The Ascending Ones is a conspiracy of hunters that originally formed in Egypt to fight against the monsters of darkness and continue their efforts to this day, all the while keeping their activities and those of their prey from reaching the eyes and ears of ordinary people. Members of the Ascending Ones not only keep the creatures of darkness from attacking the innocent, but make sure the innocent stay unaware of the dark powers that lurk around them. They do little in the way of research on creatures, tending to know types more on their own experience than through any organized forms of data. Ascending Ones are also as likely to talk a creature out of its actions rather than outright attack it, particularly if that creature is of a type known to be non-threatening to humans. They will even perform actions of diplomacy between rival factions of monsters, but also stand by ready to turn violently on both parties should peaceful ways fail.As they have since their origins in ancient Egypt, the Ascending Ones continue to rely on the special alchemic brews called elixirs that grant them special powers to deal with the supernatural. And as they also have always been, these potent potions are also lethal poisons in the right circumstances. Users of Elixirs should stick with ones equal to their Endowment Merit or below; an Ascending One can attempt to take a potion higher than their rating, but at a higher risk of failing and poisoning themselves.
Once an Elixir is used, it must be replaced through brewing or purchase.
| Endowment | Rating | Description Dice Pool = Stamina + Elixir | Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Glimpse of After | ••• | Ignores wound penalties and only needs to roll for consciousness when rightmost Health is Lethal | HTV p174 |
| Agora Salve | ••• | Add Elixir to Social rolls | C&C p55 |
| Amun's Water | •••• | Become invisible | HTV p176 |
| Balm of Chronos | •••• | Doubles Initiative modifier and Defense score. If used in a non-combat situation, gains a +3 to extended rolls. | SpSl p149 |
| Bennu-Bird Feather | ••• | Heal 2B or 1L per success with most severe healed first | HTV p174 |
| Blood of the Cobra | ••••• | +1 Strength and Dexterity per success rolled and blood becomes poisonous. | HTV p178 |
| Breath of the Dragon | •••• | Hunter breathes out a Toxicity 4 poison at close combat range | HTV p175 |
| Breath of Ma'at | •• | Reroll a Morality check | HTV p173 |
| Crocodile Tears | • | Appear nearly dead | HTV p172 |
| Elixir of the Fiery Heart | •• | Resist fear effects equal to Elixir | HTV p174 |
| Eye of Ra | • | Gain a bonus to Perception equal to Elixir | HTV p173 |
| Gentle Mind | •• | Do not increase Disquet from Prometheans on ties, and can spend Willpower to reduce Stage 4 to Stage 3 in others. | HMR p29 |
| Hound Mark | • or ••• | Perceive monsters within 5' (fae only with •, all monsters with •••) | HMR p53 |
| Hunting Sight of the Asp | • | See things in the thermal spectrum | NS p144 |
| Incense of the Next World | •••• | Astral project into Twilight | HTV p176 |
| Justice of Ma'at | •• | Bonus to Investigation equal to Elixir and +1 to Degeneration rolls | Slash p163 |
| Liar Pills | • | Betray no emotion (and lie convincingly) for a scene | HMR p130 |
| Mesmeric Vapors | ••••• | Breathe out a mind controlling smoke | HTV p178 |
| Mind-Talking Drug | ••• | Mentally converse or scan the surface thoughts of another | HTV p175 |
| Nehebkau Tears | ••••• | Temporarily become a Vampire | NS p145 |
| Red Resin | • | See monsters with morality 7 or lower | C&C p55 |
| The Tallyman's Eyes | ••• | Identify any magic user in sight | WF p127 |
| Thoth’s Whisper | ••••• | Inhale a ghost for a verity of bonuses, including entering the Underworld | C&C p55 |
| Vapors of Mercury | •• | The blood of the hunter transmutes into a silver substance that burns like acid if touched by a werewolf. | SpSl p149 |
The mystery cultists of the Ascending Ones draw their power not from modern science or from the inexplicable mysteries of the occult, but from the ancient and revered practice of alchemy. By breathing in exotic incense, imbibing potions with bizarre hallucinatory effects, and even injecting potent narcotics into their veins, they unlock the higher powers of the human mind and body in order to make war on the creatures of the night.
All Elixirs utilize the same dice pool of Stamina + Elixir to activate successfully. Most Elixirs, by themselves, are extraordinarily virulent poisons. It takes physical fortitude (represented by Stamina) and the enlightened will that comes from the training of an Ascending One (represented by dots in the Elixir Merit) to transform the poison into the mind-elevating Elixir that gives a hunter power.
Crocodile Tears (•) Edit
According to old folklore, crocodiles weep to lure in prey. Feigning helplessness and vulnerability, they present themselves as tempting targets and, when animal or man draws near to investigate, they strike. The Ascending Ones learn from this story that sometimes a false show of weakness is a more potent weapon than a true show of strength. Crocodile tears are a thick, almost jellylike liquid with a strong taste of lemons and almond. A character must drink them to receive the effect. Upon drinking the Tears, the Ascended One grows pale and shaky, with skin tightening to give an emaciated appearance consistent with grave illness.
Action: Instant.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Ascending One is treated as though she had ingested a Toxicity 2 poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The character is affected as if she had taken a mild (-1 to appropriate dice pools and traits) dose of marijuana. Success: The Ascending One appears, for all intents and purposes, as though she is at death’s door, about to keel over from exhaustion or disease. A medical examination will reveal the ruse, but a visual inspection requires a Wits + Medicine roll contested by the hunter’s Manipulation + Subterfuge + Elixir.
Supernatural abilities that gauge a character’s strength or weakness likewise register the hunter as nearly dead if the Ascending One wins a contested, reflexive Manipulation + Subterfuge + Elixir roll against the dice pool of the power. The hunter does suffer a -1 to all dice pools — those tremors are real enough — but she may spend a Willpower point as a reflexive action to instantly purge the effect of the Elixir and negate the penalty. Unless the character purges the effect early, the Crocodile Tears wear off in one scene.
