may be a book club, a coven, a political party, or any group brought together by a common interest. When the group’s support is available, you benefit from the 9-again quality on rolls involving the group’s chosen Skill. As well, the clique offers two additional dice on any extended actions involving that Skill.
Drawback: This Merit requires upkeep. You must attend at least monthly, informal meetings to maintain the benefits of Hobbyist Clique.
Language (•) - Advantage
Effect: Your character is skilled with an additional lan- guage, beyond her native tongue. Choose a language each time you buy this Merit. Your character can speak, read, and write in that language.
Mystery Cult Initiation (• to •••••) - Advantage
Cults are far more common than people would like to admit. “Mystery cult” is the catch-all term for a phenomenon ranging from secret societies couched in fraternity houses, to scholarly cabals studying the magic of classical symbolism, to mystical suicide cults to the God-Machine.
Mystery Cult Initiation reflects membership in one of these esoteric groups. The dot rating dictates standing. One dot is an initiate, two a respected member, three a priest or organizer, four a decision-making leader, and five is a high priest or founder. If you wish your character to begin play in a cult, work with your Storyteller to develop the details.
Designing a Mystery Cult requires three things, at bare minimum. First is a Purpose. This is the defining reason the cult exists. Usually it’s tied in with the cult’s history and recent background. Second is a Relic. This is an item that grounds members’ faith. For example, a piece of the God- Machine, an ancient text bound in human flesh, or the mummified flesh of a saint. The last is a Doctrine. Every cult is defined by its rules and traditions.
In addition to standing, a Mystery Cult Initiation Merit offers benefits at each level of influence. Develop these as well. The following are guidelines; use them to craft your cults:
• A Skill Specialty or one-dot Merit, pertaining to the lessons taught to initiates.
•• A one-dot Merit.
••• A Skill dot, or a two-dot Merit (often a Supernatural Merit)
•••• A three-dot Merit, often supernatural in origin.
••••• A three-dot Merit, or a major advantage not reflected in game traits.
Sleight of Hand (••) - Advantage
Prerequisite: Larceny •••
Effect: Your character can pick locks and pockets without even thinking about it. She can take one Larceny-based instant action reflexively in a given turn. As well, her Larceny actions go unnoticed unless someone is trying specifically to catch her.
Trained Observer (•, or •••) - Advantage
Prerequisite: Wits ••• or Composure •••
Effect: Your character has spent years in the field, catch- ing tiny details and digging for secrets. She might not have a better chance of finding things, but she has a better chance of finding important things. Any time you make a Perception roll (usually Wits + Composure), you benefit from the 9-again quality. With the three-dot version, you get 8-again.
Numina
Omen Trance - Numen
Once every 24 hours, the spirit may enter a trance in order to gain a glimpse of the future. The Numen costs one Essence if the spirit is using it on its own behalf or 3 Essence if it is searching for omens for another. If the activation roll succeeds, the spirit sees a vision of an event sometime in the next week, with a bias toward warnings of danger.