Atouts

In simplistic terms, external alchemy is the art of transforming one physical substance into another. Fairy tales and legends speak loudest of the ability to change base metals into gold, because dreams of wealth captured the imaginations of influential sponsors of court magicians. Clever alchemists invent endless other applications for the art, while wise ones avoid demonstrating their capabilities to the greedy or powerful.

Stories and actual practice agree on one important detail: an alchemist requires materials and equipment with which to work. Without a “laboratory” of some kind, an alchemist is unable to perform. A laboratory usually takes the form of a cooking fire, various mixing glassware or crockery and an assortment of reagents, but a well-stocked herbal collection and pure water may suffice for holistic practitioners.

The two-dot version allows a thaumaturge to transform a simple, common, non-precious substance into a different simple, common, non-precious substance.

The four-dot version allows an alchemist to create or transform a complex, rare or precious substance. A simple compound may be refined into a complex one, a rare substance might be turned into a common one or a precious material might become a different precious material.

The player must succeed in a roll of Intelligence + her choice of Occult or Science. The roll is penalized by –1 for each point of Size above 1 that’s transmuted, and the entire body of transformed material must be one mass (a single chunk of metal, a pool of liquid or a sack of power, for example). The alchemist’s efforts suffer an additional penalty equal to the sum of the highest Durability involved (original or new) and the highest Resources necessary to purchase the materials involved (original or new). So, the penalty equals Durability + Resources. Remember that many objects don’t actually have any Durability or Resources ratings, so the Storyteller may have to make them up.

For example, a thaumaturge uses the four-dot Trait to turn a chunk of iron into a $500 gold nugget. Looking at the World of Darkness Rulebook’s Resources Merit, the gold would require approximately Resources •, the iron is Durability 3 and the chunk is Size 1. The total penalty is –4 (1 for the Resources, 3 for the Durability and 0 for Size).

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult or Science
Ritual Length: One hour
Duration: Indefinite (permanent unless dispelled somehow)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
An accident occurs. It may be anything from transmuting the wrong material to mild acid burns to an explosion. Alternatively, the material may transform, but reverts to its original state at an inopportune time.

Exceptional Success:
The final product is also imbued with magical energy. As enchanted material, it can be used to cause bashing or lethal wounds to ghosts or spirits in Twilight. Additional properties may manifest at the Storyteller’s discretion (see Mage: The Awakening, p. 82, the Enhanced Item Merit, for ideas).

Possible Penalties: Size of material transmuted (–1 per point over Size 1), Durability of toughest material (–1 per point), Resources cost of most expensive material (–1 per dot), poor laboratory equipment (–1), no sample of the desired material (–1)

Ritual Details: Alchemical rituals resemble archaic chemistry or herbalism. Indeed, frauds pretending to be al- chemists utilize those very arts. Fire, acidic and base materials, mortars and pestles, mixing containers, mercury and gold are prevalent alchemical materials. Some degree of laboratory equipment or herbal mixing apparatus is necessary.

Eastern occult scholars have long believed in two different studies of alchemy. Western alchemists are usually focused on the physical realm, and while Eastern have also explored the concepts of internal alchemy. The principle is the refinement of the mind and body in pursuit of purity of spirit from which life springs. Although a mystic may consume medicinal herbs and compounds, the art requires one to go further. Meditation, breath control and purification rituals blend with nonresistance, asceticism and physical training to recapture energies lost in daily life and to direct them toward a return to the spiritual state.

The two-dot version allows the alchemist to hone her body or mind toward a more perfect state. Choose any Attribute and roll Resolve + Occult, with a –1 penalty per dot already possessed in the Trait. A successful roll grants a bonus of one dot to the Attribute, though the trait cannot be raised above the human limit of 5. The alchemist gains all of the benefits of the increased Attribute for the duration of the scene. Raising Resolve or Composure increases the character’s Willpower dots, but doesn’t refuel her current points (thus increasing her capacity, but not her current Status). Health might increase due to Stamina, but the gains disappear at the end of the duration, potentially endangering the thaumaturge. Other advantages such as Speed, Defense and Initiative Modifier are figured from increased Attributes as normal. The character may benefit from only a single increased Attribute at a time. If she uses the Merit again while it is already active, the first effect ends when the second begins.

The four-dot version represents the alchemist’s great strides toward the achievement of spirituality. A successful use causes the character to transform into an ephemeral being, immaterial in the manner of a ghost for the duration of the scene. If the alchemist chooses to return to physical form, it takes her one action spent concentrating to bring the ritual’s effect to an end. Any clothing worn or personal objects carried are transformed as well. Anything held in hand that’s larger than Size 3 cannot be changed. A transformed character cannot affect the material world at all as she passes harmlessly through physical objects. She moves as fast as she normally would travel were she still physical. Being ephemeral allows her to affect other ephemeral beings, with “physical attacks,” social interaction or other powers. The roll to achieve ephemeral state is adjusted according to the alchemist’s surroundings as follows:

Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Ritual Length: 30 minutes
Duration: One scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The jarring experience prevents the mystic from using this Merit again for the remainder of the scene.

Exceptional Success:
The two-dot version grants an extra dot to the chosen Attribute (for a total of two). The four-dot version allows the alchemist to end her ephemeral existence reflexively at any time, returning to material form.

Suggested Equipment: A magical locus (+1)

Ritual Details: Meditation and ritual-breathing exercises interact with the physical and mental discipline of the alchemist. Medicinal herbs or compounds are sometimes used as well.

Although Animal Empathy is sometimes considered a rare gift, some parapsychologists speculate that it is more common than it appears, since the average observer cannot readily distinguish between a psychic with the innate ability to communicate with non-sentient creatures and an ordinary “horse whisperer” who is simply “good with animals.” Regardless, this Merit combines a wide number of psychic effects, including Mind Reading, Thought Projection and Emotion Control under a single power, albeit one which can affect only animals.

The two-dot version allows a psychic to affect a single species of animal such as dogs, cats or rats.

The four-dot version permits a psychic to affect any type of animal.

Either version can allow a psychic to affect multiple animals at once, although the power usually inflicts a dice penalty on a roll. Also, a psychic attempting to control large numbers of animals at one time must give the same instructions to all of them, and cannot send different animals off on individual missions without a separate roll for each of them. There is also a separate Merit called Animal Rapport that creates a permanent psychic link with a single animal. No version of this power can affect truly sentient animals or other beings that have transformed into animals.

Cost: None if the psychic has time to interact with the animal and achieve some kind of rapport. If the psychic has never seen the animal before or it is currently hostile, one Willpower point must be spent to instantly seize control of the animal. One point of Willpower must be spent to control multiple animals simultaneously.
Action: Instant or contested
Dice Pool: Wits + Animal Ken to communicate. Manipulation + Animal Ken (versus animal’s Resolve rolled reflexively) to control.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the animal, making it immediately hostile. Further attempts to use Animal Empathy against the animal fail automatically for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The character fails to influence the animal in any way.

Success:
The psychic can intuitively understand the animal’s mood and thought processes. Although true communication is not yet possible, the psychic can intuit crude impressions such as “I’m hungry,” “I want to play” or “That man beats me.” With Manipulation, the psychic can command the animal to follow simple instructions such as “Heel,” “Fetch” or “Tear him apart!” Animals that were previously hostile become docile, and trained guard dogs let an intruder walk right by.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic can freely communicate with the animal, almost to the point of sharing its senses. The psychic can also give relatively complex instructions and expect them to be obeyed, such as “Go fetch Timmy! He’s in town at the movie theater, in the third row!”

Dice Modifiers

If the psychic has only the two-dot version of Animal Empathy, he is limited to possessing the type of animal with which he is attuned. The four-dot version allows possession of any type of animal.

Animal Possession builds on the power of Animal Empathy to actually allow a psychic to possess a particular animal, totally controlling its body and perceiving through all of its senses. The psychic’s own body is completely inert and helpless while this power is in effect, and she cannot perceive anything about her body’s surroundings unless the possessed animal is nearby. If the character’s body is damaged, though, she knows it and can reflexively end the possession after taking any damage, although she may be subject to a killing blow in the duration of the possession. If the character’s physical body is killed while possessing an animal, her mind dies as well. If the animal is killed during the possession, the psychic’s mind is immediately sent back to her body.

This power requires the animal to be possessed to have at least the intelligence of a small rodent or fish. Simpler creatures such as insects cannot be possessed. Possession lasts for one scene, but can be extended at the cost of one Willpower point per scene. Under no circumstances can the time of possession last beyond a number of hours equal to the lesser of the psychic’s Stamina or Resolve. This power cannot be used against sentient creatures, including mages, vampires or werewolves who have simply assumed the forms of animals. The psychic can never possess more than one animal at a time. The psychic also cannot possess an animal smaller than a mouse. Animals larger than Size 5 confer a penalty on the roll.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Action: Instant or contested
Dice Pool: Presence + Animal Ken versus animal’s Resolve; resistance is reflexive

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the animal, making it immediately hostile. Further attempts to use Animal Possession against the animal fail automatically for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The character fails to possess the animal.

Success:
The psychic projects his own consciousness into the animal, totally controlling its body and replacing its Mental (but not Social) Attributes with his own. The psychic cannot use any other psychic powers while possessing the animal, although he can end the possession at any time. The animal’s Physical Traits prevail.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic can maintain the possession for up to the lesser of his Stamina or Resolve in hours without paying any additional Willpower.

Dice Modifiers

This Merit acts as a version of Animal Empathy. The character has an innate mental bond with a single animal. The character can communicate with the creature, understanding its barks or hisses as speech and allowing the animal to comprehend the character’s normal language. The character must speak to the animal to communicate with it, but the expenditure of one Willpower point allows the character to communicate non-verbally with his pet. The cost of this Merit is determined by the Size of the animal, based on the chart below.

No roll is ever required for verbal communication, but the character does not have the capacity to control the creature outright. If he wishes it to do something that the animal might consider dangerous, you must win a contested roll against the animal, which, while generally loyal, does not normally commit suicide on its master’s behalf. Resolve or Composure is rolled reflexively for the animal, while Manipulation or Presence + an appropriate Skill is rolled for the character.

The animal with which the character has a bond is a normal example of its species, but a side effect of the rapport permanently increases the animal’s Intelligence by one. If the character seriously mistreats his pet, it is capable of turning, at the Storyteller’s discretion. The character must be within line of sight to communicate freely with the animal, but if the animal can hear the character even at great distance (such as Timmy yelling from down a well a half-mile away), the animal likely travels as quickly as it can to its master’s location.

If the animal is ever lost or killed, experience spent or dots assigned to this Merit may be lost or reassigned at the Storyteller’s discretion. The character may even forge a bond with another such amazing animal, assuming one can be found.

Anti-Psi is a rare ability, the existence of which has only recently been theorized by parapsychologists. A person gifted with Anti-Psi (who can never be an active psychic) has the power to greatly inhibit psychic powers by her mere presence. Any individual who strongly disbelieves in psychic phenomena can impose a –1 or –2 penalty on a psychic’s abilities (see Doubting Thomas, below), but an Anti-Psi goes even further, literally jamming a psychic’s ability to function at all. Any psychic in the presence of an Anti-Psi is automatically reduced to a chance die on any attempts to use psychic powers. A person with this Merit likely has no idea that she has any special abilities, and simply ascribes any failure of psychics to perform in her presence as proof of the fraudulent nature of such phenomena. This Merit has no effect on the paranormal abilities of supernatural creatures.

Drawback: Any character with this Merit also suffers from a severe derangement triggered by the presence of overt psychic phenomena. Whenever the character is confronted by another person claiming to have psychic powers, or by clear evidence of psychic phenomena, the Anti-Psi manifests an intense hostility toward the object of the offense. Exactly how this derangement plays out is for you to decide, but the character is likely obsessed with debunking the psychic’s claims and exposing him publicly as a fraud. Possible derangements include Hysteria, Megalomania, Paranoia and Anxiety (see Derangements)

Astral Projection allows a clairvoyant to completely free his consciousness from his physical form and travel mentally to distant locations while leaving his body behind. The psychic must first enter a trance state (see “Entering a Trance”). Then, the player makes a reflexive Stamina + Composure roll to determine how long the character can remain away from his body. Once separated, the psychic can instantly travel to any location he is capable of perceiving with a normal Clairvoyance roll (Wits + Composure).

Once at a desired location, a psychic can move around freely but is generally intangible and invisible. He can, however, be perceived through any appropriate psychic means (such as Aura Reading •••••). Other astral projectors or other beings existing in Twilight — an ephemeral state in the material world, such as a ghost’s — can perceive him normally. Returning to his body requires an instant action and a successful Wits + Composure roll, or the clairvoyant can return to his body reflexively with an exceptional success.

If the psychic’s physical body is tampered with while he is “gone,” the he may sense the intrusion with a successful Intelligence + Composure roll. The psychic always feels actual pain inflicted on his physical body and may react accordingly. However, an astral projector’s physical body may be subjected to a killing blow if the body is left unprotected.

If a psychic using Astral Projection uses the optional form of Clairvoyance that grants only one sense, he is able to use only that one sense while projected. A projector who has only clairaudience is at a severe disadvantage, as he arrives at a location and is functionally blind. Characters whose Clairvoyance grants only vision are slightly less handicapped, but are still effectively deaf. While astrally projecting, a psychic is free to use any other ESP or telepathic Merit he possesses. Thus, a “deaf” projector with Mind Reading can attempt to “ride the senses” of someone nearby, while one with Animal Empathy could do the same to a nearby animal.

Cost: 1 Willpower to project. None to navigate.
Dice Pool: Stamina + Composure (to determine the duration of the projection). Wits + Composure (to navigate astrally to the desired location)
Action: Extended to enter the trance state. Instant to release the astral form and navigate to the desired location.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic is rendered unable to use his Astral Projection power until he has rested for at least eight hours. A dramatic failure on a navigation roll means he is lost and has traveled to some unintended and possibly dangerous location.

Failure:
The psychic fails to project, but can try again. A failure on the navigation roll means that the ESPer has missed his destination, but is close enough to try again.

Success:
The psychic can maintain his astral form for up to 10 minutes per success. A success on the navigation roll means that he finds the location he was seeking.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic maintains his astral form for the duration of his trance. An exceptional success on a navigation roll gives the psychic a +2 bonus on all Perception rolls while at the desired location, as well as a +1 bonus on any other psychic powers used astrally.

Aura Reading blurs the distinction between telepathy and ESP, as Aura Reading represents a form of psychic perception, but also has elements of mind reading. According to telepaths who have this Merit, all living things (and some “unliving” things) are surrounded by a nimbus of energy that is perceptible by psychic means or by Kirlian photography. Aura Reading allows a psychic to perceive this otherwise invisible halo, and with experience interpret its constantly changing hues to gain insights into a subject. Vampires and mages have access to a similar power known as Aura Perception. Aura Reading, however, does not carry with it the same level of sophistication. And yet, a talented psychic can deduce a target’s general emotional state and perform such feats as determining whether the person is lying.

With the five-dot version, a knowledgeable telepath may use this power to recognize supernatural entities. To a trained telepath, vampires are recognized by their extremely pale auras, werewolves by their vibrant intensity and mages by sparkling lights that appear in the patterns. Dematerialized ghosts and spirits are also visible with this power, as are astral projectors, but only faintly, and a psychic cannot communicate with them without use of other powers. Regardless of the type of supernatural subject, a telepath must have some familiarity with a sort of being to identify it. A psychic who has had opportunity to perceive the auras of vampires might know that a mage is “not right” and also knows that she is not a vampire, but he would not specifically realize that she is a mage unless he also had some familiarity with the auras of willworkers.

Both versions of this Merit require the expenditure of one Willpower point and an Intelligence + Empathy roll, contested by a target’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage; resistance is reflexive. The two-dot version requires the psychic to scrutinize the target for a number of turns equal to the target’s Composure prior to the roll, and a target may be suspicious of someone staring intently at her if a reflexive Wits + Composure (or possibly Wits + Occult) roll for her succeeds. The two-dot version automatically fails against supernatural beings. The five-dot version can be used against supernatural beings, but otherwise functions as the two-dot version. Once a psychic successfully reads a target’s aura, the psychic can continue to view it so long as she maintains concentration, allowing her to observe the target for possible deception or even to predict an imminent attack.

A failure on an attempt at Aura Reading means that the psychic is unable to discern an aura at all, while a dramatic failure means she receives false or misleading information. Thus, the Storyteller should always roll for the player when the possibility of a dramatic failure applies. A telepath who successfully reads the aura of someone in the act of lying may recognize that the subject speaks falsely by rolling Intelligence + Empathy + [the successes gained on the initial Aura Reading roll] versus the subject’s Composure + Subterfuge in a contested action. If the psychic wins the roll, he recognizes the lie.

Applied toward reading the mood of potential combatants, this power grants its user a bonus to Initiative equal to the number of successes rolled in activating the effect, provided the telepathic is actively reading the aura of a target at the time that person initiates an attack.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy versus target’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Reflexive (though a subject may have to be studied in advance of making a roll)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character gleans utterly misleading and wholly inaccurate information. The Storyteller may wish to make any chance-die rolls for a player, to keep the true results secret.

Failure:
The character can distinguish no information at all.

Success:
The character can determine the target’s general mood and nature, possibly picking up details about a supernatural being’s nature or whether a particular target is lying.

Exceptional Success:
The character gains all the benefits of a normal success. In addition, the character gains an additional +2 dice on all Social rolls made against the target for the remainder of the scene due to his being so in tune with her personality.

Automatic Writing permits a medium to access a source of paranormal knowledge through indirect means. Individual mediums disagree on whether they commune with spirits or the Universal Unconscious, or if they simply use clairvoyance. In any case, the mechanical effects are the same. The psychic must first enter a trance state. As she does so, she also randomly draws on paper, usually in a spiral pattern. As her trance takes hold, her writings become less random, and she draws pictures symbolic of whatever questions she seeks to answer. She continues to draw until the trance ends (usually an entire scene unless someone interrupts her), by which time she is typically surrounded by crudely scribbled drawings that may direct her to whatever she wants to find. The precise source of this knowledge is left to the Storyteller’s discretion, but if a psychic possesses the Channeling or Clairvoyance Merits, they may grant a +2 bonus on automatic writing attempts.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Composure + Craft
Action: Instant; although the psychic must first enter a trance state

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic’s drawings contain false or misleading information. The Storyteller should make any chance-die rolls for the player.

Failure:
The automatic drawing attempt is unsuccessful.

Success:
The psychic’s drawings contain vital clues to whatever mystery she seeks to solve.

Exceptional Success:
The drawings are particularly clear, giving a +1 modifier to any subsequent Investigation rolls pertaining to the drawings’ subject matter.

Suggested Equipment: Any item that has a strong connection to the subject about which the psychic seeks information (+1 to +3, depending on the strength of the connection).

Believers are typically Storyteller characters who serve as assistants to a psychic character and who unconditionally believe in the psychic’s powers. Believers are essentially the same as Retainers, except that the Believers’ strong belief in psychic phenomena allows them to aid the character in using his powers.

When a psychic is assisted by Believers, he gains a +1 bonus to a power’s roll for each dot in this Merit, assuming that at least the same number of such people are present. Normally, this bonus is limited to a +3. Some Merit options can allow the bonus gained from Believers to go as high as +5.

So, if Believers ••• is possessed and only two such people are actually present, a +2 bonus is gained. If seven Believers are present and only three dots are possessed when using another Merit, only +3 is gained. If a psychic suffers a dramatic failure while using a power, the results never cause a Believer to withdraw or develop an aversion to the psychic.

Biokinesis governs a psychic’s ability to manipulate the biological processes of living things. The scientific explanation for biokinesis eludes most parapsychologists. The most commonly accepted explanation relies on Wilhelm Reich’s theories regarding orgone energy, which are consistent with biokinetics’ claims that they can perceive and manipulate some form of ambient “life energy.” Biokinesis permits a psychic to manipulate his own personal life force to alter his body in three ways. First, Biokinesis is a prerequisite for a number of other powers that allow a psychic to manipulate life energy. Second, the power can aid a psychic in attempts to control his own mind and body. Each dot in Biokinesis is added as a bonus die to all attempts to either meditate or to enter a trance state.

Finally, Biokinesis allows a psychic to make minor alterations to his own physical body, temporarily affording him the benefit of certain Physical or Mental Merits, including some from the World of Darkness Rulebook and others listed here. Each Merit gained this way has a “success cost” equivalent to the Merit’s normal rating. The player must make an extended Intelligence + Composure roll with each roll representing a number of minutes equal to the success cost of the desired Trait. A Merit gained through Biokinesis lasts for the duration of a scene unless stated otherwise. Normally, the psychic can gain only a single Merit with a roll, but a biokinetic’s successes can be spent on multiple Merits with an exceptional success. In order to be able to use a Merit, the psychic must meet any prerequisites for that trait, and the psychic must have Biokinesis dots equal to [the success cost of the Merit +1]. The Merits that can be acquired through this power include the following:

Eidetic Memory (Two successes): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Fast Reflexes (One or two successes): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Fleet of Foot (One to three successes): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Fresh Start (One success): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Hysterical Strength (Variable successes): The psychic can trigger a massive surge of adrenaline, temporarily boosting his own Strength. For every success spent to purchase Hysterical Strength, the psychic increases his Strength by one dot to a maximum of 5. Doing so is very taxing and potentially life threatening. Every turn in which the psychic actually uses his augmented Strength (for example, to lift something heavy or to strike a powerful blow), he suffers one point of bashing damage. The increase in adrenaline also makes the psychic extremely excitable, and he is at a –1 penalty on all Composure-based rolls to resist provocation to anger while the power is in effect. This Merit lasts for a number of turns equal to the psychic’s Biokinesis rating.