Exceptional Success: The character does not suffer the -1 penalty to her dice pools; the illusion of deathly illness is perfect without actually impairing the character. The successful use of Crocodile Tears does not compel an enemy to act in any particular manner, but many monsters (and even many ordinary humans) prefer to take on a much weaker opponent if they can. Crocodile Tears are a useful aid to setting up an ambush, not a guaranteed lure.
Eye of Ra (•) Edit
The sun-god Ra sees all that transpires beneath his fiery gaze. By anointing themselves with sacred oils, the Ascending Ones gain a measure of this divine perception for themselves. While they cannot truly gain insight into everything under the sun, they can enhance their own perceptive abilities and sharpen their senses toward what is hidden.
Eye of Ra is sandalwood oil infused with sacred herbs and plants thought to aid in the sharpening of the senses. It also contains kohl, the cosmetic traditionally used by the Egyptians to darken their eyelids, which contains several toxic compounds.
Traditionally, the oil is applied by dabbing it around the eye in the shape of the sacred symbol of the eye of Ra (also called the eye of Horus). Ascending Ones who embrace Islam over the faith of the pharaohs refer to the oil as “Eye of Jibril,” and simply anoint themselves on the eyelids without drawing the eye of Ra.
Action: Instant.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Ascending One is afflicted with a Toxicity 4 bashing poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though she had consumed a mild (-1) dose of heroin.
Success: The character gains a bonus to Perception rolls (either general Wits + Composure or Wits + a specific Skill) equal to her Elixir rating. The bonus lasts for one scene. Exceptional Success: In addition to the Perception bonus, if the Ascending One passes within two yards of a supernatural creature, she may roll a reflexive Wits + Occult roll (not including the bonus from the Eye of Ra) contested by the monster’s Resolve + Composure to recognize it as unnatural. She does not gain any insight into what sort of creature it might be, only that it is not human.
Hound Mark (•) or (•••) Edit
The Mask may hide Changelings’ true nature from human perception, but Hound Mark ferrets out the Lost’s true form. Those who consume this elixir are able to perceive Changelings and other fae creatures through sensory clues, regardless of how well their visages may be hidden.
Hound Mark is a viscous, dark green draught that tastes like anise and hints of lichen. It appears to have small granules in it, which crunch and pop when ground between the teeth. The one dot version only works with fae creatures. But, with the three dot version, the Hunter’s awareness extends to all hidden monsters.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter gains the Blind Condition (Persistent) until he earns three successes on an extended Stamina + Resolve roll. Each roll represents a full hour of attempting to overcome the elixir’s effects.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though he had consumed a moderate dose of ecstasy (-2 to all dice pools and traits).
Success: The character gains the ability to perceive fae creatures in his immediate area (5 foot radius). This perception will manifest differently for different individuals: some may smell the cloying scent of overripe fruit on the Changeling, while others may sense a golden aura around her, or hear whispers just below the range of true understanding while in a fae presence.
Exceptional Success: As above, but the range is increased to 20 feet in radius, and the perception allows the hunter to detect supernaturally hidden fae creatures. While an invisible Changeling will still remain invisible, the hunter will be able to suss out his location by following his supernatural senses.
Hunting Sight of the Asp (•) Edit
Vampires might be the loudest offender, but many things go bump in the night. Much of the Vigil rightly takes place in the dark, and for some hunters the tell-tale flashlights and bulky night-vision equipment isn’t always the most effective hunting tool.
This potent concoction of cobra’s venom, fish liver oil, and strong opiate alkaloid (usually filling up a small, nondescript bottle of over-the-counter eyedrops) works upon the hunter’s eye to, as one hunter puts it, “open the eyes behind the eyes.”
The infrared spectrum comes alive to the Ascending Ones, separating the world into hot and cold and removing all other distractions. There is only life and unlife, rodents and serpents, predator and prey. Hunters who have taken this draught tend to hold their eyes open a little too wide and act just a little alien, but their ability to hunt in complete darkness or identify the one vampire in the crowded night club is unparalleled.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The imbiber is struck blind for 24 hours and acts as if taking a dose of poison of Toxicity 3.
Failure: The hunter suffers as if having taken a mild hallucinogen (-1 to all dice pools and traits)
Success: The hunter now sees in the thermal spectrum enabling her to more or less see in the dark becoming particularly adept at detecting the heat radiated by living things. The hunter gains the following benefits for the remainder of the scene:
• Even if a target is attempting to hide, the hunter gains +3 on any Perception rolls made to find a target attempting to hide nearby (heat radiating from a body behind a curtain, for instance).
• This draught is also quite useful for determining if a person is undead simply by noticing the dramatic pitch in body heat. The hunter gains +5 to any roll used to determine if a body is masquerading as alive. Alternately, werewolves (and some demons, particularly those fresh from whatever Hell realm they come from) “run hotter” than humans—the hunter gains only +3 on the roll to discern the nature of such creatures with Hunting Sight of the Asp, however.
• This Elixir can be used to help determine emotional states. The imbiber gains +1 on Empathy rolls.
• Perception rolls regarding inanimate objects—especially those that feature little or no temperature variation from their surroundings—suffer a -2 penalty while the Hunting Sight of the Asp is active. (Think of trying to locate a set of car keys with mystical infrared sight.)
Exceptional Success: As above, but the hunter only suffers a -1 penalty when making Perception rolls regarding inanimate objects.
== The Red Resin (•) == The monsters hide. Most look like humans. Many look like shadows or, worse, are invisible. With this thick, toxic resin—comprising the dark sap of the dracaena tree or rattan palm coupled with the toxic mercurial ore cinnabar—the hunter can survey the room and identify the monsters on sight. The resin is a greasy clump of vermillion powder.
