-Simply put, a Strangecraft is a mystical discipline practiced by a rare few. The powers, spells, hexes and abilities that practitioners of a Strangecraft can learn are called Secrets. Again, we lump everything together here, because I’m only one goddamn person and I need a break every once in a while.
-If you practice a Strangecraft, you are either an Acolyte (you took the Mysterious Blood Edge once), or an Adept (You took the Mysterious Blood Edge twice). Acolytes have access to more powerful/efficient versions of the Secrets under their Strangecraft, but also suffer from the Weakness of their Strangecraft! Adepts wield less raw power, but are also not bound by the Weakness of their art. How much is that extra power worth to ya, hmmm?
-In case it needs to be said, you can only be a practitioner of one Strangecraft. These arts are special and difficult, and require focus and determination to even master the basics of.
-Secrets cost Energy to enact. You actually sacrifice bits of your own Life Force to fuel these strange abilities, so be careful that you don’t end up exhausting your supply frivolously!
-Some Secrets are always active, and cause you to Invest a permanent portion of your Energy into maintaining their effects. For example, if you have a Maximum Energy pool of 40, and you know a Secret that requires you to Invest 2 Energy to maintain it, then your Maximum Energy pool would be considered 38.
-Strangecrafts often have Stat and Boon requirements that must be met in order to practice them, so be on the lookout!
While your game might have its own unique Strangecrafts tailor-made to its Game World, below are a few common examples of what Strangecrafts and their Secrets might entail. Wizardry, Necromancy, Mentalism, Druidism, Celestial Magic and Infernalism are some of the more famous Strangecrafts that you might run into in your games, so let’s take a look at them.
WIZARDRY
The Arcane secrets of Wizardry are learned in crumbling towers and only available to those with sharp minds and clever wit. A Strangecraft devoted to precision of formulae, heavily ritualism and mathematics, those who embark on this legendary path are often inclined towards more Academic pursuits. Wizards often learn their trade from Mentors or even Magical Creatures. Some Wizards were born on magical Ley Lines that infused them with the ability to instinctively wield Magic.
Requirements: Smarts 3+, Bookworm Boon, Mysterious Blood (Wizardry) Edge
Weakness (Spellbook): Adepts of Wizardry are obsessive about their Spellbook, a prized tome filled with their most enlightened Arcane learning. In order to perform any of their Secrets, an Adept Wizard must have their Spellbook somewhere on their person. If ever destroyed or lost, an Adept Wizard must spend 20 Experience Points to write a new one. During that time, they cannot make use of any of their Secrets.
Arcane Bolt
By gesturing towards a target and uttering an Arcane phrase, you summon forth a crackling, star-like projectile of mystical energy that assails your foes. This attack is a Smarts Roll. If your attack rolls 3+ Successes, then the Arcane Bolt explodes and deals its damage to all enemies within ten feet of the target.
-Acolyte: Your Arcane Bolts deal Code Yellow damage and cost 2 Energy.
-Adept: Your Arcane Bolts deal Code Orange damage and cost 1 Energy.
Summon Familiar
Learning this Secret grants you a small Magical Familiar that can perform basic tasks and aids you in your adventurers.
-Wizards often employ Cats, Owls, Rats, or small Homunculus versions of themselves as Familiars.
-Familiars can speak any language that their Master can.
-Familiars cannot fight or aid in combat.
-By spending a point of Spark, you can see through your Familiar’s eyes for up to your Smarts score in minutes.
-You can summon your Familiar to your location by spending a point of Spark.
-You know the general location of your Familiar within a number of miles equal to your Smarts score.
If a Familiar is ever killed, this Secret is lost and must be repurchased with Experience Points.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, invest 4 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, invest 2 Energy. Furthermore, add 1 to the damage value of all your Secrets while your Familiar is within five feet of you.
Mystic Shield
You surround yourself or someone you physically touch with a visible force field of roiling mystical energy that lessens the impact of attacks! When cast, this Secret grants the beneficiary an Armor rating of 5. Each time the target is hit in combat, this Armor Rating lowers by 1. The Secret ends once the beneficiary is reduced to Armor Rating 0.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 4 Energy. You may only use this Secret on yourself.
-Adept: This Secret costs 2 Energy. You may use this Secret on others.
Transformation
You assume the form of an animal associated closely with your Strangecraft. While transformed, you can speak as per usual, and retain your own voice. You can only Transform while alone, and only after concentrating and chanting for 5 minutes without interruption. If you take any damage while in your new form, the spell immediately ends.
-Acolyte: You can turn into a Black Cat by spending 5 Energy. This lasts for up to one hour.
-Adept: you can turn into a Black Cat or an Owl by spending 3 Energy. This lasts for up to one hour per point of Smarts you have.