Improved Awareness (One to three successes): For each success spent, the psychic gains a +1 bonus on all Perception rolls. This Merit lasts for one scene.

Improved Immune System (Four successes): While this Merit is active, the psychic can attempt to cure himself of diseases, poisons or drug effects by temporarily heightening the effectiveness of his immune system. The player must make an extended Stamina + Resolve roll, with each roll reflecting one hour recovering from a drug or poison or one day spent recuperating from an illness. During this period, the character can take no action more strenuous than walking, and, ideally, should have complete bed rest. The number of successes required is determined by the severity of the disease, drug or poison from which the psychic seeks to recover. Generally, common colds require three to five, while cancer, AIDS and other persistent or deadly diseases might require as many as 30 successes to send into remission. Similarly, a single success might be required to overcome the effects of alcohol or minor food poisoning, while five or so might be required to overcome the effects of LSD or a rattlesnake bite. Note that if a poison or toxin is especially fast acting — having a lethal effect within turns or minutes rather than hours or days — this capability may be of no use against it.
This power can affect only mundane diseases, drugs and poisons. It cannot aid the psychic in curing himself of a blood bond. This power also does not affect any supernatural diseases or poisons. It also has no affect on psychological addictions, although it can cure the physiological effect of an addiction.

Iron Stamina (One to three successes): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Iron Stomach (Two successes): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Natural Immunity (One success): This Merit lasts for one day per dot of Biokinesis or until the psychic uses his Biokinesis again, whichever comes first.

Pain Resistance (Three successes): The psychic becomes extraordinarily resistant to the physical side effects of pain and injury. Wound penalties are reduced by one, and the character gains a +1 bonus on rolls to stay conscious after all Health boxes have been filled with bashing damage, all for the duration of the scene.

Quick Healer (Four successes): This Merit lasts for one day per dot of Biokinesis or until the psychic uses his Biokinesis again, whichever comes first.

Strong Back (One success): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Strong Lungs (Three successes): This Merit lasts for one scene.

Toxin Resistance (Two successes): This Merit lasts for one day per point of Biokinesis or until the psychic uses his Biokinesis again, whichever comes first.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Composure
Action: Extended

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic suffers one point of bashing damage due to painful psychic feedback. He cannot attempt to use his Biokinesis powers for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The psychic fails to accumulate any successes for now, but may keep trying, or utterly fails to manifest any biokinetic benefi ts.

Success:
Accumulated successes can be used to temporarily acquire a single desired Merit, provided the psychic meets any prerequisites and his Biokinesis dots equal or exceed the desired Merit’s success cost, plus one.

Exceptional Success:
Accumulated successes can be used to acquire multiple Merits temporarily, with successes allocated for dots as the player chooses.

Channeling represents a psychic’s capacity to paranormally gain abilities that he does not normally possess. Cayce Channeling, allow the psychic accesses the Universal Unconscious to gain the knowledge he seeks.

The psychic must successfully enter a trance before he can channel effectively to gain new Traits. Skills gained last until the psychic next sleeps or until he attempts to channel again.

With this technique (named for Edgar Cayce), the psychic enters a trance state in which he can access the Universal Unconscious, the sum total of accumulated human knowledge. Theoretically, anything that has ever been known can be rediscovered through this power. Few modern practitioners have psychic powers on par with Edgar Cayce’s and are thus unable to utilize his techniques to their full extent. Cayce Channeling alone cannot be used to learn personal or secret details about people and places outside the psychic’s vicinity. Clairvoyance and precognition are more useful for that purpose; Cayce was also skilled in both of those powers. Finally, while Cayce Channeling can give a psychic access to potentially any empirical knowledge, Cayce Channeling cannot convey talents that require kinesthetic training (i.e., Physical Skills). A psychic might be able to use this power to identify a particular sword as a 15th-century Japanese katana, but he could not use the power to gain any proficiency in swordsmanship. The Skill dots acquired through this power take the place of any dots a character already possesses. Thus, if a player wishes to raise his character’s Skill above what it currently is, he must roll more successes than the character’s current Skill dots.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult
Action: Instant; although the psychic must first enter a trance

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic is trapped in his trance state for hours as he contemplates the infinite mysteries of the Universal Unconscious. Waking requires a number of successes on an extended Intelligence + Resolve roll equal to the psychic’s combined Stamina + Composure, with each roll taking one hour. Alternatively, the psychic is unable to access this Merit again until 24 hours pass.

Failure:
The effort is unsuccessful.

Success:
Each success is converted into one dot of a single Mental or Social Skill selected by the player. The number of successes must exceed the character’s current Skill dots, if any, in order for him to gain any benefit from the power. The new rating lasts until the psychic next sleeps or until he next uses this power.

Exceptional Success:
In addition to the normal benefit of extra successes, the psychic receives one bit of useful knowledge that he randomly comes across in the infinite Universal Unconscious, although the true significance of this nugget might not be immediately clear. If the successes exceed five, any more can be assigned to another single Mental or Social Skill of the character’s choosing.

When most people discuss ESP, they really refer to clairvoyance — the power to perceive things beyond the normal range of human senses. The default form of clairvoyance permits a seer to project all of her senses to a distant location, observing what happens there as if she were physically present. The events witnessed happen contemporaneously. The seer can neither see into the future nor into the past of the location viewed, unless she also has precognition and/or postcognition. A person who possesses this Merit is often referred to as a clairvoyant. While this power is in use, a player is at a –2 penalty to all Perception rolls pertaining to both the status of her character’s body and anything going on in the character’s immediate surroundings.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character receives erroneous or misleading information.

Failure:
The character is unable to project her senses.

Success:
The character can perceive events at the location she wishes to observe for up to one scene.

Exceptional Success:
The character can “move around,” changing the vantage point of her vision at will. She can even “pause” and “rewind” as needed, although she cannot see what happened before her vision began (see “Postcognition,” below).

Suggested Modifiers

Option [Crystal Gazer]: The clairvoyant can perceive only the target location while focusing on some type of special surface such as a mirror or crystal.

Option [Eyes of Another]: The psychic can view a scene only through the eyes of someone witnessing that scene. Thus, the clairvoyant cannot scry a location if no one is present there. The clairvoyant can get a +1 bonus if she can simply choose any person to view through, or she can get a +2 dice bonus if she is limited to only seeing through they eyes of a certain class of individuals. For example, the title character in The Eyes of Laura Mars had the power to observe murders taking place, but only through the eyes of the murderer and only in an uncontrolled manner. A character with those options gains +4 bonus on all Clairvoyance rolls — +2 for the Eyes of Another option and +2 for the Uncontrolled option (see below).

Option [One Sense Only]: The clairvoyant can perceive the target location with only one of his senses, most commonly vision or hearing (i.e., clairaudience).

Option [Trance Only]: The psychic can use his clairvoyant powers only while in a trance state. While the psychic is using his powers, he suffers the –5 penalty for Perception rolls inflflicted by trances, instead of the normal –2 penalty. A psychic with this option gains a +2 dice bonus to activate this power.

Option [Uncontrolled]: A psychic whose powers are uncontrolled has visions only at times of the Storyteller’s choosing, although the psychic should generally have at least one vision per session. A common form of Uncontrolled Clairvoyance causes the ESPer to perceive only visions of nearby individuals who are in danger. Another form might be combined with the Eyes of Another option (see above) to cause the ESPer to involuntarily see “through the eyes” of another person, perhaps a serial killer who stalks prey. The psychic can attempt to force a vision, but doing so reduces the player to a chance die. The psychic’s player spends a Willpower point only on Clairvoyance rolls if a vision is forced.

The thaumaturge is capable of connecting his consciousness to that of another being, generally a figure of godly intellect and incredible power. The experience is usually deeply personal and highly religious — one does not communicate directly with one’s divine inspiration without being changed by the experience.

The two-dot version of this Merit allows a character to reach out to the entity he considers his patron and open the way for the divine presence to communicate directly with him. This contact is one-way; the thaumaturge is limited to receiving whatever wisdom his patron desires to send without any ability to communicate in return. Spiritual figures of great power may be omniscient (or nearly so), and thus cognizant of a follower’s wishes. If the ritual succeeds, treat the effect as the Common Sense Merit, but present the “common sense” as emanations from the force with which the thaumaturge connects.

The four-dot version allows the performer to open the same pathway with the advantage of sending as well as receiving. Although the patron figure might choose to focus on matters different from what the character asks, revelations generally consist of warnings against particular courses of action, or of suggestions that will aid the goals of the thaumaturge. In terms of game mechanics, the wisdom transmitted means the thaumaturge may choose to treat an action of your choice as a rote action (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 134), provided the character begins that action before the expiration of this ritual’s duration (one scene). If the action is extended, the rote-action rule applies to each roll in the process.

The greatest challenge to a Storyteller here is presenting knowledge gained by Communion in a thematic light. Try to keep in mind the goals that the thaumaturge’s benefactor might pursue. More importantly, remember that the patron is a spiritual figure with an intellect far greater than that of humanity, and that the patron’s answers are likely to stretch the understanding of a thaumaturge to its limits. The wisdom granted in a single ritual may take years to fully comprehend or for its intended effects to be realized. Perhaps each communion should be recorded so that its full meaning may someday be discovered by future generations.

Dice Pool: Composure + Wits. Storytellers may choose to make these rolls to keep players unsure about the success of contact.
Ritual Length: One hour
Duration: One scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The thaumaturge experiences some sort of grand self-delusion that he mistakes for success. He suffers a mild derangement for •• or a severe one for ••••.
Exceptional Success: The communion results in particularly significant information, or is unusually clear. The Storyteller decides what that means in the game.

Suggested Equipment: Thaumaturge lives a lifestyle pleasing to his patron (+1)

Possible Penalties: Questionable or poor symbol in ritual (–1), caster has ignored patron previously (–1 to –3), ritual enacted for trivial reason (–1 to –3), patron currently displeased with caster (–1 to –5), character has posed one or more questions already today (–5), character has posed one or more questions already this week (–3)

Ritual Details: The performer focuses on a symbol of import to his personal concept of his patron. Through intense prayer or meditation, the performer seeks to open his senses to communication from his divine inspiration. Drugs are sometimes used to divorce one’s senses from the normal world, though some practitioners feel this approach clouds the message rather than clarifying it. Darkness, incense and other mild ways of altering the senses are useful as well.

Drawback: Receiving communication from divine power is life-changing. The will of the patron is inscrutable and vast. A patron may be displeased with a follower who ignores the wisdom the patron has shared. Displeasure may be expressed by refusal to answer, repetitive demands or “magnanimous” attempts to reform the thaumaturge. An angered patron may cause the Merit to suffer dramatic failure at will.

One of the first questions that a new practitioner of magic is likely to ask is, “How do I defend myself against other people who can do magic?” Most paths provide some training in the arts of protecting oneself against hostile powers.

The two-dot version is based on the idea that first defense is being able to detect an attack. This ritual extends a mystic’s senses for a single scene, allowing her to detect the first thaumaturge ritual used against her during that time, whether the magic is intended for good or ill. Rites performed through a sympathetic connection are noticed, though the source may not be. She senses the beginning of the ritual, which may give her time to try to prevent its completion via other means.

The four-dot version weaves the will into a defensive barrier against hostile magic. If the character succeeds, she benefits from the effects of the two-dot version. If the first ritual to target her during the scene is one that she would like to avoid, her Countermagic also applies a –2 penalty to the caster’s ritual rolls. This defense works against mental assaults as well as physical ones — the magical energy intrinsic to the attack is what is blocked. Only one Countermagic ward may apply to a character per scene, and the effect cannot be transferred to others.

Countermagic applies against other thaumaturge rites only, not against the spells of mages or the powers of other supernatural creatures.

Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Ritual Length: One minute
Duration: One scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The thaumaturge weaves an ineffective Countermagic field around her, providing no protection but potentially attracting the attention of those who can sense such things.

Suggested Equipment: Possession of a ritual tool used by the attacker (+1)

Ritual Details: Use of this magic commonly includes the hasty erection of protective circles or amulets scrawled on paper and worn. Iron, lead and various gemstones are sometimes included for their reputed defensive properties.

Drawback: The four-dot version creates an invisible aura that may be detected by certain supernatural beings, which could endanger the thaumaturge by drawing unwanted attention. If a being can see the barrier, it may appear as a shield or wall of magical energy.

Cryokinesis permits a psychic to decrease ambient temperature. The player must spend one Willpower point to activate, and then roll Intelligence + Composure. The effectiveness of the cryokinetic’s power is based on her Merit dots, with successes rolled lowering the temperature according to this chart.

When used to attack a moving target, treat Cryokinesis as a ranged attack. Defense does not apply, and the temperature shift bypasses armor unless the protection has some type of thermal aspect or the protection is a supernatural armor capable of protecting against cold. The attack also ignores cover, since the character can potentially lower the temperature over an area big enough to encompass even someone behind full cover. Cryokinesis affects the temperature of everything within the affected area, so living targets suffer a drop in body temperature commensurate with successes rolled.

Short range for a cryokinetic attack is equal to a psychic’s Intelligence + Wits + Cryokinesis dots in yards. Medium range is twice that distance and imposes a –2 penalty on an attack dice pool. Long range is up to twice medium range and imposes a –4 penalty on an attack dice pool. The Size of the area to be affected is subtracted from the cryokinetic’s dice pool. Thus, an attempt to freeze a human-sized target suffers a –5 penalty. However, physically touching the object to be affected confers a +2 bonus on the roll.

Once a psychic has successfully lowered the temperature in a given location, he can do one of three things: (1) maintain the reduced temperature as long as he concentrates, (2) release his concentration and let temperature equalize normally or (3) use his Cryokinesis powers again to lower the temperature even further. Thus, with time and a prodigious amount of Willpower, a cryokinetic can reduce ambient temperature to low levels, although the absolute lowest temperature that any cryokinetic can achieve is about –400 degrees, well above absolute zero.

Cryokinesis is potentially deadly to living beings. The record for the lowest body temperature in a human is approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit, although that patient lost all four limbs as a result. When Cryokinesis is used against a human, the victim suffers nothing more than discomfort until her internal body temperature is reduced by 10 degrees. At that point, the victim suffers a –1 penalty to Dexterity, Strength and Wits (and consequently, a –1 penalty to Initiative and potentially Defense, and a –2 penalty to Speed). For every additional five degrees of reduction, this Attribute penalty intensifies by an additional –1. If any of a victim’s Dexterity, Strength or Wits is reduced to zero, the victim is immobilized due to the onset of hypothermia. Also, if a victim’s body temperature is reduced by 20 degrees or more, she takes one point of lethal damage per turn spent subjected to the cryokinetic attack. If this lethal damage crosses over into aggravated damage, the victim suffers frostbite and may lose Attribute dots or gain Flaws to represent the loss of fingers or even limbs.

Most physical objects suffer no direct damage from low temperatures, but pipes can burst from frozen water, and machines that depend on lubricants may seize up if ambient temperature drops below freezing. At temperatures of 50 degrees below zero, trees snap and splinter spontaneously as heavy ice accumulates on their branches. Ice accumulates on streets and bridges, making travel hazardous. At 100 degrees below zero, almost any amount of water within an area is flash frozen, and living creatures are killed almost instantly unless protected somehow. Vampires and the undead are almost completely immune to low temperatures, but at temperatures of –100 or lower, a vampire’s body might well freeze solid. Unless she can thaw herself out (through the use of blood or Disciplines), she may well remain paralyzed when the sun comes up the next morning.

Once a psychic ceases to focus her attention on a specific location, temperatures equalize normally. In the case of extreme temperature changes in excess of a 200-degree difference from the surrounding area, “equalize normally” may mean an explosive reaction, inflicting two dice of bashing damage on everyone within a radius equal to the Size of the area initially affected x5. The explosion also causes knockdown. If the temperature shift is less than 200 degrees, the affected area returns to normal temperature at a rate of 5 degrees per minute.

Cryokinetics also have an improved resistance to environmental temperature extremes. A psychic with this power is automatically immune to natural temperature extremes ranging from zero to 37 degrees, plus an additional temperature range equal to plus or minus [Merit dots x11] degrees. A cryokinetic is automatically immune to the temperature-based attacks of other cryokinetics whose Merit dots do not exceed her own.

Cost: 1 Willpower per roll to affect temperature. None to resist temperature.
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Composure (– Size of area to be affected) to reduce the ambient temperature. The cryokinetic can resist low temperatures without a roll.
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic fails to affect the ambient temperature and suffers one point of bashing damage as his own internal body temperature goes haywire.

Failure:
The psychic fails to affect ambient temperature.

Success:
Each success lowers the ambient temperature as described above.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward.

Option [Emotional Cryokinesis]: Whenever the cryokinetic is in the grip of strong emotion, Resolve + Composure must be rolled with a penalty equal to the level of the emotion as described by the Emotional Response table below. If the roll is unsuccessful, the cryokinetic’s powers function uncontrollably, raising or lowering the ambient temperature in random ways. A dramatic failure means that this wild activity might flare up at random intervals over the next several days whenever the psychic becomes agitated, causing freakish “cold spots.” Such uncontrolled power may have catastrophic effects for powerful cryokinetics. These random phenomena do not require the expenditure of a Willpower point.

The character can inflict bad luck upon others. This spell is a basic curse intended to bring about ill-fortune when another person performs a specific type of action such as driving a car or making a speech. The performer chooses both the target and the nature of the activity to be affected before dice are rolled. If the rite is successful, the curse removes a number of dice from the subject’s pool equal to the magician’s Manipulation for a number of rolls of the designated type equal to the caster’s Persuasion. For example, the magician could curse someone to do poorly at a job interview, or simply to drive especially badly whenever going faster than 60 mph. A single target can be subject to no more than one curse at a time. If the player rolls an exceptional success, this curse applies to all rolls of the specified type that the target makes for duration.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus Composure + Supernatural Advantage (extended and contested roll)
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: One day

Suggested Equipment: A photograph or video of the target performing the action to be cursed (+1), a tool or accoutrement the target uses to perform the action that becomes the subject of the curse (+1)

Possible Penalties: Subtract the target’s dots in Luck Magic (if any) from the roll

Ritual Details: The magician draws sigils, recites chants or impromptu poems or even draws images of the action he wants to curse. The ritual always involves taking a magical connection and using it as part of a symbolic representation of the action. For example, when cursing a target to be an especially bad driver, the mystic might attach the magical connection to a photograph or model of a car and then smash or otherwise destroy the model or photograph and the magical connection.

Your medium can see dead people. The psychic may perceive and communicate with any ghost she encounters. The power allows only perception of and communication with ghosts in Twilight — ghosts tied to the material world and not to any otherworldly spirit world. The power affords no ability to contact spirits from the Shadow Realm that have entered the material world and that exist in Twilight. This Merit does not permit the psychic to aid ghosts in manifesting in the physical world (which requires the Ghost-Calling Merit). Most ghosts instinctively realize when a mortal can perceive them, and psychics who possess this power are often inundated by requests from desperate beings seeking help to resolve their earthly affairs.

A character who possesses the Ghost Ally Merit can acquire a limited version of Death Sight capable of letting her see and communicate with his ally by increasing the normal cost of the Ghost Ally Merit.

Cost: None to sense the presence of ghosts. One Willpower to initiate communication with them.
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure
Action: Reflexive

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The medium is unable to use this Merit for the rest of the scene. Alternately, she may suffer horrific visions of some hellish underworld, inflicting a –2 penalty on all actions for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The attempt to activate Death Sight is unsuccessful.

Success:
Your character can perceive and communicate with any ghost in her vicinity for the remainder of the scene. Such ghosts remain intangible to her, however.

Exceptional Success:
The medium may gain a +2 bonus on all rolls made in dealing with ghosts during the scene.

Option [Permanent Death Sight]: The medium’s ability to see the dead is always active. The stress of constantly being surrounded by spectral beings inflicts a mild derangement, such as Depression, Phobia, Irrationality or Avoidance. The player must still roll Wits + Composure in order to communicate with ghosts, but with this option, such rolls gain a +3 bonus.

The thaumaturge performs ritual readings to divine the future. The character declares a target — a person, place or thing. He can then attempt to divine the future of that subject. The information revealed is typically vague and difficult to comprehend until the predicted situation is imminent. At that point, things suddenly make sense to the thaumaturge and courses of action may be remarkably clear.

