XVI. Devil
“If change is scary and the Devil is scary then it follows that the change is the Devil. Now do you realize how stupid you sound?”
Look, the Devil isn’t really evil. At least, not in the Arcana. Well, not totally.
The Devil Arcana is all about setting obstacles. It’s the Arcana that symbolizes the struggle to succeed, to get out of ruts (or be stuck in one.) It will push and push until you finally succeed. The Devil is an incredible source of power and strength.
That is, if you get along with it. Devil-users are among the worst. They try and test and poke and prod at all of their associates’ weak spots and desires. They offer temptations just as they remind people of the consequences. In short, they’re the assholes and bitches of the Arcana.
Someone has to be. The Devils know that they were given the powers of Persona for a reason. To them it’s not coincidental. They almost seem to have an instinctive sense of where danger is, and it’s their job to ensure that other Persona-users are ready to meet that danger head-on.
They’ve had reason to be quite vigilant in their duty to hone Persona-users to their greatest strength. They’re the victims of exploitation, of freedoms being stripped from them. There is nothing they want more than to establish a status quo where the danger is past, and they’ll do anything to make it happen. While ruthlessness is common in various aspects of the Arcana, nowhere is it more pronounced when possessed by a Devil.
Their inclination to challenge themselves and others make them fast friends with Cards of the Chariot and Strength Arcana, but often puts them in opposition with others. Justicars in particular have a difficult time with them; they think some of the methods they use cross moral boundaries a bit too far for comfort. Powerful Death-users in the other hand find themselves pestered by Devils to create more Persona-users, regardless of the cost. They have many allies, but few friends at best.
Currently their Dealer is Paul Henner, and he’s the asshole’s asshole. A personal trainer by trade, he shapes up his clients with sadistic glee. He loves to push, irritate and annoy, knowing that the results would be worth it in the end. Of all the Dealers, he is the one most willing to pay astonishing costs if the returns are worth it. He pushes his Servitors hard, expecting no less than perfection. In fairness to him he doesn’t expect any more.
Presently Paul is trying to soften the image of the Devil Arcana. He knows that there is power to be gained from establishing as many Social Links as one could. He’s had problems convincing his Servitors of that, however. Most Devils are too ruthless to form relationships that go beyond the mercenary.
The Powers of the Devil
Paul prefers Servitors who are efficient, driven and no-holds barred in their approach. Most enjoy the powers given to them after their times of exploitation. In their minds now they’re the ones in charge, ready to pull other Persona-users into any conflict.
Devil 1: Fiendish Power
Roll: Strength + Stamina + Numina. 1 Numen.
The ability gives Devils the advantage in combat.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Devil adds 1 to Stamina and Strength; the Stamina boost raises his Health by 1 as well.
Exceptional Success: The Devil adds 2 to his Stamina, Strength and Health.
Devil 2: Fog of Brimstone
Roll: Strength + Stamina + Numina. 1 Numen.
This ability creates a burning fog that offers concealment and damages opponents.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: A billowing sulfurous fog surrounds the target area. Visibility is reduced by 50%. Creatures that linger in the fog that need to breathe suffer 1 bashing damage per turn in the fog.
Exceptional Success: The fumes are particularly potent; the damage is 1 lethal per turn.
Devil 3: Inured to Flames
Roll: None. Passive.
Non-supernatural flames affect the Devil-user. Only fires of supernatural origin damage the Devil-user, though their effectiveness is dampened as well. Damage from such sources are reduced by one rank (aggravated becomes lethal, lethal becomes bashing, bashing is ignored.)
Devil 4: Conjure Flaming Weapon
Roll: Stamina + Craft + Numina. 2 Numina.
This ability creates a weapon that the Devil-user may wield in combat.
Exceptional Failure: The power malfunctions, creating a flame that bursts in the Devil-user’s hands for 2 lethal damage.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: A flaming weapon manifests in the Devil-user’s hands. The weapon must be handheld. It is otherwise wielded as a normal weapon, and raises the damage of the weapon by 1 rank.
Devil 5: Fiery Gate
Roll: Strength + Stamina + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. Contested, 3 Numina per turn.
The ability allows the Devil-user to summon Shadows and bind them to his will.
Exceptional Failure: The power empowers the Shadows, and grants them 3 extra Health.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The power binds a number of Shadows equal to his Numina. They will accept simple commands as long as the Devil-user can pay the costs and win every contested turn. If the Devil-user does not banish them and loses a contested roll, the Shadows will attack their summoner.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Temperance
XV. Temperance
“Love is patient, love is kind, love is all kinds of bullshit.”
The members of the Temperance Arcana want to make one thing clear: they’re not sissies.
They’re sick of being told they’re patient, they’re kind, they’re charitable. Yes, they are all these things. But they’re not necessarily nice. Most Temperance Cards are actually quite headstrong. They want things done well, they want things done now, and they make no secret of how they want things to work properly.
The truth is that while the traditional aspect of the Temperance Arcana is harmony, the complete aspect of it is Cooperation. The Cards of Temperance are geared toward making two disparate things function as a working whole. They are the cards of fusion, guiding humankind to their ultimate destinies.
Persona-users are dealt under the hand of Temperance when they’ve been locked in transitional states. The truth is Temperance Arcana users were something else before they were…human.
When a Promethean, changeling, werewolf or vampire finds a way to become permanently human (whatever the means) they will die like all humans do. Unfortunately for them, this doesn’t mean that their existence is over.
By virtue of spite, perversity or what-not, every single Temperance Card was once a supernatural being. The problem is they can’t remember what kind of being they were. All they know is that they have the ability to facilitate dialogue between Persona-users and the supernatural.
They often find themselves cleaning up after the messes of Magicians and Hierophants. It’s in these instances that they find themselves vaguely remembering what they used to be. Some would rather forget and enjoy their hard won humanity, while others want to know why they were freed from one condition of supernatural slavery for another. They want to know what they were, to see if it was better than this. Because of their backgrounds, they end up being the ambassadors for all Arcana, more so than Magicians who poke their nose into other people’s business.
And it’s their Dealer who knows what they were. Kirby Dent used to be a vampire, or so he claims. A night owl, he wonders how he freed himself from the endless night that was his vampiric existence. Instead he finds himself alive, seeing the sun after what feels like forever and he revels in the fact that though now human, he has powers that rival his vampiric devotions.
He remembers what he was by virtue of attaining Dealership of his Arcana, though he’s been instructed by his Arcana that he is not to reveal how. It’s temperate to hide a resource that people would otherwise compete for. What he does however is use the information he has on every one of his Cards as rewards. Do as he says---know who or what you are. It’s a deal that very few Temperance-users can resist.
The Power of Temperance
Kirby has troubled finding Servitors---supernatural beings are few and far between---so he accepts whoever he can. He keeps an eye out for former vampires in particular. He was a vampire himself, so he tends to look warily as those who were Damned.
Temperance 1: Stake Claim
Roll: Strength + Presence + Manipulation.
This power prevents non-Persona supernatural beings from attacking the target.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: An aura surrounds the target. Any supernatural entity who is not a Persona-user has to roll a Willpower check to even approach the target. Even if the roll succeeds, the aura reflects energy that is distasteful to the entity such that it gives him a -1 penalty to die rolls after checking his Willpower.
Exceptional Success: The distasteful energy is so strong that it takes on aspects of the entity’s weakness---sunlight for vampires, silver for werewolves, cold iron for faerie, etc. The beings are affected accordingly.
Temperance 2: Calm Mind
Roll: Presence + Manipulation + Numina. 1 Numina.
This ability temporarily frees its target from fear and other mental compulsions.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and the Temperance-user is struck by his own fears. He suffers a -1 penalty to rolls until he succeeds a Willpower roll to put himself together.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target is relieved from mental compulsions while in the presence of the Temperance-user. He cannot be mentally compelled or attacked but such effects hit him as soon as the Temperance-user departs. This ability can be used to quell Promethean Torment and Disquiet, vampiric rotshrek, et al.
Exceptional Success: The calm is so well established that it remains after the Temperance-user leaves. Newly launched psychic attacks still work, however.
Temperance 3: Gestalt
Roll: Presence + Numina. 2 Numina per person affected
Temperance-users use this ability to speed a group’s ability to get things done.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot work for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user chooses one Skill that he would like a group to share with each other. When he brings the group into a Gestalt, all their scores in that Skill are added to each other and averaged, rounded up. The power lasts for 10 minutes per Temperance Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: The power lasts for 30 minutes per Temperance Arcana rank.
Temperance 4: Social Adhesive
Roll: Presence + Socialize + Numina. 2 Numina per person affected.
This ability otherwise functions as Gestalt, with the Persona-user given 2 Skills to share instead of just 1.
Temperance 5: Eden
Roll: None. 3 Numina, 1 Willpower.
This ability creates a safe zone for all invited to enter. No supernatural powers may work in the target area. In addition, no compulsions (as Calm Mind) are allowed inside either. All beings who enter an Eden are freed from the conditions of their kind (vampires do not need to feed, Prometheans do not spread Disquiet, etc.) Any violence done in an Eden immediately ejects the culprit and he cannot re-enter without spending 2 Willpower to get in. An Eden lasts for 24 hours.
“Love is patient, love is kind, love is all kinds of bullshit.”
The members of the Temperance Arcana want to make one thing clear: they’re not sissies.
They’re sick of being told they’re patient, they’re kind, they’re charitable. Yes, they are all these things. But they’re not necessarily nice. Most Temperance Cards are actually quite headstrong. They want things done well, they want things done now, and they make no secret of how they want things to work properly.
The truth is that while the traditional aspect of the Temperance Arcana is harmony, the complete aspect of it is Cooperation. The Cards of Temperance are geared toward making two disparate things function as a working whole. They are the cards of fusion, guiding humankind to their ultimate destinies.
Persona-users are dealt under the hand of Temperance when they’ve been locked in transitional states. The truth is Temperance Arcana users were something else before they were…human.
When a Promethean, changeling, werewolf or vampire finds a way to become permanently human (whatever the means) they will die like all humans do. Unfortunately for them, this doesn’t mean that their existence is over.
By virtue of spite, perversity or what-not, every single Temperance Card was once a supernatural being. The problem is they can’t remember what kind of being they were. All they know is that they have the ability to facilitate dialogue between Persona-users and the supernatural.
They often find themselves cleaning up after the messes of Magicians and Hierophants. It’s in these instances that they find themselves vaguely remembering what they used to be. Some would rather forget and enjoy their hard won humanity, while others want to know why they were freed from one condition of supernatural slavery for another. They want to know what they were, to see if it was better than this. Because of their backgrounds, they end up being the ambassadors for all Arcana, more so than Magicians who poke their nose into other people’s business.
And it’s their Dealer who knows what they were. Kirby Dent used to be a vampire, or so he claims. A night owl, he wonders how he freed himself from the endless night that was his vampiric existence. Instead he finds himself alive, seeing the sun after what feels like forever and he revels in the fact that though now human, he has powers that rival his vampiric devotions.
He remembers what he was by virtue of attaining Dealership of his Arcana, though he’s been instructed by his Arcana that he is not to reveal how. It’s temperate to hide a resource that people would otherwise compete for. What he does however is use the information he has on every one of his Cards as rewards. Do as he says---know who or what you are. It’s a deal that very few Temperance-users can resist.
The Power of Temperance
Kirby has troubled finding Servitors---supernatural beings are few and far between---so he accepts whoever he can. He keeps an eye out for former vampires in particular. He was a vampire himself, so he tends to look warily as those who were Damned.
Temperance 1: Stake Claim
Roll: Strength + Presence + Manipulation.
This power prevents non-Persona supernatural beings from attacking the target.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: An aura surrounds the target. Any supernatural entity who is not a Persona-user has to roll a Willpower check to even approach the target. Even if the roll succeeds, the aura reflects energy that is distasteful to the entity such that it gives him a -1 penalty to die rolls after checking his Willpower.
Exceptional Success: The distasteful energy is so strong that it takes on aspects of the entity’s weakness---sunlight for vampires, silver for werewolves, cold iron for faerie, etc. The beings are affected accordingly.
Temperance 2: Calm Mind
Roll: Presence + Manipulation + Numina. 1 Numina.