It can be placed between the gum and lip, but usually, a hunter smokes it in a pipe or rolled in a cigarette. The smoke is slightly toxic to those nearby—anyone within five yards breathing in the acrid smoke finds their eyes watering and suffers slight dizziness, taking a -1 penalty to all rolls for the remainder of the scene.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character goes blind for a number of turns equal to ten minus his Elixirs score. Failure: The character feels giddy and dizzy for the remainder of the scene, suffering a -1 to all Mental and Social rolls.
Success: The hunter can see all the monsters within sight—they are outlined by a tinge of red light that only the hunter can see. Even entities hidden in Twilight are exposed. It does not identify the nature of these creatures, however—only their monstrousness. One exception exists: if a monster has a Morality (or equivalent score) of 8 or higher, the Red Resin fails to note them. This ability lasts for one scene.
Exceptional Success: The hunter can also tell what kind of monster it is
Breath of Ma’at (••) Edit
Hunters must, in the course of their duties, undertake actions that righteous men would consider sinful. These acts weigh heavily upon the soul; even the Ascending Ones can be overwhelmed by sin. But Ma’at, the goddess of truth and divine justice, knows that the hunter’s cause is virtuous and that all may be forgiven.
By meditating on the soothing incense of the Breath of Ma’at, an Ascending One may find a kind of peace in the rightness of his cause. As with many of the Elixirs employed by the Ascending Ones, some hard-liners reject the Dynastic interpretation of this Elixir.
They call it the Mercy of Allah, and replace the silent meditation with Salah prayers, claiming it is Allah the Most Merciful who grants forgiveness. Action: Extended; each roll represents one hour of fasting and meditation or prayer.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter automatically gains a mild derangement, or upgrades an existing mild derangement to a severe one. The hunter’s player and the Storyteller should work together to choose an appropriate derangement.
Failure: No progress is made toward alleviating the burden of sin on the character’s soul. Should the character fail to achieve the required number of successes within the maximum number of rolls, he is affected as though he had consumed three alcoholic beverages in excess of his Stamina.
Success: The Ascending One proceeds toward letting go of his sin.
Exceptional Success: In addition to extraordinary progress being made toward regaining perspective, the Ascending One gains a +1 bonus on his next roll to avoid degeneration. This Elixir may only be employed within 24 hours of the Ascending One losing a point of Morality, and the character may only benefit from this Elixir once per story. The character must acquire a number of successes equal to (10 - the Morality level of his most recent sin).
These successes must be accumulated in a number of rolls equal to less than the character’s Morality, or the Elixir fails to take effect. Should the Ascending One acquire the requisite successes, he may re-roll the degeneration roll that caused him to lose his Morality.
If he succeeds, he gains the lost Morality point back as though it had never been lost. This Elixir has no effect if the character has raised his Morality through another means, such as experience points. Derangements gained from the now-lost point also diminish.
Example: Hassan, an Ascending One, burned down an apartment building to kill a vampire that nested there. Unfortunately, an elderly man was trapped on the upper floor and burned to death in the ensuing blaze. The Storyteller rules that this was an impassioned crime, similar to manslaughter, a Morality 4 sin. Hassan’s player rolls three dice but gets no successes, dropping his Morality from 6 to 5.
He likewise fails his check to avoid gaining a derangement, and gains a mild phobia of fire. Later that night, he prepares the Breath of Ma’at to help him realize that the woman was an unfortunate but unavoidable casualty of a righteous war. Hassan’s Stamina is 2 and he has 3 dots in Elixir, for a total dice pool of five; since his most recent sin was a Morality 4 sin, he must accumulate six successes (10 minus 4) in five or fewer rolls.
His first roll comes up 4, 8, 2, 6, 9 for two successes. His second roll is a lucky one, netting him three more successes. His third and fourth rolls net no successes, but he slides in under the wire with one success on his fifth and final roll. He may now reroll his degeneration check of three dice.
This time he gets one success, and his Morality increases from 5 back to 6 as though he had never lost the point. He likewise loses the fire phobia, just as if he had never lost the Morality in the first place.
Elixir of the Fiery Heart (••) Edit
Many of the beasts the Ascending Ones hunt are terrifying in their own right. It takes great courage to face down a deranged slasher in his darkened murder playground, or to stand toe to toe with a ravening beast the size of a car. But quite apart from natural fear, some creatures have the ability to fill the soul with abject, supernatural terror.
Even the strongest heart can quail before such mystical onslaught, which is why the Ascending Ones carry this potent Elixir to steel their spirits against the terrors of the night. Elixir of the Fiery Heart is a thin, yellowish liquid with a smoky taste. It burns the throat as it goes down, like a potent liquor, but instead of fuzzy-headed drunkenness, it imparts a kind of clinical disconnect from any sense of self-preservation.
While the effect renders a hunter fearless, it also makes her prone to rash action.
Action: Instant.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Ascending one is afflicted by a Toxicity 4 bashing poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though she had consumed two drinks of alcohol in excess of her Stamina. Success: For the rest of the scene, any attempt to induce fear in the hunter (including mundane Intimidation or supernatural powers of fright) subtracts her Elixir rating from the dice pool.
If the power is already resisted by one of her Traits, her Elixir rating is added to that Trait to determine the total resistance.
Exceptional Success: In addition to receiving the benefits of a success against supernatural fear effects, the Ascending One is entirely immune to mundane, non-magical fear. Attempts to intimidate her or spook her that lack supernatural force simply fail.
Justice of Ma’at (••) Edit
While the incense called the Breath of Ma’at soothes a hunter’s soul when the righteousness of his Vigil is called into question, justice is more than a salve for the soul.