Wizard Walk
You gain the ability to walk up vertical surfaces and even ceilings without effort. However, if you take any damage while strutting your Arcane stuff, this effect immediately ends.
-Acolyte: This ability costs 5 Energy per minute of use.
-Adept: This ability costs 3 Energy per minute of use. You can also use this Secret to walk on water or over any other liquid substance without falling into it. This includes pools of acid or even lava.
Call of the Wisp
You may call forth a ghostly orb that acts as a hands-free source of light that is under your mental control. The Wisp floats around you as you see fit, and you may move it with but a sliver of concentration or effort. You may shape the Wisp as you please, and even use it to put on entertaining little shows of your magical prowess. Your Wisp sheds light like a torch, and also illuminates any secret or hidden doors in your vicinity.
-Acolyte: Spending 3 Energy summons a Wisp for one hour.
-Adept: Spending 1 Energy summons a Wisp for one hour. While your Wisp is summoned, all your other Secrets cost 1 less Energy (minimum of 1 Energy).
Conjuring
By concentrating fully on an object, you materialize it out of sheer nothingness in a fabulous display of Arcane might. After a complex hand gesture and brief incantation, you summon forth a common item that can be carried in one hand and weighs no more than 5 pounds or costs no more than 20 units of wealth. After a certain time passes, conjured items crumple to useless dust. It is worth noting that Conjured items are not specific. You can use this to summon forth a dagger, for example, but not an opponent’s dagger or a specific one. The Director has final say on what type of objects can or cannot be Conjured via use of this Secret. You can only have one Conjured item in existence at a time. If you Conjure forth a new item, the last one you Conjured crumples to dust.
-Acolyte: This takes a Full Action and costs 5 Energy. Conjured items disintegrate after one hour.
-Adept: This takes a Half-Action and costs 3 Energy. Conjured items disintegrate after 24 hours.
Invisibility
You render yourself or something you touch invisible. Invisible people still leave footprints and make sounds, mind you, but are unable to be detected visually by normal means.
-Acolyte: Costs 5 Energy per one minute of use. May only target yourself.
-Adept: Costs 3 Energy per one minute of use per level of Smarts you have. May target other people or objects.
Teleportation Circle
You create a magical glyph of Teleportation on the ground in a safe location that you can return back to at any point. Creating a Teleportation Glyph is time consuming, requiring 6 minus your Smarts score in hours and 500 Units of wealth worth of materials to create. Once the glyph is created, you can spend Energy to immediately teleport back to the Glyph. After use, the Glyph is destroyed and must be created all over again. You can teleport to your Glyph as long as you are within your Smarts score in miles away from your Teleportation Glyph.
-Acolyte: Teleporting to your Glyph costs 10 Energy and a point of Spark. Only you can teleport.
-Adept: Teleporting to your Glyph costs 5 Energy and a point of Spark. You can teleport up to your Smarts score in willing allies.
Master of Illusion
You fabricate an illusion out of thin air that dissipates whenever someone physically interacts with it. Illusions that make sense to their surroundings are automatically believed unless the viewer has reason to suspect illusionary activity. If someone is closely examining an illusion, that warrants a Smarts roll to see through the Illusion. Mirages created with this Secret are believable, almost to a point of being too perfect upon close examination. Anyone who physically interacts with an Illusion you create automatically dispels it.
Illusions you create can take up no more than 10x10 feet. You may only maintain one Illusion at a time, and you need to mentally concentrate to maintain an Illusion. You must remain at least 10 feet per point of Smarts you have away from any Illusions you create to maintain them. You can use this Secret to create an Illusionary Disguise for yourself or one person. This only changes physical appearance, and not the voice of the person.
-Acolyte: It costs 5 Energy to maintain an Illusion for one minute. Your Illusions cannot move.
-Adept: It costs 3 Energy to maintain an illusion for one minute. Your Illusions can move.
NECROMANCY
Spooky folks unite! The grim arts of the Necromancer are not at all for the weak at heart (or stomach), and allow for all sorts of unsavory displays that mortify and bewilder. Often secretive, grim and sullen, Necromancers potently ply the arts of negative energy and uncover secrets better left buried, often borrowing abilities and tropes from the Undead denizens that they so dearly admire. The trade of the Necromancer is not one chosen easily, and often times, those who embark on this callous profession were tainted by death from an early age, hailing from plague-ravaged villages, or even a cursed bloodline. Some Necromancers claim to have learned their trade straight from the dry, cracked lips of Undead beings themselves, in exchange for grim services. While Wizardry depends heavily on the brainpower of its practitioners, Necromancy is a grotesque study that also benefits from a strong stomach and the will to get one’s hands dirty (or bloody).