This ability temporarily frees its target from fear and other mental compulsions.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and the Temperance-user is struck by his own fears. He suffers a -1 penalty to rolls until he succeeds a Willpower roll to put himself together.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target is relieved from mental compulsions while in the presence of the Temperance-user. He cannot be mentally compelled or attacked but such effects hit him as soon as the Temperance-user departs. This ability can be used to quell Promethean Torment and Disquiet, vampiric rotshrek, et al.
Exceptional Success: The calm is so well established that it remains after the Temperance-user leaves. Newly launched psychic attacks still work, however.
Temperance 3: Gestalt
Roll: Presence + Numina. 2 Numina per person affected
Temperance-users use this ability to speed a group’s ability to get things done.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot work for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user chooses one Skill that he would like a group to share with each other. When he brings the group into a Gestalt, all their scores in that Skill are added to each other and averaged, rounded up. The power lasts for 10 minutes per Temperance Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: The power lasts for 30 minutes per Temperance Arcana rank.
Temperance 4: Social Adhesive
Roll: Presence + Socialize + Numina. 2 Numina per person affected.
This ability otherwise functions as Gestalt, with the Persona-user given 2 Skills to share instead of just 1.
Temperance 5: Eden
Roll: None. 3 Numina, 1 Willpower.
This ability creates a safe zone for all invited to enter. No supernatural powers may work in the target area. In addition, no compulsions (as Calm Mind) are allowed inside either. All beings who enter an Eden are freed from the conditions of their kind (vampires do not need to feed, Prometheans do not spread Disquiet, etc.) Any violence done in an Eden immediately ejects the culprit and he cannot re-enter without spending 2 Willpower to get in. An Eden lasts for 24 hours.
Death
XIV. Death
“Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”
While all Persona-users have stories of their death, those dealt under the hand of Death have a twist to theirs: they didn’t die. They just caused someone else to.
There’s no mincing words. Every Death-user is a murderer.
Not that they meant to be. In many cases, it was an accident---not seeing the red light, misreading the dosage on the prescription---and for these Death-users, the shame and guilt at causing someone else’s death Awoke them to the power of Persona.
But for some, the murder was intentional. The mercy killing of fallen foes on the battlefield, the children who pulled the life support off of their parents, the serial killer---each faced death and took responsibility for it. These were the individuals who studied death, looked at their choices and chose to terminate a life because the alternative was something they couldn’t live with themselves.
This makes Death-users a surprisingly diverse lot. For every one that is mired in the guilt of ending a life, there are others who live well with their choices. In fact, some are proud of it. They know it takes a certain kind of steel to end a life, and they have it.
It can get to their heads, though society is quick to condemn those who strut their pride in killing. Regardless of how they claimed their power though, their mission is clear: now that they have started doling out death, they cannot stop. It is their duty to end the lives of those whose death will serve special needs.
In particular, they are the Cards who are often responsible for the Awakening of other Persona-users. The are tasked to create the conditions that would Awaken a Persona-user to their power. It’s a grim task, and someone has to do it. Besides, not all Persona-users actually die when they’re about to, right? They’re just awfully close to it? Right? Right?
Their Dealer isn’t answering. Rosario Montenegro is stunningly attractive woman who can turn any head in her direction. She’s calm, steadfast and really quite soft-hearted, as she mourns each soul she must rip from its body, even though it’s for a higher cause.
A great comfort to her is her faith. As Sister Bernadette of the Sisters of Mercy, she’s seen the misery of the human condition in various countries, and the evils caused by human beings who don’t think of the consequences of their actions. When she was much younger, Rosario was raped by a man she thought to be the best friend of her father.
Her father didn’t believe her, and she was beaten as she tried to explain how it wasn’t her fault that he attacked her. In time, the beating intensified as her father’s best friend found out that she was voiceless and continued molesting her and she kept pleading her case to various authorities, to no avail. She was too pretty and she probably asked for it---and this tore at Rosario as she knew this wasn’t the case.
It took two days before anyone noticed that Rosario’s father and his best friend were dead. By then, she had left the state and joined the convent under an assumed name. She uses her powers granted by her Persona to stay hidden, fulfilling the tasks given to her by her Arcana, her salvation.
The Powers of Death
Rosario prefers Servitors who see their duty as a higher calling. She also prefers psychics who could sense death before they Awakened. Among the ranks of Persona-users, Rosario herself is one of the most psychically inclined.
Death 1: Sense Death
Roll: Presence + Empathy.
This ability allows the Persona-user to sense the energies that surround death.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used until the next day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user detects death energies. He will know if any being died in the area that he is presently scanning. In addition, this ability allows him to identify the undead and communicate with them. Ghosts and spirits cannot use the Persona-user as a medium, however, though the Persona-user can speak for the spirits. Vampires, ghouls and other similar undead are detected as well.
Exceptional Success: The Persona-user also finds out the cause of death in a given area. Spirits who lie to him are proven false.
Death 2: Ignore Life
Roll: 1 Numen per turn. Reflexive.
For the duration of the turn, the Death-user ignores any damage he sustains. While he still sustains damage, he cannot feel any pain and is not in danger of fainting or getting knocked out due to extensive damage. He will die if his health runs out, however.
Death 3: Leech Life
Roll: Presence + Empathy + Numina vs. Stamina + Numina. 1 Numen per rank of damage healed.
Death-users use this ability to hasten the end to the lives of others while extending their own.
Exceptional Failure: The power channels backwards. The Death-user suffers the ill-effects of the power.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: For every 1 Numen the Death-user spends, he drains his target of 1 health slash equal to bashing damage. He in turns restores his healthy accordingly.
Exceptional Success: The damage healed and dealt is lethal.
Death 4: Festering Wound
Roll: Presence + Empathy + Numina vs. Stamina + Numina.
The ability ensures that death will come to those who resist it.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for a week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Death-user prevents wounds he inflicts from healing naturally. Those damaged by the Death-user cannot heal their wounds by natural means until after the curse has passed. Curative powers (such as the Moon’s Gentle Touch or Death’s Leech Life) still work. The ability lasts for one day for every Death Arcana rank the Persona-user has.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Death 5: Forced Awakening
Roll: Presence + Empathy + Numina vs. Willpower + Stamina + Numina.
This ability creates another Persona-user.
Exceptional Failure: The strain is too great, and the Death-user is prevented from using his powers of Persona for a day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Death-user forces psychic trauma so powerful that it emulates the effect of death on his target’s system. The target will then stay in a coma for one day for every Numina rank the Death-user has. At the end of each day, the target has to roll a Willpower check to see if he wakes up from the coma. Should he wake up, his power of Persona is activated. He is then Dealt according to his own Arcana. Should the target fail all Willpower rolls, he dies, unable to handle the freed power of his mind.
Exceptional Success: The duration the target may stay in a coma is doubled.
“Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”
While all Persona-users have stories of their death, those dealt under the hand of Death have a twist to theirs: they didn’t die. They just caused someone else to.
There’s no mincing words. Every Death-user is a murderer.
Not that they meant to be. In many cases, it was an accident---not seeing the red light, misreading the dosage on the prescription---and for these Death-users, the shame and guilt at causing someone else’s death Awoke them to the power of Persona.
But for some, the murder was intentional. The mercy killing of fallen foes on the battlefield, the children who pulled the life support off of their parents, the serial killer---each faced death and took responsibility for it. These were the individuals who studied death, looked at their choices and chose to terminate a life because the alternative was something they couldn’t live with themselves.
This makes Death-users a surprisingly diverse lot. For every one that is mired in the guilt of ending a life, there are others who live well with their choices. In fact, some are proud of it. They know it takes a certain kind of steel to end a life, and they have it.
It can get to their heads, though society is quick to condemn those who strut their pride in killing. Regardless of how they claimed their power though, their mission is clear: now that they have started doling out death, they cannot stop. It is their duty to end the lives of those whose death will serve special needs.
In particular, they are the Cards who are often responsible for the Awakening of other Persona-users. The are tasked to create the conditions that would Awaken a Persona-user to their power. It’s a grim task, and someone has to do it. Besides, not all Persona-users actually die when they’re about to, right? They’re just awfully close to it? Right? Right?
Their Dealer isn’t answering. Rosario Montenegro is stunningly attractive woman who can turn any head in her direction. She’s calm, steadfast and really quite soft-hearted, as she mourns each soul she must rip from its body, even though it’s for a higher cause.
A great comfort to her is her faith. As Sister Bernadette of the Sisters of Mercy, she’s seen the misery of the human condition in various countries, and the evils caused by human beings who don’t think of the consequences of their actions. When she was much younger, Rosario was raped by a man she thought to be the best friend of her father.
Her father didn’t believe her, and she was beaten as she tried to explain how it wasn’t her fault that he attacked her. In time, the beating intensified as her father’s best friend found out that she was voiceless and continued molesting her and she kept pleading her case to various authorities, to no avail. She was too pretty and she probably asked for it---and this tore at Rosario as she knew this wasn’t the case.
It took two days before anyone noticed that Rosario’s father and his best friend were dead. By then, she had left the state and joined the convent under an assumed name. She uses her powers granted by her Persona to stay hidden, fulfilling the tasks given to her by her Arcana, her salvation.
The Powers of Death
Rosario prefers Servitors who see their duty as a higher calling. She also prefers psychics who could sense death before they Awakened. Among the ranks of Persona-users, Rosario herself is one of the most psychically inclined.
Death 1: Sense Death
Roll: Presence + Empathy.
This ability allows the Persona-user to sense the energies that surround death.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used until the next day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user detects death energies. He will know if any being died in the area that he is presently scanning. In addition, this ability allows him to identify the undead and communicate with them. Ghosts and spirits cannot use the Persona-user as a medium, however, though the Persona-user can speak for the spirits. Vampires, ghouls and other similar undead are detected as well.
Exceptional Success: The Persona-user also finds out the cause of death in a given area. Spirits who lie to him are proven false.
Death 2: Ignore Life
Roll: 1 Numen per turn. Reflexive.
For the duration of the turn, the Death-user ignores any damage he sustains. While he still sustains damage, he cannot feel any pain and is not in danger of fainting or getting knocked out due to extensive damage. He will die if his health runs out, however.
Death 3: Leech Life
Roll: Presence + Empathy + Numina vs. Stamina + Numina. 1 Numen per rank of damage healed.
Death-users use this ability to hasten the end to the lives of others while extending their own.
Exceptional Failure: The power channels backwards. The Death-user suffers the ill-effects of the power.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: For every 1 Numen the Death-user spends, he drains his target of 1 health slash equal to bashing damage. He in turns restores his healthy accordingly.
Exceptional Success: The damage healed and dealt is lethal.
Death 4: Festering Wound
Roll: Presence + Empathy + Numina vs. Stamina + Numina.
The ability ensures that death will come to those who resist it.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for a week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Death-user prevents wounds he inflicts from healing naturally. Those damaged by the Death-user cannot heal their wounds by natural means until after the curse has passed. Curative powers (such as the Moon’s Gentle Touch or Death’s Leech Life) still work. The ability lasts for one day for every Death Arcana rank the Persona-user has.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Death 5: Forced Awakening
Roll: Presence + Empathy + Numina vs. Willpower + Stamina + Numina.
This ability creates another Persona-user.
Exceptional Failure: The strain is too great, and the Death-user is prevented from using his powers of Persona for a day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Death-user forces psychic trauma so powerful that it emulates the effect of death on his target’s system. The target will then stay in a coma for one day for every Numina rank the Death-user has. At the end of each day, the target has to roll a Willpower check to see if he wakes up from the coma. Should he wake up, his power of Persona is activated. He is then Dealt according to his own Arcana. Should the target fail all Willpower rolls, he dies, unable to handle the freed power of his mind.
Exceptional Success: The duration the target may stay in a coma is doubled.
Hanged Man
XIII. The Hanged Man
“Look here, kid. I’m not here to make you miserable. I’m just here to make sure you do something about it.”
The Hanged Man Arcana is the Arcana of consequences, of negotiating human suffering. The Awakening of a new Hanged Man is often a cause for concern among other Persona-users: it means someone, somewhere, is going to feel hurt deeply. And while it’s no guarantee that it’s Hanged Man fault, it’s sure that he will do something about it.
