The Apocalyptic Form
During the Age of Wrath, the fallen could alter their physical form at will. When they battled the Host of heaven, they could be titans of living iron or horrors wreathed in raging fire. Among humans, they often assumed the forms of men and women, luminous and terrible to behold, or wore the guise of animals that best suited their needs. The modern World of Darkness does not possess the atmosphere of Faith to allow such effortless transformation from spirit to flesh, but the fallen can use their stores of Faith to alter their host bodies temporarily and gain superhuman capabilities. This Apocalyptic or revelatory form is a reflection of a demon's true nature, and its capacities vary depending on the character's primary lore (see the Lore section for details). When a character takes on her apocalyptic form, mortal witnesses suffer the effects of Revelation, with reactions ranging from terror to rapturous wonder.
A character's primary lore dictates which apocalyptic form she can manifest. In order for the transformation to occur, you either roll a number of dice equal to your character's current Faith pool against a difficulty of 6, or spend a point of Faith to gain an automatic success. If the roll is successful, your character's transformation occurs instantaneously.
When your character manifest her apocalyptic form, she gains access to a number of special capabilities ranging from trait increases to physical capabilities such as wings and claws. Each apocalyptic form provides eight special powers, but only four are available to characters with a Torment of 6 or less. The remaining four manifest when your character loses part of herself to her demonic nature. When your character's permanent Torment score reaches 7, you may select one of the form's four high-Torment powers and add it to her apocalyptic form. When her permanent Torment reaches 8, you may add another, and so on. If your character's permanent Torment is reduced later, her high-Torment powers are lost at the rate of one per point, in the reverse order in which they were gained. So, the power gained most recently is the first one lost when permanent Torment is reduced. Characters retain their low-Torment special abilities regardless of their Torment score.
In times of peril, a demon can tap into her dark nature and temporarily manifest a high-Torment power. The capability persists for the duration of a single scene, and your character gains a point of temporary Torment. Finally, your character doesn't have to manifest all of her special abilities when invoking her apocalyptic form. (A set of eagle's wings might be inconvenient in a crowded elevator, for example.) Declare which powers you want your character to invoke before making your Faith roll. If she wants to manifest different or additional abilities later she can, but another roll is required. There is no penalty for failing a Faith roll, but a character loses a point of Faith if the roll botches.
One's apocalyptic form persists for the remainder of the scene, or it can be "turned off" at any point before then that your character wishes.
Immunity to Mind-Control: Demons are immune to any form of mind-control and to supernaturally induced fear.
Immunity to Possession
For obvious reasons, the fallen cannot be possessed, but if an attempt at possession occurs while the character is devoid of Faith, it is possible to force the demon from its mortal host. In this case, the player is able to resist the attempt with a resisted Willpower roll. If the roll fails, the demon is forced out of its host body and must find another anchor immediately or be drawn back into the Abyss.
Resistance to Illusion
Demons are especially adept at discerning the real from the illusory, and they may attempt to penetrate illusions or supernatural forms of concealment regardless of the source. When confronted by an illusion or in the presence of a person or thing that is supernaturally concealed, the character can see past the artifice with a successful Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 7). If the source of the illusion or concealment is another demon, the difficulty of the roll is equal to the opposing demon's Faith or Torment score, whichever is greater.
Resistance to Lethal Damage: When in their apocalyptic forms, demons can use their Stamina to soak lethal damage.
Healing Physical Damage
Demon characters may use Faith to heal bashing or lethal damage. You can spend one Faith point to heal all of your character's bashing damage, while lethal damage is healed at the rate of one health level per point spent. Separate Faith points must be used to recover from bashing and lethal damage. Aggravated damage cannot be healed in this fashion.
Invocations
The power of a demon's name is such that invoking it, even in conversation, is enough to draw that spirit's attention, no matter how far away he may be. What's more, the subject can attempt to ascertain who is speaking about him, where that being is even what is said.
Demons take notice whenever their Celestial or True Names are spoken. The feeling manifests differently for each. Some experience a chill that races across their skin or down their spine, while others feel an invisible pull that tugs at their mind. If a character concentrates, she can attempt to determine who is using her name and why. Make a Faith roll (difficulty 7 if the Celestial name is invoked, difficulty 6 if the True Name is used). The amount of detail gained depends on the number of successes rolled.
One Success: The character receives a mental picture of the person who invokes her name.
Two Successes: The character receives a mental picture of the speaker and his immediate surroundings, including the individual(s) he addresses.
Three or more Successes: The character can hear what the speaker is saying for the duration of a single turn. Is she wishes, the character may continue to eavesdrop on the conversation, though she only hears only the voice of the individual who invokes her name. Eavesdropping on the conversation requires a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 8) in each successive turn. If the roll fails, contact is lost.
There is no distance limitation on this ability, not even between the physical and spirit realms.
The capacity to establish a connection between individuals by invoking names of power also allows demons to communicate with one another and their thralls no matter how far apart they are. To communicate with another demon, the character needs either the recipient's Celestial or True name, and must have at least one point of temporary Faith available. Make a Faith roll (Difficulty 7 is using a Celestial Name, 6 if using a True Name), and if successful, whatever the character says is heard by the recipient. Once this connection has been made, the recipient can reply if she has at least one point of Faith available in her Faith pool. Note that the recipient doesn't have to know the speaker's name to reply. Once the link has been established, it can be used by both parties. Contact lasts for the duration of a single turn. If the speaker (or the recipient of the invocation) wishes to continue the conversation, you must make a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 6) in each successive turn of communication. If the roll fails, contact is lost.
This ability is not limited to one-on-one communication. A demon can direct her message to multiple recipients in different locations up to a number equal to her Faith rating. The player need make only one Faith roll to send a message, and the difficulty is 7 regardless of the names used for the invocation. Otherwise, group communication use the same rules already described.