Requirements: Body or Smarts 3+, Poison Proof Boon, Mysterious Blood (Necromancy) Edge
Weakness (Enervated): Those who obsess over death are forever marred by its touch, and Adepts at Necromancy all have pale, sickly pallor and sunken, dark-lined features. An Adept Necromancer’s hair turns shiny black, no matter the color it was before, and their eyes become white and ghoulish. Lastly, Necromancers sacrifice a vital bit of their own life essence to study their grim arts, and any Adept Necromancers are driven barren and infertile by cavorting so heavily with deathly energy. They can still perform the deed, mind you, but no offspring will ever result from such...cold unions.
Wriggling Tongues
This charming ability allows the Necromancer to verbally communicate with insects and vermin like maggots and worms through a series of unpleasant chitters and sounds. The Vermin in question are not particularly obligated to obey you, of course, but they may be persuaded to lend what information they can for the right price or task. Clever use of this Secret can prove quite beneficial, as flies, spiders and other innocuous vermin often act as wonderful spies and sources of juicy gossip.
Those who learn this Secret are often times magnets for creepy-crawlies and other unsavory vermin, so don’t learn this Secret unless you mind some extra...company. You can spend a point of Spark to negate this unsavory aspect of this Secret for your Presence score in hours, allowing you to be...kinda socially acceptable.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 4 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 2 Energy. Vermin you communicate with are far more likely to heed your wishes than a mere Acolyte.
Black Blood
You spit forth streams of gruesome, black and acidic blood at your foes, making Gene Simmons look like a real amateur! Roll this as an Agility attack. If you roll 3+ Successes on an attack roll using this Secret, the target must immediately roll a Vigor test (Knack if they have the Poison Proof Boon). If they fail, they spend their next Full Action soulfully, loudly puking their guts out.
-Acolyte: Your Black Blood deals Code Yellow damage and cost 2 Energy.
-Adept: Your Black Blood deals Code Orange damage and cost 1 Energy.
Sacrifice
After a guttural incantation, you summon forth a sleek, black ceremonial dagger into your pale hand, which you then plunge into your gut, sharing a bit of your pain with a friend! When this Secret is enacted, you take 1d6 points of Energy damage, but deal 3d6 damage (add these dice together) to any target that you can see. This damage ignores any Armor.
The good part is, that ceremonial dagger you summoned? You get to keep it for a while! Said dagger acts as a Code Yellow weapon that remains yours to use for one hour after this Secret is used.
-Acolyte: You may use this Secret once per day.
-Adept: You may use this Secret three times per day. Each time you use this Secret, it increases the Damage Code of the Ceremonial Dagger by one step. Therefore, using this Secret once summons a Code Yellow dagger. Using it a second time summons a Code Orange dagger, and using it a third time summons a Code Red dagger! You are considered proficient in the use of this weapon, because it would be silly if you weren’t.
Fear
You project your inner ugliness outwards, and appear to your foes as a wretched, indescribably hideous being. Your physical appearance does not change, but your enemies see you as a worm-drooling, sunken-featured abomination that strikes terror into their hearts. For the duration of this spell, anyone who wishes to attack you must succeed at a Smarts roll before doing so. Failure means that they must release their aggressions elsewhere and choose another target to attack. If there is no other target to attack, they must spend their turn fleeing from your presence however they are able. Anyone who possesses the Iron Will Boon is immune to this Secret and may attack you normally. This Secret has no use against opponents who do not feel fear, like robots or mechanical adversaries.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 4 Energy to activate and lasts for 3 rounds.
-Adept: This Secret costs 2 Energy to activate and lasts for 5 rounds. While you are projecting this aura of Fear, all 6’s rolled against you count as one success instead of two.
Master of the Dead
Within your black heart, you have managed to unearth some of the most potent knowledge against the Undead that any living being has ever been privy to. Because of this, you enjoy numerous benefits when facing Undead opponents:
-You deal 1d6 extra damage to any Undead enemy whenever you attack them with a weapon or spell.
-Lesser Undead (Extras) actively avoid you and will not engage you in combat unless there is absolutely no other recourse or you attack them first. The dredges of the Underworld see you as above them on the rotten-meat food chain.
-You may physically strike and interact with ghostly Undead enemies.
-You gain Knack on all rolls made to resist abilities that target you from an Undead source.
-Vampires find your blood particularly distasteful and noxious.
It is worth noting that Necromancers who specialize in this Secret are none too popular with the denizens of the Underworld, and are actively despised by the majority of Undead for their antagonistic presence. Unearthing this Secret makes you a very powerful threat to these ghoulish creatures, and you’d better believe that they rally against you whenever possible.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. Also, whenever you defeat a worthy Undead opponent (as judged by your Director) you may gain 1 Bonus Experience Point.