Hanged Men usually have tragic pasts; the number of betrayals and suicides suffered by the members of the Arcana are second to none. As a result, they are sensitive to the nuances of pain and despair. Disturbingly, some have learned to revel in it.
The Arcana calls to it those who are capable of surviving the morass that is human suffering. Its duty is clear: to ensure the survival of the human race, it must weed out those who would be victims to the darkest of emotions. In a way, the Arcana does what other Arcana, even Justice, would not: to weed out the infirm, the weak, the spineless. They especially target the ranks of new Persona-users.
The reasons are abundant: the damage that emotionally irresponsible Persona-users can be irreparable. If allowed to grow, the destruction wreaked could be such that the emotional turmoil spills into the Fog or the Dark Hour. It is an option that no one wants to encourage. Yet the task of culling the ranks has always fallen to those dealt under the Hanged Man.
Because they are so familiar with the sense of despair and wrongdoing, most Hanged Men are grim and easily displeased by merriment. What’s there to laugh about, they grouse. In truth, they would like nothing better than to have a reason for joy. Unfortunately thanks to their duty and their own backgrounds, reasons are not forthcoming.
The other Arcana watch how they act among other Hanged Men because they know their worst feelings are watched and monitored by the grim Arcana. The so-called Arcana of Light (Star and Sun) tend to want to “fix” the Hanged, but most of their efforts are futile at best. There is no light for the Hanged while their tragedy continues. This however, does not block them from positive emotions---except that these rarely last for long. A happy Hanged Man will be guarded about his happiness at best, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Dealer of the Hanged Man is a sharp old woman simply known as the Gardener. She is the oldest of the Dealers, claiming to have held the office for over three millennia. She certainly looks it. She is rail thin and brittle seeming. The alacrity with which she wields her shears however, is something to behold. It’s often the last thing those who make the mistake of underestimating her see.
The Gardener’s tragedy is long shrouded in mystery. What’s certain is she has mastered the aspects of her Persona more so than any other Dealer. It grants her considerable power, so much so that she has slain fellow Dealers when tasked to by her Arcana. In the few times that the Dealers gather to play or trade their Cards, she is the final arbiter of all disputes by virtue of seniority, but her reputation for ruthlessness keeps any from liking her.
Her Garden is a place to behold: what one thinks are roses are actually human faces contorted past the point of recognition. These she prunes and cares for, showing care and concern to her plants where she otherwise has none for foolish mortals.
The Powers of the Hanged Men
Hanged Man 1: Know Despair
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina.
This ability allows the Hanged Man to see the darkest part of a being’s heart.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for the rest of the day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hanged Man knows the darkest, most despairing event of his target’s life. When used against Shadows, it allows the Hanged Man to know their weaknesses.
Exceptional Success: The Hanged Man knows what act will cleanse his target of his despair.
Hanged Man 2: Torment Mind
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina.
Not to be confused with the Promethean condition, this ability allows the Hanged Man to slowly crush the ego of his target.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and its effects are felt by the Hanged Man.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target feels enervated, drained by his negative thoughts. He suffers a -1 penalty to all rolls for the next turn.
Exceptional Success: The penalty is raised to -2.
Hanged Man 3: Repel Apathy
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy. 1 Numen.
This ability allows the Hanged Man to help fellow Persona-users from succumbing to despair and numbness caused by traversing the Dark Hour.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target is cleared of despair. He gets a dice bonus to resist Apathy equal to the Hanged Man Arcana rank of the Persona-user.
Exceptional Success: The target automatically succeeds his roll to resist Apathy.
Hanged Man 4: Condemned Soul
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. 2 Numina.
This ability forces its victim to live through his Vices.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and affects the Hanged Man instead.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The victim is forced to live his life using his Vice. He cannot restore Willpower by acting out his Virtue while the power is in effect, though he can still restore Willpower by acting out his Vice. In addition to this, he comes more vulnerable to psychic assaults, suffering a -2 penalty to resist the powers wielded by other Persona-users. Finally, the victim radiates an aura of negativity around him, reducing his Presence rolls by 1 die. The power lasts for a day per Hanged Man Arcana rank.
Exceptional Success: The power is so potently wielded that he suffers the effects of Tormented Mind as well. The effects are cumulative.
Hanged Man 5: To Cut One’s Thread
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. 3 Numina.
This power is the most dangerous ability of the Hanged Man, forcing his opponent to terminate his own life.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires with so much negative energy backlash that the Hanged Man receives 2 aggravated damage.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The victim starts finding ways to end his own life. He will chose the most effective way to end it (i.e., act that will cause aggravated damage) within his own means. Should he not die immediately, he will continue using the most damaging method for the duration of the power. The power lasts for 1 turn per Hanged Man Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: The self-loathing is so intense that the power lasts for a day. If the victim is to survive, he must be restrained from doing so or the Hanged Man relents.
“Look here, kid. I’m not here to make you miserable. I’m just here to make sure you do something about it.”
The Hanged Man Arcana is the Arcana of consequences, of negotiating human suffering. The Awakening of a new Hanged Man is often a cause for concern among other Persona-users: it means someone, somewhere, is going to feel hurt deeply. And while it’s no guarantee that it’s Hanged Man fault, it’s sure that he will do something about it.
Hanged Men usually have tragic pasts; the number of betrayals and suicides suffered by the members of the Arcana are second to none. As a result, they are sensitive to the nuances of pain and despair. Disturbingly, some have learned to revel in it.
The Arcana calls to it those who are capable of surviving the morass that is human suffering. Its duty is clear: to ensure the survival of the human race, it must weed out those who would be victims to the darkest of emotions. In a way, the Arcana does what other Arcana, even Justice, would not: to weed out the infirm, the weak, the spineless. They especially target the ranks of new Persona-users.
The reasons are abundant: the damage that emotionally irresponsible Persona-users can be irreparable. If allowed to grow, the destruction wreaked could be such that the emotional turmoil spills into the Fog or the Dark Hour. It is an option that no one wants to encourage. Yet the task of culling the ranks has always fallen to those dealt under the Hanged Man.
Because they are so familiar with the sense of despair and wrongdoing, most Hanged Men are grim and easily displeased by merriment. What’s there to laugh about, they grouse. In truth, they would like nothing better than to have a reason for joy. Unfortunately thanks to their duty and their own backgrounds, reasons are not forthcoming.
The other Arcana watch how they act among other Hanged Men because they know their worst feelings are watched and monitored by the grim Arcana. The so-called Arcana of Light (Star and Sun) tend to want to “fix” the Hanged, but most of their efforts are futile at best. There is no light for the Hanged while their tragedy continues. This however, does not block them from positive emotions---except that these rarely last for long. A happy Hanged Man will be guarded about his happiness at best, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Dealer of the Hanged Man is a sharp old woman simply known as the Gardener. She is the oldest of the Dealers, claiming to have held the office for over three millennia. She certainly looks it. She is rail thin and brittle seeming. The alacrity with which she wields her shears however, is something to behold. It’s often the last thing those who make the mistake of underestimating her see.
The Gardener’s tragedy is long shrouded in mystery. What’s certain is she has mastered the aspects of her Persona more so than any other Dealer. It grants her considerable power, so much so that she has slain fellow Dealers when tasked to by her Arcana. In the few times that the Dealers gather to play or trade their Cards, she is the final arbiter of all disputes by virtue of seniority, but her reputation for ruthlessness keeps any from liking her.
Her Garden is a place to behold: what one thinks are roses are actually human faces contorted past the point of recognition. These she prunes and cares for, showing care and concern to her plants where she otherwise has none for foolish mortals.
The Powers of the Hanged Men
Hanged Man 1: Know Despair
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina.
This ability allows the Hanged Man to see the darkest part of a being’s heart.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for the rest of the day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hanged Man knows the darkest, most despairing event of his target’s life. When used against Shadows, it allows the Hanged Man to know their weaknesses.
Exceptional Success: The Hanged Man knows what act will cleanse his target of his despair.
Hanged Man 2: Torment Mind
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina.
Not to be confused with the Promethean condition, this ability allows the Hanged Man to slowly crush the ego of his target.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and its effects are felt by the Hanged Man.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target feels enervated, drained by his negative thoughts. He suffers a -1 penalty to all rolls for the next turn.
Exceptional Success: The penalty is raised to -2.
Hanged Man 3: Repel Apathy
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy. 1 Numen.
This ability allows the Hanged Man to help fellow Persona-users from succumbing to despair and numbness caused by traversing the Dark Hour.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target is cleared of despair. He gets a dice bonus to resist Apathy equal to the Hanged Man Arcana rank of the Persona-user.
Exceptional Success: The target automatically succeeds his roll to resist Apathy.
Hanged Man 4: Condemned Soul
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. 2 Numina.
This ability forces its victim to live through his Vices.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and affects the Hanged Man instead.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The victim is forced to live his life using his Vice. He cannot restore Willpower by acting out his Virtue while the power is in effect, though he can still restore Willpower by acting out his Vice. In addition to this, he comes more vulnerable to psychic assaults, suffering a -2 penalty to resist the powers wielded by other Persona-users. Finally, the victim radiates an aura of negativity around him, reducing his Presence rolls by 1 die. The power lasts for a day per Hanged Man Arcana rank.
Exceptional Success: The power is so potently wielded that he suffers the effects of Tormented Mind as well. The effects are cumulative.
Hanged Man 5: To Cut One’s Thread
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. 3 Numina.
This power is the most dangerous ability of the Hanged Man, forcing his opponent to terminate his own life.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires with so much negative energy backlash that the Hanged Man receives 2 aggravated damage.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The victim starts finding ways to end his own life. He will chose the most effective way to end it (i.e., act that will cause aggravated damage) within his own means. Should he not die immediately, he will continue using the most damaging method for the duration of the power. The power lasts for 1 turn per Hanged Man Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: The self-loathing is so intense that the power lasts for a day. If the victim is to survive, he must be restrained from doing so or the Hanged Man relents.
The Wheel/Fortune
XII. The Wheel/Fortune
The Wheel, or simply Fortune, is the Arcana of chance and luck. It plays on the seemingly coincidental events that affect a human life. When upright, the Arcana is a blessing; when reversed, the worst kind of coincidences seem to happen. For these reasons, it is the most neutral of the Major Arcana: for all that people want good fortune, no one wants to court disaster either.
Servitors of the Fortune Arcana are the daredevils of the Arcana. They take risks where others see impossibilities. They try to be the best at their desired fields, always pushing, always striving for success. They share this characteristic with Chariots, but where Chariots are fond of their ambitions getting realized, Fortune Cards do not see the point of ambition. They just go for yet another challenge. They do not like certainty; hence they find themselves in increasingly difficult ventures.
They do not like the staid and familiar. In truth, those who are dealt under the hand of the Wheel are the adventuresome members of the Major Arcana.
Servitors are chosen when they die due to their own recklessness. They tried the hand of Fate and they lost. They are usually the ones who die out of accidents, miscalculations in their own skill. Because they are so into risk and getting to places where risk is great, they are often a hardy bunch.
Still, it would be wise not to confuse recklessness with foolishness. Fortune Cards do not spend their lives needlessly. They simply know that the prizes are sweeter when the stakes are higher.
To be a Card of Fortune however also means to be branded by a particular fate. They can’t avoid it; oftentimes, it’s something that’s already happened to them. In some cases, it was to be born poor; in others, to be born the wrong sex. Regardless, all Persona-users dealt under the hand of Fortune find themselves trying to escape or outplay something that was irrevocably assigned to them. Few are successful.
The Dealer of the Fortune Arcana is Henry O’Leary. Quintessentially Irish, he seemingly possesses the bountiful luck of his madcap race. He’s certainly needed all of it---an extreme sports junkie, he’s risked life and limb searching for that greater hit to his adrenaline. He runs on endorphins, and seeks thrill with aplomb. He is perhaps the most whimsical of the Dealers; if a Card’s actions can be interpreted as “letting Fortune have a go,” he allows it. This practically means anything, and his Servitors love him for it.