Ma’at is the goddess of truth as well as justice, something worth its weight in gold in a murder trial. Inhaling this Elixir makes a hunter burn with the need for truth, his mind alive with possibilities and his soul burning with the need for justice.
The Justice of Ma’at is a blend of four drops of a child’s blood, the powdered bone of a hanged man, and cocaine. Combined into a very fine red powder, the Ascending Ones either inhale the compound or rub it into the gums.
While under the effects, the hunter feels possessed by an otherworldly force, whether it is the Just Will of Allah or the goddess Ma’at. She must find the truth — though whether she uses it towards justice or revenge is a very personal thing.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Ascending One is afflicted by a Toxicity 4 bashing poison. This poison can be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll against the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter receives no bonus from the Elixir, and is affected as though he had taken a mild (-1 to Social rolls, no bonus to Strength or Stamina) dose of cocaine.
Success: For the rest of the scene, the hunter burns with a need for the truth. He receives a bonus to all Investigation rolls equal to his Elixir rating. If the hunter commits a sin against Morality in her quest for the truth, she gains an additional die on rolls to avoid degeneration.
Exceptional Success: In addition to receiving the benefits of a success, the hunter is able to mete out justice with the mandate of heaven. He ignores all wound penalties while under the influence of this Elixir.
Vapors of Mercury (••) Edit
The element mercury is also known as quicksilver. Extremely toxic, quicksilver poisoning can result from simple skin contact with the element or by inhaling the fumes. The alchemists of the Ascending Ones combine quicksilver with other esoteric ingredients to brew the Vapors of Mercury. The Elixir is inhaled by breathing in the vapors from a censor or, more commonly, from a modified asthma inhaler.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter fails to process the toxins carried by the vapor and is afflicted with a Toxicity 4 lethal poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll against the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though she had taken a moderate (-2 to all dice pools and traits) dose of hallucinogen.
Success: The hunter manages to process the Vapors of Mercury and benefits from its effects for the rest of the scene. The Elixir transmutes the blood of the hunter into a watery silver substance that burns like acid if touched by a werewolf.
Each time the hunter suffers a wound that causes at least one point of lethal damage, any werewolf within one yard of the hunter takes an equal amount of lethal damage from the silvery blood spatter. Wounds caused by the spatter are considered aggravated for the purposes of healing for werewolves.
Exceptional Success: As above, but the werewolf suffers an additional one point of lethal damage per instance of toxic blood spatter.
== Agora Salve (•••) == Those who engage in Sulha, or diplomacy and peacemaking with the monsters, sometimes need a little edge when it comes to speaking. The Agora Salve can be that edge. (Agora infers “public places,” and also refers to a “place of assembly” in classic Greece.) By mixing dried vampire’s blood with gold flake and the hunter’s own blood, it creates a gooey unguent that can be used to coat the hunter’s tongue and affect his words.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character goes mute and his tongue feels fat and useless in the mouth, like a dead slug. The effect lasts until he can sleep for eight hours.
Failure: The character feels profoundly fatigued, and must make Wits + Stamina rolls to stay awake every minute (reflexive). This lasts for one scene.
Success: The hunter speaks, and when he does, his words are slow, monotonous, and calming. He gains a bonus equal to his dots in the Elixir Endowment to all Social rolls, and during this time, he may not be attacked by anybody (monster or human) unless he attacks them first. This lasts for a number of minutes equal to successes gained on this roll.
Exceptional Success: As above, and the hunter regains a point of Willpower.
Bennu-Bird Feather (•••) Edit
Supposedly plucked from the tail of the Bennu-bird, the Egyptian phoenix associated with Ra, this feather is ground up, along with medicinal herbs and potent opiates, into a thick, gooey paste capable of accelerating the healing process tremendously. Bennu-Bird Feather must be smeared over a wound to have any effect, whether an open gash or a mere bruise. The unguent smells strongly of cardamom and willowbark, with an acrid, medicinal tang.
Action: Instant.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter is afflicted by a Toxicity 2 lethal poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is treated as though he has ingested a moderate (-2 to all dice pools and traits) dose of heroin.
Success: Every success on the activation roll heals two points of bashing damage or one point of lethal damage. The character has no control over this healing; more severe injuries are automatically healed ? rst.
Exceptional Success: In addition to the immediate healing, the Ascending One heals naturally at double the normal rate (one bashing wound per eight minutes, one lethal wound per day, and one aggravated wound per four days). If the hunter has the Quick Healer Merit, he heals wounds in one third the normal time (one bashing wound per five minutes, one lethal wound per 16 hours, and one aggravated wound per three days).
A Glimpse of After (•••) Edit
According to medieval historians, initiates into the order of the Hashshashin assassins would be drugged with a slow-acting poison such that they felt as though they were dying. When they were given the antidote, they awoke to find themselves in a beautiful garden, feasted and succored by lovely virgins and greeted by the grand master of the order.
They were told they were in Paradise, but they would be sent back to Earth to serve the order as faithful soldiers. If they ever wanted to return to the garden, they would serve loyally and carry out the goals of the order without question. Bolstered by the thought of awaiting Paradise, these assassins fought with a fanatic zeal that gave them the ability to fight far beyond the endurance of ordinary men.
While the Hashshashin were not a creation of the Ascending Ones, the conspiracy did sometimes convert members of the opiate-addled assassins, and with them, this Elixir.
The clear, slightly cinnamon-flavored Elixir called A Glimpse of After fills the imbiber’s mind with visions of the heavenly afterlife that awaits him after death (each hunter is likely to experience his own unique glimpse of beyond — one may see a garden, another a meadow, and another an endless-yet-comforting void).
These visions drive away the pain of injury and fatigue, turning the Ascending One into a nigh-unstoppable dynamo.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter is affected by a Toxicity 4 lethal poison. He may resist this poison by rolling Stamina + Resolve as a contested action versus the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter receives no benefit and is affected as though he had taken a moderate (-2 to all dice pools and traits) dose of heroin.
