Familiar

Descendants of Lucifer often attract lesser demons to themselves, willingly or unwillingly. These imps and familiars are drawn to the infernal spark in the blood of a Lucifuge, and are compelled by the divine right of Lucifer's blood to serve and obey. Some do so willingly, slavish in their devotion to their earthly masters. Others serve reluctantly, disgusted to see the seed of the Morningstar debase itself in service to humanity but bound by their master's blood nonetheless. Still others are insidious — pretending loyalty while seeking every opportunity to seduce their "masters" into the open service of evil.

A Lucifuge who has mastered Calling Forth the Pit may choose to refine that connection, calling forth not a temporary agent but a bound servant — a familiar. A familiar is a demon of lesser rank, permanently tethered to the Lucifuge's bloodline rather than summoned and dismissed. There are two forms a familiar may take: Twilight (an ephemeral, spirit-bodied entity) or Embodied (a demon housed in the flesh of an earthly creature). These are learned as two separate Castigations. A Lucifuge may only maintain one familiar at a time across both forms.

Familiar (Twilight)

A Twilight familiar is a spiritual entity with no physical body of its own, also known in some traditions as a fetch. It exists in the state of Twilight and is invisible and intangible to the physical world unless it chooses to manifest. Despite this, the familiar can touch its master at will, and the master can see and speak with it freely even when it is not manifested. A Twilight familiar often leaves behind a subtle sign of its presence even when invisible — a whiff of brimstone, a flicker of shadow in the corner of the eye.

A Twilight familiar may take any form imaginable. Most are small and impish, resembling classical imps or minor mythological devils, but they may be as large as a human. Many reflect their master's Vice in their form: a Wrathful Lucifuge might attract a familiar built like a vicious bull, all spines and suppressed violence, while a character whose Vice is Envy might be served by something that wears an idealized version of their own face.

Prerequisite: Calling Forth the Pit Cost: 1 lethal damage + 1 Willpower Dot Dice Pool: None Action: Instant.

Dismissing the Familiar

The Lucifuge may dismiss a Twilight familiar at any time with an extended Resolve + Occult action (5 successes, each roll representing 10 minutes). The demon returns to Hell. If the Lucifuge wishes to later call a new familiar, she must perform the binding ritual again.

The Empathic Bond

The Lucifuge and her Twilight familiar share an empathic connection. Each can automatically feel the broad emotional state of the other at all times — joy, fear, rage, desperation. This does not grant access to thoughts or specific information, only emotional register. Supernatural effects that damage or manipulate the familiar through emotional means do not affect the master through this link. The familiar can always understand its master regardless of language spoken, and the master understands the familiar in return.

Twilight Familiar Traits

The Storyteller designs the demon's traits with the player's participation.

Attributes (Power / Finesse / Resistance): 8 Dots

Willpower:    Power + Resistance

Essence:      10 (maximum 10)

              Regains 1 Essence per day spent in master's presence. May also regain Essence by witnessing or causing acts related to its Vice (1 Essence per instance, once per scene).

Initiative:   Finesse + Resistance

Defense:      Highest of Power or Finesse

Speed:        Power + Finesse + 5

Size:         5 or less

Corpus:       Resistance + Size

Virtue:       Choose any

Vice:         Choose any. Most familiars share their master's Vice,but not all. A familiar regains all spent Willpower by fulfilling its Vice once per chapter, as a mortal does for fulfilling her Virtue.

Integrity:    None. Familiars have no Integrity score.

Numina: Assign 3 dots among Numina. The familiar may take any Numina available to ephemeral entities. All Twilight familiars receive Born of Sin (see below) at no cost.

Ban: The familiar has one Ban, chosen by the Storyteller.

Anchor: The demon's master is its anchor to the material world. There is no limit to how far a familiar may travel from its master.

Manifestation: When the Twilight familiar attempts to manifest in the physical world, use the following modifiers:

Numen: Born of Sin

The Twilight familiar is a creature born of sin, and it can call that sin out in others. The familiar may manipulate the presence of its Vice in another creature, enhancing or redirecting the emotion. The target need not share the familiar's Vice — they need only be experiencing the relevant emotion in some measure. The familiar cannot create a Vice where no seed of it exists.