For all his luck however, Henry cannot escape the one detestation of his life: his title. Though Irish royalty has thought to have been eliminated centuries ago, he cannot change the fact that he’s truly an O’ Conor Don---one of the legendary lines of royalty from the former kingdom of Connacht---and this obligates him to a host of duties that he’d rather not do. As he still hasn’t provided an heir, those few who know of his ancestry would rather he didn’t quite act the skylark.
Henry’s begun to think of settling down and having children (on the side) but the idea of settling down disturbs him. He’s always been one to take risks and chances, but he’s not sure if he’s abrogating the tenets of his Arcana if he decides to stop doing so. It’s a paradoxical risk he’s decided to take, and so far the Arcana favors him for it.
The Powers of Fortune
Fortune 1: Favored Dice
Roll: Wits + Expression. 1 Numen. Reflexive.
Fortune-users use this ability to alter their luck.
Exceptional Failure: The ability cannot be used for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Fortune-user can change one of his failed rolls into a success. This ability has to be used immediately after another roll and before the outcome of the roll is narrated.
Exceptional Success: The Fortune-user can change two of his failed rolls into successes. The ability otherwise functions as a success.
Fortune 2: Second Chances
Roll: Wits + Expression + Numina. 1 Numen. Reflexive.
There’s always a second chance, Fortune-users say.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and the Fortune-user loses use of all Fortune-based powers for a turn.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: Use of this ability allows the Fortune-user to perform an action he previously failed with a bonus number of dice equal to his Fortune Arcana rank. He still must pay the costs for the ability, if any.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Fortune 3: Stacking the Odds
Roll: Wits + Expression + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. 1 Numen per contested turn.
This ability allows the Persona-user to manipulate events to his opponent’s disadvantage.
Exceptional Failure: He suffers the effects of the ability.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Fortune-user can negate the successes of his opponent for every success that he garners. For example, a Fortune-user faces another Persona-user and uses this ability against him. The contested roll results in 3 successes for the Fortune-user. In the next turn, the Persona-user attacks, and scores 2 successes against the Fortune-user. Before damage is resolved, the Fortune-user spends 2 of his successes to negate the 2 successes of his opponent. Because the successes of the Persona-user are negated, the attack fails. The Fortune-user still has 1 success he can use later in the turn. The power only works on the successes of the target.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Fortune 4: Improve Odds
Roll: None. 3 Numina.
For the next roll, a success is counted if the die falls from 4-10. Rolls are failures if they fall on 1,2 or 3. The 9-again or 10-again rule still applies for rolls that fall on 9 or 10.
Fortune 5: Fortune Favors the Brave
Roll: Wits + Expression + Numina. 2 Numina, and 1 Willpower point.
This ability is used by Fortune-users who have nothing left to lose in battle.
Exceptional Failure: The Fortune-user becomes more vulnerable in battle. His opponents gain the benefits of the ability.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: For the next turn, all damage ranks inflicted by the Fortune-user are raised: bashing damage becomes lethal, lethal become aggravated. If the Fortune-user already inflicts aggravated damage to begin with, all his strikes leave a target Crippled.
Exceptional Success: The ability lasts for the duration of the scene.
The Wheel, or simply Fortune, is the Arcana of chance and luck. It plays on the seemingly coincidental events that affect a human life. When upright, the Arcana is a blessing; when reversed, the worst kind of coincidences seem to happen. For these reasons, it is the most neutral of the Major Arcana: for all that people want good fortune, no one wants to court disaster either.
Servitors of the Fortune Arcana are the daredevils of the Arcana. They take risks where others see impossibilities. They try to be the best at their desired fields, always pushing, always striving for success. They share this characteristic with Chariots, but where Chariots are fond of their ambitions getting realized, Fortune Cards do not see the point of ambition. They just go for yet another challenge. They do not like certainty; hence they find themselves in increasingly difficult ventures.
They do not like the staid and familiar. In truth, those who are dealt under the hand of the Wheel are the adventuresome members of the Major Arcana.
Servitors are chosen when they die due to their own recklessness. They tried the hand of Fate and they lost. They are usually the ones who die out of accidents, miscalculations in their own skill. Because they are so into risk and getting to places where risk is great, they are often a hardy bunch.
Still, it would be wise not to confuse recklessness with foolishness. Fortune Cards do not spend their lives needlessly. They simply know that the prizes are sweeter when the stakes are higher.
To be a Card of Fortune however also means to be branded by a particular fate. They can’t avoid it; oftentimes, it’s something that’s already happened to them. In some cases, it was to be born poor; in others, to be born the wrong sex. Regardless, all Persona-users dealt under the hand of Fortune find themselves trying to escape or outplay something that was irrevocably assigned to them. Few are successful.
The Dealer of the Fortune Arcana is Henry O’Leary. Quintessentially Irish, he seemingly possesses the bountiful luck of his madcap race. He’s certainly needed all of it---an extreme sports junkie, he’s risked life and limb searching for that greater hit to his adrenaline. He runs on endorphins, and seeks thrill with aplomb. He is perhaps the most whimsical of the Dealers; if a Card’s actions can be interpreted as “letting Fortune have a go,” he allows it. This practically means anything, and his Servitors love him for it.
For all his luck however, Henry cannot escape the one detestation of his life: his title. Though Irish royalty has thought to have been eliminated centuries ago, he cannot change the fact that he’s truly an O’ Conor Don---one of the legendary lines of royalty from the former kingdom of Connacht---and this obligates him to a host of duties that he’d rather not do. As he still hasn’t provided an heir, those few who know of his ancestry would rather he didn’t quite act the skylark.
Henry’s begun to think of settling down and having children (on the side) but the idea of settling down disturbs him. He’s always been one to take risks and chances, but he’s not sure if he’s abrogating the tenets of his Arcana if he decides to stop doing so. It’s a paradoxical risk he’s decided to take, and so far the Arcana favors him for it.
The Powers of Fortune
Fortune 1: Favored Dice
Roll: Wits + Expression. 1 Numen. Reflexive.
Fortune-users use this ability to alter their luck.
Exceptional Failure: The ability cannot be used for another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Fortune-user can change one of his failed rolls into a success. This ability has to be used immediately after another roll and before the outcome of the roll is narrated.
Exceptional Success: The Fortune-user can change two of his failed rolls into successes. The ability otherwise functions as a success.
Fortune 2: Second Chances
Roll: Wits + Expression + Numina. 1 Numen. Reflexive.
There’s always a second chance, Fortune-users say.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and the Fortune-user loses use of all Fortune-based powers for a turn.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: Use of this ability allows the Fortune-user to perform an action he previously failed with a bonus number of dice equal to his Fortune Arcana rank. He still must pay the costs for the ability, if any.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Fortune 3: Stacking the Odds
Roll: Wits + Expression + Numina vs. Willpower + Numina. 1 Numen per contested turn.
This ability allows the Persona-user to manipulate events to his opponent’s disadvantage.
Exceptional Failure: He suffers the effects of the ability.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Fortune-user can negate the successes of his opponent for every success that he garners. For example, a Fortune-user faces another Persona-user and uses this ability against him. The contested roll results in 3 successes for the Fortune-user. In the next turn, the Persona-user attacks, and scores 2 successes against the Fortune-user. Before damage is resolved, the Fortune-user spends 2 of his successes to negate the 2 successes of his opponent. Because the successes of the Persona-user are negated, the attack fails. The Fortune-user still has 1 success he can use later in the turn. The power only works on the successes of the target.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Fortune 4: Improve Odds
Roll: None. 3 Numina.
For the next roll, a success is counted if the die falls from 4-10. Rolls are failures if they fall on 1,2 or 3. The 9-again or 10-again rule still applies for rolls that fall on 9 or 10.
Fortune 5: Fortune Favors the Brave
Roll: Wits + Expression + Numina. 2 Numina, and 1 Willpower point.
This ability is used by Fortune-users who have nothing left to lose in battle.
Exceptional Failure: The Fortune-user becomes more vulnerable in battle. His opponents gain the benefits of the ability.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: For the next turn, all damage ranks inflicted by the Fortune-user are raised: bashing damage becomes lethal, lethal become aggravated. If the Fortune-user already inflicts aggravated damage to begin with, all his strikes leave a target Crippled.
Exceptional Success: The ability lasts for the duration of the scene.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Lovers
XI. The Lovers
“Choose me, need me, love me.”
The Lovers Arcana is not about romance; it’s about love. It’s not about infatuation, but passion. At least, this the propaganda spread by Cards of the Lovers Arcana. They’ve been labeled as vain narcissists more times than they could count, vapid airheads who’d like nothing more than night after night of hedonistic pleasure.
The truth is they are prone to violent moods of passion and fire. They are after all, the victims of love and obsession. While they themselves can be sometimes be cool and detached, the same can’t be said of the emotions they illicit. They know the buttons to press; they crave love and attention---though sometimes they just don’t know it.
Sometimes it moves them to acts of desperation. The need for love is true and palpable. It is this fervor and passion that often led to their deaths, but for some reason or another they cannot let go of that feeling of love, want and lust.
The Lovers Arcana is unique in that it always has two full Dealers rather the usual one. As Dealers, they have sway over all their Cards equally.
Problems occur however when the Dealers disagree on how sensitive cases should be dealt with. And in a perverse way, that how the Arcana seems to like it. Every pair of Dealers is special: they killed each other.
Having to work with the person responsible for your death is bound to create tensions in the relationship. It feels even odder that the same person is responsible for your Awakening to power. Such tensions are bound to tear any couple apart, but their forced joining brings exquisite torment to the pair.
The current Dealers are Paul and Violet DuPond. They don’t like talking about how they killed each other, but they have shown a phobia of moving vehicles.
Paul is an aggressive Dealer. He likes sending his Cards to missions, trying to find ways to get his Arcana more respect than he feels it is currently getting. Paul prefers learning other destructive techniques; his passion is militant and fiery. He believes he died because he was weak to accept the simpering love of Violet. In truth, all he would like to have is for her to grow and be the partner he thought could be.
Ironically, Violet feels the same way. She thinks that Paul is to blame for their current predicament. Sure, she likes the power but she could live without it. To spite him, she looks to her Cards for solace. It doesn’t take much to drive Paul into a raging jealousy. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise her anymore that the most dangerous missions go the Cards she favors.
The Powers of the Lovers
Either Dealer prefers Lovers who know of the true precept of the Lovers: to enjoy Freedom as it is presented. It is their greatest irony that they love each other, but would rather be free of each other as well.
Lovers 1: Know Desire
Roll: Manipulation + Expression + Numina.
The Lover will know what his target’s greatest desire is.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The character knows the target’s chief desire. It could be a person, goal or ambition. Since most targets have multiple desires, Lovers try to use this power at moments that they feel a target might be at his most ardent to confirm their suspicions.
Exceptional Success: The Lover finds out what the true chief desire of the target is.
Lovers 2: A Touch of Glamour
Roll: Presence + Expression + Numina. 1 Numina.
Lovers use this to present themselves in the best possible light; the ability is such that they resemble or look like a means to their target’s greatest desire. This ability does not need Know Desire to work.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and becomes the object of the target’s disgust.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Lover projects the attributes of the target’s chief desires. He gains a +2 bonus to all dice rolls pertaining to Manipulation or Presence for the duration of the scene.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Lovers 3: Heart Burn
Roll: Manipulation + Expression + Numina vs. Composure + Numina. 1 Numen.
The Lover stirs the desires of his target so much that he is driven to acts of desperation to claim the ardor of his desire.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, making the Lover feel the effects of the ability.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Lover instills a desire so fervent that the target cannot focus on anything else. The target must make a Willpower roll to perform any action that is not what he thinks is in the best interest of the object of his desires. The desire lasts for 10 minutes per Lovers Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: The desired instilled is so great that it lasts for 2 days per Lovers Arcana Rank.
Lovers 4: Whatever God has Joined…
Roll: Expression + Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina.
Lovers use this to know where their targets are, binding them to their psychic awareness.
Exceptional Failure: The link breaks, and a link cannot be established with that person for at least another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: A psychic link is established between the Lover and his target. The Lover knows the general location of the target, his health and the state of his wellbeing. Lovers using this ability know the instant something wrong might have occurred to his target. The link lasts for one week for every Arcana Rank the Lover possesses.