In the case of thralls, communication is automatic. The bond that already exists between mortal and demon provides the needed link, allowing a demon to contact her thralls without requiring a Faith roll. Additionally, a demon may address multiple thralls at once equal to her Faith score. Unless a thrall is specifically gifted with the ability to perform an invocation, though, she cannot initiate contact with the demon. In most cases, thralls speak only when spoken to.
Though there is no known way for an outside party to "tap into" this form of supernatural communication, nearby demons can detect its use as they would any other use of supernatural power. Likewise, since the participants must physically say what they want to convey, even as a whisper, it's possible for sharp ears to overhear at least a part of what is said.
Supernatural Awareness
The fallen are inherently attuned to the fabric of reality, and they are sensitive to energies and influence beyond the awareness of mortals. Players can make a Perception + Awareness rolls for demons to get a "feel" of the supernatural qualities of a given area. A hospital room might emanate a sense of pain and loss, imprinted by the emotions of the patients and doctors who've struggled and died within its walls. An otherwise unassuming basement might reek of the foul rituals performed there days before. Additionally an alert demon can sense the use of supernatural energies within her general vicinity. The fabric of reality distorts momentarily when powers are used, and the fallen can feel the ripples caused by this brief disturbance. Highly perceptive demons can draw extensive information from these ripples, gaining a sense of where the supernatural event takes place.
Lores
While most lore is considered proprietary to the House that created it, two paths exist as tools that every angel (or demon) needed to further their work amid the wonders of Paradise. The Lore of the Fundament was the first, encompassing the basic building blocks of the physical universe, in effect creating a set of principles that provided the foundation upon which the work of all the Houses was based. The second set of common lore evolved among the fallen during the Age of Wrath as a means of facilitating contact between humanity and the rebel host.
Lore of the Fundament
Manipulate Gravity (1 Dot)
The demon can alter the way gravity affects her body, allowing her to leap enormous distances, hang suspended in the air or plunge at her foes like a meteorite.
System: Roll Strength + Athletics. The demon can leap (or climb) up to 20 yards per success, or fall a similar distance without suffering injury. Completely canceling the effect of gravity requires a number of successes equal to the character's Stamina. Characters who defy gravity aren't weightless, per se --- they are still affected by outside forces as normal. The effects of this evocation last for a single turn.
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation leave a wash of turbulence in their wake, randomly increasing or decreasing the effects of gravity on surrounding objects or people who pass within a number of yards equal to the demon's Torment score. The Storyteller is free to use her discretion when describing the chaotic effects that occur in the monster's passing.
Manipulate Adhesion (2 Dots)
The demon can affect her body's adhesion to physical objects. She can run up walls, hang from a ceiling or cling to the side of a moving car like a spider.
System: Roll Dexterity + Athletics. The difficulty is determined by the angle of the surface relative to the earth. Running up a steep slope is difficulty 6, while a vertical surface is 7. Moving along an inverted plane (like a ceiling) is difficulty 8. The character can move up to three yards along a surface per success rolled. The effects of this evocation last for a single turn.
Torment: When a monstrous demon performs this evocation, the surfaces with which she interacts are warped by her passing, causing them to radiate waves of intense heat and leave patterns of the demon's hands and feet on the surface. Individuals coming into contact with these surfaces in the same turn as the demon touched them suffer one level of lethal damage.
Manipulate Inertia (3 Dots)
The demon can affect the inertia of anything she touches, stopping it dead or granting it irresistible force. She can snatch projectiles out of the air (providing she can see them), or throw an object farther than any human could imagine.
System: Roll Dexterity + Athletics. The demon can throw an object up to 30 yards per success rolled, regardless of her strength. Snatching a projectile out of the air requires rolling a number of successes equal to or greater than the projectile's damage dice. For example, a thrown knife inflicts Strength + 1 damage. If the person throwing the knife has a Strength 3, you must roll four or more successes for your character to catch the knife. Your demon has to be able to see the projectile to affect it. Rocks, knives, even arrows are possible candidates, but bullets aren't. If your demon throws a projectile at a target, each success achieved becomes an automatic level of damage. The effects of this evocation last a single turn.
Torment: Items affected by a monstrous demon become inherently unstable for a period of time, creating potential for disaster for the next person who tries to use them. For a period of time equal to the character's Torment, any item that was the focus of this evocation causes a botch on a rolled 1, 2 or 3 when used for any reason.
Manipulate Acceleration (4 Dots)
The demon can affect the acceleration of her own body, granting her supernatural speed and force.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Dexterity + Athletics. Each success allows your demon to walk up to 10 yards per success per turn, jog 20 yards per success or un 40 yards per success per turn. If used in combat, treat these successes as automatic levels of damage for hand-to-hand, melee or ranged attacks using thrown weapons. These damage levels can be split among multiple targets if desired. The effects of this evocation last for a single turn.
Torment: The acceleration of a monstrous demon so disturbs the air around her that she is surrounded by an aura of blistering heat that radiates out a number of yards equal to the character's Torment score. Living beings caught within the area of effect suffer one level of bashing damage.
Manipulate Cohesion (5 Dots)
The demon can manipulate the state of inanimate matter she touches. She can walk on water or air or break down solid objects into their component particles.
System: The demon must be able to physically touch the matter she wishes to affect. Spend on Faith point and roll Stamina + Science. The difficulty depends on the matter involved and the degree to which it is affected. Changing water to ice or steam is difficulty 6. Increasing the cohesion of water or air to the degree that it briefly supports the demon's weight is difficulty 7. Vaporizing wood, cloth or other low-density material is difficulty 8, while doing the same to high-density material such as metal or stone is difficulty 9. Each success allows the demon to affect one cubic foot of matter. The effects of this evocation last for a single turn , after which the materials affected return to normal or remain in their current state if it's natural for the material in question. Living beings targeted with this effect suffer a level of lethal damage for each success gained on the roll.
Torment: Matter affected by a monstrous demon remains inherently unstable for a number of turns equal to the character's Torment, changing states at random. The Storyteller is free to use her discretion when describing the chaotic effects that occur in the wake of the demon's manipulation.