This Merit grants use of the advanced-actions rule (from the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 135), allowing the player to roll twice and choose the most beneficial result for a single action involving the target. This action must be undertaken within 24 hours of the divination. Such rolls require interaction of some sort with the target, whether that be finding, attacking, persuading or attempting to understand. The same target can be divined with this rite only once every 24 hours. Any attempts to read the same person, place or thing’s future again before 24 hours have passed fails automatically. If the thaumaturge means a target ill, then the divination counts as hostile magic for purposes of defensive measures.

The thaumaturge must have some connection to the target or the ritual fails. The degree of connection provides potential penalties to the roll (see “Magical Connections,” p. 76 ). The thaumaturge cannot choose himself as the target, because the divination allows him to determine the future only as it relates to his own interaction with a subject.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult. The Storyteller may wish to roll secretly to keep the accuracy of the divination in question.
Ritual Length: 10 minutes

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The thaumaturge unwittingly receives a faulty answer, suffering a –2 die penalty to the action attempted.

Exceptional Success: The divination is more clear than normal. The thaumaturge gets use of the advanced- actions rule for two rolls involving the target that day.

Suggested Equipment: Target willingly participates in the ritual (+1)

Ritual Details: Divination rituals always involve some sort of medium with which the thaumaturge may read the future, usually in symbolic form. Tarot decks, rune stones, tea leaves and I Ching characters are possibilities.

A Doubting Thomas is a mortal who strongly and emphatically rejects the existence of psychic phenomena. Almost anyone can simply doubt the existence of such possibilities, but a Doubting Thomas is almost pathological on the subject, as the character himself has a latent potential for psychic powers that he cannot use due to a persistent mental block. The character’s latent abilities are channeled into negating any actual psychic powers in his vicinity in order to help preserve his belief that the possibility is not real. Any attempt to use obvious psychic powers in the Doubting Thomas’ presence automatically suffers a –2 penalty, as he constantly watches the psychic for the slightest hint of fraud. If multiple Thomases are in a psychic’s presence, the penalties they impose are cumulative.

Drawback: A Doubting Thomas also suffers from a mild derangement triggered by assertions of psychic phenomena. Precisely how this ailment manifests is determined by you, but a Doubting Thomas confronted by phenomena purported to be psychic is likely compelled to confront the performer and try to debunk her claims. Common derangements for Doubting Thomases include Fixation, Suspicion and Irrationality (see Derangements).

A limited form of divination, dowsing is a technique that lets a psychic to search for hidden objects. Traditionally, dowsing was used to search for good places to dig wells for fresh water, although it was also used to find gold and oil with varying degrees of success. The procedure requires a psychic to walk around and concentrate on the object or substance to be found, while holding either a swinging pendulum or a stick called a divining rod. If the psychic is successful, the rod or pendulum swings slightly in the direction of whatever is sought. Exactly how dowsing works is unclear, even to psychics. Some say it is a form of clairvoyance, others a form of mediumship (with spirits moving the divining rod in the same way a ghost might affect a Ouija board). Still others say the practice calls upon the Universal Unconscious. Generally, dowsing can find things and not individuals, although the Storyteller might permit a psychic to perform feats such as find a missing person with a divining rod if the performer has some personal possession belonging to the subject.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult
Action: Extended. The number of successes required is determined by the Storyteller based on how well hidden or distant the substance is. A hidden safe might require three successes, while a fresh water source in the Sahara might require 20 or more. Each roll represents 30 minutes of dowsing.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic is led on a wildgoose chase far from his desired goal. He also loses all accumulated successes.

Failure:
The current dowsing attempt is unsuccessful, but more rolls may be made.

Success:
When the player has accumulated the number of successes required, the attempt succeeds.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic might also gain insight into some other prize hidden nearby.

Your character has a connection to primordial forces, ancient truths that can be seen and comprehended only through dreams. He gains insight into secrets through reverie and visions, finding answers to questions he couldn’t normally get by mundane means. Behind the lie of the so-called real world, dreams reveal the world as it really is — from a certain point of view. Through effort of will, your character can even channel this insight into action.

Once per game session, your character can use this Merit to gain a supernatural insight concerning a question or topic. Activating this ability requires at least one hour spent in sleep, a trance or in an activity focused exclusively on accessing an altered state of consciousness. The Storyteller then rolls the character’s Wits + Composure in secret. A successful roll results in one clue per dot of Dream.

The meaning of these clues is hidden behind allegory, symbols and archetypes. Dreams rarely answer questions directly, typically relying on symbolism and images to convey information. A thaumaturge seeking a specific person’s location wouldn’t see his address, but landmarks nearby could lead the way: a river, a tower or even the face of a man walking by at dusk. The answer has the potential to resolve a problem. This Merit is a tool for the Storyteller to help drive events of a story.

Dream Travel is a refinement of Astral Projection, combined with elements of telepathy. A dream traveler can cause her astral form to enter the mind of a sleeping person and interact with the sleeper during his dreams. The psychic must first astrally project using the normal rules for that Merit. She must then navigate astrally to the physical location of a sleeping person, although doing so may not require any roll if the sleeper is physically near the psychic’s body. Once the psychic locates her subject, she can enter the subject’s dreamscape and communicate with the sleeper as if the two were in the same physical location.

To the dream traveler, the dreamscape is exceptionally realistic, even more so than it is for the person who is actually having the dream. Anything encountered by the psychic in the dreamscape is “real” to her and potentially capable of causing her injury. Normally, this harm occurs only if the psychic enters a nightmare, the dream of a mortal who is a lucid dreamer able to defend himself against an intruder or if the traveler encounters someone else intruding in the same mind.

If a psychic is caught within another’s nightmare, the psychic may be subjected to an attack, depending on the nature of the nightmare and how the psychic responds to it. If the dreamer possesses the Lucid Dreamer Merit, he may be able to initiate dream attacks at the expense of one Willpower point per attack. (Anyone with Dream Travel can initiate attacks in her own dreams without the expenditure of a Willpower point.)

Regardless of the form the dream attack takes, all attacks are represented by a Wits + Resolve + Dream Travel pool, from which the target’s Composure is subtracted. Even if the attack is the result of an ordinary person’s nightmare, the nightmare itself may attack the intruding psychic using the dreamer’s Wits + Resolve pool. Each success inflicts one point of “phantom damage” to the target.

Any phantom damage inflicted has no lingering effect once a psychic withdraws to her own body, unless the phantom damage is enough to kill her in a dream. In that case, the psychic’s physical body dies instantly, usually of a heart attack or cerebral hemorrhage. Attacks initiated by lucid dreamers or by other dream travelers customarily inflict bashing damage. A psychic with Dream Travel •••• or higher can inflict lethal damage. No form of dream attack can inflict aggravated damage.

hile a psychic uses this Merit, she is subject to all the limitations of Astral Projection, including limited awareness of her body’s surroundings and vulnerability to a killing blow. The length of time a psychic can remain free of her body is determined by your initial Astral Projection roll. A dream traveler can remain within her subject’s subconscious only while a dream takes place, however. Generally, REM cycles last between five and 45 minutes, so any attempt to enter and manipulate a dream does not usually last beyond a scene.

If a dreamer wakes or dies, any dream travelers present are expelled back to their bodies. A psychic can make minor cosmetic changes to the dreamscape with an instant Wits + Resolve roll. At the Storyteller’s discretion, particularly vivid, evocative or just plain cool descriptions of how a psychic manipulates a dreamscape may translate into bonus dice.

Cost: 1 Willpower to project into another’s dream. None to initiate dream attacks. Characters with the Lucid Dreamer Merit can initiate attacks by spending one Willpower point, but only in their own dreams.
Dice Pool: Wits + Resolve to enter a sleeping person’s dream and to manipulate it. Prior to an entry effort, a psychic must successfully use Astral Projection in order to leave her body and travel to the target’s location; Astral Projection typically requires a character to enter a trance first.
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic fails to enter the sleeper’s mind and cannot try again until the sleeper’s next REM cycle. In dream combat, the psychic inflicts one point of phantom damage on herself.

Failure:
The psychic simply fails to enter the sleeper’s mind, or no damage is inflicted.

Success:
The psychic successfully enters the sleeper’s mind. Each success in dream combat inflicts a point of damage.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic enters the sleeper’s mind and gains a +1 bonus die to all other rolls for the duration of her stay.

The thaumaturge can psychically enter the dreams of another. This ability operates much like the Visionary Trances Merit, except that the mystic enters the dreams of a sleeping individual instead of the Shadow Realm. The roll to enter another’s dreams is resisted only if the target is unwilling. If the thaumaturge asks permission and the target agrees before he goes to sleep, the target does not get a roll to resist the ritual.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult versus Composure + Supernatural Advantage (if the target is not willing; extended and contested roll)
Ritual Length: 10 Minutes
Duration: Trance

During the time the thaumaturge’s consciousness is in a subject’s dream, the thaumaturge’s body is alive but comatose and her spirit has actually separated from her body. She has no way of knowing her body’s current state of health or any other information about it. Once inside a target’s dream, the mystic can simply observe and possibly gain a deeper understanding of the subject’s fears and worries. Alternatively, the thaumaturge can choose to form an ethereal dream-body capable of interacting physically with the target’s dream-self and the contents of his dream. The thaumaturge normally appears in a form identical to her own body, dressed in clothes in which she is comfortable. She can interact with the target and the contents of the dream as easily and normally as if she were awake and interacting with the target and his surroundings. Although damage done to the sleeper’s dream-body cannot harm the his physical body in any way, the mystic is not so lucky. Any damage done to her ethereal dream-body becomes bashing damage on her physical body, as bruises appear on her flesh. If the thaumaturge’s physical body loses all Health, her spirit is thrown out of the target’s dream automatically and she is likely unconscious from her injuries.

If the target’s ethereal dream-body loses all Health, he wakes up automatically, but does not suffer any damage to his physical body. The mystic also wakes automatically.

The thaumaturge may attempt to leave a target’s dream at any time with a successful Manipulation + Occult roll as an instant action. If the target wishes to stop her from leaving, this effort becomes a contested action, with Composure + Intimidation rolled for the subject. Holding onto the thaumaturge, imprisoning her or otherwise attempting to keep her from “getting away” counts as an attempt to keep the mystic from leaving a dream. Magicians who are prevented from leaving a dream may suffer damage from being in a trance for a long period, and from being attacked in the target’s dream.

Although the thaumaturge cannot use her magic to directly affect the subject’s dream, she can use her understanding of dreams to affect her form and location within the dream. Roll Manipulation + Occult in an instant action to alter your character’s clothing or appearance, including looking exactly like someone else whom the target knows. You can also make this roll reflexively to allow your character to move with inhuman speed. The mystic can fly for a scene or teleport instantly from one place to another. If the target attempts to resist these changes, such as by attempting to restrain the thaumaturge, then these rolls are contested by the target’s Composure + Intimidation.

Suggested Equipment: Hallucinogenic drugs (+1 or +2, depending on their strength), the target’s pillow (+1)

Possible Penalties: The target is drugged (drunkenness and sleeping pills both count) (–1)

Ritual Details: Performing this ritual is very similar to using the Visionary Trances Merit.

Enchantment is the magic of controlling and perceiving others’ emotions and desires. Thaumaturges trained in this type of magic can affect the feelings of people and animals. These abilities can also be used on living supernatural beings such as ghouls and werewolves. The emotions of spirits, ghosts, vampires and other dead or otherwise inhuman things are sufficiently alien that they are immune to the effects of Enchantment.

The two-dot version allows a magician to cause a target to feel a relatively simple emotion. These feelings are more a suggestion than a mandate, though they are apt to be heeded if they make sense for the individual and situation. (Causing someone to feel sad when walking into a decrepit old house is reasonable and likely to be dismissed as a natural reaction, whereas making someone feel sadistic glee at the funeral of a sibling almost certainly causes the subject to question from whence the emotion came.) In all cases, the emotions produced are very general and are applied by the target to the immediate situation. For example, if a subject is made angry while talking to an employee, the target becomes angry with the employee, but does not suddenly become angry with someone the target had not been thinking about or talking to. A character can be made to feel angry, but not angry at a particular person who is not present. Producing murderous rage in someone who is both naturally aggressive and already quite angry can have dramatic results. If the target speaks with multiple people, the magician has no way to determine whether the target turns angry with everyone or with only a specific individual. This ritual can provide a magician with one or two bonus dice in a Social situation with the subject (depending upon how well the emotion produced fits the situation), or the ritual penalizes the target’s Composure by one or two as he is overcome with passion.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy versus Composure + Supernatural Advantage (extended and contested roll)
Ritual Length: One minute
Duration: One scene

Suggested Equipment: Food or drink that the magician touches during the ritual and that the target them consumes (+1), sample of the target’s blood (+1), the emotion is the most reasonable reaction to the target’s current circumstances (+1)

Possible Penalties: The emotion is completely inappropriate to the setting (–1), the target meditates regularly (–1), the target restrains her emotions regularly (–1) Ritual Details: The caster must focus on either the target or a magical connection to the target and then perform an action relating to the emotion, such as concentrating on the desired feeling, whispering a description of the emotion while tying a knot in a piece of thread, dripping candle wax on a sigil representing the emotion or burning a piece of paper with the desired emotion written on it.

Characters who have the four-dot version can perform the above ritual, and also gain the ability to exert more precise control over a target’s emotions and desires. In addition to being able to fill targets with rage or to make them sad, this ritual can cause a target to become angry with someone he had not seen or spoken to in several weeks, or to be in a crowd of people and suddenly fall in love with a specific person. If this ritual succeeds, the target feels these emotions, but may rapidly dismiss them if they are completely inappropriate or nonsensical. Someone working for a boss she likes and respects is likely to feel no more than annoyance or mild anger, but she still becomes angry at him. Similarly, filling a committed teetotaler with a desire for a drink isn’t likely start him on a lengthy drinking binge.

One of the major limitations of this ritual is that while a thaumaturge can produce emotions and desires in a target, she cannot control or even predict how he will respond. Causing the subject to feel rage at a particular person can result in the target yelling at the person, physically attacking him or attempting to drown his rage in drink or some similar intense or self-destructive activity. A single target can be subject to only one of these rituals at a time. Causing a subject to feel a second emotion immediately negates the impact of the first.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus subject’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage (extended and contested roll)
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: One day

Suggested Equipment: A sample of the target’s blood (+1), a photograph or video of the target feeling the desired emotion (+1), an object the target touched while feeling that emotion (+1)

Possible Penalties: The emotion is completely inappropriate to the setting (–1), the target meditates regularly (–1), the target restrains her emotions regularly (–1) Ritual Details: The details of this performance are very similar to the lower dot version, except that the ritual is considerably more detailed and extensive. The caster typically uses various props involving colors, shapes, scents and materials representing the desired emotion — say, hearts and roses for love or dark blues and dead flowers for sorrow.

Evocation is the art of compelling a spirit or ghost to answer a summons. A thaumaturge with this Merit must choose ghosts or spirits as the Merit’s focus, though she may learn both versions separately. Initially, the character learns to force an entity to answer her call. Eventually, she can impose her will directly over the entity and enslave it temporarily. Obviously, most ghosts and spirits despise such treatment and may seek revenge once their servitude has ended. Some thaumaturges try to circumvent this danger by demanding only minor services, while others silence vengeful servants by treating them as expendable resources. Evocation does not grant a mystic the power to perceive Twilight, and Evocation’s power does not reach into the Shadow Realm; the target summoned must already exist in Twilight.

The two-dot version forcefully contacts a specific entity or sends out a general summoning to the nearest entity. In either case, the being must be within visual or audible range to sense the thaumaturge. The character may summon an entity personally known to him (one that falls within any of the sympathy connection categories), or he may specify a type of entity of his choosing (males ghosts or fi re spirits, for example). The entity comes to the caster with as much speed as the entity can muster, although it cannot be made to violate any normal limitations (such as exceeding the maximum distance from an anchor or defying a spiritual Ban). The entity must remain near the thaumaturge for the duration of the scene, unless the caster allows the entity to leave. At two dots, the thaumaturge cannot compel an entity to do anything other than attend his presence, though nothing prevents him from convincing or forcing the being to serve him by other means.

The four-dot version allows the performer to summon an entity and present it with a command that the entity must follow for the duration of the scene. The Merit does not grant any special power of communication to the thaumaturge, so the entity must be able to understand his command. A French-speaking Creole ghost may not know English, while a fire spirit might not fully comprehend ideas associated with water or ice. An entity is forced to obey the caster’s command as best as it is able, though poorly worded commands may be twisted to suit the entity’s desires.

Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion versus Resistance (extended and contested roll)
Ritual Length: 10 minutes Duration: One scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The thaumaturge’s command is delivered to the entity without any force behind it. The ghost or spirit could feel anger toward the audacious caster.

Success:
The thaumaturge summons the nearest entity matching his chosen description, provided that one is within range.

Exceptional Success:
The evoker issues his command with great eloquence. The Storyteller should consider working with the player to eliminate potential loopholes in the wording.

Suggested Equipment: The command is actually helpful to the entity (+1), the entity has been successfully summoned by the thaumaturge before (+1)

Possible Penalties: Thaumaturge has negative reputation known to entity (–1), the entity is angry at caster (–2), the entity is currently bound by the caster or someone else (–3)

Ritual Details: The thaumaturge focuses the ritual on some object or creature significant to the ghost or spirit. For ghosts, this might include such things as living relatives, part of the ghost’s corpse or grave, handwritten notes or per- sonal photographs from its lifetime. Spirits are usually tied to concepts. An item or offering reflecting this affiliation is necessary — fire or flammables for a fire spirit or a mouse for a cat spirit, for example. Symbols of binding (chains or twine) or authority (coins, wands) may also be useful.

Drawback: Spirits and ghosts do not appreciate being enslaved any more than living beings do. The entity is very likely to bear ill will toward the caster in the future.

Your character has a magical bond with a spirit that aids him, one that is either in Twilight (it’s immaterial and invisible) or that’s embodied. Twilight familiars have no bodies; they are spirits in an ephemeral state of existence called Twilight. Embodied familiars inhabit a physical body in the material world. Only shamans who possess Visionary Trances (••••) and apostles of the Dark One who have Communion (••••) may possess Twilight familiars, and only hedge witches who know Enchantment (••••) may possess embodied familiars. A Twilight familiar is bought for three dots; it is a spirit originating in the Shadow Realm, and is also known as a “fetch.” Twilight familiars can temporarily manifest as ghosts can (see “Manifestations,” p. 210 of the World of Darkness Rulebook), but the ephemeral bodies of Twilight familiars are otherwise invisible and intangible to the physical world. A Twilight familiar must manifest or use Numina to affect anything in the physical world, except for the Twilight familiar’s bound thaumaturge, whom it can touch at will. (The Twilight familiar’s thaumaturge can also see and speak with the familiar even when he is not using a ritual that allows him to see Twilight.) Twilight familiars exist in this world, not in the Shadow Realm, although they can accompany their masters into the Shadow Realm or travel there themselves if Numina allow it.

An embodied familiar is bought for four dots. It takes the form of an earthly creature. Many of the legendary stories of sorcerers with cunning animal companions — cats, rats, bats — are actually references to embodied familiars.

Familiar Traits

Whether immaterial or embodied, a familiar is considered to be the lowest rank of spirit (a “squire” or “Lesser Gaffl ing”) with a limit of 5 on all Traits and a maximum Essence of 10.The Storyteller designs the spirit’s Traits. Each familiar begins play with at least one dot in each Attribute, with extra dots as listed below. For rules concerning spirits Traits, including additional Spirit Numen, see pp. 210–212 of the World of Darkness Rulebook, as well as pp. 317–322 of Mage: The Awakening and pp. 273–282 of Werewolf: The Forsaken.

Twilight Familiar Traits

Attributes: 3/3/2 (allocate dots in any order among Power, Finesse and Resistance)
Willpower: Equal to Power + Resistance
Essence: 10 (10 max)
Initiative: Equal to Finesse + Resistance
Defense: Equal to the highest of Power or Finesse
Speed: Equal to Power + Finesse + “species factor” (same as its earthly counterpart)
Size: 5 or less (same as its earthly counterpart)
Corpus: Equal to Resistance + Size
Influence: 2 dots (choose one)
Numina: Choose one
Ban: The fetch has one Ban, chosen by the Storyteller (see pp. 320–321 of Mage: The Awakening and pp. 278–279 of Werewolf: The Forsaken). When a fetch tries to manifest, use the following modifiers for the effort:

Location	Modifier
Wilderness	+3
Place associated with the spirit’s Influence	+2
Minor magical nexus	+1
Major magical nexus	+2
Handmade structure (wooden bridge, shed)+1 Parking lot	-1
Modern commercial building (grocery store, mall)	-1
Modern industrial building	–2
Modern laboratory	-3

Embodied Familiar Traits

Attributes: 5/4/3
Skills: 9/6/3
Willpower: Equal to Resolve + Composure
Essence: 10 (10 max)
Initiative: Equal to Dexterity + Composure
Defense: Equal to highest of Dexterity or Wits
Speed: Strength + Dexterity + “species factor” (based on its animal type)
Size: 5 or less (based on its animal type)
Health: Equal to Stamina + Size
Influence: 2 dots (choose one)
Numina: Innocuous (see below), and choose one more
Ban: The fetch has one Ban chosen by the Storyteller.

