Vat:PC/Joseph/Powers

Invocations

Invocations labeled with an asterisk require the essence to come directly from the caster.

Blessing 1*

All essence must come from the caster and is not regained until the blessing is spent.

Blessing of Protection

2e per +1 [generic] or 1e per +1 [specific]

This effect protects the subject from metaphysical harm. Each Essence Point spent gives the subject a +1 bonus to resist one supernatural attack of one specific kind (Magic, the Sight, Primal Power, and so on). This protection activates whenever a hostile attack is made against the blessing’s recipient. The protection is only good against one such attack. A Blessing of Protection can also be oriented against all forms of supernatural attack at the cost of two Essence per +1 bonus.

Good Luck

3e per +1

This effect gives the recipient Luck. For every three Essence spent, the target gains a +1 bonus. The total bonuses may be applied to one Task/Test, or may be split as desired among many such attempts. Once the Luck bonuses are spent, the effects of the Blessing stop.

Success Blessing

5e

This guarantees success in some small matter involving mundane affairs, such as a business deal, school examination or sporting event, provided the recipient had a chance to succeed anyway. This effect costs five Essence.

Communion 1

One with the Land

2e per minute, 10 yds per Will, +5yds per 1e

Becoming one with the land costs two Essence Points per minute. The Magician enters a trance state in which she is aware of everything occurring in the area centered around her. The area affected has a radius of 10 yards (meters) per Willpower level of the caster. This can be increased at additional Essence cost +5 yards (meters) to the radius per additional Essence Point spent, per minute.

Once Communion is established, the caster can sense the whereabouts and emotions of every living thing in the area, including spirits and supernatural beings. The Magician can pinpoint the location of anybody entering the area, even those who are Shielded or hidden by illusions. Attempts by the caster to communicate, invoke, or awaken any spirits in the area gain a bonus of +5 as long as the Communion is active.

While the Communion is active, the Magician can also cast any Invocation (positive or negative) on anyone or anything in the area as if she was in direct contact or line of sight of them. The main drawback is that the connection works both ways. The Magician is exposed to the pain and suffering, anger, or other negative feelings of every living thing in the area. The more intense the negative emotions, the greater the danger of a psychic backlash.

When performing the Communion in an area plagued by suffering or anger, the Magician must pass a Difficult Willpower Test to avoid being harmed by the experience. Note that the entire area must be permeated with negative emotions to pose a danger. If a group of men with murder in their minds entered an otherwise tranquil forest, for example, the Magician would know of the men and their emotions, but would not be affected by them. If the Magician casts the Communion in the middle of a burning forest, a city slum, or a concentration camp, the concentrated misery and agony in such places would sear her.

Penalties to the Magician’s Willpower Test are determined by the Chronicler. Places of some misery and pain (a dirty park, a lightly polluted forest) have no penalty to the Test. A city slum is at -2 (more for really bad areas where everybody is suffering). A burning forest or a concentration camp is at -4 to -6. A serial killer’s torture dungeon would be at -8 or worse. If the Willpower Test is failed, the Magician loses D4 x 10(20) Essence Points.

Elemental Earth 2

Crumble Stone

1e per 5 [100] lbs

Stone may be crushed for one Essence Point per five pounds (2.5 kilograms) up to 100 pounds (50 kilograms). After that, it costs one point per 100 pounds.

Dust Devil

5e, 1yd radius, +1yd per 1e

Summoned 1yd*Will away, +1 yd per 1e

This effect creates a cloud of swirling dust that blocks vision and blinds people within it. The cloud costs five Essence and affects a radius of one yard (meter). Each additional yard (meter) of radius costs one Essence Point. The swirling dust can be made to appear up to one yard (meter) away per level of the caster’s Willpower, plus an additional yard (meter) for each Essence Point spent. After it is created, it can be moved as far away as the caster wants, provided she can see it directly (see p. 209). A large dust devil, conjured at minimum range, may affect the Magician!

Farsight 2

Farsight is the power to see into other places and to search areas by projecting a fraction of one’s Essence beyond one’s body. Failure to Dismiss the Invocation after a Focus Task failure often causes inconvenient visions and flashbacks that bother the Magician for D4(2) hours.