Lore of Humanity
Translate (1 Dot)
The demon can understand (an be understood by) mortals, regardless of what language they speak.
System: Roll Manipulation + Empathy. The evocation affects a number of people equal to the successes rolled. The demon can understand the speech of each affected individual and be understood in turn, even if all of the individuals involved speak completely different languages. The effects of this evocation last for the duration of the scene. People who speak different languages do not understand each other when this power is used on them.
Torment: Monstrous demons must overcome the obstacle of their own Torment, or the words they hear are filtered through their own anger and obsessions. After the evocation is used successfully, a Willpower roll is made with a difficulty equal to your character's Torment. If successful, your character understands the words of those around her as they are intended. If the roll fails, your demon's understanding of what is said is skewed by her own hatred and despair. A greeting is misunderstood as a threat, or an honest answer sounds evasive or outright deceptive. The Storyteller is encouraged to make this Willpower roll on behalf of the character and keep the results secret, tailoring the information the player hears accordingly.
Insinuate (2 Dots)
This evocation causes mortals to instinctively regard the demon as a potential friend, allaying any initial feelings of distrust or suspicion and engaging their interest in her. Unless gifted with a demon's resistance to mind-control, thralls can be affected by this evocation as well.
System: Roll Manipulation + Empathy. The evocation affects a number of individuals equal to the successes rolled. Each person resists the evocation with a Willpower roll. If the Willpower roll fails, affected individuals trust the demon within reason and talk freely and openly with her, lowering the difficulty of any of the demon's subsequent Manipulation rolls by one. The effects of this evocation last for the duration of one scene.
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation have the opposite effect on the mortals they encounter. Affected individuals use the demon's Torment as the difficulty for their Willpower rolls. If a roll fails, the person is overcome with feelings of revulsion and anger, and treats the demon with intense apprehension and fear. The difficulties of all Intimidation rolls directed at these individuals decrease by two.
Fade (3 Dots)
Demons using this evocation literally fade into the background. Mortal eyes simply pass over them unless the demon choose to call attention to themselves. Demons (and thralls who have been gifted with the demon's resistance to illusion) are immune to the effects of this evocation.
System: Roll Presence + Manipulation. Mortals resist with a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If successful, the demon goes unnoticed by mortals unless she does something to call attention to herself such as make physical contact or speak to them directly. These effects persist for the remainder of the scene or until the demon wills them to cease.
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation fade from the sight of ordinary mortals, but stand out like beacons for those consumed by anger or a lust for violence.
Confess (4 Dots)
Mortals engaged in conversation with the demon respond to his questions with complete candor. Unless made aware of it later with direct questions about events, the mortal affected by this evocation does not remember the details of the conversation. Unless gifted with a demon's resistance to mind-control, thralls can be affected by this evocation as well.
System: Spend on Faith point and roll Manipulation + Subterfuge. The target resists with a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). If your roll is successful, the demon can ask the mortal any questions she wishes, and the mortal answers with complete honesty. The effects of this evocation last for a number of turns equal to your character's Faith score.
Torment: Monstrous demons are able to draw out a mortal's dark nature, learning her secret animosities, lusts and ambitions.
Alter Memory (5 Dots)
The demon is able to manipulate a mortal's memory, changing or removing any recollection of his dealings, or planting memories where none were before. Unless gifted with a demon's resistance to mind-control, thralls can affected by this evocation..
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Manipulation + Subterfuge. If your character attempts to alter or remove an existing memory, the difficulty is 7. Planting a completely false memory is difficulty 8. A resisted Willpower roll is made for the target (difficulty 7). You must achieve a number of excess successes determined by the Storyteller, depending on the intensity and breadth of the memory or memories that your character tries to manipulate. Editing or removing the memories of a brief encounter requires one success, while planting or altering a series of memories covering a period of days or weeks requires a two or more successes. Altered or fabricated memories are permanent
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation also cause bouts of sleeplessness, anxiety and despair that takes days or weeks to subside. Nightmares persist for a number of nights equal to the character's Torment score. Each night, make a Willpower roll for the victim with a difficulty equal to the demon's Torment. If the roll fails, the victim loses a temporary Willpower point. If the victim runs out of Willpower points, she gains a temporary derangement.
Lore of Death
Read Fate (1 Dot)
This evocation allows the demon to look into the eyes of a dead body and see the manner in which he or she died.
System: Roll Perception + Awareness. The number of successes achieved determines the amount of detail your character can determine about the mortal's fate. One success provides a picture of the moment of death. Each additional success goes further back in time, from minutes at two successes, hours at three and days at four. It also provides a broader context for the circumstances behind the person's passing.
Torment: Monstrous demons are able to discern a subject's fate only if that person died as a result of violence, whether accidental or intentional.
Decay (2 Dots)
One of the Reaper's primary powers, this evocation accelerates the process of decay, reducing living and non-living matter to its component particles.
System: Your Slayer must be able to touch his intended target to perform this evocation. Roll Stamina + Medicine. Each success inflicts on health level of aggravated damage (lethal damage to a mortal). If performed on a dead body, each success removes a point from the body's Stamina. When all the dots have been eliminated, the body is reduced to dust. The process works in a similar fashion on inanimate objects, but the difficulty varies depending on an object's composition. Decaying an article of wood or cloth, for example, is difficulty 7, while decaying a piece of plastic is difficulty 8. Decaying metal is difficulty 9, and stone is 10. Each success decays one cubic foot of material.
Torment: Monstrous demons affect people and objects in an area as opposed to single targets. Everything within a radius of yards equal to the character's Faith score is affected.
Vision of Mortality (3 Dots)
This evocation saw frequent use in the War of Wrath, permitting Slayers to fill the minds of their foes with visions of impending death. Even battle-hardened angels found their mettle sorely tested by these bone-chilling sights, throwing down their arms and fleeing before the Halaku's remorseless advance.