Embodied familiars live in the material world in a physical body, although it might be a somewhat unusual body like a snow-white raven or a cat with violet eyes.

All embodied familiars have the Innocuous Numen (pp. 321–322 of Mage: The Awakening); they are very good at not being noticed by others. Anyone but the familiar’s bonded thaumaturge suffers a –2 penalty on Perception rolls to notice the animal, unless it does something to draw attention to itself.

A spirit-familiar’s bound thaumaturge is considered to be its anchor to the material world, although there is no limit to how far a familiar can travel from its mystic. It does not lose Essence for every hour it spends in the physical world or Twilight. The familiar must follow all the other rules concerning Essence, however, including spending one point per day. If the familiar is reduced to zero Essence, it falls into Slumber, but it is not transferred back into the Shadow Realm as long as the thaumaturge-familiar bond persists. Similar to other spirits, the being can gain Essence by being in proximity to something that the familiar refl ects (see pp. 319–320 of Mage: The Awakening and pp. 275–276 of Werewolf: The Forsaken).

Master and familiar have an empathic connection; each can feel the emotions of the other automatically. (Supernatural effects that damage or manipulate a familiar through an emotional attack don’t damage or manipulate the master.) All familiars have a sensory magical connection to their bound thaumaturges, meaning that a mystic can use the familiar’s senses as a magical connection without any penalty to ritual rolls. This effect makes familiars superlative spies.

Improvement: To improve a familiar, you must spend some of your character’s experience points on the being.

The magician creates a shift of destiny, effectively generating a highly directed turn of personal good luck. These small manipulations of fortune always take the form of totally plausible events, such as a parched magician finding the five dollars she needs on the sidewalk to buy a drink, or finding a moderately attractive person in a bar who wants to spend the night. Big shifts such as finding a $1,000 at the convenience store’s front door, or meeting the love of her life are simply too implausible for the limited power of this ritual. The magician requests some small jolt in the desired direction and allows destiny to decide how it comes about.

The character should be on her toes, ready for anything in the event that her request comes about in an extremely unexpected manner. A wish for “a ride” along a lonely country road at night yields one, but the results could be anything from being picked up by a truck driver to having a thief abandon a stolen car nearby and then flee into the woods. These manipulations of destiny are small, but they may be undertaken for a wide variety of ends. Indeed, these tweaks can grow into something bigger and more meaningful if tended carefully. Mr. Right Now could, in fact, actually be Mr. Right, provided the magician puts in the time and effort to bring such a relationship to fruition. Alternatively, the $50 a magician wins from a scratch ticket might yield up many times its own value if invested wisely. This ritual helps destiny along rather than creating it, but does give a character an opportunity to seize her own fortune or to help make one for another.

This ritual cannot provide a thaumaturge with more than $50 at a time, or produce any item whose value is greater than that unless the item has a significant drawback (such as a stolen car whose theft was reported to the police).

Dice Pool: Wits + Occult Ritual Length: One minute Duration: Lasting or one scene (minimum of one hour) Suggested Equipment: An item strongly associated with luck, such as a winning lottery ticket or some hair from a champion racehorse (+1)

Possible Penalties: The desired item is particularly unlikely (such as finding money while walking through the woods) (–1)

Ritual Details: The magician decides what he wants and then creates some simple representation of it. He performs an action involving what he wants, such as writing his desires on a leaf or a small scrap of paper and burning it, or writing out what he wants to occur and rearranging and compressing the letters until he has turned the phrase into a complex and abstract sigil.

The art of geomancy (known as feng shui in the East) is the study of harmonizing the physical environment with the flow of energy. The goal of feng shui is to create the ideal place to live or work. Through a combination of architectural design and mystic mathematics, a geomancer plans a pattern that must be duplicated within the entire structure (in the case of a building) or the layout of a room or series of connected rooms (in the case of interior design). Implementing this design increases the time required and the cost of the work involved, but practitioners consider it well worth the effort.

When designing a geomancy effect, the thaumaturge chooses a single Attribute or Skill to be the focus. Once assigned, the Trait cannot be changed without completely redesigning the location. Attribute-based designs are more difficult to create than Skill-based ones (–3 dice penalty for Geomancy attempts to plan around an Attribute). The selected Trait must reflect the building or space’s function. For example, a library might enhance Academics rolls, while a peaceful cottage might aid with Composure rolls. If the thaumaturge is successful, she creates a unique design that benefits those who use the location in the manner for which it was created, provided that the design is followed perfectly. The architect or interior designer who follows the geomancer’s design must succeed in a suitable roll (probably Intelligence + Crafts). Of course, the geomancer may be the architect or interior decorator, and such an arrangement is auspicious for the future of the site — an individual automatically succeeds in efforts to follow her own plans.

This Merit calls for an extended ritual roll, as normal, but requires a greater number of successes, dictated by the size of the space to be designed. If the thaumaturge creates her geomancy design successfully, and the architect or interior designer successfully integrates the design into the physical location, the flow of energy is modified within the space. Any action that takes place in the space using the designated Attribute or Skill may gain a bonus. Once per scene, the first person to attempt an appropriate action within the space gains the 9 again effect (reroll 9s and 10s) for that single roll. Large spaces have the potential to help more people, one per distinct area of the space. (Note that this effect does not affect a chance die, should a dice pool be reduced to one. Only a result of 10 is a success under those circumstances.)

Once a geomantic design is created and implemented, it remains in effect indefinitely unless something happens to disrupt or change the flow of energy. Natural disasters may change the magical landscape more than they appear to affect it physically, requiring geomantic designs to be realigned. New construction or destruction of buildings or even spaces within a building may require that a thaumaturge reassess the location for potential updates. Poorly designed geomantic locations may disrupt those around them, as well. The only limits on the number of designs a geomancer may create are her time, her capability and the ability of others to come up with the resources to put her designs into place.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Crafts
Minimum Successes Required: 5 (small room), 10 (typical home), 15 (typical office), 20 (multi-story building), 25 or more (skyscraper, Disneyland Hong Kong, Love Canal)
Ritual Length: One hour. Actual construction or redesign certainly takes longer — days or weeks depending on the size of the project.
Duration: Indefinite (until disrupted)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The geomantic design is flawed, but the thaumaturge doesn’t notice. When the plan is implemented, the Storyteller might have it disrupt nearby geomantic effects or have some disaster strike during construction or redecorating that is clearly the geomancer’s fault.

Exceptional Success:
The flow of energy grants the 9 again bonus to the first two related rolls per scene.

Suggested Equipment: Religious holy site or magical nexus (+1 to +3 provided the structure is appropriate)

Possible Penalties: Multiple geomantic spaces within the same physical structure (–1 for each), site is haunted (–1), negative history (–1 for a murder or failed business to –5 for a toxic waste dump or death camp), shoddy materials (–1 to –3), dense urban area (–3), modern industrial area (–2), town or suburb (–1), holy site used inappropriately (–1 to –5)

Ritual Details: Thorough examination of the site is required, often using special compasses or the like. Measurements and calculations of mystic mathematical ratios are also common.

Unlike the Allies Merit available in the World of Darkness Rulebook, which represents influence in a particular field or area, a Ghost Ally represents a specific being — a ghost who is able and willing to aid the character in her endeavors.

A Ghost Ally is built as follows. First, he has seven dots in Attributes, divided among Power, Finesse and Resistance.

These Attributes are used to determine the rest of the ghost’s Advantages according to the rules outlined on p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ghost Ally has both a Virtue and a Vice, but no Skills. The Ghost Ally has a maximum Essence pool of 10 that is used to fuel Numina. The Ghost Ally has one Numen, chosen from those listed in the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Ally also has a single anchor that must be the character with whom the being is connected.

Finally, a Ghost Ally has a set number of bonus points used to flesh out the restless-dead character. With this Merit at three dots, a Ghost Ally has six bonus points, while the four-dot Merit offers 12 bonus points, and the five-dot version offers 18. These bonus points can be spent as follows: six points per additional Attribute dot, three points per additional anchor and six points per additional Numen. Also, for six points, the bond between ghost and character is made so strong that the character can see and hear the ghost when it is present, even without any psychic abilities. Without such a bond, the character cannot perceive the ghost unless it manifests or otherwise makes its presence known.

Your medium is capable of more than merely perceiving the dead; he can summon them to his presence and even assist them in crossing over to the physical world. A sufficiently talented medium can call out to an existing ghost and draw it to his location. By doing so, he can also help the entity to “cross over,” aiding it in manifesting in the physical world or in using other ghostly powers that affect the material realm. Mediums who possess this Merit and Astral Projection have the option of physically interacting with ghosts and other beings in Twilight with the expenditure of a Willpower point. Ghost-Calling can only summon ghosts; other supernatural beings existing in Twilight are not affected.

Roll** Wits + Occult** for your character to make spiritual contact with an existing ghost. Not all deceased persons continue to exist as ghosts, and few ghosts persist more than a few decades after their demise. If a ghost is still in existence, the medium can potentially contact the ghost wherever it roams. Once the connection is formed, the medium is considered to be a temporary anchor for the ghost, and it can instantly come to his vicinity from wherever it may be. If the ghost is unwilling to come to the medium, he can attempt to compel its attendance with a successful Presence + Occult roll versus the ghost’s Resistance in a contested action. Whether the ghost comes willingly or not, a Willpower point need not be spent for the ghost to travel to its new anchor. A medium cannot control a ghost in any meaningful way. A character with this Merit cannot automatically detect ghosts unless he also has the Death Sight Merit. If he does have that Merit, he receives a +2 bonus on all Ghost-Calling rolls.

When a medium forms a psychic connection with a ghost, the medium continues to serve as the ghost’s anchor for the duration of the scene. If the medium attempts to sever the connection early, a successful Wits + Occult roll must be made versus the ghost’s Power in a contested action, unless the ghost consents to the severing. When a medium no longer serves as an anchor, a ghost returns instantly to wherever it was prior to the summoning. Severing the psychic connection does not harm the ghost in any way.

While a connection is in force, a medium is considered an anchor for all purposes. Thus, the ghost can manifest in the psychic’s vicinity without need for a roll. A medium may place himself in grave danger if he does not know with what sort of ghost he deals.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult versus an unwilling ghost’s Resistance to become a temporary anchor to a ghost (resistance is reflexive). Presence + Occult versus an unwilling ghost’s Resistance to forcefully summon one to the medium’s vicinity.
Action: Contested

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
A psychic connection is forged with some entity other than the one the medium sought. The medium may be unable to sever the connection or may even become a permanent anchor to a hostile ghost.

Failure:
You fail to get more successes than the ghost. The attempt to contact or summon is unsuccessful.

Success:
On a contact roll, more successes are rolled for the medium than for the ghost. The medium is considered an anchor for the remainder of the scene unless the effect is ended early. On a summoning roll, the ghost is compelled to come to the medium’s vicinity.

Exceptional Success:
On a contact roll, the player gets five or more successes, more than rolled for the ghost. The medium gains a +2 bonus on all rolls made in dealing with the ghost during the scene.

Option [Spiritualist Medium]: The medium can interact with the dead only in the context of a séance. In order to utilize this power, she must be assisted by one or more people. The medium gains a die bonus equal to the total number of believers in the séance up to a maximum of +5.

The thaumaturge can use her magic to heal wounds and cure diseases for both humans and animals. Although healing serious injuries or life-threatening diseases is difficult and potentially dangerous, magical healing is the only hope of recovery for some. Of course, failing to heal or cure someone can easily result in a desperate patient turning on the mystic. Thaumaturges cannot use this ritual to aid any form of undead or inhuman beings such as vampires, spirits or werewolves. This ritual can be used to heal any living human including the magician himself, as well as individuals who are possessed, ghouls or werewolf kin. Only one application of this ritual can affect a subject at one time.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy (or Animal Ken for healing animals) — the patient’s wound penalties
Ritual Length: 30 minutes
Duration: One week

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
Improperly channeled energies cause the thaumaturge to suffer one Health point of lethal damage. Alternatively, the subject might suffer additional injury or have her disease worsen.

Failure:
The thaumaturge fails to heal the subject.

Success:
This ritual speeds the healing of all forms of damage by a factor of three. At this speed, one point of lethal damage heals every 16 hours. If the subject possesses the Quick Healing Merit, the speed of healing is increased to four times normal. All damage suffered by the patient during the next week heals at this rate. This ritual can cure a mild or moderate disease such as influenza, tuberculosis, pneumonia or a mild skin cancer, and sends more serious diseases into remission for the duration.

Exceptional Success:
The ritual speeds healing of all damage by a factor of five — at this speed, a point of lethal damage heals in 10 hours. If the patient has the Quick Healing Merit, the ritual increases the speed of healing to six times normal. An exceptional success is required to permanently cure otherwise “incurable” or exceptionally life-threatening diseases such as terminal cancer, AIDS or Ebola.

Suggested Equipment: Holistic medicines (+1), the blood of a werewolf (+2), actual clothing or medical instruments used by a highly skilled doctor (+1)

Possible Penalties:

Ritual Details: The mystic must touch the patient while performing some action appropriate to his tradition, such as going into a trance, drawing a magic circle and invoking the five elements or calling on various deities or other powerful beings. If this ritual is performed using a magical connection to a distant patient, the connection assumes the role of the patient.

Although not truly a psychic power, Hypnotic Voice is certainly capable of eerie effects. Whether through training in psychology or simply through having a deep, soothing voice, a character with this Merit is capable of hypnotizing others into trance states. The character can hypnotize anyone given the opportunity, but it is much easier if the subject is willing. While in a hypnotic trance, a subject can be given suggestions or forced to confront repressed memories, possibly memories stolen by vampiric Disciplines or repressed due to Lunacy triggered by werewolves, or Disbelief invoked by vulgar magic.

Inducing a Light Trance
In order to begin the process of hypnotizing a subject, Manipulation + Persuasion or Science (depending on which Skill is used as the prerequisite for the Merit) is rolled. If the subject is willing, the roll is extended but not contested, and the hypnotist must accumulate [subject’s Resolve x5] successes, with each roll representing 10 seconds of induction. If the subject is unwilling, he can resist with Composure + Supernatural Advantage in contested rolls; resistance is reflexive. If the subject ever gets more successes in a single roll, he realizes what the hypnotist is attempting and any further attempts to hypnotize the subject fail automatically. If the subject and hypnotist ever get the same number of successes in a roll, the subject does not begin to enter a trance, but doesn’t realize what the hypnotist attempts either, so the performer can proceed. If the hypnotist’s successes on a roll are ever five or more and exceed the subject’s in that period, the victim begins to enter a trance despite himself and suffers a –1 penalty on all subsequent contested rolls. The hypnotist must have a target’s undivided attention. She cannot hypnotize someone carrying on a conversation with someone else, or who intently watches television while paying the hypnotist no mind.

Once the player accumulates enough successes, the subject is successfully placed into a light trance. The subject is not able to initiate any hostile actions until he wakes up, and is highly suggestible. The hypnotist can induce an entranced subject to give up any non-intimate information or to perform almost any non-hazardous action with a successful Manipulation + Persuasion roll. A light trance lasts for a scene before the subject comes out of it. The trance ends automatically if someone makes a loud noise or even physically shakes the subject, and the hypnotist can wake the subject whenever she desires. If the hypnotist attempts to get the subject to do something that violates her Morality or her Virtue, or that is obviously dangerous or suicidal, the trance ends immediately.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion or Science (Hypnotherapy Specialty), possibly contested by Composure + Supernatural Advantage
Action: Extended (subject willing) or extended and contested (subject unwilling). The hypnotist must accumulate successes equal to the target’s Resolve x5, with each roll representing 10 seconds of speech.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist fails to entrance his subject and loses any accumulated successes. If the subject was unwilling, she automatically knows that the hypnotist was attempting to hypnotize her and may react accordingly. Any subsequent attempts to hypnotize the subject (or indeed, anyone else who saw what happened) fail automatically.

Failure:
The character gathers no successes at this time.

Success:
The character gets the required number of successes and the subject is placed in a light trance.

Exceptional Success:
The character gathers five or more successes than required. The character gains a +2 bonus on any Social rolls against the subject for the remainder of the trance.

Deepening the Trance
Once a subject is put into a light trance, the character can attempt to hypnotize him further. The player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion (– the subject’s Composure). While such a deep trance lasts, the hypnotist gains a +2 bonus on all Social rolls against the subject (+5 with an exceptional success), she can persuade him to perform almost any non-dangerous action, and she can give post-hypnotic suggestions that can affect the subject’s perceptions or even beliefs (such as the stereotypical depiction of the hypnotist making a subject bark like a dog). A deep trance lasts for a scene, after which the subject goes into a normal sleep and stays out for hours unless awoken by mundane means.

While the subject is in a deep trance, the hypnotist can attempt to get him to perform actions that violate his Morality or Virtue, or that are obviously dangerous or suicidal. The hypnotist must phrase such commands in a manner calculated to work around the subject’s beliefs, however. A conservative preacher might rebel at being ordered to strip down in front of strangers, but if persuaded that he was a male dancer, such inhibitions can be overcome. Commands calculated to overcome Morality or Virtue or that place a subject in grave danger suffer a penalty in a Social roll based on how well the hypnotist works around the subject’s inhibitions.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion – subject’s Composure
Action: Instant, although the roll can be made only after at least five minutes of induction

Roll Results Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist fails to entrance the subject, who instantly awakens.

Failure:
The character fails to induce the subject to enter a deep trance. Other attempts can be made if time permits.

Success:
The subject is placed in a deep trance. The character gains a +2 bonus on any Social rolls against the target for the remainder of the trance.

Exceptional Success:
The subject is placed into an exceptionally deep trance. The character gains a +5 bonus on all Social rolls against the subject for the rest of the trance.

Memory Recovery
Once a subject has been put into a deep trance, the hypnotist can attempt to help him to recover repressed or stolen memories, although doing so might be highly traumatic for the subject depending on the experiences’ nature. The player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion, resisted by the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage, and accumulate [the subject’s Resolve x5] in successes, all as part of an extended and contested action. The player’s dice pool also suffers a penalty according to the nature of the memories recovered. The hypnotist must achieve an exceptional success (gather five or more successes than needed in the time allowed or under the circumstances) for the subject to be able to recall the repressed memories after waking from the trance. If more successes are ever achieved for the subject in any contested roll, that memory cannot be restored by the hypnotist in this effort. Another attempt may be made after 24 hours.

Cost: None
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Extended and contested, with each roll representing 30 minutes of hypnotherapy

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The hypnotist’s attempts to dredge up the lost memories traumatizes the subject, inflicting a mild derangement on him.

Failure:
The character gathers no successes at this time.

Success:
The character gets the required number of successes. The subject is able to recall the lost memories while under a trance, but does not recall them while awake.

Exceptional Success:
Five or more successes than required are accumulated. The subject recalls the lost memories after awakening.

Invocation is the art of requesting a spirit or ghost’s presence. This is merely a plea for help at its basic level, while advanced magicians are able to aid the supernatural entity that opts to answer by offering a gateway through which to interact with the physical world. The mystic chooses ghosts or spirits as the Merit’s focus, though the thaumaturge may learn both versions separately. Spirits or ghosts answering an invocation are generally much better disposed toward the caster than those summoned via Evocation (p. 108). The Invocation Merit does not grant a thaumaturge the power to perceive Twilight.

The two-dot version allows the performer to attract the attention of a specific entity, or to send out a general call to the nearest entity. In either case, the respondent must be within range to sense the thaumaturge or the respondent does not perceive the request. The invoker may call an entity personally known to him, or may specify a type of entity of his choosing (any available member among his own ancestors, or any spirit of Erzulie, for example). The entity called may choose to ignore the request or answer it. If the entity responds, it comes to the caster at its own speed, although the entity cannot violate any normal limitations (such as leaving the maximum distance from an anchor or defying a spiritual Ban). Invocation does not grant any control over an entity; the character must strike a deal of some kind in order to accomplish her goals.

The four-dot version acts as the first with the added benefit that the targeted entity gains the Possession Numen (World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 212) if the entity does not normally have that power. The entity may possess the thaumaturge automatically without the normal contested roll, as the thaumaturge actively opens the way with magic (although use of the Possession power still costs one Essence). Of course, the entity could decide to possess someone else, although the attempt requires a normal contested roll. The ritual does not grant any control over the being, but the offer of Possession is a valuable bargaining chip.

Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: One scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The thaumaturge attracts the attention of the wrong spirit or ghost, probably one with mischievous or malicious intent.

Exceptional Success:
The mystic’s performance pleases the target. For ghosts or spirits of very negative bent, this may simply mean the thaumaturge’s Invocation is ignored. Otherwise, apply a +1 bonus to Social rolls made with the entity for the duration of the scene.