Exceptional Success: The link is so strong that two-way communication can be established through it. Thoughts, feelings and words can be sent from the Lover to his target, and vice versa. The target must be made aware that the link exists, however.
Lovers 5: …Let No Man Tear Asunder!
Roll: Expression + Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina. Reflexive.
This power is similar to that of Lovers 4, with a few key differences. First, the Lover can establish a link with as many targets as his Composure rating, provided he can pay the cost per link. In addition, the ability always operates under the description of an Exceptional Success.
“Choose me, need me, love me.”
The Lovers Arcana is not about romance; it’s about love. It’s not about infatuation, but passion. At least, this the propaganda spread by Cards of the Lovers Arcana. They’ve been labeled as vain narcissists more times than they could count, vapid airheads who’d like nothing more than night after night of hedonistic pleasure.
The truth is they are prone to violent moods of passion and fire. They are after all, the victims of love and obsession. While they themselves can be sometimes be cool and detached, the same can’t be said of the emotions they illicit. They know the buttons to press; they crave love and attention---though sometimes they just don’t know it.
Sometimes it moves them to acts of desperation. The need for love is true and palpable. It is this fervor and passion that often led to their deaths, but for some reason or another they cannot let go of that feeling of love, want and lust.
The Lovers Arcana is unique in that it always has two full Dealers rather the usual one. As Dealers, they have sway over all their Cards equally.
Problems occur however when the Dealers disagree on how sensitive cases should be dealt with. And in a perverse way, that how the Arcana seems to like it. Every pair of Dealers is special: they killed each other.
Having to work with the person responsible for your death is bound to create tensions in the relationship. It feels even odder that the same person is responsible for your Awakening to power. Such tensions are bound to tear any couple apart, but their forced joining brings exquisite torment to the pair.
The current Dealers are Paul and Violet DuPond. They don’t like talking about how they killed each other, but they have shown a phobia of moving vehicles.
Paul is an aggressive Dealer. He likes sending his Cards to missions, trying to find ways to get his Arcana more respect than he feels it is currently getting. Paul prefers learning other destructive techniques; his passion is militant and fiery. He believes he died because he was weak to accept the simpering love of Violet. In truth, all he would like to have is for her to grow and be the partner he thought could be.
Ironically, Violet feels the same way. She thinks that Paul is to blame for their current predicament. Sure, she likes the power but she could live without it. To spite him, she looks to her Cards for solace. It doesn’t take much to drive Paul into a raging jealousy. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise her anymore that the most dangerous missions go the Cards she favors.
The Powers of the Lovers
Either Dealer prefers Lovers who know of the true precept of the Lovers: to enjoy Freedom as it is presented. It is their greatest irony that they love each other, but would rather be free of each other as well.
Lovers 1: Know Desire
Roll: Manipulation + Expression + Numina.
The Lover will know what his target’s greatest desire is.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The character knows the target’s chief desire. It could be a person, goal or ambition. Since most targets have multiple desires, Lovers try to use this power at moments that they feel a target might be at his most ardent to confirm their suspicions.
Exceptional Success: The Lover finds out what the true chief desire of the target is.
Lovers 2: A Touch of Glamour
Roll: Presence + Expression + Numina. 1 Numina.
Lovers use this to present themselves in the best possible light; the ability is such that they resemble or look like a means to their target’s greatest desire. This ability does not need Know Desire to work.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, and becomes the object of the target’s disgust.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Lover projects the attributes of the target’s chief desires. He gains a +2 bonus to all dice rolls pertaining to Manipulation or Presence for the duration of the scene.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Lovers 3: Heart Burn
Roll: Manipulation + Expression + Numina vs. Composure + Numina. 1 Numen.
The Lover stirs the desires of his target so much that he is driven to acts of desperation to claim the ardor of his desire.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, making the Lover feel the effects of the ability.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Lover instills a desire so fervent that the target cannot focus on anything else. The target must make a Willpower roll to perform any action that is not what he thinks is in the best interest of the object of his desires. The desire lasts for 10 minutes per Lovers Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: The desired instilled is so great that it lasts for 2 days per Lovers Arcana Rank.
Lovers 4: Whatever God has Joined…
Roll: Expression + Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina.
Lovers use this to know where their targets are, binding them to their psychic awareness.
Exceptional Failure: The link breaks, and a link cannot be established with that person for at least another week.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: A psychic link is established between the Lover and his target. The Lover knows the general location of the target, his health and the state of his wellbeing. Lovers using this ability know the instant something wrong might have occurred to his target. The link lasts for one week for every Arcana Rank the Lover possesses.
Exceptional Success: The link is so strong that two-way communication can be established through it. Thoughts, feelings and words can be sent from the Lover to his target, and vice versa. The target must be made aware that the link exists, however.
Lovers 5: …Let No Man Tear Asunder!
Roll: Expression + Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina. Reflexive.
This power is similar to that of Lovers 4, with a few key differences. First, the Lover can establish a link with as many targets as his Composure rating, provided he can pay the cost per link. In addition, the ability always operates under the description of an Exceptional Success.
Hierophant
X. The Hierophant
“Chill man. Listen to your heart and shit.”
Fonts of spiritual power, the Hierophant Arcana is the Arcana of the ordered mind: logical, empowered, mystical. Capable of plumbing the depths of mysteries and making them clear to the world, most Hierophants are scientists, preachers and gurus to an increasingly jaded world.
Well, they used to be. Nowadays they’re the dregs. Hierophant Cards are traditionally the inheritors of forbidden knowledge. They were the keepers of the flame, warriors of knowledge who ransacked both Heaven and Hell for celestial science and art. Today however, not much is forbidden---save knowledge kept shrouded in the Fog, or lost to the Dark Hour.
As a result, most Hierophants find themselves in the Dark Hour, frantically searching for the little gems of wisdom and human insight often locked there by Shadows or even more nefarious personages. If not there, they’re wading through the Fog, hoping to record a new Persona or charting the various weaknesses of Shadows. It is not an easy life.
It is not rare for a Hierophant to get so afflicted by Apathy that he remains in the Fog or stops keeping the Dark Hour. He becomes his own worst enemy, a shade sending nightmares of his own design back to the waking world. Many Hierophants have turned to the bad. It’s a topic that Hierophants vociferously deny but deny just a little bit too much.
Hierophants are chosen when their deaths are the result of forbidden knowledge. They can be the target of spells, curses or what not. They could have stumbled on classified government information that no one alive could keep. While Magicians search for the information to find out what they don’t know, Hierophants live again to make sure that such information never falls into the wrong hands---aside from their own, of course.
The Dealer of the Hierophant Arcana is simply called Mentor, Odysseus’ teacher and the form Athena took to guide Telemacchus on his own voyage to find his father. It is a role reserved for the most thoughtful of the Hierophants.
Unfortunately, the current Mentor is so addled by Apathy that he’s taken to distributing drugs and getting high whenever he can. He is numb from his experiences in the Fog but he still feels quite keenly the call of duty and service he signed up for the day he was designated Mentor to the Arcana. His forced forays into the waking world to help new Hierophants tax his sanity and patience, requiring more and more drugs for him calm down afterwards. His fellow senior Hierophants have begun to talk quietly of finding a replacement---at least, that’s what his paranoid thinking tells him.
In truth, it might be some time before a new Mentor is chosen. The current Dealer is a crafty and powerful Persona-user who completed many Social Links in his time. Eliminating him and making space for a new successor will be a tricky endeavor indeed.
The Power of the Hierophant
The current Mentor prefers Servitors who are trustworthy, silent and stay out of his way. He brooks no criticism from his Servitors. He blithely sends them along on dangerous missions to the Fog with nary a twinge of guilt. This behavior causes many of his Servitors to hate him, while the rest worry. Luckily, the remaining experienced Hierophants have taken up the slack to train their younger brethren.
Hierophant 1: Psychometry
Roll: Intelligence + Academics or Occult + Numina.
Hierophants use this ability to see into the past by reading the psychic imprints left on an object.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function. The Persona-user is inundated with so many images that he is overwhelmed and cannot use the power for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user sees in his mind an event (at the Storyteller’s discretion) that is charged with powerful psychic energy. It could be an intense emotion, or the expenditure of Numina.
Exceptional Success: The Persona-user can “scan” the object’s past and read key events in the object’s history for up to a number of days equal to his Arcana rank.
Hierophant 2: Steal Memories
Roll: Intelligence + Wits + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina. 1 Numina.
Hierophants use this ability to rifle through the memories of their targets.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, sending thoughts and memories to the target. The target gets the benefits of the ability while the Hierophant suffers the effects.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: For every success that the Hierophant scores, he is allowed to absorb the recent memories of his target for a duration of up to 1 day per Arcana Rank. He can select a number of memories equal to his Arcana Rank and retain those for himself. The rest of the memories flow back into his target. The target will know he’s forgotten something, but will not have any emotional attachment to the memory if informed of what he’s lost. The lost memory returns, along with the emotions attached to them, after a number of days equal the Hierophant Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Hierophant 3: Information Overload
Roll: Intelligence + Academic + Numina vs Intelligence + Numina. 1 Numina.
Sometimes a lot of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hierophant adds his Intelligence or Academic rating (whatever is higher) to his opponent’s corresponding rating. The power affects the target if he does not have the ability to raise his Intelligence or Academics past the cap of 5. If the target’s Intelligence or Academics is boosted beyond 5, for every point beyond 5 he is assaulted by all the sudden knowledge he’s acquired. He is left gibbering for an hour for every point boosted beyond 5.
Exceptional Success: He is left gibbering for a day for every point boosted beyond 5.
Hierophant 4: Tower of Will
Roll: None. Passive.
Hierophants with this power double add 50% of their Numina rating to their dice pool when resisting powers that affect the mind.
Hierophant 5: Dominate Mind
Roll: Intelligence + Presence + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina per turn contested.
The Hierophant takes control of another being’s actions.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and drains away more energy than needed, forcing the Hierophant to lose 2 more Numina.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hierophant controls the actions of his target. He cannot let the target go out of his sight. In addition, while he can control the target, he cannot force the target to use his skills; he must provide his own expertise. All Physical and Social Skills are used at -1 penalty. The power lasts for as along as the Hierophant wins contested actions.
Exceptional Success: The Hierophant’s domination is so total that the power lasts for the rest of the sce
“Chill man. Listen to your heart and shit.”
Fonts of spiritual power, the Hierophant Arcana is the Arcana of the ordered mind: logical, empowered, mystical. Capable of plumbing the depths of mysteries and making them clear to the world, most Hierophants are scientists, preachers and gurus to an increasingly jaded world.
Well, they used to be. Nowadays they’re the dregs. Hierophant Cards are traditionally the inheritors of forbidden knowledge. They were the keepers of the flame, warriors of knowledge who ransacked both Heaven and Hell for celestial science and art. Today however, not much is forbidden---save knowledge kept shrouded in the Fog, or lost to the Dark Hour.
As a result, most Hierophants find themselves in the Dark Hour, frantically searching for the little gems of wisdom and human insight often locked there by Shadows or even more nefarious personages. If not there, they’re wading through the Fog, hoping to record a new Persona or charting the various weaknesses of Shadows. It is not an easy life.
It is not rare for a Hierophant to get so afflicted by Apathy that he remains in the Fog or stops keeping the Dark Hour. He becomes his own worst enemy, a shade sending nightmares of his own design back to the waking world. Many Hierophants have turned to the bad. It’s a topic that Hierophants vociferously deny but deny just a little bit too much.
Hierophants are chosen when their deaths are the result of forbidden knowledge. They can be the target of spells, curses or what not. They could have stumbled on classified government information that no one alive could keep. While Magicians search for the information to find out what they don’t know, Hierophants live again to make sure that such information never falls into the wrong hands---aside from their own, of course.
The Dealer of the Hierophant Arcana is simply called Mentor, Odysseus’ teacher and the form Athena took to guide Telemacchus on his own voyage to find his father. It is a role reserved for the most thoughtful of the Hierophants.