System: Roll Manipulation + Intuition. The target resists the evocation with a Willpower roll, using the Slayer's Faith as the difficulty. If you succeed, the target abandons her action and flees from your demon's presence. If the target's Willpower roll botches, he flees and suffers a temporary derangement. This evocation can target individuals up to a number of yards away equal to your character's Faith rating. A target who wins the resisted roll cannot be subjected to this evocation again for the remainder of the scene.
Torment: Monstrous demons affect every living being around them as opposed to a specific target. The demon affects targets within a number of yards equal to their Faith score, and resisted Willpower rolls are made for each potential victim.
Extinguish Life (4 Dots)
The Reaper's touch means death. By placing a hand on a living body and exerting her will, a demon can sever a victim's soul from his body, killing him instantly. This capability can be used on the fallen as well, but rather than cause instant death, the evocation produces an icy chill that saps the vitality from a demon's body.
System: The Slayer must be able to physically touch her intended target to perform this evocation. Spend one Faith point and roll Strength + Awareness. Compare your successes to the target's Stamina. If your successes exceed the target's Stamina, he is killed instantly. If your successes are less than the target's Stamina, each one inflicts a level of bashing damage as the Slayer's icy touch saps the strength from the mortal's body. If this evocation is employed against another demon and the successes exceed the target's Stamina, each success inflicts a level of aggravated damage. If the successes are less than the demon's Stamina, apply them as bashing damage.
Torment: Monstrous demons do not need to touch their victims to employ this evocation. Their icy hatred radiates from them in all directions, stilling the hearts of living beings. The high-Torment version of this evocation affects every living being within a number of yards equal to your character's Faith score.
Unlife (5 Dots)
This powerful evocation allows a living body to function without the presence of a soul or vital spirit, creating an unliving creature completely under the Slayer's control.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina + Medicine. A walking-dead creature has only one point in each of its Physical Attributes upon creation, though each extra success can be used to add additional points in Physical Attributes, at your discretion. These creatures do not suffer wound penalties in combat, using their full dice pools at all times. They must suffer no less than 10 health levels of damage before being destroyed. Undead minions are mindless automatons, acting solely according to your demon's will. Each time your character wants one of her minions to perform an action, make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). If your character controls more than one creature at a time, you must divide your Willpower pool among them per turn. A failed roll causes a zombie to continue the last action it was commanded to perform.
Alternatively, a Slayer can program a minion to perform a rote set of instruction; one action per point of Wits that your character has, all by spending a temporary Willpower point. Since these instructions are transmitted mentally, it's possible to create a detailed set of commands, including complicated travel routes and detailed physical descriptions. Once programmed, however, a minion cannot be given further commands. If the demon uses her Willpower to command the minion to perform an action outside the realm of its instructions, its programming is lost.
Slayers can raise and control a number of minions equal to their Faith at one time. The bodies must be within Faith in yards to be affected. The effects of the evocation last for the duration of the scene. If your character wishes, the effects can be made permanent by the expenditure of a temporary Willpower point per body. A permanent minion remains until destroyed, and it cannot be raised again thereafter.
Disembodied fallen may possess animated corpses with the Slayer's permission, or they can try to wrest control of programmed corpses from the demon with a resisted Willpower roll. Unless transformed by use of other lore, the demon's host remains a dead body with all due appearances, smell and physical limitations.
Torment: Monstrous demons cannot prevent their Torment from infusing creations with an unnatural craving for violence, raising flesh-eating monsters that must be held in check constantly or they attack any living thing they can reach including the Slayer herself. If not programmed with a rote set of instructions, these creatures go into a violent frenzy unless their creator makes a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 8) each turn. This Willpower roll is in addition to any to impose commandments from action to action.
Namtar, The Visage of Death
These angels manifest as shadowy figures wreathed in tendrils of ghostly mist that shift and writhe from moment to moment, occasionally reflecting the angels' thoughts in strange symbolic forms. A pall of silence surrounds these figures, and their feet never seem to touch the ground. Their skin is as pale as alabaster, and their faces are constantly hidden in deep shadow.
The Visage of Death confers the following abilities.
- Wings: A pair of raven's wings extends from the character's shoulders. At full extension, each wing is a third again as long as the character is tall. The character can glide up to three times her running speed per turn.
- Improved Initiative: Add two to character's initiative.
- Pass without Trace: The difficulties of the character's Stealth rolls decrease by two, and her passage does not disturb the surrounding environment in any way --- she leaves no footprints and disturbs no foliage.
- Casts No Reflection: The demon's image does not appear in a mirror, nor can it be captured in a photograph or by a video camera.
Torment: Monstrous Namtar exude the cold aura of death, indiscriminately draining the life of every living thing around them. Flowers wilt in their passing, children grow glassy-eyed, and the old feel mortality grip their heart.
The Visage of Death confers the following high-Torment abilities.
- Cloak of Shadows: The demon is shrouded in a pall of darkness, making her features difficult to see in the best of light, and rendering her near-invisible at night. The difficulties of all Stealth rolls are lowered by two whenever the demon stands in a pool of shadow or moves in darkness. If the character is attacked, the rules for Blind Fighting apply to the attacker.
- Deathgrip: The demon's spirit can cling to life past the point of human endurance. If the demon's host body suffers eight levels of lethal or aggravated damage, she can still hold onto life with a successful Willpower roll. If successful, the character falls into a coma until the following dawn, at which point she rises with one health level and one less temporary Faith.
- Aura of Entropy: Plants wilt in the demon's presence, and living beings are suffused with an icy chill that saps their strength. Mortals and other demons within a number of yards equal to the demon's Faith lose one die from their dice pools unless a successful Stamina roll (difficulty 6) is made. The effects of this capability persist for the duration of the scene.
- Damage Resistance: The demon is capable of shrugging off damage that would cripple a normal human. She may ignore any wound penalties for the duration of the scene. Penalties for injures incurred while in apocalyptic form apply again once human form is resumed.
Lore of the Spirit
Speak with the Dead (1 Dot)
This evocation allows the Slayer to communicate with spirits roaming the physical or spirit world. Spirits addressed in this way are compelled to respond, and they must answer the demon's questions to the best of their ability.