Suggested Equipment: Appropriate sacrifice offered as part of ritual (+1), entity linked by ancestry (+1)

Possible Penalties: Location not appropriate for entity called (–1 to –3), entity dislikes thaumaturge (–1 to –3)

Ritual Details: The thaumaturge seeks to enter a trance. Rituals include objects attractive to the target, with sacrifices of such things being particularly effective.

Drawback: Invocation calls the attention of spirits or ghosts to the thaumaturge, but doesn’t exert any control over them. The entity called could make life difficult if it’s malevolent or antagonistic.

Your character maintains a personal collection of useful information, which can help with both natural and supernatural research. Whether in the form of musty occult tomes, encrypted computer files, sacred scrolls, visual art or stranger media, this library includes reference works that can help him understand both magic and the supernatural world. In both fi elds of knowledge — mundane research and occult lore — this collection relates to one or more fields of specialization.

Each dot in this Merit represents one field of study or area of knowledge in which your character has a wealth of tomes, computer fi les or scrolls, and from which he may draw information. If he has Library 3, his dots might be assigned to demons, cryptozoology and one tradition of thaumaturgy, respectively. Topics can include arcane lore that most people don’t know about, or that has been forgotten since antiquity.

Ordinary people have libraries as well, of course, dealing with less exotic specialties. The study of the supernatural is different from ordinary research. Many occult tomes refer to magical insights that only thaumaturges trained in a particular tradition understand. Aging magical tomes don’t typically use indices, keywords or cross-referenced page numbers — they’re as arcane as the mystics who access them.

Gaining information from a library is a research task, as described on pp. 55–56 of the World of Darkness Rulebook, except that a thaumaturge spends only 10 minutes per roll when researching from his library. Success doesn’t guarantee exactly the information for which he looks. Libraries aren’t all-knowing, and they don’t always provide one definitive answer to a question, since multiple authors may have different points of view on the same subject. The Storyteller is perfectly justified in saying that a particular library simply doesn’t reveal something.

An extended research task performed to gain a bonus on a ritual requires a total number of successes equal to the number of dots in the Merit used to perform the ritual.

Roll Results Dramatic Failure:
The character uncovers flawed or inaccurate information that subtracts one die from the roll to perform the ritual.

Failure:
The character can find no useful information to help him perform the ritual.

Success:
The character finds useful information sufficient to provide him with +1 to his dice pool to perform this ritual.

Exceptional Success: The character discovers large amounts of useful information about performing a ritual and gains a +2 bonus to his Merit dice pool.

This bonus cannot exceed the number of dots in the library he uses, however. Any thaumaturge may allow another practitioner the privilege of consulting his library. Unless this consultant has put points toward the Merit, 30 minutes are spent per roll researching a topic.

Special: Thaumaturges can share Library dots, with each contributing to the facility’s areas of knowledge. These characters each receive the full benefits of the library, and may invite others to use the resource so long as all parties agree. It may happen that thaumaturges suffer a falling out, in which case one or more might be asked to forfeit her library privileges. Those who are banned lose whatever dots they contributed, unless an agreement is worked out to split the library, allowing outcasts to take their areas of knowledge (and dots) with them.

Your character possesses alchemical secrets of long life, achieved through a combination of medicinal and magical elixirs. Each application of alchemical Longevity keeps him from aging for the duration of the magic. With continuous use, a thaumaturge can achieve — or grant — virtual immortality, though elixirs do not protect against illnesses unconnected to age and do not prevent death at the hands of violence or accident.

The creation of longevity elixirs requires extended Intelligence + Medicine rolls with a potential dice penalty based on the duration of a potion’s effectiveness, and requiring increasing successes based on the age of the recipient. The duration of the mixture is the period of time in which the elixir remains potent, whether it has been consumed or not. Thus, a thaumaturge creating an elixir with one week’s duration who waits three days before consuming it gains four days of agelessness.

The thaumaturge must possess the Alchemy (Internal) •••• or Alchemy (External) •••• Merit in order to create longevity elixirs for personal use. Should he desire to create elixirs effective for someone else, he must possess both Alchemy (External) and Alchemy (Internal) at ••••, and must design each dose for a specific target. A longevity elixir is useful to living things only, although it could theoretically be designed to affect a plant or animal provided the mystic has sufficient understanding of his target (via Science).

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Medicine (or Science for plants or animals)
Minimum Successes Required (target’s real age): 10 (25 years or less), 15 (26–50 years), 20 (51–75 years), 25 (76+ years)
Ritual Length: One hour
Duration: Varies

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The thaumaturge contacts poison with a Toxicity of 3, taking damage once per hour until a contested Stamina + Resolve roll is won (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 181). Or the process results in a seemingly normal elixir that’s actually a poison.

Exceptional Success:
The elixir is of twice the normal potency, effectively preventing aging for twice the intended duration. Or the process results in an elixir of normal potency, but it may affect any living target.

Suggested Equipment: Mercury (+1), gold (+1), vampire blood (+3, although there may be unfortunate side effects)

Possible Penalties: Target has less than Stamina 3 (–1 per missing dot), animal target (–1), target is plant (–1), target has exceeded normal life span for species (–3), target has unhealthy or stressful lifestyle (–1 to –3), one-week duration (–1), one-month duration (–3)

Ritual Details: The caster must focus on symbols of the eternal, generally assumed to represent the soul in most traditions. Medicinal herbs and substances with power to preserve flesh are common ingredients, even if science sometimes considers them poisonous. Mercury and gold are favored additions.

The Lucid Dreamer Merit is common among both ordinary people and psychics. It represents the capacity to realize that one is dreaming and that such dreams cannot truly cause harm. Your character is rarely troubled by any but the most terrifying of mundane nightmares, although he remains vulnerable to supernaturally or psychically induced ones. The Dreamer can defend himself against attacks by psychics who have the Dream Travel Merit.

When a Lucid Dreamer is psychically attacked within one of his own dreams, his Composure is considered to be +2 for purposes of determining whether a dream attack can harm him. Second, a Lucid Dreamer can initiate attacks against intruders of his dreams. One Willpower point must be spent per attack, and each attack is resolved according to the rules for Dream Travel described on p. 38. Unless a Lucid Dreamer has the power of Dream Travel, he can initiate these attacks only within his own dreams.

The thaumaturge gains the ability to control chance and bend luck in his favor, improving his success at specific tasks. No character can be affected by more than one luck ritual (of any type) at a time, and the magician can successfully perform this ritual only once per day. This Merit cannot be used to improve rolls for any supernatural efforts, including ritual rolls.

At two dots, the thaumaturge can grant himself the 9 again effect (reroll results of 9 and 10) on a number of his future dice rolls equal to his Manipulation, as long as all of these rolls are of a specified type and they all take place during the duration of this ritual. The player must choose the exact nature of the situation benefited before rolling dice for the ritual. Bonuses gained can only be used to affect rolls made for the performer, not rolls made for any other characters. Appropriate choices include attack rolls, drive rolls, any rolls involved in public speaking or even rolls where failure would result in injury to the character.

Note that this spell does not affect a chance die, should a dice pool be reduced to one. Only a result of 10 is a success under those circumstances.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: One day

At four dots, the thaumaturge can grant himself the 8 again effect (reroll results of 8, 9 and 10) on a number of rolls equal to his Manipulation. Alternatively, the magician can grant another subject a 9 again effect on a number of rolls equal to his Manipulation. The player must choose both the recipient of this luck and the exact nature of the situation to which the ritual applies. The effects are otherwise identical to the two-dot version of the Merit. No target can benefit from more than one Luck Magic ritual at a time. A magician can successfully perform this ritual only once per day. If the mystic gives someone else a bonus with the rite, the thaumaturge cannot use it on himself until the next day.

Exceptional success on either of the two-dot or four-dot rituals adds one die to pools receiving the 8 again or 9 again effects.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult
Ritual Length: 30 minutes
Duration: One day

Suggested Equipment: A piece of hair or clothing or a sample of blood from someone who excels at the type of action designated (for example, a bit of hair from a winning race-car driver for Drive rolls) (+1), a picture or video of the target performing the chosen activity especially well (+1)

Ritual Details: The magician draws sigils, recites chants or impromptu poems or even draws images of the action he wants to improve. No matter how the ritual is done, Luck Magic always involves some symbolic representation of the action to be affected. Or the mystic can invoke the blessing or aid of a deity, spirit or supernatural power.

A magical nexus is a place of magical power where the currents of magic run especially strong or close to the mundane world. See “Magical Nexus Points,” p. 77.

At one dot, a thaumaturge gains access to a minor magical nexus point. This location adds +1 to the dice pool of all magical rituals performed there. Minor nexes are rarely larger than a small house and are often smaller. Because they are relatively common, a mystic can even have a nexus in her house, workshop or other personal, private location that she can access at any time.

At two dots, the magician gains access to a major magical nexus point. This location adds +2 to the dice pools of all rituals performed there. Such places can be as large as an entire hilltop, an aging office building or a large grove of trees.

Drawback: Other thaumaturges may wish to borrow or even take possession of any magical nexus points. Also, most major points are of interest to one or more types of supernatural beings such as werewolves, spirits and ghosts, and these beings often object to thaumaturges intruding.

An extremely rare and dangerous power, Mental Blast allows a telepath to damage the mind of another being by force of will. The psychic uses Thought Projection with such force and intensity that it overwhelms the victim’s brain, potentially causing a stroke or cerebral hemorrhage. Each success achieved on the attack inflicts one point of bashing damage on the target in the form of a blistering migraine. A sustained attack may have lethal results. Fatalities inflicted with Mental Blast generally appear to be strokes or similar maladies, but in some cases the power quite literally causes a victim’s head to explode. Once this power is initiated, the psychic can maintain the assault, the player rolling again every turn so long as the attacker can maintain concentration. While concentrating on the target, the psychic loses his Defense and can take no action other than maintaining the assault and moving up to Speed in a turn. If the psychic’s concentration is broken, another Willpower must be spent to initiate a new Mental Blast.

Cost: 1 Willpower on the first turn of a Mental Blast. The psychic can continue to inflict damage as long as he can maintain concentration on his target.
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation – subject’s Stamina
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character suffers one point of bashing damage from psychic feedback and is unable to use the power for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The character fails to inflict any damage.

Success:
The character inflicts damage as noted above.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward. Also, the target must roll her Stamina to avoid knockout.

Mind Breaker does not inflict any damage on a victim. Instead, it inflicts either a temporary or permanent derangement. Generally, the user simply inflicts madness, with the precise form of ailment is determined by the Storyteller. If the psychic has specialized training as reflected by Science ••• or higher with a Specialty in Psychology or some similar field, the Storyteller may permit her to deliberately tailor the victim’s madness. Derangements gained through use of this power cannot be removed by raising one’s Morality trait.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Presence + Empathy versus the subject’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage. Intelligence + Science may be rolled instead for characters with specialized training in psychology or something similar, with a successful roll permitting a telepath to tailor the derangement to his desire.
Action: Contested

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character suffers one Storyteller-chosen derangement for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The character fails to inflict madness on his target.

Success:
The character gets more successes than the target, who suffers one mild derangement for the remainder of the scene.

Exceptional Success:
The character gets at least five successes and exceeds those of the target. If the psychic wishes, the derangement inflicted may be severe instead of mild. Alternatively, the target can be subjected to a permanent mild derangement that can be removed through only roleplaying.

The psychic must deliver his instructions verbally unless he is capable of projecting his thoughts. One of the most insidious manifestations of psychic power, Mind Control permits a telepath to project his mind to overcome a subject’s will and render the subject open to suggestion. Unless the character also has Thought Projection or some similar advantage, he must verbally tell his subject what he wants her to do, effectively making this power a form of paranormal hypnosis. Combined with Thought Projection, the psychic can make anyone a puppet, silently seizing a victim’s will from across a room and making her his slave. If he has both Thought Projection and Clairvoyance, he can command the mind of someone from across a city like a modern-day Svengali.

Commands that force a subject to violate deeply held beliefs, to act against Virtues, or to harm loved ones impose a penalty to the roll made for the psychic. Mind Control is effective only against ordinary people and other psychics. A Mind Control attempt automatically fails against anyone who is the subject of a supernatural template (such as mages, vampires and werewolves). However, ghouls, wolf-blooded and similar beings may be affected, although they may gain bonus dice to resist in some circumstances (such as when a ghoul is mentally controlled to betray his undead master).

The benefits of the Striking Looks Merit apply to Mind Control attempts, and psychics with the Hypnotic Voice Merit gain a +2 bonus on all uses of this power. The psychic must concentrate fully on his subject while conveying his instructions, suffering all the normal penalties for concentration. How long this effort takes depends on the complexity of the instructions, and may last for several turns. Once the command is issued, the psychic does not need to continue concentrating. The telepath’s command must be something that can be completed within the scene or the attempt fails, unless the telepath achieves an exceptional success.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus subject’s Resolve (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Contested; requires concentration while instructions are conveyed

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the target, making him instinctively withdraw or distrust her. The target is also rendered immune to further Mind Control attempts by the psychic for the next day.

Failure:
The target ignores the character’s command.

Success:
The target obeys the character’s command, provided that the order can be fulfilled within one scene.

Exceptional Success:
The player gets five or more successes and they exceed those of the target. There is no time limit on how long the command can take to be executed.

Dice Modifiers

Mind Reading is the essential telepathic power; the ability to read the thoughts of others.

The three-dot version permits a telepath to read the surface thoughts of an ordinary person, although the telepath cannot yet perceive information that a subject does not currently think about.

The four-dot version permits the telepath to probe the mind of an ordinary person for buried information or even subconscious thoughts, or to perceive the surface thoughts of beings who are the subject of a supernatural template, such as mages, vampires or werewolves.

The five-dot version permits the telepath to probe the buried thoughts of even supernatural beings. This last version also allows a telepath to perform “light scans” of multiple minds at once to discover who among several thinks something in particular (such as identifying which of several murder suspects thinks, I killed her.)

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy versus the subject’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive)
Action: Contested

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in his target, making her instinctively withdraw or distrust him. The target can also automatically resist any use of Telepathic Merits by the psychic for the next day.

Failure:
The character fails to read the target’s mind.

Success:
The character can perceive the target’s thoughts, and the player is allowed to ask one question about them per success. Surface scans are limited to what a subject currently thinks about, although a telepath can attempt to manipulate a subject into thinking about something in particular with a successful Manipulation + Subterfuge roll (contested by Wits + Subterfuge if the subject is aware of the telepath’s capabilities). If the psychic is capable of deep scans, the player can ask questions about any topic, including questions about a subject’s buried memories or even subconscious thoughts of which the subject is not even aware.

Exceptional Success:
Extra successes are their own reward. Also, the Storyteller may rule that the telepath discovers some useful tidbit of information in the subject’s mind for which he wasn’t even searching.

Dice Modifiers

Channeling represents a psychic’s capacity to paranormally gain abilities that he does not normally possess. Past-Life Channeling,allow accesses to the talents he possessed in a former life.

The psychic must successfully enter a trance before he can channel effectively to gain new Traits. Skills gained last until the psychic next sleeps or until he attempts to channel again.

The psychic has a preternatural awareness of his own prior incarnations. After entering a trance state, he can summon forth the collective life experiences of one of his prior selves, merging it with his own personality. Although each person conceivably has countless past lives, the more recent they are, the more progressively difficult to channel. Most past lives capable of being channeled are from primitive eras, so this Merit cannot be used to access abilities that require a modern education. Mechanically speaking, Past-Life Channeling cannot be used to gain Mental Skills.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Composure + Occult
Action: Instant; although the psychic must first enter a trance

Roll Results Dramatic Failure:
The psychic assumes a personality from a previous life. He manifests a new Storyteller-assigned personality and background for the duration of the scene, including a new Virtue and Vice. He may (or may not) retain the ability to speak his normal languages, and has no knowledge of any friends, his current situation or, indeed, anything about modern life, viewing everything through the lens of a Roman centurion, a courtesan from the era of Louis XIV, a Mississippi plantation owner on the eve of the Civil War or anything else of which the Storyteller can think.

Failure:
The past-life regression was unsuccessful.

Success:
Each success is converted into one dot of a single Physical or Social Skill selected by the player. The number of successes must exceed the character’s current Skill dots, if any, in order for him to gain any benefit from the power. The new rating lasts until the psychic next sleeps or until he next uses this power.

Exceptional Success:
In addition to the normal benefit of extra successes, the psychic can access the personal memories of the past life sharing his body. These new memories are lost when the power’s effect ends. If the successes exceed five, any more may be assigned to another single Physical or Social Skill of the character’s choosing.

Plant Empathy makes a psychic a natural “green thumb,” giving him almost supernatural talent at cultivating plants. There is no roll associated with this power. Instead, the power gives the psychic a bonus to any dice pools pertaining to the cultivation of plant life (most commonly Intelligence + Crafts) equal to the number of dots he has in the Biokinesis Merit. Additionally, the growth rate of plants under the psychic’s care is multiplied by [1 + the psychic’s Biokinesis Merit dots]. Thus, a plant empath with Biokinesis ••• can cause plants to grow at four times their normal rate.

Your psychic has the ability to see into the past. If the roll to activate this power is successful, you are allowed to ask a variable number of questions about a past event based on your successes. The effort suffers a dice penalty based on temporal proximity, and the Storyteller should always roll for the player who uses Postcognition, since the player may be able to deduce when something might have occurred by noting the penalty applied, even if the roll is unsuccessful. Each success on the roll allows the player to ask one question about the past event viewed.

The effort faces additional penalties if the character lacks any sort of sympathetic connection to the scene he wishes to view. If the psychic is present at the location where the past event took place, he suffers no penalty. If he is in the presence of a person who was present at the past event, the player suffers a –2 penalty. If the psychic is in possession of an object that was present at the scene of the past event, he suffers a –4 penalty. At the Storyteller’s discretion, these penalties might be reduced, depending on the situation. For example, if a psychic attempts to view a violent murder by handling the murder weapon, he might suffer only a –2 penalty, while touching the actual murderer could eliminate any penalty.

Example: Detective Halloran, who secretly uses his Postcognition abilities to help him solve crimes, examines a bloody knife used in a brutal homicide. The Storyteller rolls Halloran’s Wits + Occult, applying a –1 penalty (due to the fact that the murder took place more than a day but less than a week ago) and a –2 penalty (for not actually being at the crime scene, but simply holding the murder weapon). The roll yields three successes, and Halloran gets a brief glimpse of the murder itself. His player can ask three questions about the vision. Triggering the vision costs the player one Willpower point.

Psychics with this Merit commonly possess the Precognition Merit, too. If the psychic does have the Precognition Merit, the cost of Postcognition is only one Merit dot. If the psychic acquires the three-dot version of this power, he does not need Precognition as a prerequisite.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The seer has a wildly false or misleading vision. Since the Storyteller makes the roll on the player’s behalf, allow the player to ask an arbitrary number of questions, say one to three, and invent erroneous or misleading information about the scene observed.

Failure:
Failure indicates that the seer fails to produce a vision.

Success:
The character has a postcognitive vision. The player may ask one question about the vision per success. No more than one successful vision about a specific scene may be had every 24 hours.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward. The Storyteller may point out signifi cant details about which the player does not think to ask.

Precognition represents the power to predict the future. This power is perhaps the most difficult to incorporate into games, and the Storyteller should proceed cautiously. Precognition is also difficult for characters to use properly. While precognitive visions might give a psychic a clear vision of a future event, the future changes constantly based on people’s actions. Thus, when a psychic receives a completely “accurate” vision of the future, time remains in flux, and a seer can never be entirely sure whether his actions in response to the vision will prevent the it from coming to pass or ensure that it will do so. Even with an exceptional success, a character’s vision can still be distorted, blurry or possibly even wrapped in symbolism, particularly in the case of dream precognition or precognition though a focus. Characters must generally use the Occult Skill to interpret what they perceive. Psychics who possess the Precognition Merit are sometimes called “precogs.” Those who require foci such as cards or tea leaves are sometimes referred to as “seers” or (often disparagingly) “fortune-tellers.”

A precog can never predict the immediate future (i.e., what will happen next within the current scene). That is more the purview of the Danger Sense Merit. A roll to see the future suffers a penalty based on temporal proximity, and the Storyteller should always roll for a character who uses Precognition, since the player may be able to deduce when something might occur from noting the penalty applied, even if the roll is unsuccessful. Each success on the roll allows the player to ask one question about the future event.

Example: Madame Zora tells the fortune of a young girl who wants to know when she’ll be married, and to whom. The Storyteller knows the girl will most likely get married in about three years, so a –4 penalty is applied to Zora’s dice pool, which is rolled by the Storyteller. Zora gets two successes, and Zora’s player can ask up to two questions about the girl’s wedding. Triggering the vision costs Zora one Willpower point.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The seer has a wildly false or misleading vision. Since the Storyteller makes the roll on the player’s behalf, allow him to ask an arbitrary number of questions, say one to three, and invent erroneous or misleading information about the scene observed.

Failure:
Failure indicates that the precog fails to produce a vision.