Success: The Ascending One is filled with a rapturous vision of Heaven that drives away the earthly distraction of torment and death. For the rest of the scene, he ignores all wound penalties. In addition, he automatically stays up and conscious if his rightmost Health box is marked with a bashing wound, and may make a reflexive Stamina roll each turn to stay up if his rightmost Health box is marked with a lethal wound
He does continue to suffer blood loss if his last Health box is marked with a lethal wound. When the scene ends, the effects of this Elixir wear off and the character immediately suffers all his wound penalties and any effects of having his rightmost Health box filled.
Exceptional Success: In addition to the above effects, the Ascending One suffers only half damage from bashing attacks for the duration of the Elixir’s effect (determine damage from the attack normally, then halve the number of successes, rounding up).
Mind-Talking Drug (•••) Edit
Communication is a vital component of success for any hunter cell. Without the ability to maintain communication during an assault, no plan can survive contact with the enemy. Other groups rely on sophisticated radios or complex systems of hand signals, but the Ascending Ones simply brew up a vat of this mind-expanding psychotropic and inject it into the base of their neck. Once he fights his way through the hallucinations, the Ascending One finds he has the ability to read the surface thoughts of others and even to project his own thoughts into their minds.
The Mind-Talking Drug is a virulent shade of yellow, with subtle veins of a slightly darker color swirled throughout the liquid. Since it must be injected, it is usually carried in a large, sturdy syringe.
Action: Extended; five successes required; each roll represents one minute of struggling with hallucinations.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character is afflicted by a Toxicity 3 lethal poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter makes no progress toward sifting through the hallucinations to find the truth. If he is unable to earn five successes in a number of rolls equal to his Stamina + Elixir, he is affected as though he had taken a potent (-3 to all dice pools and traits) dose of hallucinogen.
Success: For the rest of the scene, the Ascending One may, as a reflexive action, hold a two-way mental conversation with another character within his line of sight or scan the surface thoughts of another. Holding a two-way conversation requires a Presence + Composure roll, with one roll required of both characters for every turn’s worth of conversation. If the character being conversed with is also under the effect of the Mind-Talking Drug, conversations are automatic, with no roll required. Scanning the surface thoughts of another character likewise requires a Presence + Composure roll, contested by the target’s Resolve + Composure if the target is unwilling.
Even if the target has also taken Mind-Talking Drug, the roll is required for reading surface thoughts. Exceptional Success: In addition to communication and surface-thought reading, the Ascending One can probe deeper into a subject’s mind to uncover buried thoughts. This requires an extended and contested roll of Presence + Composure vs. Resolve + Composure, with the number of successes determined by the “depth” of the information.
Surface thoughts passing through the target’s mind require one success, something the character thinks about in passing on a daily basis (where her kids go to school) requires three, something thought about infrequently (where he went on vacation as a child) requires five, while deeply buried secrets (the name of the man she had an affair with) require 10 or more. Each roll represents one turn of psychic probing. The effects of the Mind-Talking Drug last for one scene.
The Tallyman’s Eyes (•••) Edit
The Ascending Ones hunt many creatures. Some are obvious nightmares, with twisted flesh around their damned souls. Others wear the cloak of human form and never breach it. Slashers, witches, and stranger things look entirely human to an autopsy, never mind human sight.
The Tallyman’s Eyes shows that lie for what it is, unveiling the hidden essence of a witch and laying it plain in the hunter’s sight. She can see the alien marks on a monster’s soul that others can’t. It won’t highlight a serial killer, but it will bring light to people who traf? c in eldritch powers. Her eyes are the eyes of Ma’at when weighing her target’s heart against a feather, and she knows how the scales will fall.
The Tallyman’s Eyes is a complex combination of dimethyl triptamine (DMT), alchemical reagents, and the vitreous humor from a human eye. The ingredients must be blended into a thin liquid that appears to glow softly with a green light. Most Ascending Ones place three drops into each eye to see the true weight of a human soul, but a small number inject the Elixir into their own pupils.
Though this is a scary prospect the first few times a hunter tries it, the effects of the drug last far longer. The injected form doesn’t wash out, though, and can lead to problems with the hunter’s sight when she’s not affected by the Elixir.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter is affected by a Toxicity 4 bashing poison. If injected into the eye, this is instead a Toxicity 4 lethal poison. He may resist this poison by rolling Stamina + Resolve as a contested action versus the poison’s Toxicity Failure: The hunter receives no benefit from the Elixir, and is affected as though he had taken a mild (-1 to all dice pools and traits) dose of a hallucinogen.
Success: The Ascending One can identify the traces of otherworldly energies around a human soul. He can make a reflexive Wits + Occult roll to identify any magic-user (any character who possesses the Gnosis or Gifted Merit) in sight. He must be able to see the witch normally, but the cloud of magic around her is unmistakable. In addition, the character receives a three-dice bonus to resist mind-altering effects from someone he knows to be a mage. The effects normally last for a number of minutes equal to the character’s Resolve. If he injected the Elixir into his eye (which necessitates success on a Resolve + Medicine roll), the effects instead last for a full scene.
Exceptional Success: In addition to the effects of a success, the hunter can identify places imbued with magical energy.
Amun’s Water (••••) Edit
The monsters the Ascending Ones face are at home among the shadows, lurking unseen in the night. To face them and uncover their wickedness, a hunter must sometimes go unseen as well, passing beyond sight and entering the very den of the lions. By quaffing this potion, an Ascended One veils herself from sight, becoming truly invisible. (Amun, a sun god, was often associated with the sun when it was hidden from view — in other words, at night.)