Enhancing a Vice — making the emotion burn more strongly — costs 1 Essence. Roll Power + Finesse vs. the target's Resolve or Composure (whichever is higher). On a success, the familiar produces a moderate escalation: mild attraction becomes infatuation, mild envy becomes consuming jealousy. An exceptional success allows the familiar to fan even the faintest ember into an inferno, regardless of initial intensity. Changes last one minute per success. This may not be used on the same target more than once per scene.

Redirecting a Vice — shifting the target of the emotion rather than its intensity — costs 2 Essence. Roll Power + Finesse vs. the target's Resolve or Composure (whichever is higher). On a success, the familiar slightly alters the focus of the emotion: a character feeling proud of his work might instead feel that pride directed toward a dangerous overconfidence in a fight; a character's laziness toward her job might be redirected toward laziness about investigating a suspicious noise. The new target must be plausible given the emotion and the circumstances.

Familiar (Embodied)

An Embodied familiar has a physical body and takes the form of an earthly creature. Many of the legendary stories of witches with cunning animal companions — cats, ravens, rats, black dogs — are actually references to Embodied familiars. An Embodied familiar often displays subtle signs of its infernal nature: eyes that gleam an unnatural color in the light, markings that eerily reflect some aspect of its master's appearance, or vocalizations that come unsettlingly close to speech. It moves with a peculiar intelligence no true animal possesses.

Remember that an Embodied familiar is a demon in animal form, not a true animal. Its form may carry one or two unnatural traits — paws with a sickening resemblance to human hands, or a way of sitting still that suggests it is listening to something no one else can hear.

Prerequisite: Calling Forth the Pit Cost: 1 lethal damage + 1 Willpower Dot Dice Pool: None Action: Instant

If the Embodied Familiar Is Slain

If an Embodied familiar is killed, its infernal spirit typically discorporates and returns to Hell. However, the Lucifuge may, as a reflexive action at the moment of the familiar's death, spend 1 Willpower to bind the demon's spirit before it departs. If she does, the familiar immediately becomes a Twilight familiar using the Twilight Familiar Traits above, with Power/Finesse/Resistance equal to its former Mental/Social/Physical Attributes (ST's discretion on mapping). She does not need to re-perform the binding ritual. The familiar retains its personality and memories in its new form, though its physical capabilities are substantially diminished.

The Empathic Bond

As with a Twilight familiar. The Lucifuge and her Embodied familiar share automatic awareness of each other's emotional state. The familiar always understands its master; the master always understands the familiar.

Embodied Familiar Traits

The Storyteller designs the demon's traits with the player's participation.

Attributes (Mental / Physical / Social): 5 / 4 / 3

Skills (Mental / Physical / Social): 9 / 6 / 3

The familiar receives one free dot in Brawl, Larceny, OR Stealth  (choose at creation).

Willpower:    Resolve + Composure

Essence:      10 (maximum 10)

Initiative:   Dexterity + Composure

Defense:      Lowest of Dexterity or Wits

Speed:        Strength + Dexterity + species factor (based on animal type)

Size:         5 or less (based on animal type)

Health:       Stamina + Size

Virtue:       Choose any

Vice:         Choose any. Most share their master's Vice, but not all.  Regains all Willpower by fulfilling Vice once per chapter.

Integrity:    None. Familiars have no Integrity score.

Dread Powers: Assign 4 dots among Dread Powers. All Embodied familiars receive Born of Sin (see above, using Physical + Social Attributes in place of Power + Finesse) and Innocuous (see below) at no cost.

Ban: The familiar has one Ban, chosen by the Storyteller.

Special Trait: Innocuous

Embodied familiars are exceptionally good at going unnoticed. Anyone except the familiar's bonded master suffers a −2 penalty on Perception rolls (Wits + Composure or equivalent) to notice the familiar, unless it does something to actively draw attention to itself.

Special Trait: Through the Eyes

By spending 1 Willpower, the master of an Embodied familiar may shift her perceptions entirely into the familiar. She sees what it sees, hears what it hears, and experiences all its senses. While doing so, she is oblivious to her own surroundings but retains tactile sensation — she is aware of physical damage or sensation to her own body and may end the effect immediately as a reflexive action. She cannot take any action through her own body while viewing through the familiar, though she may issue a short mental command to the familiar as a reflexive action once per turn.