Unfortunately, the current Mentor is so addled by Apathy that he’s taken to distributing drugs and getting high whenever he can. He is numb from his experiences in the Fog but he still feels quite keenly the call of duty and service he signed up for the day he was designated Mentor to the Arcana. His forced forays into the waking world to help new Hierophants tax his sanity and patience, requiring more and more drugs for him calm down afterwards. His fellow senior Hierophants have begun to talk quietly of finding a replacement---at least, that’s what his paranoid thinking tells him.
In truth, it might be some time before a new Mentor is chosen. The current Dealer is a crafty and powerful Persona-user who completed many Social Links in his time. Eliminating him and making space for a new successor will be a tricky endeavor indeed.
The Power of the Hierophant
The current Mentor prefers Servitors who are trustworthy, silent and stay out of his way. He brooks no criticism from his Servitors. He blithely sends them along on dangerous missions to the Fog with nary a twinge of guilt. This behavior causes many of his Servitors to hate him, while the rest worry. Luckily, the remaining experienced Hierophants have taken up the slack to train their younger brethren.
Hierophant 1: Psychometry
Roll: Intelligence + Academics or Occult + Numina.
Hierophants use this ability to see into the past by reading the psychic imprints left on an object.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function. The Persona-user is inundated with so many images that he is overwhelmed and cannot use the power for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user sees in his mind an event (at the Storyteller’s discretion) that is charged with powerful psychic energy. It could be an intense emotion, or the expenditure of Numina.
Exceptional Success: The Persona-user can “scan” the object’s past and read key events in the object’s history for up to a number of days equal to his Arcana rank.
Hierophant 2: Steal Memories
Roll: Intelligence + Wits + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina. 1 Numina.
Hierophants use this ability to rifle through the memories of their targets.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, sending thoughts and memories to the target. The target gets the benefits of the ability while the Hierophant suffers the effects.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: For every success that the Hierophant scores, he is allowed to absorb the recent memories of his target for a duration of up to 1 day per Arcana Rank. He can select a number of memories equal to his Arcana Rank and retain those for himself. The rest of the memories flow back into his target. The target will know he’s forgotten something, but will not have any emotional attachment to the memory if informed of what he’s lost. The lost memory returns, along with the emotions attached to them, after a number of days equal the Hierophant Arcana Rank.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Hierophant 3: Information Overload
Roll: Intelligence + Academic + Numina vs Intelligence + Numina. 1 Numina.
Sometimes a lot of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hierophant adds his Intelligence or Academic rating (whatever is higher) to his opponent’s corresponding rating. The power affects the target if he does not have the ability to raise his Intelligence or Academics past the cap of 5. If the target’s Intelligence or Academics is boosted beyond 5, for every point beyond 5 he is assaulted by all the sudden knowledge he’s acquired. He is left gibbering for an hour for every point boosted beyond 5.
Exceptional Success: He is left gibbering for a day for every point boosted beyond 5.
Hierophant 4: Tower of Will
Roll: None. Passive.
Hierophants with this power double add 50% of their Numina rating to their dice pool when resisting powers that affect the mind.
Hierophant 5: Dominate Mind
Roll: Intelligence + Presence + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina. 2 Numina per turn contested.
The Hierophant takes control of another being’s actions.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function, and drains away more energy than needed, forcing the Hierophant to lose 2 more Numina.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hierophant controls the actions of his target. He cannot let the target go out of his sight. In addition, while he can control the target, he cannot force the target to use his skills; he must provide his own expertise. All Physical and Social Skills are used at -1 penalty. The power lasts for as along as the Hierophant wins contested actions.
Exceptional Success: The Hierophant’s domination is so total that the power lasts for the rest of the sce
Justice
IX. Justice
“I do this because I love you.”
Persona-users of the Justice Arcana are a frightening group. They seem driven and callous to the point of automation. They are the Furies of the Arcana, redressing wrongs and keeping the ranks of the various Arcana pure. They are the watchers of the Arcana, making sure that none betray the secret of Persona. In addition, they consider themselves the guardians of those unAwakened few who possess the potential to wield the power of Persona in the future.
In truth Persona-users of the Justice Arcana are such staunch advocates of justice because they want to give people what they deserve. The nature of their death assures this. The Justicars died because of a desire to do what was right, to uplift their fellow man, to show a path towards true and lasting redemption.
Or so they think. Justice Cards are just as likely to fall prey to the temptations of human vengeance. They want to get even. They want an almost medieval satisfaction from the defeat of their enemies. They are tired of being used, hate those who would try to control them, and most of all, hate any who have hurt them and looks like they’re getting away with it.
The temperament makes for very proactive Servitors. More Justicars tackle problems with a fervor that rivals some Chariots, hunting down transgressors with unparalleled skill and eagerness.
While known to be fair, the truth is most Justicars trade off this expectation of fairness rather than actually be fair themselves. It all balances out in the end, they argue, and in truth, they’re right. Still, many Persona-users have found themselves at odds with the stereotype of Justice as opposed to whose justice is actually being served: theirs, or the Justice Arcana.
The Dealer of the Justice Arcana is a stern, forbidding librarian named Yukuo Karishima. She knows exactly where all her books are at any given time, and has the same gift when it comes to her Servitors. She commands them like the general of a small army, deploying her Cards into missions that serve to protect the community of Persona-users as a whole.
This does not mean she has lost her appetite for vengeance---it’s just the opposite. She has seen too many of her Servitors fall to the depravations of other supernatural forces and each loss eats at her conscience. She moves quickly and decisively to eliminate threats to the members of her Arcana and other Persona-users in general. She makes it a point to share information with other Dealers that do not put her or her own in danger.
She does however, reserve a special hatred for Simon Namarre. She believes his ascension to Dealer of the Chariot Arcana is a travesty of moral actions. She has assured him that should his ambitions extend past his bailiwick, she herself will make his need for a wheelchair true and permanent. To date, Namarre has kept his end of the bargain.
The Powers of Justice
Yukuo prefers Servitors like her: strong morals, firm beliefs, iron will. Unfortunately for her (and she knows this) her preferences are not what dictate who gets accepted by the Arcana. She’s had to accept some of the most unsavory characters she’s even known into her ranks. Still, she polices them with a steely look. Should any of them endanger her other Servitors, she will put them under the ground herself.
Justice 1: Know Potential
Roll: Wits + Numina
The scales of Justice are the best implement to know the worth of one’s character.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails utterly and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The power reveals if an unAwakened person has the power to wield Persona. If used on a Persona-user or other entity with supernatural powers, it assesses the depth and range of that being’s powers, giving him (at the Storyteller’s discretion) an accurate reading of that being’s power.
Exceptional Success: The power reveals what ability a supernatural entity is best at.
Justice 2: Prevent Perjury
Roll: Wits + Presence + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina.
Justicars are experts at weighing the truth.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function; everything the target says is true, even outright lies.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: No lie may be uttered in the presence of the Justicar. Lies are suppressed and any attempts to lie are reduced to a physical inability to speak. This power lasts for 1 minute for every Numina the character possesses.
Exceptional Successes: The power is so effective that the target can only speak the truth. In addition to this, he cannot hide the truth unless he pays a Willpower point not to speak.
Justice 3: Path of the Righteous
Roll: Wits + Presence + Numina.
Justice-users use this ability to rescue others lost in the Fog or Dark Hour.
Exceptional Failure: The power cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user can allot the time he has left in the Dark Hour or Fog to another being for the duration of up to his Justice Arcana rank. Thus if he has 5 days left in the Fog and finds someone who can only stay there for 2 days, he can subtract one day from the time he has left and give it to the person he found. The Justice-user is then left with 4 days, but his target’s time left increases to 3 days. This ability is often used to rescue those who are dangerously close to Apathy, but increases the chances of the Justice-user contracting Apathy himself.
Exceptional Success: The Justice-user does not lose any time but still allots extra time to his target.
Justice 4: Balancing Act
Roll: None, passive. 2 Numina.
Persona-users with this ability cannot be distracted from very difficult tasks. They become expert multi-taskers. Upon paying this power, they make another ability Reflexive for the rest of the scene.
Justice 5: Imbue with Purpose
Roll: Craft + Occult + Numina. 2 Numina/Rank, 2 XP per Rank.
This ability allows those of the Justice Arcana to imbue their weapons with the power of Persona.
Exceptional Failure: The power backlashes, inflicting 1 aggravated damage per Rank imbued.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: A weapon of the Persona-user’s choice is imbued with the power of Persona. The weapon gains the Mental Attributes of one of the Social Links of the Persona-user’s choosing, as well as the Arcana powers equal to the Rank of that Social Link. It is for all intents and purposes a sentient being that may or may not cooperate with the Justice-user depending on the current state of relations between the Justice-user and his Social Link. All Numina to feed the powers of the imbued weapon are drawn from the Justice-user, and affects his pool of Numina. The weapon falls inert when not in the hands of the Justice-user, and the Justice-user may only create one imbued weapon at a time.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
“I do this because I love you.”
Persona-users of the Justice Arcana are a frightening group. They seem driven and callous to the point of automation. They are the Furies of the Arcana, redressing wrongs and keeping the ranks of the various Arcana pure. They are the watchers of the Arcana, making sure that none betray the secret of Persona. In addition, they consider themselves the guardians of those unAwakened few who possess the potential to wield the power of Persona in the future.
In truth Persona-users of the Justice Arcana are such staunch advocates of justice because they want to give people what they deserve. The nature of their death assures this. The Justicars died because of a desire to do what was right, to uplift their fellow man, to show a path towards true and lasting redemption.
Or so they think. Justice Cards are just as likely to fall prey to the temptations of human vengeance. They want to get even. They want an almost medieval satisfaction from the defeat of their enemies. They are tired of being used, hate those who would try to control them, and most of all, hate any who have hurt them and looks like they’re getting away with it.
The temperament makes for very proactive Servitors. More Justicars tackle problems with a fervor that rivals some Chariots, hunting down transgressors with unparalleled skill and eagerness.
While known to be fair, the truth is most Justicars trade off this expectation of fairness rather than actually be fair themselves. It all balances out in the end, they argue, and in truth, they’re right. Still, many Persona-users have found themselves at odds with the stereotype of Justice as opposed to whose justice is actually being served: theirs, or the Justice Arcana.
The Dealer of the Justice Arcana is a stern, forbidding librarian named Yukuo Karishima. She knows exactly where all her books are at any given time, and has the same gift when it comes to her Servitors. She commands them like the general of a small army, deploying her Cards into missions that serve to protect the community of Persona-users as a whole.
This does not mean she has lost her appetite for vengeance---it’s just the opposite. She has seen too many of her Servitors fall to the depravations of other supernatural forces and each loss eats at her conscience. She moves quickly and decisively to eliminate threats to the members of her Arcana and other Persona-users in general. She makes it a point to share information with other Dealers that do not put her or her own in danger.
She does however, reserve a special hatred for Simon Namarre. She believes his ascension to Dealer of the Chariot Arcana is a travesty of moral actions. She has assured him that should his ambitions extend past his bailiwick, she herself will make his need for a wheelchair true and permanent. To date, Namarre has kept his end of the bargain.
The Powers of Justice
Yukuo prefers Servitors like her: strong morals, firm beliefs, iron will. Unfortunately for her (and she knows this) her preferences are not what dictate who gets accepted by the Arcana. She’s had to accept some of the most unsavory characters she’s even known into her ranks. Still, she polices them with a steely look. Should any of them endanger her other Servitors, she will put them under the ground herself.
Justice 1: Know Potential
Roll: Wits + Numina
The scales of Justice are the best implement to know the worth of one’s character.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails utterly and cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The power reveals if an unAwakened person has the power to wield Persona. If used on a Persona-user or other entity with supernatural powers, it assesses the depth and range of that being’s powers, giving him (at the Storyteller’s discretion) an accurate reading of that being’s power.
Exceptional Success: The power reveals what ability a supernatural entity is best at.
Justice 2: Prevent Perjury
Roll: Wits + Presence + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina.
Justicars are experts at weighing the truth.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function; everything the target says is true, even outright lies.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: No lie may be uttered in the presence of the Justicar. Lies are suppressed and any attempts to lie are reduced to a physical inability to speak. This power lasts for 1 minute for every Numina the character possesses.