Amun’s Water is a deep blue liquid the consistency of ink, brewed from deadly nightshade and the venom of an adder. It has a cloying, sweet taste, like over-sugared coffee, and as it goes down, it feels like swallowing liquid nitrogen.
Action: Instant.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character is afflicted by a Toxicity 3 lethal poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though she had taken a potent (-3 to all dice pools and traits) dose of hallucinogen.
Success: The Ascended One fades from sight and becomes invisible. This is no mere psychic trick; the character is literally completely invisible. Even cameras, infrared tripwires, and the like fail to register her presence. Similarly, witnesses simply see her apparently vanish into thin air.
Any hostile action, such as attacking or brandishing a weapon, immediately breaks the invisibility. Exceptional Success: Any supernatural ability that pierces invisibility suffers a -2 to its activation roll to detect the character. The effects of Amun’s Water last for one scene.
Breath of the Dragon (••••) Edit
In the old legends, before the fire-breathing cliché got started, it was said that the breath of a dragon was a deadly poisonous fume. This Elixir, already toxic by nature, is inhaled and distilled by the Ascending One’s will into a terrible airborne contagion.
Breath of the Dragon is a fine, crystalline powder of silvery hue. Because it must be inhaled to take effect, many Ascending Ones either smoke it or carry a dose in a modified form of asthma inhaler.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character is afflicted by a Toxicity 4 lethal poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though he had taken a potent (-3 to all Social rolls, no bonus to Strength or Stamina) dose of cocaine.
Success: The hunter expels a small cloud of Toxicity 4 lethal poison from his mouth. The cloud is large enough to catch one victim within close combat range (about two yards). This poison may be resisted with a Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity.
Exceptional Success: The Ascending One distills the Breath of the Dragon into an especially potent form. Add his Elixir rating to the poison’s Toxicity.
Incense of the Next World (••••) Edit
The Ascending Ones know from the secret lore of ancient Egyptian priests that this world is not the only one. The mortal world is an island in a vast sea of other realms, and by performing the proper rites and inhaling the proper incense, an Ascending One can leave his physical body behind and let his soul journey out into the Twilight state of ghosts and spirits. The Incense of the Next World has a strong, almost primal musk, like sweat and sex and animal skins from the dawn of humanity. It gives off a deep blue smoke whose whorls seem to suggest ancient hieroglyphs and arcane symbols.
Action: Extended; each roll represents 10 minutes of prayer, chanting and breathing in incense. The Ascending One may roll a maximum number of times equal to his Stamina + Elixir.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character slips into a deep coma and cannot awaken until he earns five successes on an extended Stamina + Resolve roll. Each roll represents one day of trying to wake.
Failure: No progress is made toward attaining the ecstatic state that allows spiritual travel. Should the Ascending One fail to accumulate the required successes before the roll limit runs out, he is affected as though he had consumed a potent (-3 to all dice pools and traits) hallucinogen.
Success: Progress is made toward leaving the body behind.
Exceptional Success: No additional effect beyond the large number of successes. Incense of the Next World allows a hunter to completely free his consciousness from his physical form and travel mentally to distant locations while leaving his body behind. It requires 10 successes to separate the soul from the body; the Ascending One must breathe in the incense for the entirety of the extended action. Once separated, the character can move around freely, but he is intangible and invisible, existing in the state called Twilight. He can be perceived through any appropriate means (such as an Endowment that allows a character to perceive Twilight beings).
Other astral projectors or other beings that exist in Twilight can perceive him normally. Returning to his body requires an instant action and a successful Wits + Composure roll. There is theoretically no limit to how long the character may remain in this astrally projected state, but the normal rules for deprivation apply
If the hunter’s physical body is tampered with while he is “gone,” he may sense the intrusion with a successful Intelligence + Composure roll. The character always feels actual pain inflicted on his physical body, and may react as he sees fit. However, an astral projector’s physical body may be subjected to a killing blow if the body is left unprotected.
Balm of Chronos (••••) Edit
The empire of ancient Egypt traded and warred with other Mediterranean powers and the Egyptians’ exposure to other cultures led to exchanges of religious and philosophical ideas. From the Greeks, the Egyptians learned about the god Chronos, who was revered by the Greeks as the personification of time.
The Egyptians noticed similarities between the stories of Chronos and that of their own god P’tah (both gods featured in creation myths) and discussed the possibility that both gods were aspects of each other. When the Ascending Ones began their alchemical studies, they sought out the power of Chronos to use time in their favor.
The Balm of Chronos looks like a thick paste, white in color, and smells slightly of oleander. The Balm is activated by rubbing it into the skin like a lotion.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Ascending One is affected by a Toxicity 4 lethal poison, which may be resisted by a contested roll of Resolve + Stamina versus the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter receives no benefit and is affected as though he had taken a moderate (-2 to all dice pools and traits) dose of heroin.
Success: The Ascending One enters a trancelike state in which his perception of passing time is slowed. For the rest of the scene, the hunter doubles his Initiative modifier and Defense score. If used in a non-combat situation, the hunter gains a +3 bonus to extended rolls as a result of his enhanced concentration.
Exceptional Success: As above and the hunter has the option of acting at any point in the Initiative order he chooses or, in non-combat situations, gains a +1 equipment bonus to all actions. Drawback: If the Balm of Chronos is used a number of times in one day greater than the hunter’s Stamina, the hunter suffers the effects of a Dramatic Failure regardless of roll
Blood of the Cobra (•••••) Edit
The serpent has a long and colorful history of mythic symbolism. In various cultures, it has symbolized good and evil, life and death, wisdom and deceit. In the mythology of the Ascending Ones, vampires are frequently linked to serpentine imagery, and Ascending Ones who specialize in destroying vampires are often called Serpent Chasers.