Success:
The character has a precognitive vision. The player may ask one question about the vision per success. No more than one successful vision about a specific scene may be had every 24 hours.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward. The Storyteller may point out significant details about which the player does not think to ask.

Option [Precognitive Dreams]: The psychic’s visions come to him in the form of dreams. Thus, he can trigger visions only after entering a trance state.

Option [Required Foci]: The psychic requires some form of divination tool in order to predict the future. Common types of divinatory tools are listed in the “Tools of the Fortune-Teller”. The psychic can attempt to force a vision without using such tools, but doing so reduces the effort to a chance die.

Option [Touch Precognition]: The psychic can predict the future of other people only while physically touching them. The psychic can predict a person’s future with some object close to that person if the seer also has the Psychometry Merit. Otherwise, the psychic can only try to force a vision, which reduces the effort to a chance die. All attempts by a psychic to predict his own future are reduced to a chance die.

Option [Uncontrolled Precognition]: A psychic whose powers are uncontrolled has precognitive visions only at times of the Storyteller’s choosing, although the psychic should generally have at least one vision per session.

Psychic Empathy builds on the underlying power of Aura Reading, as the telepath moves from merely perceiving the emotional aura of a target to actively manipulating it and thereby affecting the subject’s mood. In order to use Psychic Empathy, a character must first successfully use Aura Reading on a target. Once the character can clearly see the target’s aura, he can psychically “adjust the colors,” affecting her mood.

The four-dot version is only capable of short-term manipulations, while the five-dot version can hardwire a victim to feel a particular emotional response for extended periods.

The intensity of any particular emotional state is determined by the chart below.

Any attempt to manipulate a subject’s emotional state is penalized by the intensity of the emotion to be created or suppressed. Thus, if an empath wanted to make a total stranger fall in love with her (i.e., moving from no discernable signs (0) of love to unambiguous (–3) signs of love), the dice pool suffers a –3 penalty. Or if an empath wants to totally suppress an enemy’s overwhelming (–4) hatred of her in order to allow for peaceful interaction, the dice pool suffers a –4 penalty. Often, an empath seeks to produce an emotion that is the opposite of one a target currently feels, such as causing a man to hate his beloved wife, or when she wants a suicidal person to suddenly feel happy about his life. In such cases, the penalty is the total associated with the previous emotion, plus the new one. Thus, converting a subject’s unambiguous (–3) love for his wife into unambiguous (–3) hate inflicts a total –6 penalty.

Emotions produced with the four-dot version of this power last while the empath concentrates, or for the duration of an entire scene if the empath achieves an exceptional success. The five-dot version automatically lasts for at least a scene, and applies for a day with an exceptional success. With either version, the dice pool for affecting emotions is Manipulation + Empathy, contested by the subject’s Resolve + Composure. The five-dot version is capable of affecting a being with a supernatural template, but the four-dot version automatically fails against such beings.

Any emotion can be affected by this power, and its parameters are limited mainly by the Storyteller’s discretion and a player’s innovation. A few of the more commonly affected emotions include anger, happiness or sadness, love, sexual libido, possessiveness (for an object or a person) and compassion. Only one successful attempt can be made to alter a subject’s emotions per scene.

Cost: 1 Willpower per use. One Willpower must also be spent to activate the character’s Aura Reading powers prior to manipulating a subject’s emotions.
Dice Pool: The psychic must first successfully use Aura Reading on the subject. The roll to alter emotions is Manipulation + Empathy versus Resolve + Composure (resistance is reflexive).
Action: Contested

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the target, making him instinctively withdraw or distrust her. The subject is also immune to the psychic’s Psychic Empathy for the rest of the scene.

Failure:
The character fails to influence the target’s emotions.

Success:
The subject’s emotions change according to the empath’s desires.

Exceptional Success:
The emotional change lasts for a longer period of time. With the four-dot version, the effect persists for a scene without concentration. With the five-dot version, the effect lasts for a day.

Option [Limited Empath]:
The empath’s powers are limited in some way, such as in the type of person affected, the type of emotion manipulated or the type of person or object that can be made the subject of an altered emotional connection. The dice bonus is determined by how specific and limited the empath’s powers are. An empath who can affect only women might gain a +1 bonus, while one whose sole power is to trigger intense misogyny in other men might gain a +3 bonus.

Option [Touch Only]:
With this option, the empath can affect another’s emotional state only while physically touching the target, (although concentration is all that’s required after contact is made).

Option [Uncontrolled]:
With this option, the empath’s power is not totally under his control. Whenever he experiences a profound emotion, a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll must be made, with a penalty based on the emotion as determined by the response table, above. If the roll is unsuccessful, Presence + Empathy is rolled, plus a bonus equal to the emotion’s rating, with everyone in his vicinity making a contested Resolve + Composure roll. Anyone who fails to get as many or more successes than the empath instantly experiences the same emotion as the character. Uncontrolled uses of Psychic Empathy do not require use of Aura Reading or the expenditure of a Willpower point. Deliberate uses of this power functions as normal, except that with this option, the empath has a +2 bonus.

By building on the psychic’s underlying facility with Biokinesis, a psychic can now heal herself and others. The three-dot version of this Merit allows the character to accelerate her own healing, cutting all times in half. This power is cumulative with the Quick Healer Merit, so a character with both heals all injuries in 1/4 the normal time. With the five-dot version, the healer can extend this power to others. Thus, a patient heals all injuries in 1/2 the normal time or 1/4 the normal time if he has the Quick Healer Merit. Using either version of this power requires a player to roll Stamina + Resolve. If a character attempts to heal someone who resists or who rejects the existence of psychic phenomena, the subject can resist with Composure + Supernatural Advantage as a reflexive action in a contested roll.

The healer can also use her gifts to facilitate recovery from disease, poison or drugs. A psychic with the three dot version of this Merit gains the benefits of having an Improved Immune System (see Biokinesis). With the five-dot version, she confers the benefits of an Improved Immune System to another.

A point of Willpower must be spent for a psychic to activate either version of this power. The duration is [the psychic’s Biokinesis dots x 12] hours per application. Using this power on another requires the healer to touch the patient. Although healing someone fully with Psychic Healing may require multiple applications of this power, even one application is considered providing medical attention and thus prevents a dying patient from expiring while the Merit’s effects last. Repeated applications of this power might be necessary to recover from serious diseases, but one application is usually enough to cure someone subjected to drugs or poison. This power does not heal or cure supernatural diseases, drug addictions or other otherworldly effects.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Stamina + Resolve (versus Composure + Supernatural Advantage if the subject resists healing)
Action: Instant (willing) or contested (unwilling)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic suffers one point of lethal damage due to painful feedback. Alternately, the subject of the attempt might take additional damage or simply develop a strong antipathy toward the healer.

Failure:
The psychic fails to heal the subject.

Success:
The subject’s healing rate is doubled for [the psychic’s Biokinesis rating x 12] hours. If Psychic Healing is used to cure poison, drugs or illness, either the character or the subject gains the benefits of an Improved Immunity System for [the psychic’s Biokinesis dots x 12] hours.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic’s Biokinesis is treated as if one dot higher for purposes of determining the duration of the healing.

Option [Empathic Healing]: The psychic cannot cure the effects of poison, drugs or illness on others, although he can still cure them within himself. When healing another of physical injuries, the psychic feels the pain suffered by his patient. When the power is activated, the psychic suffers one point of “phantom” bashing damage for every point of bashing damage the patient currently has. Phantom bashing damage heals at a rate of one point per turn. Each point of lethal damage the patient has inflicts one point of bashing damage on the psychic, which heals at the normal rate. Each point of aggravated damage to be healed inflicts one point of lethal damage on the psychic, which heals at the normal rate. This damage is inflicted on the healer every time he initiates a healing attempt on anyone other than himself. On the positive side, a healer with this option gains a +2 bonus on all healing attempts, and his Biokinesis is considered to be one dot higher for purposes of determining the duration of the improved healing rate.

Option [Faith Healer]: The psychic’s healing powers are irrevocably tied to her religious faith and she considers her healing powers to be a gift from God, which unbelievers are unworthy to experience. Any attempt to cure or heal someone whom the psychic considers to be immoral or who clearly does not share the psychic’s faith suffers a –2 penalty. Also, if the psychic fails to maintain a Morality of 7 or higher, she suffers an additional penalty equal to [7 – new Morality] on her healing attempts. Thus, a faith healer whose Morality is reduced to 5 suffers a –2 penalty on all healing rolls. When the healer attempts to cures someone who does share her faith, however, the healer gains a +1 bonus, and she gets a +1 bonus on all healing rolls for each point by which her Morality exceeds 7.

Option [New Age Healing]: The psychic must channel her biokinetic energy through some type of focusing mechanism, most commonly a crystal or perhaps herbal remedies or even magnets. Psychics who adhere to New Age religions typically believe that the actual healing power comes from whatever focus is used, instead of from the psychic. Whether such paraphernalia is actually necessary or merely a crutch cannot truly be determined. Regardless, the healer cannot use her power without entering a trance state while meditating on a crystal or using some other type of New Age trapping. Healers with this option gain a +2 bonus on all healing attempts.

This power represents a refinement of the Mind Control Merit. Instead of giving hypnotic commands to the target, a telepath causes the subject to see something that isn’t there, or to misapprehend some element of his surroundings. The telepath must be able to see the person to be affected, although clairvoyance can substitute for direct observation. Cameras and videotapes are never affected by a psychic illusion. The illusions created can affect any normal senses that the illusionist possesses. The illusionist cannot create an image capable of deceiving psychic powers, so a clairvoyant remotely viewing the scene is not deceived. Likewise, a psychic cannot create an illusion of something he cannot perceive, such as a deaf character creating an illusion that includes an auditory element.

The default use of this power assumes that only one sense is affected, and each additional sense affected imposes a –1 penalty to the roll. The player’s Manipulation + Persuasion roll is resisted by the Composure + Supernatural Advantage of any observers (roll the highest pool for a mob of onlookers) in a contested action. Theoretically, the illusionist can fool any number of people with a particular illusion, but the maximum number of people who can easily be affected at the same time equals the psychic’s Intelligence + Manipulation. Each additional person imposes a –1 penalty to the activation roll. Thus, the more people who are present, the greater the likelihood that some or all are able to see through the deception.

Normally, an illusion is static and cannot interact with beings. If the illusionist wishes his visions to interact with someone who is deceived by them (such as having a “phantom police officer” direct observers away from a crime scene), the player must roll Wits + Persuasion as an instant action. If this roll fails, onlookers see through the illusion, even if they had been previously fooled. Such follow-up rolls are only required when the illusion must be made to interact with an observer in a fairly direct manner. So, if the interactive police officer fools an observer, a reroll is required only if the observer actively tries to engage the police office somehow (whether through communication or an attack), or if the psychic wishes to have the police officer interact in some new and different way, such as writing a ticket.

Regardless of how convincing an illusion is, it is never solid, although it “feels” solid to a deceived observer if the illusionist incorporates tactile sensations into the creation. An illusory chair is not capable of supporting an observer’s weight, no matter how strongly she believes in it. An illusory wall does not prevent someone from passing through it if she leans against it, although both may feel perfectly solid to the casual touch. So, an illusionary item cannot be used as a weapon; any attack with an illusionary weapon fails.

Cost: 1 Willpower. Also, the character must maintain concentration for the duration of the illusion, meaning that he can take no action other than moving Speed per turn, and he loses his Defense.
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion versus the target’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage to create illusions (resistance is reflexive). Wits + Persuasion to manipulate existing illusions.
Action: Contested to activate; instant to manipulate

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback, making every potential observer in the vicinity instinctively withdraw or distrust her. Also, the illusionist is unable to use this power again for the remainder of the scene.

Failure:
The psychic fails to create any illusion at all.

Success:
Any affected targets perceive whatever sensory effect the psychic desires.

Exceptional Success:
The illusions created are highly realistic. The psychic no longer needs to maintain concentration, although a Wits + Persuasion roll must still be made to cause the illusion to move or react in any way.

As the name suggests, Psychic Invisibility represents a psychic’s ability to “cloud men’s minds” so that onlookers cannot perceive him. The character is not truly invisible; cameras are not affected by this power and anyone sufficiently perceptive can see through the deception. The psychic cannot disappear from view if he has already been seen, but any witnesses he encounters after the power is activated are typically unable to see him unless he does something to call attention to himself. If the psychic affects any physical object while a potential observer is looking, or he makes any particularly loud sound, the invisibility ends automatically for observers. Also, the character must maintain concentration for the duration of the power’s use. He loses his Defense and can take no actions other than moving up to Speed in a turn.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Stealth versus an observer’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage (resistance is reflexive). If a mob is affected, make one roll for the group using the highest dice pool of its members.
Action: Contested, and requires concentration

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic is convinced that she is invisible and acts accordingly, even though any onlookers are able to see her.

Failure:
The psychic fails to hide her appearance.

Success:
The psychic activates her psychic invisibility power. If anyone in a group points the character out, all onlookers can see her.

Exceptional Success:
The psychic no longer needs to concentrate to maintain invisibility and can take other actions (although any interaction with her environment may end the effect). If she performs no actions, the effect lasts for the remainder of the scene.

A thaumaturge can project her mind into the state of Twilight. This mental form has no corpus or ephemeral body; the projection is just an intangible, semi-transparent image. The projecting magician cannot affect creatures or things physically. Interacting with the physical world or spirit world while using the Merit is impossible. The character’s form has no substance at all, not even spiritual substance — she is merely a projected consciousness. This state can be both a benefit and a drawback, in that the character is unimpeded by obstacles, but is also unable to affect any threats she encounters. If two thaumaturges’ ghost bodies or a projected thaumaturge and a genuine ghost encounter one another, they can communicate as if they were in the real world, but no sorts of physical or mystical exchanges can occur between them. A projected thaumaturge’s psyche is invisible to most physical beings. A child or animal might intuitively sense the mystic’s presence, or even see him. Both shamans and supernatural beings almost certainly notice the projected character. A projector’s other abilities cannot be used while projecting. She can observe and even talk to ghosts and spirits that are in Twilight, but cannot use any other magic.

While projected, a magician’s body is alive but comatose. She has no way of knowing her body’s current state of health or any other information about it. Her soul continues to reside within her body; she projects only her senses and an intangible image of her body into Twilight. As a result, the mystic cannot be prevented from returning to her body. When in this state, a thaumaturge can move rapidly in any direction, including up and down. She can pass through solid objects and moves at a Speed up to twice Wits + Willpower +10 per turn in any direction.

Dice Pool: Wits + Occult
Ritual Length: 30 minutes
Duration: Trance

Suggested Equipment: Hallucinogenic drugs (+1 or +2, depending on their strength), a fragment of a spirit’s materialized body (+2)

Possible Penalties: The place where the ritual is performed is inside a general magical warding (see p. 119) (–2)

Ritual Details: The details of this ritual are typically very similar to those involved in the Visionary Trances ritual. The exact chants, dances and body postures are different, but the general type of activities performed are similar.

Your character, either through extensive training or natural ability, has an innate resistance to invasive telepathic powers such as Mind Breaker, Mind Control, Mind Reading and Psychic Empathy. This resistance might take the form of performing math problems mentally, quoting nursery rhymes or even praying fervently. With even one dot, the character can tell if a psychic attempts to use a telepathic or other mind-affecting psychic power on him with a successful Wits + Composure roll (made reflexively by the Storyteller). The character’s Psychic Resistance dots are also added to his Resolve or Composure when rolling to contest any psychic powers that affect his mind. Neither powers directed against his body (such as Psychic Vampirism or Telekinetic Grapples) nor psychic powers that affect the mind but that do not allow a contested roll (such as Mental Blast or Psychic Invisibility) are affected by this Merit. The benefits of this Merit do not apply to mind-controlling effects used by vampires, werewolves or mages.

The inverse of Psychic Healing, Psychic Vampirism allows a psychic to take life as well as restore it, draining orgone energy from victims to replenish one’s own Willpower. There are two versions of this Merit, both of which require physical contact with the victim. (See “Touching an Opponent”) The four-dot version allows a psychic to drain a target of temporary Willpower points. The Willpower is lost. With the five-dot version, the psychic regains one point of Willpower for every two points of Willpower stolen. The psychic cannot gain more Willpower points than he has permanent Willpower dots.

Both versions of this power automatically fail when used against mages, werewolves or vampires. Storytellers should be cautious that players of characters with the five dot version do not rely on it to regain Willpower to the exclusion of their own Morality.

Dice Pool: Wits + Resolve (— the target’s Resolve). The psychic vampire must also successfully touch a victim.
Cost: None
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic fails to steal any Willpower points and actually loses one Willpower point instead.

Failure:
The psychic’s attempt fails.

Success:
The psychic drains the victim of one temporary Willpower per success.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward.

Psychometry is a subset of clairvoyance that deals with perceiving the history of physical objects. Also known as “object reading,” psychometry permits a psychic to handle an object for several seconds and then undergo a brief vision of important moments in the object’s history. Exactly what the most important moments are is a matter for Storyteller discretion, but, as a general rule, the stronger the emotions connected with the item, the more clearly the psychometrist can see events connected to those feelings. Negative emotions tend to resonate more than positive ones, so the fact that a little girl loved her teddy bear will usually be overshadowed by fact that she was holding it as she watched her mother’s murder.

Psychometry is generally tied to objects, not places, and an object must generally be small enough to fit in both hands. For every point of Size an object has over three, the psychic suffers a –1 penalty in addition to the penalties listed below. With the four-dot version of this Merit, location and size limitations do not apply. The psychometrist can perceive the history of any object he can touch, or he can simply walk into a location and “see” the most emotionally charged moments in the recent history of the place.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic gets a “mixed message” or a very believable but entirely false impression. The Storyteller should always make chance-die rolls on behalf of players whose characters use this power.

Failure:
Failure indicates that no impressions come through.

Success:
Success yields a sense of the most emotionally charged event or person connected with the object read, as well as a reliable vision or sense of the memory in question. Only one successful reading of an object is allowed every 24 hours in order to see more events.

Exceptional Success:
An exceptional success provides a comprehensive or extended chronological understanding of an object and its past, such as an entire slideshow of images.

Suggested Modifiers

Pyrokinesis represents the ability to cause objects to spontaneously combust. Psychics with this power are usually referred to as pyrokinetics. Pyrokinesis is separate and distinct from Thermokinesis (see below), the latter of which permits a psychokinetic to actually manipulate ambient temperature. Pyrokinesis does not directly produce heat. Instead, this power triggers a chemical reaction that causes a given material to burn. A fire triggered by this power continues to burn until its fuel has been exhausted or until the fire is put out normally. A pyrokinetic can also extinguish an existing flame (whether or not she started it), but stopping a fire may be more difficult than starting one, as a fire may quickly spread to encompass a bigger area than where it was ignited. Once a fire is set, it follows all normal rules for fire damage.

A character with Pyrokinesis must overcome three difficulties in starting a fire: the size of the fire to be set, the desired heat level of the flame and the relative flammability of the material to be ignited. The modifiers applied to an attack roll for each of these criteria are listed below.

* A pyrokinetic cannot create a fire larger than a bonfire with a single application of this power.

* Thermokinesis is required to create temperatures hotter than a Bunsen burner, such as a chemical fire or molten metal.

* Igniting anything more flame resistant than this requires Thermokinesis.

The roll to start a fire involves Wits + Resolve. When the pyrokinetic seeks to ignite a person or some other target capable of movement, the attempt is treated as a ranged attack. Defense does not apply, but the pyrokinetic suffers a –2 penalty when attempting to ignite a moving target. Short range for a pyrokinetic attack is equal to a psychic’s Intelligence + Wits + Pyrokinesis dots in yards. Medium range is twice that distance and imposes a –2 penalty on an attack dice pool. Long range is up to twice medium range and imposes a –4 penalty on an attack dice pool.

The damage inflicted with a successful pyrokinetic attack is equal to one point of lethal damage for each success. This damage pool (minus the benefits of any heat-resistant armor) is inflicted every turn on anyone set ablaze until the fire is put out.

Once a fire is set, it can be put out normally or extinguished instantly with another application of Pyrokinesis. Putting out an existing fire requires an extended Stamina + Resolve roll with the number of successes required equal to the Size of the blaze +1, with each roll taking one turn’s action.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Resolve to start a fire. Stamina + Resolve to snuff one out.
Action: Instant to start a fire. Extended to snuff out a fire, with each roll representing one turn.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic suffers one point of lethal damage due to painful psychic feedback. Alternately, the psychic might produce a flame of the desired intensity but not where he wants it to combust. A pyrokinetic attempting to snuff a flame might make it larger instead.

Failure:
The attempt to start or extinguish a fire is unsuccessful.

Success:
The pyrokinetic ignites his target. If attempting to snuff out a flame, the pyrokinetic accumulates a number of successes equal to the Size of the fire +1.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward.