Exceptional Successes: The power is so effective that the target can only speak the truth. In addition to this, he cannot hide the truth unless he pays a Willpower point not to speak.
Justice 3: Path of the Righteous
Roll: Wits + Presence + Numina.
Justice-users use this ability to rescue others lost in the Fog or Dark Hour.
Exceptional Failure: The power cannot be used for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Persona-user can allot the time he has left in the Dark Hour or Fog to another being for the duration of up to his Justice Arcana rank. Thus if he has 5 days left in the Fog and finds someone who can only stay there for 2 days, he can subtract one day from the time he has left and give it to the person he found. The Justice-user is then left with 4 days, but his target’s time left increases to 3 days. This ability is often used to rescue those who are dangerously close to Apathy, but increases the chances of the Justice-user contracting Apathy himself.
Exceptional Success: The Justice-user does not lose any time but still allots extra time to his target.
Justice 4: Balancing Act
Roll: None, passive. 2 Numina.
Persona-users with this ability cannot be distracted from very difficult tasks. They become expert multi-taskers. Upon paying this power, they make another ability Reflexive for the rest of the scene.
Justice 5: Imbue with Purpose
Roll: Craft + Occult + Numina. 2 Numina/Rank, 2 XP per Rank.
This ability allows those of the Justice Arcana to imbue their weapons with the power of Persona.
Exceptional Failure: The power backlashes, inflicting 1 aggravated damage per Rank imbued.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: A weapon of the Persona-user’s choice is imbued with the power of Persona. The weapon gains the Mental Attributes of one of the Social Links of the Persona-user’s choosing, as well as the Arcana powers equal to the Rank of that Social Link. It is for all intents and purposes a sentient being that may or may not cooperate with the Justice-user depending on the current state of relations between the Justice-user and his Social Link. All Numina to feed the powers of the imbued weapon are drawn from the Justice-user, and affects his pool of Numina. The weapon falls inert when not in the hands of the Justice-user, and the Justice-user may only create one imbued weapon at a time.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Hermit
VIII. The Hermit
“Leave me alone!”
Some people just want to be left alone and get away from it all. Some people just want get away from it all---forever. Such is the fate of those dealt under the hand of the Hermit. They are the Cards that died to escape from the real world.
Because they continue living, Hermits find their survival a form of punishment. They wanted to be left alone for a reason---to escape the mortal world because it was getting too much, too difficult, too perverse. Most Hermits are those who almost died due to drug or alcohol overdosing: drugging themselves to insensibility until the world was unrecognizable.
There are those Hermits as well who died in an attempt to cross the border between the material and the mystical, death being another great adventure to be conquered only now delayed. In this sense it the Arcana most similar to the Magician Arcana. Both tried to dabble with forces beyond the mortal ken. But the Hermit is not a curious being; he examines the mystical because it offers more than what the encroaching world could offer.
Most Hermits are intelligent; they kind of have to be, to enjoy the life of self-sufficiency that they so crave. This intelligence manifests in being able to jury-rig scraps into something. Resourcefulness is very much a hallmark trait of the Hermit Arcana.
The Dealer of the Hermit Arcana is Douglas Laramie, a scientist assigned to the infamous Manhattan Project. Guilty for having helped create one of mankind’s most destructive weapons, he retreated to parts unknown to hide his forbidden knowledge, content to disappear from the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, the world was not content to lose him---particularly rival nations who wanted Laramie for their own research. Rather than join them, he took the quickest alternative at the end of a serrated knife.
The end he wanted did not come with his own death. Instead, Laramie found himself instilled with the power of Persona.
He has since used his abilities to keep himself hidden, revealing himself only to those deigned fit to be his Servitors. He’d rather not show himself at all if possible.
The Powers of the Hermit
Laramie prefers Servitors who are like him: intelligent, aware of the dangers of their intelligence, and thus can be trusted to be discreet. Still, he is aware of his duty as Dealer and has mentored every Hermit who comes his way.
Increasingly many Hermits are social burn out cases. Laramie has been forced to sober up the various Hermits who found their power at the end of a needle, or poisoned silly with mescaline. He does not find this aspect of his duty the least bit amusing.
Hermit 1: Fade from Sight
Roll: Wits + Dexterity + Numina. 1 Numen.
Hermits use this ability to hide from the world.
Exceptional Failure: A bright glow surrounds the Hermit; instead of fading away, he blazes with an aura of light, making him very conspicuous indeed.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hermit fades away, leaving a faint blur of his location as he moves. He is effectively invisible for the duration of one turn per Numina.
Exceptional Success: The Hermit can stay invisible for a number of days equal to his Numina. Canceling this power means he has to pay the cost and roll again if he wants to reactivate his invisibility.
Hermit 2: Nothing’s Here
Roll: Wits + Manipulation + Numina, 1 Numen. Contested vs. Wits + Numina against those actively searching for the Hermit and know of his whereabouts.
Hermits use this ability to render their hideouts and homes secret.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used to hide a location for one day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hermit renders his home forgettable; people will know of his home (mail can be dropped there), but no one will know who lives there. They’ll be aware if it’s occupied, but they will be compelled to ignore what’s happening there. Landlords forget the property exists, the neighbors who move in will always be the least intrusive. The power lasts for one day/Numina.
Exceptional Success: The power lasts one week per Numina.
Hermit 3: Blind Senses
Roll: Wits + Dexterity + Numina. 1 Numina. Reflexive, touch needed.
Hermits use this power to assault the senses, handicapping those who dare intrude on their silence.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, shutting down all of the Hermit’s five senses for the duration of the power.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: All senses of the victim of this ability are shut down; he cannot see, taste, smell, touch or hear anything for the duration of 1 minute per Numina the Hermit possess. While numbed to the world, the targets suffers a -3 to all Defense and rolls unless he has a sixth sense (like precognition) that allows him to function without his other senses.
Exceptional Success: the target’s senses are sealed for the rest of the scene.
Hermit 4: Antipathy
Roll: Wits + Intimidation + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina if Contested. 2 Numina/day.
This power creates a psychic negative zone in a small location of the Hermit’s choice that affects all beings save other Hermits. The zone makes people feel uncomfortable, squeamish and displeased to be near it, and thus avoid it entirely. People chasing after Hermits into an Antipathetic zone contest the roll (see above); they cannot suppress their revulsion if they fail.
Hermit 5: Forbidding
Roll: Wits + Intimidation + Numina vs Resolve + Numina. 3 Numina.
This ability creates a safe zone for the Hermit.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, striking the Hermit for 2 points of lethal damage.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The ability seals an area as exclusively the Hermit’s. If an unwanted visitor arrives in the area, the Hermit enjoys a +2 to all dice to any rolls that have to do with ejecting the person from his space. In addition, the area itself will reject the intruder, hurling knives, crockery, furniture, etc at the intruder until he finally leaves. The area uses the attack dice of the Hermit.
Exceptional Success: The seal is so strong that any who tries to intrude in a Forbidden area are cursed with an Antipathetic effect on their own homes targeted towards them.
“Leave me alone!”
Some people just want to be left alone and get away from it all. Some people just want get away from it all---forever. Such is the fate of those dealt under the hand of the Hermit. They are the Cards that died to escape from the real world.
Because they continue living, Hermits find their survival a form of punishment. They wanted to be left alone for a reason---to escape the mortal world because it was getting too much, too difficult, too perverse. Most Hermits are those who almost died due to drug or alcohol overdosing: drugging themselves to insensibility until the world was unrecognizable.
There are those Hermits as well who died in an attempt to cross the border between the material and the mystical, death being another great adventure to be conquered only now delayed. In this sense it the Arcana most similar to the Magician Arcana. Both tried to dabble with forces beyond the mortal ken. But the Hermit is not a curious being; he examines the mystical because it offers more than what the encroaching world could offer.
Most Hermits are intelligent; they kind of have to be, to enjoy the life of self-sufficiency that they so crave. This intelligence manifests in being able to jury-rig scraps into something. Resourcefulness is very much a hallmark trait of the Hermit Arcana.
The Dealer of the Hermit Arcana is Douglas Laramie, a scientist assigned to the infamous Manhattan Project. Guilty for having helped create one of mankind’s most destructive weapons, he retreated to parts unknown to hide his forbidden knowledge, content to disappear from the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, the world was not content to lose him---particularly rival nations who wanted Laramie for their own research. Rather than join them, he took the quickest alternative at the end of a serrated knife.
The end he wanted did not come with his own death. Instead, Laramie found himself instilled with the power of Persona.
He has since used his abilities to keep himself hidden, revealing himself only to those deigned fit to be his Servitors. He’d rather not show himself at all if possible.
The Powers of the Hermit
Laramie prefers Servitors who are like him: intelligent, aware of the dangers of their intelligence, and thus can be trusted to be discreet. Still, he is aware of his duty as Dealer and has mentored every Hermit who comes his way.
Increasingly many Hermits are social burn out cases. Laramie has been forced to sober up the various Hermits who found their power at the end of a needle, or poisoned silly with mescaline. He does not find this aspect of his duty the least bit amusing.
Hermit 1: Fade from Sight
Roll: Wits + Dexterity + Numina. 1 Numen.
Hermits use this ability to hide from the world.
Exceptional Failure: A bright glow surrounds the Hermit; instead of fading away, he blazes with an aura of light, making him very conspicuous indeed.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hermit fades away, leaving a faint blur of his location as he moves. He is effectively invisible for the duration of one turn per Numina.
Exceptional Success: The Hermit can stay invisible for a number of days equal to his Numina. Canceling this power means he has to pay the cost and roll again if he wants to reactivate his invisibility.
Hermit 2: Nothing’s Here
Roll: Wits + Manipulation + Numina, 1 Numen. Contested vs. Wits + Numina against those actively searching for the Hermit and know of his whereabouts.
Hermits use this ability to render their hideouts and homes secret.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function and cannot be used to hide a location for one day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Hermit renders his home forgettable; people will know of his home (mail can be dropped there), but no one will know who lives there. They’ll be aware if it’s occupied, but they will be compelled to ignore what’s happening there. Landlords forget the property exists, the neighbors who move in will always be the least intrusive. The power lasts for one day/Numina.
Exceptional Success: The power lasts one week per Numina.
Hermit 3: Blind Senses
Roll: Wits + Dexterity + Numina. 1 Numina. Reflexive, touch needed.
Hermits use this power to assault the senses, handicapping those who dare intrude on their silence.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, shutting down all of the Hermit’s five senses for the duration of the power.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: All senses of the victim of this ability are shut down; he cannot see, taste, smell, touch or hear anything for the duration of 1 minute per Numina the Hermit possess. While numbed to the world, the targets suffers a -3 to all Defense and rolls unless he has a sixth sense (like precognition) that allows him to function without his other senses.
Exceptional Success: the target’s senses are sealed for the rest of the scene.
Hermit 4: Antipathy
Roll: Wits + Intimidation + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina if Contested. 2 Numina/day.
This power creates a psychic negative zone in a small location of the Hermit’s choice that affects all beings save other Hermits. The zone makes people feel uncomfortable, squeamish and displeased to be near it, and thus avoid it entirely. People chasing after Hermits into an Antipathetic zone contest the roll (see above); they cannot suppress their revulsion if they fail.
Hermit 5: Forbidding
Roll: Wits + Intimidation + Numina vs Resolve + Numina. 3 Numina.
This ability creates a safe zone for the Hermit.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires, striking the Hermit for 2 points of lethal damage.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The ability seals an area as exclusively the Hermit’s. If an unwanted visitor arrives in the area, the Hermit enjoys a +2 to all dice to any rolls that have to do with ejecting the person from his space. In addition, the area itself will reject the intruder, hurling knives, crockery, furniture, etc at the intruder until he finally leaves. The area uses the attack dice of the Hermit.
Exceptional Success: The seal is so strong that any who tries to intrude in a Forbidden area are cursed with an Antipathetic effect on their own homes targeted towards them.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Empress
VII. The Empress
“Power Controlled, Power Incarnate….what does it matter when Purpose is Withheld? Men forget that power must have meaning.”