Farsee

5e, 100 meters per Per (+5e to change range to 1.5km/1mi per Per, +1e per additional 1.5km/1mi)

This ability allows the Magician to look into any area within range, but she must be aware of the general location of the area. The Magician decides the viewpoint of the vision, limited by the range (for example, the magician can select a bird’s eye view, to look in a specific direction, and so on), but the viewpoint cannot be changed unless the Invocation is re-cast. The base range is 100 yards (meters) for each point of the character’s Perception Attribute. This can be raised to one mile (1.5 kilometers) times Perception for another five Essence, and an additional one mile per Essence Point spent thereafter. The vision lasts up to one minute.

Find Person

Variable cost

Using Perception instead of Willpower, this effect searches for a person in the area covered by the Invocation. The Magician must know the target, either personally or by contact with her Essence signature. The more powerful the person being searched for is, the easier it is, as her Essence acts like a beacon for those with the right senses. This effect costs 10 points to search for a Mundane, five points for a Gifted person with less than 30 Essence, and two points for a Gifted person with more than 30 Essence Points. If the person being sought has used Magic or other supernatural abilities in the past few hours, all Focus Tasks gain a +1 bonus for every five Essence Points used by the target. If the Gifted character is Shielded (see p. 220), her Essence is hidden and she must be sought out like a Mundane. The base area has a radius of one mile (1.5 kilometers) per level of Perception. Each additional one mile (1.5 kilometers) costs one extra Essence Point.

Insight 2

All Gifted are sensitive to supernatural activity. Insight allows the Magician to further understand another’s true nature—even uncover its deepest secrets.

Perceive True Nature

6e

Resisted by Int + Will, blocked by Essence Shield (but reveals the shield's strength)

This effect allows the sorcerer to see a person’s true self. Those subjected to this ability resist with their Intelligence and Willpower. Basically, the Magician knows all of the character’s mental Qualities and Drawbacks, as well as her main goals and fears. On supernatural creatures, this effect (also resisted by the creature’s Intelligence and Willpower) reveals the being’s general nature (Demon, Ethereal, Nature Spirit, etc.) in addition to its goals and personality. This effect costs six Essence Points. An Essence Shield (see p. 220) blocks this power. The Insight shows the presence and strength of the Shield, but nothing else. This power comes as an instant flash of knowledge, and must be cast on each person one wishes to scan.

Sending 1

Sending

15e, no distance or duration limit, cancelled when interrupted

Sendings are magical communications. Only Gifted characters can see them. The Magician sends an image of her head or face (for more Essence, the image can look like anything the Magician wishes).

Although a Sending can reach the intended target anywhere in the world, the Invocation does not reveal to the sender the location of the subject of the message. The message works much like a radio signal tuned to a unique frequency -- the “frequency” being the individual’s Essence matrix. Therefore, the Invocation only works on people the Magician has seen before. In effect, the visualization needed for the magic to work requires some memory of the target.

The Sending usually consists of both a visual and auditory component. Only the target can see and hear the Sending. Most sorcerers send an image of their face or head to better identify themselves. Others disguise their features or make themselves look like strange creatures. Such disguise changes require one or more successful Intelligence and Disguise Tasks (in the Chronicler’s discretion). Once contact is established, the Magician can speak with the target and “hear” his responses for the duration of the Invocation.

If successful, the Magician makes contact with the target anywhere on the planet. This contact allows for conversation but very little else; magic cannot be cast by or against either the Magician or the subject. An accomplished Seer might be able to use the connection to establish a telepathic link between the two with Mindtalk or Mindsight, but it will be very difficult, with a penalty of -6 to all related Tasks.

This effect costs 15 Essence points, regardless of range. Contact takes between ten minutes and two hours, depending on how far away the target is (this gives the Magician an indication of the distance between them, but there is no hard-and-fast ratio between the distance and time). Once it is established, the Sending lasts until the caster stops it. No other actions can be taken while the Sending is being maintained, however. If the Sending is dropped, the Magician must repeat the process from scratch to re-establish contact.