Option [Emotional Pyrokinesis]: Whenever a pyrokinetic is in the grip of strong emotion, the Storyteller may direct the player to roll Resolve + Composure with a dice penalty equal to the intensity of the emotion as described by the Emotional Response table below. If the roll is unsuccessful, the pyrokinetic’s powers function randomly, igniting small, nearby flammable objects. A dramatic failure means that this pyrokinetic activity might flare up at random intervals over the next several days whenever the pyrokinetic is agitated. Such wild phenomena do not require the expenditure of a Willpower point. A pyrokinetic with this option gains a +2 bonus on all deliberate uses of this power.

Your pyrokinetic is highly resistant if not completely immune to fire.

With the two-dot version, make a reflexive Stamina + Resolve roll when your character is exposed to mundane fire, with each success providing one point of armor that protects against only fire damage.

With the four-dot version, you need only spend one Willpower point to render your character totally immune to fire damage. If any Doubting Thomas is present when the four-dot version of this Trait is invoked, a successful Stamina + Resolve roll subject to normal penalties is required for unilateral protection to activate.

The effects of either version last for one scene, although clothes and possessions are not protected. No protection is provided against supernaturally induced fires or flames.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Stamina + Resolve for the two-dot version. None for the four-dot version, unless a Doubting Thomas is present.
Action: Reflexive

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic is not protected from the flames, and fire damage is increased by one.

Failure:
The psychic is not protected from the flames, but she can try again in the next turn as a subsequent attempt.

Success:
Each success provides one dot of armor with the two-dot version. With the four-dot version, total immunity is conferred despite the presence of a Doubting Thomas.

Exceptional Success:
With the two-dot version, additional successes are their own reward. With the four-dot version, any Doubting Thomases present are treated as ordinary people for the duration of the scene and do not inflict any further dice penalties on the psychic during that time.

A pyrokinetic can manipulate how an existing fire (whether natural or created by psychic powers) grows. By pointing toward an existing flame and gesturing in the direction of a gas main, a psychic might cause a jet of flame to spread across the ground in a straight line, as if there were a trail of gasoline to burn. The pyrokinetic cannot truly shoot fireballs, as a fire must still have a fuel source and must generally spread along a surface of some kind. Within those limitations, the psychic can manipulate a fire as she wishes, using this power to “sculpt” the flames according to her desire.

Shaping a fire requires concentration, so a pyrokinetic loses her Defense and can take no action other than movement up to Speed per turn. If the pyrokinetic’s concentration is broken, she loses control of the flames. An additional Willpower point must be spent and a new activation roll made to regain control. If a pyrokinetic attempts to direct a flame toward a target capable of movement, the attack is treated as a normal ranged attack, with Wits + Crafts rolled to make the attack. Short range for this action equals your character’s Dexterity + Composure in yards, with medium range double that distance (and at a –2 penalty) and long range double medium range(and at a –4 penalty). Although the fire moves quickly, it is still slow enough to be evaded, so the target’s Defense applies. Each success on an attack roll inflicts one point of lethal damage.

Cost: 1 Willpower to activate this power for a scene or until all nearby fires have been extinguished, whichever comes first.
Dice Pool: Wits + Crafts to shape flames. Wits + Crafts (— target’s Defense) to attack with a flame.
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic suffers one point of lethal damage due to painful psychic feedback. Alternately, the psychic might send the flames to a different location than intended.

Failure:
The attempt to shape the fire is unsuccessful.

Success:
The pyrokinetic manipulates the fire to his desires, determining the direction in which it spreads and perhaps even shaping it into simple forms. If used as an attack, the flames inflict one point of lethal damage per success.

Exceptional Success:
In addition to damage inflicted, the target is set ablaze and continues to take lethal damage per turn until the fire is extinguished.

Dice Modifiers

Your character is trained in performing ritual sacrifices to aid spiritual entities. When she first learns this Merit, she must decide whether it applies to ghosts or spirits. An appropriate sacrifice channels the energy released by the death of an appropriate creature or the destruction of a suitable object to the spirit or ghost to whom it is dedicated. If the ritual is successful, the spirit or ghost receives its choice of one point of Essence or Willpower.

Dice Pool: Presence + Occult
Ritual Length: 10 minutes

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
In addition to failing, the sacrificial ritual displeases the ghost or spirit.

Exceptional Success:
The ritual is particularly effective and the recipient receives an additional point of Willpower or Essence (for a total of two).

Suggested Equipment: Valuable or potent sacrifice (+1 per dot of Resources or Size of creature). The sacrifice of a really expensive bottle of rum might grant +1 die for summoning Ghede, while a human sacrifi ce might grant a twisted apostle of the Dark One a +5 bonus.

Possible Penalties: Poor quality sacrifice (–1 to –3), sacrifice not treated with respect (–1)

Ritual Details: The caster must destroy some object (often by burning it) or kill some creature (usually a small animal) as part of the ritual. Formally dedicating the sacrifice to the ghost or spirit in question is required.

Drawback: Although appropriate sacrifices please the recipient, they sometimes anger other spiritual entities.

The magician can view a location remotely. She can both see and hear the location normally, allowing her to overhear conversations or read text on a distant computer screen, all as if she were physically present.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Investigation
Ritual Length: One minute
Duration: Trance

Ritual rolls are modified by the thaumaturge’s magical connection to the location (see p.76). Because the mystic is in a light trance, she can talk softly, write or type while continuing to view a distant location. She must use a magical connection to perform this ritual and can see the location only from the point of view of the subject to which her magical connection is linked. For example, if a mystic is holding a piece of someone’s hair, she can observe events occurring around that person. If she holds a chip of brick from a wall, she can observe the surroundings from the exact location where the chip was taken. The thaumaturge can turn her point of view as if she were turning her head, but she cannot move the location from which she observes without obtaining another magical connection to a different subject and performing this ritual again. If, however, a thaumaturge scrys a moving vehicle, a person who is walking or an object that someone picks up and carries, the thaumaturge’s point of view moves accordingly. Because the mystic merely observes a distant location, she is aware of events occurring around her body and her trance ends automatically if she is harmed, shaken roughly or otherwise disturbed significantly.

Suggested Equipment: Hallucinogenic drugs (+1), a large and unusually sphere of clear, transparent quartz (+1), a mirror from the location to be scryed (+1)

Possible Penalties: The magical connection to the location was obtained more than a month ago (–1), the magical connection to the location was obtained more than one year ago (–4), the target being scryed is located inside a general magical warding (–2)

Ritual Details: There are two common alternatives for performing this ritual — going into a trance using tech- niques similar to those involved in the Visionary Trances ritual (see p. 119), or staring into a viewing device such as a mirror, a candle flame, a pool of water or ink, a crystal ball or even a TV screen displaying static. Chants, hallucinogen use, drawings of complex sigils and diagrams or prayer may accompany these practices. The magician may first perform various preparatory actions such as drawing a magic circle, but the essence of the ritual is either going into a trance or gazing into a mirror or similar object.

Occult stories speak of “second sight” as the ability to perceive the spiritual realm via sight and sound. By attuning her senses, a thaumaturge temporarily gains the ability to see and hear Twilight. Second Sight allows a performer to see and hear ghosts, provided they exist within Twilight and lie in normal visual and audible ranges for the caster.

Of course, the ability to perceive the immaterial doesn’t guarantee that there is something to see. If a ghost hides behind a desk, the caster must try to spot him with a Perception roll, as normal. Spiritual fog or ephemeral darkness hampers second sight as much as the physical versions of such things hamper mundane sight. Likewise, the mad screams of a tormented ghost can make it hard to hear cries for help from his eternal, ghostly victim.

While using Second Sight, a thaumaturge can still see and hear the physical world around her, but with less focus and a great degree of distraction. All rolls for actions affecting the physical world suffer a –2 penalty, including Perception-based rolls. The caster’s Initiative rolls also suffer this penalty.

Second Sight does not allow a mystic to perceive spirits in Twilight, only ghosts. The See Spirits Merit is required for that awareness.

Dice Pool: Wits + Occult
Ritual Length: One minute
Duration: One scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The thaumaturge fails to gain a clear sense of Twilight, but still loses focus and is distracted by odd perceptions. She suffers the normal penalties for the rest of the scene, but cannot perceive ghosts. Alternatively, the Storyteller may choose to have the thaumaturge imagine ghostly phenomena even though they aren’t really there. In any case, she cannot try to use the Merit again during the same scene.

Exceptional Success:
The thaumaturge succeeds at activating her special senses and does not suffer the normal –2 penalty to actions involving the physical world. Suggested Equipment: The character can see some physical evidence that something ghostly currently happens (+1), a physical link to one of the ghostly entities currently present, such as a photograph of a being while he was still alive (+1)

Ritual Details: Rituals for Second Sight are usually very simple. The caster may close her eyes and focus her will, stare at the patterns of tea leaves or swirls of smoke, or mumble a short mantra.

Drawback: Once one has seen beyond the physical realm, it is hard to forget that there are invisible forces at work all the time, and that some of them don’t have humanity’s best interests at heart.

A thaumaturge can open his perceptions to the psychic auras that surround all sentient creatures, witnessing numerous and often-shifting hues and patterns. Although the strongest emotions predominate, almost every individual has more than one color to his aura at any given time, and an observer can see any number of streaks or flashes. “Psychic colors” change with the subject’s mental or emotional state, creating an ever-moving pattern that is as unique to each person as a fingerprint. As a rule, the more powerful the emotions, the more intense the colors, but even this guideline is betrayed by any number of mitigating factors, depending on circumstance. Practice makes perfect; a true master aura-perceiver learns to understand the significance of each whorl and eddy. Because mystics’ powers are limited and rather dim, thaumaturges cannot see auras clearly enough to tell the difference between the radiance of ordinary humans and those of mages, vampires or werewolves.

If performed correctly, this ritual allows a thaumaturge to observe a single subject’s aura. The magician must recast this ritual to observe the aura of another subject. After the magician completes the ritual to allow her to perceive auras, she must concentrate on observing a subject. She can continue to perceive his auras for the next scene, and can talk, walk slowly or perform other non-distracting activities while doing so. However, she cannot run, walk rapidly, perform any complex or difficult physical tasks (including combat) or even look closely at anything other than her target. Also, because of the concentration involved, the magician suffers a –2 penalty to any dice pool involving looking at anything except her target’s aura. The magician can end this ritual at any time and can see normally after that.

Thaumaturges who use this ability to observe someone in the act of lying may recognize that the subject speaks falsely. Intelligence + Empathy is rolled versus the subject’s Wits + Subterfuge in a contested action. The mystic recognizes the lie if the most successes are rolled for him.

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Empathy versus subject’s Composure + Supernatural Advantage (extended and contested roll)
Ritual Length: One minute
Duration: Scene

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character gleans utterly misleading and wholly inaccurate information. The Storyteller may want to make performance rolls on a player’s behalf for this reason.

Failure:
The character can distinguish no information at all.

Success:
The character perceives the brightest color in the subject’s aura and gains a +1 bonus to all Social rolls in regard to the subject.

Exceptional Success:
The magician gains a +2 bonus to Social rolls in regard to the subject.

Suggested Equipment: A bit of hair, blood or clothing from the person being observed (+1); a mirror more than a century old (+1)

Possible Penalties: The subject is a habitual or pathological liar (–1)

Ritual Details: The caster must perform some action with her eyes to allow her to see auras. Such actions include unfocusing while staring at the target, looking at the target’s reflection in a small mirror or looking through a special lens, kaleidoscope or transparent stone. The magician must continue to perform this action for the duration of the ritual, and the ritual ends as soon as she moves her eyes away.

Aura Signifiers

Your character automatically notices the presence of spirits from the Shadow Realm when they intrude into the Twilight Realm. Your character can automatically see, hear and speak to any nearby immaterial spirits in Twilight without needing to make any special rolls. Although magicians with this Merit cannot see or hear the ghosts of the recently deceased, at the Storyteller’s discretion the magicians can see and hear immaterial ghosts that are old or twisted enough to have become significantly inhuman in their appearance or motivations. A magician also notices the existence of any openings or thin points between the Twilight Realm and the Shadow Realm (see “Loci,” pp. 260–265 of Werewolf: The Forsaken, or “Loci” and “Verges,” pp. 60 and 282 of Mage: The Awakening) with a successful Wits + Occult roll (reflexive). See Spirits does not allow a mystic to perceive ghosts in Twilight, only spirits. Second Sight is required for awareness of the restless dead.

Drawback: Characters with this Merit must perceive such beings. If a spirit speaks to a magician, he can no more block out its words than he can block out those of a living person. If a spirit wishes to hide from the magician, a contested Perception check is made versus the spirit’s Wits + Stealth or against any supernatural ability that the spirit can use to hide.

Creation of a Soul Jar allows a thaumaturge to trap the soul of a dying person, usually in preparation for nefarious purposes. The ritual may be performed upon an individual who is actually dying or who is merely trapped in a deathlike state (a vodoun bocor uses poisonous powders to achieve this state). The mystic must touch the subject throughout the ritual and must have a physical object ready to receive the soul.

The performer must overcome the victim’s will to successfully complete the ritual. Roll Presence + Intimidation in a contested, extended action against the target’s Resolve + Supernatural Advantage. Each party seeks to accumulate a number of successes equal to the other’s Willpower dots. If the performer achieves that total first, the victim’s soul leaves his body and becomes a ghost with a single anchor (see “Anchors,” World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 209): the physical object chosen by the caster. If the subject achieves the total successes first, his soul goes wherever it normally would. If the victim is truly dying, the soul passes on or it might become a ghost over which the mystic has no hold. If the victim’s deathlike state is temporary, his soul hovers over his body until signs of life resume. If the ritual fails, it cannot be recast on the same target until at least 24 hours have passed. Of course, a dying subject may have escaped his fate by then.

This ritual allows a thaumaturge to gain a certain degree of power over the dead, and over the living as well. The caster knows the single anchor of the ghost involved, and probably has physical possession of it. This standing allows the performer to control the ghost’s behavior to an extent, without further magic, but powerful thaumaturges may also use Evocation (ghosts only) to gain more direct control. A person who returns to life from a deathlike state without a soul suffers from the loss. A living body that’s lost its soul is easier to possess, and spirits or ghosts using the Possession Numen gain a +2 bonus. So long as the thaumaturge is careful to not let the original soul ever possess its own body (which ends the power of Soul Jar and frees the soul to live in its original body), the living soulless body remains subject to manipulation. Each week that a character’s soul is absent, he loses a dot of Morality. Once his Morality is reduced to one dot, this process of erosion applies to his Willpower dots. Once his Willpower dots drop to zero, the soulless one becomes practically catatonic, shuffling through life by force of habit, if at all. A character with zero Willpower is also treated as having zero Resolve and zero Composure. If a person ever regains his soul, the dots he lost from Morality and Willpower return at a rate of one per day, beginning with Willpower.

Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation versus Resolve + Supernatural Advantage (extended and contested roll)
Minimum Successes Required: Opponent’s Willpower
Ritual Length: One hour
Duration: Indefinite (permanent unless somehow reversed)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
Something goes wrong. If the thaumaturge has created other Soul Jars, perhaps one of those ghosts is set free. A ghost might suddenly discover that the caster himself has become one its anchors. The dying person might become a free ghost set upon revenge, having the caster and its own body as anchors (plus perhaps its gravesite and the site of its murder).

Success:
The ritual works as normal. A Soul Jar is considered a supernaturally Enhanced Item for purposes of its Durability, which means it can resist aggravated damage. Exceptional Success: The ritual works correctly, and the Soul Jar gains an increase of +1 Durability.

Suggested Equipment: Thaumaturge personally crafted Soul Jar object (+1), victim believes in Soul Jars and ghosts (+1)

Possible Penalties: Victim has a Morality higher than 7 (–1 per dot over 7), victim was ready to die (–1), Soul Jar object inappropriate (–1 to –3), dense urban area or modern laboratory (–3), city suburb or modern industrial building (–2), small town or village or empty shopping mall (–1)

Ritual Details: The caster places the Soul Jar in close proximity to the dying individual. Victims may be painted with white makeup to resemble the dead, and may even be ritually buried. Literal rites for the dead are often given as part of the ceremony.

Drawback: A ghost created by Soul Jar is likely to seek revenge on the caster.

Channeling represents a psychic’s capacity to paranormally gain abilities that he does not normally possess. Spirit Channeling allows a ghost to possess his body and give him access to its wisdom. The psychic must successfully enter a trance before he can channel effectively to gain new Traits. Skills gained last until the psychic next sleeps or until he attempts to channel again.

A medium uses his powers to commune with the dead to summon a ghost capable of providing the capabilities that he needs. After entering the necessary trance state, the medium invites a ghost with useful traits into his body. Spirit Channeling is also used by professional mediums to allow ghosts to commune directly with bereaved loved ones. The weakness of Spirit Channeling is that ghosts generally lack the capacity to interact normally with the living. Spirit Channeling can never be used to gain dots in Social Skills.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Action: Instant; although the psychic must first enter a trance

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The ghost summoned is instinctively hostile toward the psychic or the effect summons a different and more malevolent entity than intended. The hostile spirit can automatically succeed on a roll to possess the psychic (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 212).

Failure:
The medium was unsuccessful.

Success: Each success is converted into one dot of a single Physical or Mental Skill selected by the player. The number of successes must exceed the character’s current Skill dots, if any, in order for him to gain any benefit from the power. The new rating lasts until the psychic next sleeps or until he next uses this power.

Exceptional Success:
In addition to the normal benefit of extra successes, the psychic can access the personal memories of the ghost who shares the psychic’s body. If the successes exceed five, any more can be assigned to another single Physical or Mental Skill of the character’s choosing.

The power to move physical objects by mind alone. The psychic can lift objects, assuming they are light enough for his Telekinesis to handle. He can also throw objects that he is capable of lifting at a target. At high dots, a telekinetic can immobilize someone with a telekinetic grapple or even strike someone with a telekinetic blow.

Lifting an Object
The simplest use of Telekinesis is to lift objects. The player must first spend a Willpower point to activate the power. Each dot gives a character one dot of Strength that can be applied to move any physical object within the telekinetic’s direct line of sight, pursuant to the lifting/moving objects chart.

When attempting to lift something, consult the chart and compare the psychic’s Telekinesis dots to the item. If the telekinetic’s dots exceed the Strength required to lift the object, he can move it freely. If his Merit dots equal the Strength required, he can slide the object across the floor at about a yard per turn. If the telekinetic seeks to lift something even bigger, roll Resolve + Composure reflexively, with each success adding to the telekinetic’s Merit dots for the action.

Telekinesis is both physically and mentally taxing; a character can hold up an object for a number of turns equal to the lesser of his Stamina or Resolve. After that, he must either drop the object or another Willpower point must be spent to retain control. A telekinetic can lift objects smaller than Size 1, but he must still be able to see the object directly.

Cost: 1 Willpower + 1 additional Willpower after every [lesser of Stamina or Resolve] turns
Dice Pool: No roll is required to lift an object, provided that the psychic’s Telekinesis Merit dots are sufficient to do so. If the object is too big, a Resolve + Composure roll is required.
Action: Reflexive

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The item is dropped and/or the telekinetic suffers one point of bashing damage due to psychic feedback from the effort.

Failure:
The telekinesis attempt is unsuccessful.

Success:
Telekinesis dots increase by one per success.

Exceptional Success:
The telekinetic increases his Merit dots by five or more and gains a +1 bonus on any attempt to manipulate the item, such as throwing it. Also, the telekinetic can continue to manipulate the object for a number of turns equal to the greater of his Stamina or Resolve before needing to set the object down or spend another Willpower.

Throwing an Object
If the telekinetic wishes to hurl an object at a target, he must first lift it. An object can be lifted and thrown as part of the same instant action, provided the character’s total Telekinesis dots exceed those required to lift the item. A non-aerodynamic object (such as a clay pot or tire) can be thrown a distance in yards equal to Wits + Resolve + total Telekinesis dots, minus the object’s Size. This distance is considered short range. Medium range is double that, and long range is twice medium range. So, a character with 4 Wits, 3 Resolve and an unmodified 2 Telekinesis can throw a tire with 2 Size a short distance of 7 yards, a medium range of 14 yards and a long range of 28 yards. Aerodynamic objects can be thrown double those distances, but an object whose Size exceeds the psychic’s modified Telekinesis dots cannot be thrown no matter how aerodynamic it is.

Hitting a target requires you to roll Wits + Resolve, –2 for medium range and –4 for long range. The Damage of the object thrown (usually the lesser of its Size or Durability) is added to the dice pool, and the target’s Defense applies. A character can hurl an object up to twice long range, but is automatically reduced to a chance die.

Cost: None, although 1 Willpower is required to lift the object
Dice Pool: Wits + Resolve + Damage bonus of thrown object (– target’s Defense)
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character loses control of the item. If it is large or heavy (Size 4+), he loses his telekinetic grip and drops it, possibly hurting himself or others. Smaller objects land wildly off the mark.

Failure:
The telekinetic attack misses its target.

Success:
The telekinetic hits his target, inflicting one point of damage per success.

Exceptional Success:
The telekinetic hits his target with great accuracy and force.

Suggested Equipment: See the Damage ratings of possible thrown objects on p. 150 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.