System: Roll manipulation + Awareness. The spirit can attempt to avoid the evocation's compulsion with a resisted Willpower roll (difficulty 9). If the evocation is successful, the spirt must answer the Slayer's questions truthfully. The Slayer can affect any spirit within reach of her voice, and the effects of the evocation persist for a number of turns equal to the character's Faith score.
Torment: Monstrous demons can perform this evocation as well, but the spirits they contact become warped by the demon's Torment and grow inimical to living beings for days afterward. Spirits affected by this evocation become restless and hostile to the living for a number of days equal to the demon's Torment score if a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) fails.
Summon the Dead (2 Dots)
Slayers can use this evocation to summon spirits to their presence, their influence reaching across entire city blocks. Spirits summoned in this fashion must come to the demon whether they wish to or not, and they remain until dismissed.
System: Roll Manipulation + Leadership. The Slayer can summon one spirit per success rolled, if any are present in the area. The evocation affects 10 square yards times the character's Faith score, and the spirits within the affected area are drawn to the Slayer's presence immediately. They remain until the effects of the evocation expire or the demon dismisses them. The effects of this evocation last for the duration of the scene. At the Storyteller's discretion, a particularly potent or willful spirit could try to break the demon's control with a resisted Willpower roll (difficulty equal to the demon's Faith score) made against your Manipulation + Leadership successes
Torment: Monstrous demons can summon spirits, but the effects of their Torment cause the beings to become inherently hostile to the living for a number of days equal to the character's Torment score if a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) is failed.
Command the Dead (3 Dots)
A Slayer may command a spirit of the dead to do her bidding, forcing the ghost to perform any actions that the demon desires if her will proves greater than its.
System: Roll Manipulation + Leadership. The Slayer may command any single spirit that can hear her voice. The spirit may attempt to counteract the effect with a resisted Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If the spirit's roll fails, it must obey the demon's commands to the best of its ability. The effects of this evocation last for a number of turns equal to the character's Faith score.
Torment: Monstrous demons can command spirits as well, but they warp any beings by the force of their Torment, causing ghosts to become maddened, violent entities that lash out at the living at the first opportunity. Once the evocation's effects expire, the Storyteller makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) for an affected spirit. The roll requires a number of successes equal to or greater than the number of turns that the ghost spent under the demon's control. If the roll fails, the spirit becomes malevolent and hostile toward the living for a number of days equal to the demon's Torment score. if the roll botches, the change is permanent.
Anchor the Soul (4 Dots)
This powerful evocation allows a Slayer to anchor a disinterred mortal soul (or a demon's spirit) to a physical object, creating a haunted artifact that traps the spirit in the physical world. In the darker days of the War of Wrath, Slayers used this evocation to bind the souls of mortals and angels to fuel powerful weapons and tolls crafted by the Annunaki.
System: Spend on Faith point and roll Stamina + Awareness. The difficulty is determined by the nature of the object being used as an anchor. Binding a soul to something that was close to the person in life (difficulty 6) is the most effective kind of anchor, while foreign objects prove more challenging depending on their composition. Crystal, gems or precious metals are useful (difficulty 7), while natural objects such as wood, glass or bone are less so (difficulty 8). Synthetic objects such as plastic or high-tech items such as computers are challenging to use (difficulty 9). Your character must be within a number of yards of the spirit to equal to his [your character's] Faith rating in order to affect it, and he must hold the intended anchor. The spirit can resist imprisonment with a resisted Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If you get more successes, the spirit is trapped within the anchor and cannot interact with the outside world unless the object has been properly attuned. Demons bound to an attuned item can still access their inherent powers (including their lore paths), provided they have Faith available. (Any existing pacts with mortal thralls remain in effect). This evocation persists for a number of days equal to your character's Faith score, or it can be made permanent by expending a temporary Willpower point. If an anchor is ever destroyed, the spirit is freed immediately. Freed mortal souls disappear forever or become ghosts haunting a locale, at the Storyteller's discretion. Freed demons must resit the pull of the Abyss and attempt to locate another host body or physical anchor.
Torment: Monstrous demons bind spirits with a shroud of suffocating darkness, imposing the slightest taste of the agony suffered in the Abyss. These trapped souls are so frenzied by their hardship that their despair leaks into the physical realm, surrounding their anchors with an aura of ill fortune. Individuals touching or carrying such a spirit anchor botch their actions on a roll of 1 or 2.
Restore the Dead (5 Dots)
This evocation allows a Slayer to anchor a spirit into any soulless physical body. This effort returns the ghost to the land of the living, at least for a short time.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina + Awareness. The Slayer must have the soul she wishes to restore in her immediate vicinity and be able to touch the body she wants it to possess. The body in question must have died only recently (i.e., within the last 48 hours). If successful, the soul is anchored to the body, healing any injuries the body may have had and returning the spirit to the land of the living. The new person has the same Physical Attributes that the body had in its former life, and the Mental and Social Attributes and Abilities of the new soul. The effects of this evocation last for a number of days equal to your character's Faith score, or it can be made permanent by expending one point of permanent Willpower.
Demon spirits without hosts can be placed into bodies through this evocation.
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation invariably taint the spirit with their own Torment, leaving the soul twisted by hate and pain. Once the soul has been restored, the Storyteller makes a Willpower roll for it with a difficulty equal to your character's Torment. If the roll is successful, the restored person suffers a temporary derangement. If the roll fails, the derangement is permanent. If the roll botches, the restored person becomes a frenzied monster, attacking the living until it is destroyed.
If a disembodied demon spirit is put into a body with the high-Torment version of this evocation, a Willpower roll is made for it, too. If the roll is successful, the possessing demon has a Torment score that's one point less than your character's. If the Willpower roll fails, the possessing demon's Torment score equals your character's. And, if the Willpower roll botches, the possessing demon's Torment score exceeds your character's by one point.