The Blood of the Cobra is an exotic compound of cobra venom, hashish and a variety of other alchemical reagents brewed into a devastatingly toxic Elixir. It must be injected directly into the vein to have an effect; most hunters use their inner arms for quick access during battle.
Action: Instant.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Ascending One is affected by a Toxicity 5 lethal poison, which may be resisted by a contested roll of Resolve + Stamina versus the poison’s Toxicity.
Failure: The hunter is treated as though she had taken a potent (-3 to all Social rolls, no bonus to Strength or Stamina) dose of cocaine.
Success: For every success rolled on the activation, the Ascending One gains a +1 bonus to her Strength and Dexterity. These bonuses likewise increase Traits derived from these two Attributes. In addition, the character’s blood becomes a highly toxic poison that affects vampires and mortals alike. Any creature attempting to feed on the Ascending One’s blood suffers one automatic point of lethal damage per point of damage inflicted by blood loss.
The Attribute bonuses last for the remainder of the scene; the character’s blood remains toxic for 24 hours. Exceptional Success: No additional effect beyond an extraordinary increase to Strength and Dexterity.
Mesmeric Vapors (•••••) Edit
Society has always warned of the dangers of drugs. Whether strong drink, hashish, or pure Colombian coke, the manner in which they can alter perceptions has been feared and cautioned against as far back as history has recorded. Religions have railed against them, and governments have tried to find ways to use them against their enemies.
But where CIA-programmed LSD sleeper agents are largely relegated to the realms of conspiracy theory web sites, the Ascending Ones have perfected an alchemical compound so intoxicating it can literally reduce a hapless victim to little more than a puppet.
Mesmeric Vapors, in their un-smoked form, resemble loose tobacco of the type used in hand-rolled cigarettes. The scent is subtly sweeter, and often seems to hint at different aromas to different individuals. Because of the nature of its use, Mesmeric Vapors are rarely used as incense; instead they are smoked like a pipe or a cigarette.
The smoke given off by this compound is a pale golden color, and it hangs with an unnatural heaviness in the air, remaining still even in a moderate breeze.
Action: Contested (but see below); Stamina + Elixir versus subject’s Stamina + Resolve
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character is afflicted by a Toxicity 4 lethal poison. This poison may be resisted with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll subtracting the poison’s Toxicity. Anyone else who breathes in the smoke is similarly affected.
Failure: The hunter is affected as though he had taken a potent (-3 to all dice pools and traits) dose of opium. Anyone else who breathes in the smoke is similarly affected. Success: The Ascending One breathes in the smoke of the Mesmeric Vapor and converts its toxins into a deeply psychotropic drug.
In order to have an effect, this smoke must be inhaled by another character. Ascending Ones are taught specific breathing exercises to control and focus the smoke as they exhale; the hunter may designate any one character within close-combat range as the target of the smoke. If the target is aware of the smoke, she may try to hold her breath by making a reflexive Stamina roll.
Success means she gets a lungful of clean air before the smoke can affect her; failure means she is affected normally. The affected character must make a reflexive Stamina + Resolve roll, contesting the activation roll, to resist the smoke’s effects. If the victim is in combat, or otherwise in an agitated or threatened state, she receives a +3 bonus on this roll. A drugged character becomes calm, sedate and relaxed, as though she has taken a dose of opium. More importantly, she enters an extremely suggestible state, in which she may be given complex instructions to be carried out right away or at some triggering stimulus. This drugged state lasts for 10 minutes.
Programming a subject with a command is an extended and contested action of the Ascending One’s Manipulation + Persuasion versus the subject’s Resolve + Composure. Each roll represents one minute of careful, hypnotic instruction. The number of successes required is equal to three per “step” of the complete command.
A triggering action or stimulus counts as a step. For example, the command “When a man says to you, ‘Do you have the time?’, call the police and tell them you’ve witnessed a murder on Fleet St., then hang up immediately” requires 12 successes, because it is a four-step command: the conditional trigger (“when a man says to you, ‘Do you have the time?’”), and three actions (“call the police,” “tell them you witnessed a murder,” and “hang up immediately”).
Dangerous actions double the number of successes necessary per action (six successes instead of three). The subject may also be ordered to forget the encounter with the Ascending One, or to forget any actions undertaken while entranced. Either adds five successes to the required total.
If the command is to be triggered by a later action, the subject returns to normal when the command is fully implemented; the druglike effects vanish and the character remains her normal self. When the command is triggered (whether immediately or by a later trigger), the druglike state resumes. The victim will ignore or respond only as much as necessary to anything not related to her task (questions are ignored outright or answered with a single word, work and family are put aside and not told why, etc.) and generally behaves like she’s stoned.
Once the command is carried out, the effects end immediately. The psychic compulsion is only effective as long as the drug holds the victim in her hypnotic state. When the 10 minutes are up, the subject snaps out of it and all successes are lost; a partial command does not take hold at all.
As long as the subject is still in the trance state, another dose of Mesmeric Vapor can be applied, but this gives the subject another chance to break free of the effect with a contested Stamina + Resolve roll. As long as the hypnotic state remains uninterrupted, the Ascending One doesn’t lose any successes; he may even go and take other actions and then return to the programming action. Exceptional Success: The subject is placed in an exceptionally deep suggestive state. Programming the subject requires only 30 seconds per roll instead of one minute.
Nehebkau Tears (•••••) Edit
Legend tells of an Ascending One whose wife and family was taken as slaves by a clutch of vampires. Unable to bear this fate but also unable to get close to their stronghold, the hunter went to Nehebkau, Guardian of the Underworld and begged him for help in freeing his family. The god acknowledged there might be a way to approach them in the skins of their own kind, but to do so would close Duat (the underworld) forever to him. The man did not care, he said, he only wanted his family freed and the darkness could take his soul if that was the cost.