Forget the rough power of the Emperors. True power is efficient---to get maximum results with minimum effort. Why force others into doing one’s will when one could simply persuade others to do what you like for you? Better yet, why not just do it yourself?
Persona-users dealt under the hand of the Empress wonder at the temerity of their male counterparts. They are not exclusively female---indeed, it would be impossible to call oneself a feminist if one was willing to act the hypocrite and deny rights to an admittedly barbaric sex---but they are wholly feminine. The Empresses wield incarnations of the power feminine, the Gynos Luna, the allure and mystique associated with the fairer sex.
They understand (some grudgingly) that their power comes from a stereotype but they are willing to live with it because every Persona-user must deal with an archetypical force of creation as well. They are perforce egalitarian; their purpose is to maintain a balance in the world. It was only recently that the Empress became a symbol of creative and intangible power to balance the secular power of Emperors; at least, that is what the Empresses say. The Emperors scoff at this and continue with their jockeying for authority.
Empresses awaken to their power when they sacrifice themselves for another goal. In this regard, they are much like Chariots; but the important difference is their acceptance of the situation. What brings Chariots back is that they rail against their fate and their desire to fulfill these goals serves as their impetus to return. Empresses are content NOT to return. They entered death with dignity and noble sacrifice, and accepted it with the knowledge they couldn’t do anything about it.
Now they could. The Empress Arcana is all about giving chances to those who didn’t have any before. It is the embodiment of an inner creative fire and a fertile mind. Empresses are the ones worthy of another chance. They are the soft hand of mercy to the cold sword of Man’s righteousness. They embody everything Man isn’t…but should be.
Many Empresses have a difficult time adjusting to the new realities that their Arcana introduces to their lives. Modern Empresses in particular dislike the idea that men’s and women’s roles can be so easily partitioned. This is not the case, the Arcana argues. It is too simplistic to say that Men and Women are the same. They simply just aren’t. The true power of the Empress Arcana is found in establishing that equality exists in spite of the obvious differences.
It sounds noble to sacrifice oneself with dignity, but the truth is not all Empresses are as high-minded as that. Some of them simper; some of them nag; some of them are downright nasty bitches. Some of them gave up living, and to live again is hellish punishment indeed. In truth, Empresses are comprised of the best and worst of womankind.
The Dealer of the Empress Arcana is a middle-aged high school principal named Lottie Munroe. She brooks no argument from her students, but she’s far more lenient with her Servitors. Lottie once gave her kidney to her twin sister, but something went wrong while she was under the knife. She should not have survived. To this day Lottie wonders at the prosaic beginnings of her power. She’s since concluded that a woman with even the humblest beginnings can grow to be an Empress.
Unlike other Dealers, Lottie herself is not as powerful as her Servitors. She has never seen the need to grow in strength and power. Admittedly it’s because she doesn’t like putting herself forward and the idea of exertion unnerves her. Still, she is the Dealer and her sister Empresses respect her for it.
The truth is Lottie herself is but a placeholder for a future, greater Dealer. She learned this when she accepted the job, and she knows her time will pass. She keeps it secret from the other Empresses because it is never prudent to tell one’s underlings that one is not in a secure position as one would think.
The Powers of the Empress
Lottie prefers Servitors who try to be feminists without being offensive about it. It’s been a mixed bag; and like any Dealer, she will not abrogate the precepts of her Arcana and refuse candidates with potential. Still the term “militant feminist” sounds vaguely Emperor-like to her, and she would rather the Chariot Arcana would choose such Persona-users. Still, she does her duty to the best of her ability despite her reservations.
Most Servitors are women from all walks of life, though the occasional man shows up. These few men are respected, though years of reference as a Sisterhood of Empresses has put some of these men at odds with the source of their powers.
Empress 1: Sly Speech
Roll: None. Passive.
Empresses use this power to get things done with a little verbal push. Empresses with this ability always re-roll one failed die on rolls that use Manipulation.
Empress 2: Regal Demeanor
Roll: Manipulation + Presence. 1 Numina
An Empress will never be caught socially unawares while using this ability.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires; the Empress gets a -1 penalty to all rolls using Presence.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Empress’ personal aura magnifies such that it is difficult to think ill of her. She might be wearing rags but she gives off the impression of being the best dressed woman in the room. For the duration of the scene, she adds her Numina to rolls involving all Social rolls.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Empress 3: Juno’s Promise
Roll: Manipulation + Resolve + Numina vs. Manipulation + Numina. Contested (see below)
The use of this power makes Empresses the go-to Persona-user to ensure that promises are kept. Unlike most contested rolls, the target must be willing to enter a compact using Juno’s Promise.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Empress is able to bind another to Juno’s Promise. Characters who break the Promise suffer 1 point of lethal damage for every success the Empress garners. When broken, the Promise dissipates. Empresses always know the moment a Promise is broken.
Exceptional Success: As Success, but the Empress also knows the reasons why a character would break a Promise.
Empress 4: Strike the Irons
Roll: Manipulation + Resolve vs. Resolve + Numina. Contested.
Striking the irons frees a target from mental compulsions.
Exceptional Failure: The Empress cannot break the mental compulsions, and cannot use this ability for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: Characters affected by Strike the Irons are freed from any mental adjustments done to them unnaturally. Brainwashing, suggestions, psychic domination etc. are erased. The character is restored to a mental state prior to his mind getting altered.
Exceptional Success: Empresses who score exceptional success are able to send the condition back to whoever altered their victim’s minds in the first place. They suffer the remaining duration of whatever effects they placed on their victim.
Empress 5: Defeat Me? I Think Not.
Roll: Manipulation + Resolve + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina. Contested.
This ability gives Empress the power to reduce an opponent’s confidence in himself. It is used to “psych” opponents out and buffets at their self-esteem.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires; the Empress loses one dot of Willpower.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target is so rattled that he loses a point of Willpower.
Exceptional Success: The target is so shaken that he loses a dot of Willpower. In addition, he suffers a -2 penalty to all Resolve related actions that target the Empress who affected him so badly.
“Power Controlled, Power Incarnate….what does it matter when Purpose is Withheld? Men forget that power must have meaning.”
Forget the rough power of the Emperors. True power is efficient---to get maximum results with minimum effort. Why force others into doing one’s will when one could simply persuade others to do what you like for you? Better yet, why not just do it yourself?
Persona-users dealt under the hand of the Empress wonder at the temerity of their male counterparts. They are not exclusively female---indeed, it would be impossible to call oneself a feminist if one was willing to act the hypocrite and deny rights to an admittedly barbaric sex---but they are wholly feminine. The Empresses wield incarnations of the power feminine, the Gynos Luna, the allure and mystique associated with the fairer sex.
They understand (some grudgingly) that their power comes from a stereotype but they are willing to live with it because every Persona-user must deal with an archetypical force of creation as well. They are perforce egalitarian; their purpose is to maintain a balance in the world. It was only recently that the Empress became a symbol of creative and intangible power to balance the secular power of Emperors; at least, that is what the Empresses say. The Emperors scoff at this and continue with their jockeying for authority.
Empresses awaken to their power when they sacrifice themselves for another goal. In this regard, they are much like Chariots; but the important difference is their acceptance of the situation. What brings Chariots back is that they rail against their fate and their desire to fulfill these goals serves as their impetus to return. Empresses are content NOT to return. They entered death with dignity and noble sacrifice, and accepted it with the knowledge they couldn’t do anything about it.
Now they could. The Empress Arcana is all about giving chances to those who didn’t have any before. It is the embodiment of an inner creative fire and a fertile mind. Empresses are the ones worthy of another chance. They are the soft hand of mercy to the cold sword of Man’s righteousness. They embody everything Man isn’t…but should be.
Many Empresses have a difficult time adjusting to the new realities that their Arcana introduces to their lives. Modern Empresses in particular dislike the idea that men’s and women’s roles can be so easily partitioned. This is not the case, the Arcana argues. It is too simplistic to say that Men and Women are the same. They simply just aren’t. The true power of the Empress Arcana is found in establishing that equality exists in spite of the obvious differences.
It sounds noble to sacrifice oneself with dignity, but the truth is not all Empresses are as high-minded as that. Some of them simper; some of them nag; some of them are downright nasty bitches. Some of them gave up living, and to live again is hellish punishment indeed. In truth, Empresses are comprised of the best and worst of womankind.
The Dealer of the Empress Arcana is a middle-aged high school principal named Lottie Munroe. She brooks no argument from her students, but she’s far more lenient with her Servitors. Lottie once gave her kidney to her twin sister, but something went wrong while she was under the knife. She should not have survived. To this day Lottie wonders at the prosaic beginnings of her power. She’s since concluded that a woman with even the humblest beginnings can grow to be an Empress.
Unlike other Dealers, Lottie herself is not as powerful as her Servitors. She has never seen the need to grow in strength and power. Admittedly it’s because she doesn’t like putting herself forward and the idea of exertion unnerves her. Still, she is the Dealer and her sister Empresses respect her for it.
The truth is Lottie herself is but a placeholder for a future, greater Dealer. She learned this when she accepted the job, and she knows her time will pass. She keeps it secret from the other Empresses because it is never prudent to tell one’s underlings that one is not in a secure position as one would think.
The Powers of the Empress
Lottie prefers Servitors who try to be feminists without being offensive about it. It’s been a mixed bag; and like any Dealer, she will not abrogate the precepts of her Arcana and refuse candidates with potential. Still the term “militant feminist” sounds vaguely Emperor-like to her, and she would rather the Chariot Arcana would choose such Persona-users. Still, she does her duty to the best of her ability despite her reservations.
Most Servitors are women from all walks of life, though the occasional man shows up. These few men are respected, though years of reference as a Sisterhood of Empresses has put some of these men at odds with the source of their powers.
Empress 1: Sly Speech
Roll: None. Passive.
Empresses use this power to get things done with a little verbal push. Empresses with this ability always re-roll one failed die on rolls that use Manipulation.
Empress 2: Regal Demeanor
Roll: Manipulation + Presence. 1 Numina
An Empress will never be caught socially unawares while using this ability.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires; the Empress gets a -1 penalty to all rolls using Presence.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Empress’ personal aura magnifies such that it is difficult to think ill of her. She might be wearing rags but she gives off the impression of being the best dressed woman in the room. For the duration of the scene, she adds her Numina to rolls involving all Social rolls.
Exceptional Success: As Success.
Empress 3: Juno’s Promise
Roll: Manipulation + Resolve + Numina vs. Manipulation + Numina. Contested (see below)
The use of this power makes Empresses the go-to Persona-user to ensure that promises are kept. Unlike most contested rolls, the target must be willing to enter a compact using Juno’s Promise.
Exceptional Failure: The power fails to function.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The Empress is able to bind another to Juno’s Promise. Characters who break the Promise suffer 1 point of lethal damage for every success the Empress garners. When broken, the Promise dissipates. Empresses always know the moment a Promise is broken.
Exceptional Success: As Success, but the Empress also knows the reasons why a character would break a Promise.
Empress 4: Strike the Irons
Roll: Manipulation + Resolve vs. Resolve + Numina. Contested.
Striking the irons frees a target from mental compulsions.
Exceptional Failure: The Empress cannot break the mental compulsions, and cannot use this ability for another day.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: Characters affected by Strike the Irons are freed from any mental adjustments done to them unnaturally. Brainwashing, suggestions, psychic domination etc. are erased. The character is restored to a mental state prior to his mind getting altered.
Exceptional Success: Empresses who score exceptional success are able to send the condition back to whoever altered their victim’s minds in the first place. They suffer the remaining duration of whatever effects they placed on their victim.
Empress 5: Defeat Me? I Think Not.
Roll: Manipulation + Resolve + Numina vs. Resolve + Numina. Contested.
This ability gives Empress the power to reduce an opponent’s confidence in himself. It is used to “psych” opponents out and buffets at their self-esteem.
Exceptional Failure: The power backfires; the Empress loses one dot of Willpower.
Failure: The power fails to function.
Success: The target is so rattled that he loses a point of Willpower.
Exceptional Success: The target is so shaken that he loses a dot of Willpower. In addition, he suffers a -2 penalty to all Resolve related actions that target the Empress who affected him so badly.
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