Nergal, The Visage of the Spirit
The angels of the spirit world appear as pale, serene figures reminiscent of the images of human saints, beautiful, silent and remote. Like others of their House, the Nergal move without noise or effort, seeming to glide along the ground as they move. Only thier eyes, colored in shifting patterns of gray and black, hint at the bleak world beyond the mortal realm.
The Visage of the Spirit confers the following abilities.
- Ghost Sight: The angel can see the spirits of the dead that linger in the mortal realm, whether the ghosts wish to reveal themselves or not, with a successful Perception roll (difficulty 6).
- Enhanced Social Traits: The angel's beatific appearance provides the following bonus traits: +2 Charisma, +1 Manipulation, +1 Appearance.
- Pass without Trace: The difficulties of the character's Stealth rolls decrease by two, and her passage does not disturb the surrounding environment in any way --- she leaves no footprints and disturbs no foliage.
- Wings: A pair of raven's wings extends from the character's shoulders. At full extension, each wing is a third gain as long as the character is tall. The character can glide up to three times her running speed per turn.
Torment: Monstrous Nergal are stained with the blood of the dead, their alabaster skin streaked with lines of crimson and black. Their eyes are orbs of clotted blood, and when they speak, their voices howl like the spirits of the damned.
The Visage of the Spirit confers the following high-Torment abilities.
- Cloak of Shadows: The demon is shrouded in a pall of darkness, making her features difficult to see in the best of light, and rendering her near-invisible at night. The difficulties of all Stealth rolls are lowered by two whenever the demon stands in a pool of shadow or moves in darkness. If the character is attacked, the rules for Blind Fighting apply to the attacker.
- Howl of the Damned: The difficulties of all Intimidation rolls decrease by two.
- Aura of Dread: The demon is surrounded by an aura of fear that saps the will of her foes. Targets within a number of yards equal to the character's Faith lose their normal initiative unless a successful Willpower roll is made against a difficulty equal to the demon's Torment. Affected individuals act last within a given turn. The Willpower roll is made every turn in which a person or another demon is in the Nergal's Apocalyptic presence. Normal initiative resumes for a victim as soon as a successful Willpower roll is made.
- Damage Resistance: The demon is capable of shrugging off damage that would cripple a normal human. She may ignore any wound penalties for the duration of the scene. Penalties for injures incurred while in apocalyptic form apply again once human form is resumed.
Lore of the Realms
Sense the Barrier (1 Dot)
The Slayer is able to sense the relative strength of the barrier between the physical and the spirit realms in an area as large as a city block, allowing the demon to home in on regions where the boundary is exceptionally thick or thin.
System: Roll Perception + Awareness. If your roll is successful, your Slayer can zero in on any regions of unusual strength or weakness in the barrier between the realms. As a rule of thumb, the barrier between realms tends to be strongest in areas where the unfluence of human faith is weakest. Therefore, a science lab that promotes cold intellect over intuition might have a strong barrier, while a graveyard or a church might have a weak barrier. Your demon can read an area that's 10 square yards multiplied by his Faith score.
Torment: Monstrous demons can sense only area where the barrier is weak, drawn by the call of the spirit storm raging just beyond.
Step Beyond the Veil (2 Dots)
This evocation allows the Slayer to physically cross the barrier into the shadow world, a lifeless mirror image of the mortal world. Doing so allows the demon to travel vast distances in the shadow realm at the speed of thought and return to the physical world at a corresponding location.
Crossing over also allows a demon to interact with the spirits of the dead that linger on the other side.
System: Roll Dexterity + Awareness. The difficulty is determined by the relative strength of the barrier in the area where your Slayer tries to cross. Doing so at a weak point (a church or graveyard) is difficulty 6. Crossing over in an old house or apartment building that has seen generations of occupants is difficulty 7. Crossing from a shopping mall is 8. Once in the shadow land, your character can fly across the bleak landscape with the speed of thought. Roll Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 8), allowing a demon to cover a mile each turn per success rolled. The roads and buildings in the shadow realm are just as real to your demon as are their physical-world counterparts. She must traverse any physical obstacles and find her way to her destination just as she would in the mortal world. Upon reaching her destination, the demon can return automatically to the corresponding place in the physical realm, appearing as if from nowhere. All other actions are performed as normal in the spirit realm, but the furious storm raging there increases difficulties to 8, at the least. Furthermore, your Slayer loses a point of temporary Willpower each time a roll botches. If the demon loses all her Willpower, she is torn from her mortal host. The body is returned to the physical realm and the disembodied soul must fight the pull of the Abyss while searching for another anchor.
Your character cannot take passengers with her to or from the spirit or living realms.
Encountering and communication with spirits in the dead lands is similar to meeting people in the living world. Spirits have their own identities and agendas and may be willing or unwilling to interact with visitors. Demons can use Lore of the Spirit to encourage such interaction.
Torment: Monstrous demons that cross into the spirit world create a "seam" in the barrier that draws restless spirits into the physical world, resulting in temporary but intense hauntings. This seam remains in the area for a number of days equal to the demon's Torment score.
Ghostwalk (3 Dots)
This evocation allows the demon to exist simultaneously in both the physical and spirit realms. She can interact with both mortals and spirits, and pass through objects in both places.
System: Roll Stamina + Awareness. The difficulty is determined by the relative strength of the barrier in the area where the Slayer performs the evocation. Doing so at a weak point (a church or graveyard) is difficulty 6. Crossing over in an old house or apartment building that has seen generations of occupants is difficulty 7. Crossing from a shopping mall is 8.
If your roll is successful, your demon becomes a hazy, insubstantial form, able to see and be seen by individuals on both sides of the barrier. She passes through objects without harm, and vice versa, though she can interact with one realm or the other in a given turn with a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If the roll succeeds, the Slayer can speak to individuals, handle objects, attack or be attacked in the realm to which she has attuned herself, just as if she were solid. The effects of this evocation last for a number of turns equal to the character's Faith rating. Your character cannot take any other beings with her to this "middle ground" between realms.
Torment: When monstrous demons perform this evocation, it causes the energies of the spirit storm to leak into the physical realm around her, causing wild and unpredictable spirit manifestations and hauntings.