Nehebkau was moved by the man so willing to sacrifice himself. The god cried two tears, catching them in a canopic jar, and instructed the man that if he wished to save his family, then he must drink the mixture as the sun set. Drinking the tears would allow him to move among his enemy for one night. At the end of the night, he would die but his soul would be lost forever without Ma’at’s judgment or the mercy of Duat. The man agreed and drank the foul poison at sundown the following day and felt himself die.
True to Nehebkau’s word, instead of moving onto the scales of Ma’at, the man was immediately able to open his eyes and walk how the sunless dead walked. He went to their stronghold unassailed. He found his family and found only envy in their warm embrace against his skin, but he knew this was the cost of their safety. He led them to freedom and said a cold goodbye as the sun peeked over the mountains. Choking and retching, the man fell to his knees feeling his life violently tearing out of him. Yet he fought with all his will, all the purity of spirit which moved the god.
The man reached down his own throat, grabbing the darkness that he had so willingly swallowed and tore it lose, vomiting forth a single fat scarab onto the sand along with his blood and bile. The scarab regarded him and with Nehebkau’s voice told the man that his purity and will would allow him to endure the morning sun. As the sun edged over the mountains, so did the man’s heart beat again and again. Only then, as he breathed out the last of graveyard air from his lungs did the man weep for joy for the return of his family.
The Ascending One who is willing to take her chances with this rarely-used draught better have a good reason and peace within her god’s eyes before trying. There aren’t many calls for the Tears of Nehebkau, but there have been in the past. Almost every part of this potion is deadly or unclean. Particularly religious members of the Ascending One say those that partake in this Elixir will find Paradise forever closed to them.
With a steeped brew of pig blood, quicksilver (mercury), natron (soda salt), and formaldehyde, an Ascending One can cheat death in a manner nearly identical to vampirism. If mixed correctly and with proper faith and strength of purpose the process is reversible at the end of one night’s time when the imbiber completely but painfully returns to life’s embrace. She will know it succeeded when she coughs up the bloody scarab.
The hunter uses this terrible potion to not just simulate, but in all ways join the ranks of the undead for the night. The player and Storyteller should work together to translate the hunter as they would a newly-created vampire for the duration of this effect using the rules as they appear within this book.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter effectively blinds Nehebkau and succeeds in transforming into a vampire as per a normal success. At the end of the night, however, they find Ra’s door is closed to them. They are forevermore outside of Nehebkau’s (or whomever their god might be) purview and have effectively become a vampire. The Storyteller and player should work together to design a vampire using the rules found earlier in this book.
Failure: The imbiber suffers as if taking a potent (and potentially fatal) dose of heroin (all dice pools suffer -3 for a full 8 hours). Because the dose is potentially damaging or lethal, the Elixir also counts as a Toxicity 3 poison.
Success: From sundown to sun-up the hunter effectively becomes a member of the undead per the rules found earlier in this book. This act against the natural world costs either five Willpower points or one permanent Willpower dot at the end of the evening as the hunter undergoes the slow struggle back to life.
Note that during this time, the character works according to the rules for vampires in this book (Night Stalkers). He cannot risk Willpower. He cannot utilize his Endowments. He is similarly out of sync with his cell—he can still be a part of Tactics, but suffers -2 dice to do so. He may need to feed (drinking one blood equates to Willpower, at a rate of one point gained per one point of lethal damage incurred), and is subject to all the advantages and disadvantages of existing in a vampiric state.
Exceptional Success: As above, but the vampire fills up his Willpower pool upon turning—as a result, he may not need to feed during his (hopefully) one long night of undead existence.
== Thoth's Whisper (•••••) == Thoth—one of the gods believed to have inspired Hermes Trismegistus—was a psychopomp, a shuttler of souls from the world of the living to the afterlife. This Elixir, in a way, helps the hunter to facilitate that transfer, giving her the chance to “inhale” a ghost into the temple of her flesh so that the ghost may be “borrowed and used.”
The very process of doing so is frightening to most— the mixture required is a potent concoction of homemade gunpowder, crystallized snake venom, and potassium chloride salt (used in lethal injections). The hunter ignites this, and quickly inhales the resultant flame into his lungs. As he does so, the hunter is likely to hear a chorus of babbling whispers from beyond the pale.
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character burns his esophagus. He takes five points of lethal damage.
Failure: The character enters a death-like trance for the remainder of the scene whereupon he experiences intense hallucinations and visions. The hunter cannot move without expending a Willpower point— and even that only earns her one turn of movement and wakefulness.
Success: The hunter is primed to “inhale” a ghost. The next manifested ghost the hunter meets can be drawn into her body with naught but a whispered entreaty to do so (the wording of the whisper is up to the hunter). No roll is necessary beyond the one made to process this potent Elixir. The ghost is drawn into the character’s lungs and lurks there for 24 hours. During this time, the hunter gains a handful of benefits:
-User gains use of one of the Ghost's Numina. The roll to use the Numina is Wits + Resolve.
-The hunter learns everything about the ghost—at least, as far as the ghost can remember. Whatever the ghost knows, the hunter now knows.
-The user can open and enter any Avernian Gate (i.e. a subterranean gateway into the Great Below).
-User may spend a willpower and manifest any Skills that the ghost possesses but that the hunter himself does not possess. This lasts for one scene, and the only drawback is that the hunter suffers a -1 penalty to any rolls using this new ghost-bound Skill.
After 24 hours, the ghost is expelled from the body (and may never be drawn into the hunter’s flesh again). The hunter can keep the ghost in his body, however, beyond that time frame—however, choosing to do so earns him one point of aggravated damage. His body is wracked with pain and internal bleeding as the ghost is trapped for another 12 hours. Each 12 hour period after this guarantees the hunter another point of aggravated damage.
Exceptional Success: As above, but the hunter can lay claim to two of the ghost’s Numina for his own use, now.