Grappling a Target (Telekinesis •••+)
Seizing a human-sized or larger target and attempting to hold him steady requires at least three Telekinesis dots. The player rolls Stamina + Resolve, minus the target’s Strength. If the roll is successful, the target is not only grappled, but he is automatically immobilized. If the target has any psychic or supernatural powers that can be brought to bear against the telekinetic, such powers suffer no penalty due to immobilization. As usual, an additional Willpower point must be spent after every [lesser of Stamina or Resolve] turns in order to keep a target immobilized, and no other actions are allowed except moving up to Speed in that time. A victim of this effect is allowed no Defense against attacks from others. A victim can try to break free each turn as a contested action. Strength + Resolve is rolled in an instant action, with the telekinetic’s Merit dots subtracted from the victim’s dice pool. In order to escape, a number of successes must be rolled for the victim in excess of those rolled for the telekinetic when the hold was achieved.

Cost: None, although one Willpower must be spent to initially activate the power
Action: Instant
Dice Pool: Stamina + Resolve (– the target’s Strength)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The grappling attempt is unsuccessful, and the telekinetic suffers one point of bashing damage due to psychic feedback from the failed effort.

Failure:
The telekinesis attempt is unsuccessful.

Success:
The telekinetic successfully grapples the target, pinning her or lifting her off the ground. The telekinetic can keep the target immobilized for a number of turns equal to the lesser of his Stamina or Resolve, unless the subject escapes earlier. Spending Willpower extends the period in which a victim may be held.

Exceptional Success:
The telekinetic can restrain his target for a number of turns equal to the greater of his Stamina or Resolve.

Telekinetic Blow (Telekinesis •••••)
A psychic with five dots of Telekinesis can strike a target with a blast of pure kinetic force. Treat the blow as a ranged attack to which Defense does not apply. The blow inflicts bashing damage, and armor protects the target as normal. Short range equals Wits + Resolve + Telekinesis dots in yards. Medium range is double that, and long range is double medium range. Hitting a target requires you to roll Wits + Resolve, –2 for medium range and –4 for long range. A character can strike up to twice long range, but the player is automatically reduced to a chance die.

Cost: 1 Willpower per attack
Dice Pool: Wits + Resolve
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The attack is unsuccessful and the telekinetic suffers one point of bashing damage due to psychic feedback from the failed effort. Alternately, the telekinetic might inadvertently hit someone or something other than his intended target.

Failure:
The telekinesis attack is unsuccessful.

Success:
The telekinetic strikes his target with a blast of pure kinetic force, inflicting one point of bashing damage per success.

Exceptional Success:
In addition to bashing damage inflicted, the target must also roll to avoid knockdown.

Option [Emotional Telekinesis]: Whenever the telekinetic is in the grip of strong emotion, Resolve + Composure is rolled with a dice penalty equal to the level of the emotion as described by the Emotional Response table below. If the roll is unsuccessful, the telekinetic’s powers function randomly, flinging small objects around the room in what onlookers might mistakenly ascribe to the actions of a poltergeist. A dramatic failure means this activity might flare up at random intervals over the next several days. Such “poltergeist activity” does not require the expenditure of a Willpower point. If a telekinetic has this option, he gains +1 on all deliberate uses of telekinesis.

Option [Limited Telekinesis]: The telekinetic can manipulate only certain types of objects. At the Storyteller’s discretion, such limitations might include objects of Size 3 or less, only “soft” objects such as cloth or cardboard and nothing harder, only living material, or only earth. Depending on just how limited this telekinesis is, the Storyteller might permit the dice bonus accompanying the option to be +1, +2 or even +3.

Having mastered both Mind Reading and Thought Projection, the telepath can now initiate two-way telepathic communication with another person. The contact must be within line of sight unless the psychic has a Telepathic Rapport with the other party. This power fails automatically if the other party does not wish to communicate. The psychic cannot perceive any thoughts other than those a subject wishes to send, unless the psychic also uses Mind Reading, even if the other party is willing. Each use of the Merit lasts no longer than one scene, even if both sides remain within sight of each other.

Cost: 1 Willpower to allow communication for the rest of the scene
Dice Pool: Presence + Empathy
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the subject, making her instinctively withdraw or distrust him. Also, the character might transmit his thoughts to a different party than he intends, or even send thoughts that he did not intend.

Failure:
The character fails to initiate communication, but can try again.

Success:
The character successfully initiates psychic communication with his target. He can freely send thoughts to the other party, and he can freely hear whatever thought messages the other party wishes to send back.

Exceptional Success:
The character gains a +2 bonus on any subsequent use of a telepathic Merit in regard to the other party for the remainder of the scene.

The telepath can establish a permanent telepathic connection with the mind of another person, allowing the character to form a psychic link with the subject from anywhere in the world with the expenditure of a Willpower dot. This Merit can be taken multiple times to reflect having more than one rapport, up to a maximum number at one time equal to the psychic’s Intelligence. If the other party to a rapport dies, the dot spent is lost. The other party may never sever the rapport once it’s formed, but the telepath may voluntarily end it, still losing the Willpower dot spent. Only the character who possesses this Merit can freely initiate telepathic communication, and the other party must develop this Merit himself in order to initiate a link on his own, assuming he is even someone capable of doing so. A telepathic rapport cannot be forged with an unwilling target, or with someone the psychic doesn’t know closely.

Any telepath who meets the prerequisites can forge a new rapport, but the telepath must successfully use Mind Reading and Thought Projection on the other party and spend a permanent Willpower dot. Once the link is achieved, the telepath can activate the rapport without a roll. Also, if anyone with whom a telepath has a rapport experiences intense emotion, such as being in great danger, the telepath may be able to sense the emotion at any distance with a reflexive Wits + Empathy roll. This roll should be made by the Storyteller.

This Merit allows a character to forge a new rapport whenever she wishes, and a significant number of other Merits are required as prerequisites. At the Storyteller’s discretion, a character can develop a single Telepathic Rapport as a two-dot Merit at character creation, without possessing the prerequisite Merits or indeed any other psychic Merits. This rapport must be with some other person close to the character, such as a parent or twin sibling, and represents a paranormal bond not dependent on the character’s facility with telepathy. The character is not able to create any new rapports unless she acquires the full, three-dot Telepathic Rapport Merit and all its prerequisites.

Regaining Willpower dots lost from broken rapports costs eight experience points each.

Cost: 1 Willpower point per scene to activate communication with a single subject
Dice Pool: None to activate, as once the rapport is purchased, it can be turned on and off at will. Wits + Empathy (rolled by the Storyteller) to know when the other party is in danger or undergoes intense emotion.
Action: Reflexive

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The telepath grossly misinterprets the emotions experienced by the other party.

Failure:
The telepath fails to sense the other party’s emotional state.

Success:
The telepath intuitively knows that the other party is experiencing pain, fear or some other intense emotion.

Exceptional Success:
The telepath gains limited insight into exactly what situation the other party faces, even if the subject is unable to communicate such information directly. For example, instead of simply knowing that the other experiences fear, the telepath knows he is afraid of a pack of guard dogs that pursues him. If the subject experiences pain, the telepath realizes he has just been stabbed. Also, the telepath has an intuitive idea of where the other party is.

Thermokinesis permits a psychic to increase ambient temperature. The player must first spend one point of Willpower to activate the power and then roll Intelligence + Resolve. The effectiveness of the thermokinetic’s power is based on her dots in this Merit, with each success increasing the temperature according to the chart below.

When Thermokinesis is used to attack a moving target, treat the power as a ranged attack. Defense does not apply, and the temperature shift bypasses armor unless it has some type of thermal protection aspect or is a supernatural armor capable of protecting against heat. The attack also ignores cover, since the character can potentially lower temperatures over an area big enough to encompass even someone behind full cover. Thermokinesis affects the temperature of everything within the affected area, so living targets caught in the hot spot suffer an increase in body temperature commensurate with successes rolled.

Short range is equal to a psychic’s Intelligence + Wits + Thermokinesis dots in yards. Medium range is twice that distance, and inflicts a –2 penalty on the psychic’s dice pool. Long range is twice medium range, and inflicts a –4 penalty on the psychic’s dice pool. The Size of the area affected is subtracted from the Thermokinesis’s pool. Thus, an attempt to heat a human-sized target suffers a –5 penalty. However, if the psychic can touch the object to be heated, a +2 bonus to the roll is gained.

Once the psychic has successfully raised the temperature in a given location, he can do one of three things: (1) maintain the increased temperature as long as he concentrates, (2) release his concentration and let the temperature equalize normally or (3) use his Thermokinesis powers again to raise the temperature even further. Thus, with time and a prodigious amount of Willpower, a thermokinetic can raise ambient temperature to incredibly high levels, although the absolute highest temperature that any thermokinetic can achieve is roughly 1000 degrees Celsius.

Thermokinesis is especially deadly against humans, as a normal mortal caught within the area of effect is physically heated up as if caught in a giant microwave. Normal human body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. When Thermokinesis is used, a victim suffers a –1 penalty to Dexterity, Strength and Wits (and consequently, a –1 penalty to Initiative and possibly Defense, and a –2 penalty to Speed) for every 2,5 degrees of temperature increase for the duration of the thermokinetic effect. If any of the victim’s Dexterity, Strength or Wits is reduced to zero by a thermokinetic attack, the victim is immobilized due to heat prostration. If a victim’s body temperature is increased by 7,5 degrees or more, he suffers a point of lethal damage per turn spent subjected to the thermokinetic attack.

At temperatures of 90+, all living things suffer one point of aggravated damage per turn. Most paper and cloth combusts at just over 200 degrees, and wood catches fire and lead begins to melt at around 300 degrees. Surprisingly, vampires and other undead creatures are immune to ambient temperatures below 800 degrees. However, in most cases, an undead creature’s clothing ignites somewhere between 175 and 250 degrees, inflicting aggravated damage as normal.

Once a psychic ceases to focus her attention on a specific location, the site’s temperature equalizes normally. In the case of extreme temperature changes in excess of a 200-degree difference from the surrounding area, “equalize normally” may mean an explosive reaction, inflicting two dice of bashing damage on everyone within a radius equal to the Size of the area initially affected x5 in yards. The explosion also causes causes knockdown. If the temperature shift is less than 200 degrees, the affected area returns to normal temperature at a rate of 5 degrees per minute.

Thermokinetics also have an improved resistance to environmental temperature extremes. A psychic with this power is automatically immune to natural temperature extremes ranging from zero to 37 degrees, plus an additional temperature range equal to plus or minus [Merit dots x11] degrees. A thermokinetic is immune to high-temperature attacks unless the attacker’s Thermokinesis dots exceed his own.

Cost: 1 Willpower per roll to affect temperature. None to resist temperature.
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Resolve (– Size of the area to be affected) to increase temperature. No roll to resist temperature extremes.
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The psychic fails to affect ambient temperature and suffers one point of bashing damage as his own internal body temperature goes haywire.

Failure:
The psychic fails to affect the ambient temperature.

Success:
Each success raises the ambient temperature as described above.

Exceptional Success:
Additional successes are their own reward.

Option [Emotional Thermokinesis]: Whenever the thermokinetic is in the grip of strong emotion, Resolve + Composure is rolled with a dice penalty equal to the level of the emotion as described by the Emotional Response table below. If the roll is unsuccessful, the thermokinetic’s powers function uncontrollably, raising ambient temperature in random ways. A dramatic failure means this activity flares up at wild intervals over the next several days whenever the psychic becomes agitated, possibly causing small fires. With powerful Thermokinesis, catastrophic effects may occur. These random phenomena do not require the expenditure of a Willpower point.

The telepath can move beyond simple mind reading to actually projecting his thoughts into the mind of another. A telepath cannot usually transmit thoughts beyond his line of sight.

With the four-dot version, however, he can communicate with individuals outside his line of sight at a penalty determined by his degree of psychic connection to a target.

Even with the three-dot version, a telepath can communicate with someone in a distant location if he is able to perceive the subject through clairvoyance.

If the psychic also wishes to read the thoughts of the person to whom he sends, he must also activate his Mind Reading Merit, which normally requires the expenditure of a second Willpower point in a subsequent turn.

Cost: 1 Willpower to allow thought transmission to a single subject for the rest of the scene. If thoughts are to be sent to someone else in that time, the first connection must be broken. The new connection costs another Willpower point. If the fi rst connection is to be re-established, yet another Willpower must be spent.
Dice Pool: Presence + Empathy [versus Resolve + Supernatural Advantage if the subject is unwilling (resistance is reflexive)]
Action: Instant if the subject is willing; resisted is he’s unwilling

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The character triggers psychic feedback in the subject, making her instinctively withdraw or distrust him. Also, the character might transmit his thoughts to a different party than he intended, or even send thoughts that he did not intend to send.

Failure:
The character fails to transmit his thoughts, but can try again.

Success:
The character successfully transmits his thoughts to his target. He can continue to send thoughts for the rest of the scene.

Exceptional Success:
The character gains a +2 bonus on any subsequent use of a telepathic Merit against the other party for the remainder of the scene.

At two dots, the thaumaturge can see and communicate with beings in the Shadow Realm. She goes into a trance and essentially opens a mental window into the Shadow Realm to observe the landscape and inhabitants of that dimension from the position her body occupies. Although she cannot physically interact with any being or object in the Shadow Realm, the magician can communicate with spirits within earshot.

When in this type of visionary trance, the character use any of her other magical abilities. Spirits in the Shadow Realm cannot target her with their powers. The performer has no way of knowing her body’s current state of health or any other information about it. Should her body die while psychically projecting, her soul passes on.

Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: Trance

At four dots, the thaumaturge can perform the two-dot ritual and perform a more powerful one that allows her to create an ephemeral body in the Shadow Realm so that she can physically interact with the dimension and its inhabitants. While the thaumaturge is in the Shadow Realm in this form, she can use all of her other magical abilities. Also, spirits and other beings in the Shadow Realm can target the mystic’s mind and mystical physical body with their powers. Any bashing or lethal damage done to the character’s ephemeral body is recorded as bashing damage on the shaman’s physical body, as bruises appear on her flesh. Aggravated damage inflicted on the shaman’s ephemeral body appears on her physical body as lethal harm. If an ephemeral character is knocked unconscious by this damage, she automatically returns to her body as long as her silver cord (see below) is intact. The magician’s ephemeral body can move around normally in the Shadow Realm, walking and running at normal Speed. During the time she is mentally projected, the thaumaturge’s body is alive but comatose and her soul has actually separated from the body. She has no way of knowing her body’s current state of health or any other information about it. Should the magician’s body die while psychically projected, she most likely becomes a ghost and moves to an appropriate anchor. (See “Ghosts,” pp. 208–216 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.)

The thaumaturge’s ephemeral form appears in clothes and other portable gear that the character wears or uses regularly. A character with four dots can also bring along ephemeral versions of any artifacts or other magically powerful items she owns. In addition, her body in the Shadow Realm manifests an ephemeral silver cord connecting back to her physical body. This cord has Armor equal to one-half the thaumaturge’s Resolve (round up), and a Health Trait equal to her Willpower dots. The cord can be harmed only by aggravated damage. If this cord is severed, the magician must try to find her way back to her body by some other means (a daunting proposition).

The instant a thaumaturge’s silver cord is broken, her physical body lapses into a coma from which she cannot awaken unless her spirit is reattached to her body. Another mystic in a visionary trance can look for the lost spirit and guide it back to its body. Alternatively, the lost thaumaturge can ask a powerful spirit for help. Any spirit that can breach the barrier between worlds, materialize or steal souls might restore the thaumaturge’s spirit to her body, but such spirits may ask a high price. All damage to a silver cord is erased once the ritual ends. Each time this ritual is performed anew, the silver cord starts at full Health. The following applies to both the two- and four-dot versions of this Merit.

Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Ritual Length: 30 minutes
Duration: Trance

Suggested Equipment: Hallucinogenic drugs (+1 or +2, depending on their strength), performing this ritual at an opening between Twilight and the Shadow Realm (+2)

Possible Penalties: The place where the ritual is performed is inside a general magical warding (see below) (–2)

Ritual Details: Performing this ritual can be as simple as sitting down and meditating quietly, or as complex as engaging in ecstatic dancing until the thaumaturge collapses into a deep trance. Drumming, hallucinogens, chanting, unusual body postures and various meditation aids can all be used.

Your magician can create a magical barrier around an area to keep out ghosts and spirits. This barrier can be created as a general ward that keeps out all low-level entities, or as a powerful barrier designed to protect against a single supernatural being. Both types of wards can be used to protect an area only against ghosts and spirits. The only way to move a ward is to move the entire structure it protects. While thaumaturges can ward the exterior of a house or even the interior of a car or van, they cannot create a portable or wearable ward. An area can be protected by only a single ward at a time — putting up a new one automatically eliminates any existing one.

Each ward must be tied to some sort of physical marker, such as a fence with symbols painted on it or a line of chalk drawn on a floor. If anyone disturbs or makes an opening in this physical marker, or if a drawing is washed away by rainfall or blown away by the wind, the ward instantly ceases to function. Magicians cannot create wards that are more than 21 yards on a side; they can protect a small house and most of its yard, a large house or most of a warehouse but not an entire office building or city block.

When creating a ward against a specific ghost or spirit, a mystic does not need to know the name of the entity — an obvious designation, such as “the ghost of the young man who was murdered here” or “the spider-like spirit that has been attempting to possess the inhabitants of this house” is a sufficiently accurate description. Specific wards protect against only that particular being, though. They have no affect on any other spirits or ghosts.

All wards have a Strength rating. This score is subtracted from the Power of any affected ghost or spirit that seeks to enter the area. If the entity’s Power would be reduced to zero, the entity cannot enter the area. Otherwise, the entity can enter, but its Power is reduced by the Strength of the ward for the entire time the entity remains in the area. Spirits or ghosts outside the warded area that attempt to use Numina to affect anyone or anything inside the place are still subject to the ward’s Strength.

Although spirits or ghosts may convince a mortal to remove or damage the physical markers that keep a ward in place, such entities are completely incapable of affecting these physical markers directly, even if they could normally move or destroy them. A spirit affected by a ward cannot make the area into an anchor while the protection is in place. This Merit does not undo the connection between an entity and its anchor if the rite is performed on such an object, however. The spirit or ghost’s Power is still reduced by the ritual, but the spirit remains in proximity to its anchor. Such a being whose Power is reduced to zero is forced into a sort of hibernation while the ward is active, becoming dormant and inaccessible.

Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: One day (against all spirits and ghosts) or one week (against a specific spirit or ghost)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
Improperly channeled magical energies either draw spirits and ghosts to the location or grant such beings a temporary +1 to their Power when they are in the area.

Failure:
The thaumaturge fails to produce a functional ward.

Success:
The thaumaturge creates a ward with a Strength equal to his Resolve. Alternatively, a mystic can create a ward against a specific spirit or ghost with a Strength equal to his Resolve +1.

Exceptional Success:
The thaumaturge creates a ward against all spirits with a Strength equal to his Resolve +1. General wards last for three full days. Alternatively, the thaumaturge can create a ward against a specific spirit or ghost with a Strength equal to his Resolve +2. Specific wards last for two weeks.

Suggested Equipment: A fragment of a spirit or a bottle of ghostly ectoplasm (+1). Raise this bonus to (+2) if the fragment or ectoplasm is from the ghost or spirit that’s targeted for a specifi c ward.

Possible Penalties: The magician attempts to place a ward on a major magical nexus point (–2), the location being warded is already the anchor of a ghost or spirit (–2)

Ritual Details: Drawing a line of chalk or salt around the walls of an apartment, hammering a series of iron nails into a perimeter, painting or drawing small symbols every few feet on the inside or outside walls of a house or marking walls with small splotches of the magician’s blood at regular intervals

The thaumaturge can control local weather in a relatively minor way. He can call up weather conditions that are reasonable for the season and location, so making snow in Death Valley in the summer is impossible. The character cannot create catastrophic weather such as hurricanes or tornadoes. All weather produced appears to be perfectly natural and takes between a few minutes and an hour to appear, depending upon how long such conditions would normally take to form. After six hours (or longer in the case of an exceptional success), the weather fades at the same speed. The effects are purely local, covering anything from one square mile to an entire large town or small city (not counting the suburbs). The thaumaturge can make moderate changes, say, creating light rain on a sunny day, calling a light snowstorm on a cool, early winter day or transforming a thunderstorm into a violent and windy hailstorm or into a cloudy day with occasional rain. Exceptional success normally increases the duration to one day and allows a mystic to call up almost any sort of normal (non-disastrous) weather.

Dice Pool: Wits + Occult
Ritual Length: 10 minutes
Duration: Six hours

Suggested Equipment: A photograph of the desired type of weather in the target area (+1)

Possible Penalties:

Ritual Details: The magician must create some symbolic representation of the type of weather desired, whether playing loud music and making large clouds of steam, calling rain by dripping blood on the ground, tossing a handful of glitter or confetti into the air, saying chants or rhymes about weather or calling upon various deities or mythological beings associated with particular types of weather.