Reach Across the Barrier (4 Dots)
The Slayer can peer into and reach across into the spirit realm the same way a mortal retrieves something from a cupboard, placing or retrieving items between the realms at will. During the War of Wrath, this evocation was used extensively to place powerful weapons or other items beyond the reach of the Slayers' enemies. Many still remain there to this day, waiting to be found.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Dexterity + Awareness. The difficulty is determined by the relative strength of the barrier in the area where the Slayer performs the evocation. Doing so at a weak point (a church or graveyard) is difficulty 6. Crossing over in an old house or apartment building that has seen generations of occupants is difficulty 7. Crossing from a shopping mall is 8.
If your roll is successful, your character can see into and "reach" across the barrier between realms --- her hand and arm literally vanishes from mortal eyes until she withdraws it again. She can place or remove any item that can be easily lifted with one or two hands. Mortals or demons cannot be forced across the barrier using this evocation. Items can be hidden away from the spirit world, however, placing them in the material world, out of reach from dead-land inhabitants. (But, of course, that might mean that real-world being could find the items.)
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation risk allowing traces of the spirit storm to leak through into the physical world, causing surreal and terrifying side effects. if the evocation succeeds, the Storyteller makes a Willpower roll with the difficulty equal to your Slayer's Torment. If the roll fails, the winds of the storm seep through, subjecting all mortals in the immediate area to Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If their roll fails, they flee in terror. If their rolls botch, they also suffer a temporary derangement.
Pierce the Barrier (5 Dots)
This evocation enables the Slayer to create a temporary doorway between the living and the dead realms, allowing other demons to cross into the shadow lands if the portal's creator wishes.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina + Awareness. The difficulty is determined by the relative strength of the barrier in the area where the Slayer performs the evocation. Doing so at a weak point (a church or graveyard) is difficulty 6. Crossing over in an old house or apartment building that has seen generations of occupants is difficulty 7. Crossing from a shopping mall is 8.
if your roll succeeds, your Slayer creates a portal that other demons may bodily pass through into the shadow realm, allowing them to interact with the spirits of the dead and to travel through the dead lands. As many other demons may enter as you get successes on your roll. Living mortals and thralls cannot pass. Non-Slayers who make the transition are at a considerable disadvantage compared to the Halaku, being more susceptible to the ravages of the maelstrom than those of the Seventh House. Furthermore, they cannot travel as quickly across the shadow realm as the Slayers can. They cover distances only as fast as they could in the physical realm. The dice pools for all actions taken by uninitiated demons are halved (rounded up), and these fallen lose one temporary Willpower point each day that they remain in the spirit realm. When theyr Willpower is exhausted, the demons become catatonic. Their bodies lose one point of Stamina each day thereafter. When a demon's Stamina is exhausted, her mortal body dies and her spirit is drawn back into the Abyss. The doorway created by this evocation lasts for only a single turn, and it is one-way. Spirits from beyond cannot normally use it to enter the living world.
Torment: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation cause the effects of the spirit storm to rage in the physical world in the immediate vicinity of the doorway, drawing spirits and causing horrifying manifestations to linger for a number of days equal to your character's Torment.
Ereshkigal, The Visage of the Realms
Angels of the Second World manifest as shadowy figures whose features are hidden in perpetual darkness. The air itself seems to wrap about them like a robe of night, conjuring the image of the cowled ferryman of human myth. Their hands are white and bony, like a skeleton's, and they move without effort or sound.
The Visage of the Realms confers the following abilities.
- Dead Reckoning: The character always knows where she is in relation to known landmarks, no matter how far away those landmarks may be. Unless affected spatially distorting evocations such as Warp path, she can never lose her sense of direction.
- Pass without Trace: The difficulties of the character's Stealth rolls decrease by two, and her passage does not disturb the surrounding environment in any way --- she leaves no footprints and disturbs no foliage.
- Increased Awareness: The fallen is especially attuned to the fabric of reality, lowering the difficulties of all Awareness rolls by two.
- Conjure from Nothing: The character is capable of supernatural sleight of hand, seeming to conjure items out of thin air only to make them vanish again with a flick of the wrist. She can draw an item from a pocket or conceal an item without detection on a successful Dexterity + Athletics roll (difficulty 6).
Torment: Angels of the Realms who surrender themselves to their Torment are walking portals to the land of the dead, exuding an aura of loss and despair that chills mortal hearts. Their voices are bleak and sepulchral, an their eyeless stare gives the boldest heart pause.
The Visage of the Realms confers the following high-Torment abilities.
- Cloak of Shadows: The demon is shrouded in a pall of darkness, making her features difficult to see in the best of light, and rendering her near-invisible at night. The difficulties of all Stealth rolls are lowered by two whenever the demon stands in a pool of shadow or moves in darkness. If the character is attacked, the rules for Blind Fighting apply to the attacker.
- Relentless: The demon can walk or run without need to rest, able to cover superhuman distances without pause. As long as she stays in motion, she is unaffected by fatigue or hunger.
- Voice of the Grave: The difficulties of all Intimidation rolls decrease by two.
- Dread Gaze: Individuals (mortal or demon) who meet the demon's gaze and who fail a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) must forfeit their actions for that turn.
Lore of Portals
Open/Close Portals (1 Dot)
This evocation gives a Fiend complete control of the portals she encounters. Doors and windows unlock, open or close at her command.
System: Roll Manipulation + Intuition. The number of successes required is determined by the complexity of the portal and its attendant locking mechanisms. A simple residence requires one success, while a prison cell door might require as many as three. If successful, the portal unlocks and opens or closes and locks at the character's touch.
Torment: Monstrous demons do not open or close portals so much as they smash them open or jam them shut. When a high-Torment demon affects a portal with this evocation, the number of successes rolled is also applied as Strength points to the portal in question, doing damage to materials as if performing a feat of Strength.
Create Ward (2 Dots)
This evocation allows the Fiend to seal off the portals in an area. making it inviolable to outside forces.
System: The character must be inside the area she wishes to seal with this evocation. Roll Charisma + Intuition. If successful, all the entrances to a given area become impassable. Even open doorways become clouded with wisps of fog, and what feels like a solid barrier of air prevents anything from passing through. Once sealed, the area cannot be entered, even through the use of another lore (such as Paths or Realms). To penetrate the ward, an intruder must exceed the number of successes you achieved, rolling against a difficulty equal to your character's Willpower. The area remains sealed for the remainder of the scene.
Torment: Monstrous demons are capable of creating of wards, but their energies do not restrict invaders so much as they inflict pain on those who attempt to enter a protected space. When an intruder crosses a warded portal, he suffers a number of bashing levels of damage equal to the successes you achieved on your roll. This damage may be soaked, but the difficulty of the Stamina roll is equal to your character's Torment.
Teleport (3 Dots)
This evocation allows a Fiend to use an existing portal to transport herself instantly to a similar portal at another location, potentially hundreds of miles away.
System: Roll Intelligence + Intuition. The number of successes required depends on your character's familiarity with her destruction. If it is somewhere with which she is intimately familiar, such as a doorway in her own home, only one success is required. If it is somewhere she has visited frequently, two successes are necessary. if the destination is somewhere that the Fiend has only recently visited for the first time, three successes are required. The demon must have visited her destination at least once before to be able to travel there with this evocation, and there must be a portal there identical to the type she enters. If she steps through a doorway, there must be a doorway at her destination. The Fiend can travel up to 100 miles for each point of Faith she has. Therefore, a Fiend with 10 Faith could travel up to a thousand miles away.
Torment: Monstrous demons performing this evocation are severely hampered by their lack of focus. If the evocation is successful, a Willpower roll must be made with a difficulty equal to the Fiend's Torment. if the roll fails, the Fiend is transported to a random (but familiar) location as determined by the Storyteller.
Co-Locate (4 Dots)
Akin to Teleport, this evocation allows a Fiend to use a doorway to tie two locations together for a short time, allowing others to pass through from one place to another.
System:
Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina + Intuition. The difficulty is determined by your character's familiarity with the location she wishes to reach. If she is intimately familiar with the location, the difficulty is 6. If it's a location she has visited numerous times, the difficulty is 7. If she's been there only once, it's 8. If she's never been there before and goes merely by the guidance of another, the difficulty is 9. The doorway remains open for one turn per success achieved. Like Teleport, the demon must use an existing portal (doorway, window, manhole) to cross between two locations. As many others can cross through (or back again) as may walk through the portal in the time that is available. The Fiend can travel up to 100 miles for each point of Faith she has.
Torment: Monstrous demons can create co-locations, but those passing through are momentarily exposed to the demon's Torment, and risk severe psychological trauma or madness as a result. A Willpower roll must be made for individuals passing through the portal, the difficulty of which equals the Fiend's Torment. If a roll fails a victim gains a temporary derangement.
Doorway into Darkness (5 Dots)
This powerful evocation allows a demon to create a doorway into the shadowy space between the physical and spirit realms --- a dark, lifeless reflection of the world. Demons can cross over into this bleak realm for a short time or hide items from prying eyes and then retrieve them later.
System:
Spend one faith point and roll Stamina + Awareness. The evocation requires a portal --- door or window --- to form the threshold between realms, and the opening remains for only one turn. Individuals who pass bodily through find themselves in a bleak, desolate mirror image of the physical world, one wracked by howling winds that wear away at living minds. Mortals who cross over into this realm lose one Willpower point for each turn that they are there. Once their Willpower is gone, they gain a temporary derangement and suffer one level of bashing damage per turn that may not be soaked. Demons can remain in this shadow realm for a number of turns equal to their Faith score without ill effects. After that point, they begin to suffer bashing damage as well. This evocation must be performed again to open a doorway that allows a Fiend or another to return to the physical realm. Such a "return" opening can be created on either side.
Torment: When a monstrous demon open a portal to the shadow lands, she risks losing focus and allowing some of the energies from beyond to slip into the physical realm. If the evocation succeeds, make a Willpower roll with the difficulty equal to the Fiend's Torment. If the roll fails, the winds of the cosmic storm seep through, causing all Mortals in the immediate area to make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If their rolls fail, they flee in terror. If a botch results, the victims suffer a temporary derangement.
Nedu, The Visage of Portals
The angels of the threshold are tall, ethereal figures, their long limbs and lean bodies wreathed in a veil of shifting shadow. Their movements are as fluid as they are soundless, and their feet leave no impression to mark their passing. When they pass into deep shadow, their eyes shine with a cold, blue light.
The Visage of Portals confers the following abilities.
- Pass without Trace: The difficulties of the character's Stealth rolls decrease by two, and her passage does not disturb the surrounding environment in any way. She leaves no footprints and disturbs no foliage.
- Enhanced Perception: The difficulties of all Perception rolls decrease by two.
- Increased Awareness: The fallen is especially attuned to the fabric of reality, lowering the difficulties of all Awareness rolls by two.
- Wings: A pair of swan's wings extends from the character's shoulders. At full extension, each wing is a third again long as the character is tall. The character can glide up to three times her running speed per turn.
Torment: Monstrous Nedu are like living shadows, ebon and ephemeral. Their voices are like keening of wind over jagged stones, and their touch is colder than ice.
The Visage of Portals confers the following high-Torment abilities.
- Cloak of Shadows: The demon is shrouded in a pall of darkness, making her features difficult to see in the best of light and rendering her near-invisible at night. The difficulties of all Stealth rolls decrease by two whenever the demon stands in a pool of shadow or moves in darkness. If the character is attacked, the rules for Blind Fighting apply to the attacker.
- Improved Initiative: Add two to the character's Initiative
- Enhanced Dodge: The difficulties of all Dodge rolls decrease by two.
- Casts No Reflection: The demon's image does not appear in a mirror, nor can it be captured in a photograph or by a video camera.