Plague Bearer
You spend a Full Action and cough and hack forth a grotesque cloud of hazy green smog that unleashes a virulent sickness to your foes. The cloud of plague you radiate encompasses a 25-foot radius, causing all within its effect to roll a Vigor test (Knack for having the Poison Proof Boon). Failure means that those afflicted suffer the following putrid ailments:
-The victim can only take one Half-Action each turn, spending its other Half-Action hacking and coughing up rather unpleasant things like lung tissue and other biological niceties.
-The victim takes 1d6 Energy damage at the start of their turn as they become covered in painful boils that burst and pop, spraying colorful puss in all directions.
-The victim cannot heal or regain Energy by any means as long as they are afflicted by your plague.
-Every time an Afflicted target of Star rank spends Spark, they suffer d6 damage per point spent.
After the duration of this Secret ends, any symptoms suffered by any afflicted person fade, but it is not uncommon for victims to have vivid nightmares of the Necromancer who plagued them for weeks after exposure.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 4 Energy and symptoms last for 3 turns.
-Adept: This Secret costs 2 Energy and symptoms last for 5 turns. The radius of your Plague cloud is a 50-foot radius around you instead of a 25-foot radius.
Death Mask
You assume the gruesome countenance of a walking corpse, gaining a series of unseemly abilities as you borrow the guise of a Zombie for some time. While under the effects of this Secret, your skin turns sickly grey and your eyes glow a sinister red.
-You are not required to breathe.
-Your speed is reduced to 15 feet and you move in a painfully awkward shuffle.
-Your resilience to damage increases and you gain an Armor rating of 3.
-You gain a powerful bite attack that can be used by rolling a Vigor test. This deals Code Red damage.
-You gain an unwholesome appetite for raw meat.
-Other Undead consider you one of their own.
While under the effects of this Secret, you retain the ability to talk, albeit in a simplistic, straight forward fashion, rarely chaining together sentences beyond a few scant words. You are physically recognizable to your allies, but only as a Zombie version of the person they once knew.
-Acolyte: It costs 5 Energy to assume this form and requires a Full Action to completely assume. You may maintain this form for up to one hour.
-Adept: It costs 3 Energy to assume this form and requires a Half-Action to completely assume. You may maintain this form for up to your Vigor score in hours. Your Armor rating in this form improves from 3 to 5.
Ghost Soul
You borrow the aspect of the Phantom, becoming incorporeal for a handful of seconds. This allows you to walk through solid objects and pass-through walls. While incorporeal, you appear as a ghostly, translucent being. Each use of this ability only allows for a moment or so of incorporeality, enough to pass through a thick wall or other physical obstacle.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 5 Energy per use.
-Adept: This Secret costs 3 Energy per use. Once per day, you can spend 3 Energy and a point of Spark to have any one physical attack made against you harmlessly pass through your Incorporeal form.
Wail of the Banshee
This hair-raising ability allows you to borrow the legendary ability of the Banshee to screech in a most unpleasant fashion, popping the eardrums and ruining the listening experience of your captive audience. When used, all foes within earshot of you must roll a Vigor test (with Knack if they have the Iron Will Boon). Targets who have the Perceptive Boon must roll at least two Successes on this roll in order to succeed. Failure indicates that the target takes 5d6 damage and are rendered deaf for 6 minus their Vigor score hours, hearing nothing but a high-pitched ringing in their battered ears. Use of this ability shatters any and all glass or crystal within a 50-yard radius around the caster, as well.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 5 Energy per use.
-Adept: This Secret costs 3 Energy per use. Re-roll all 1’s you roll for damage.
Medium
Spirits have an affinity for you, and seem to have you on speed-dial. You routinely are visited by ghosts and spirits, tasked with aiding them connect with and contact their living survivors. You can perform seances and connect with specific deceased souls, who always seem to require some kind of service from you in return for their otherworldly wisdom. You can also see ghosts and other incorporeal spirits plainly. Those who have unearthed this Secret can also set foot into the Underworld itself and wander the great Hades-Maze for themselves by spending a point of Spark to open up a portal to the Underworld once per day. This may only occur at Midnight.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy. You can visit the Underworld, but cannot take passengers with you.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. When you visit the Underworld, you can take up to your Presence score in allies with you.
DRUIDISM
Guardians of nature and all of its primordial power, Druids are tasked with defending the wild places of the world against the bold encroachment of civilization. Druids are intricately tied to the circle of life and the natural order of things, and that isn’t always pretty and peaceful. Some are surprised at the savage abilities a Druid can unleash, always prepared to remind the forgetful just how savage the primal forces of the world can be. Druids are often taught their natural magic from other elder Druids, or by great Treants or other ancient forces. Many claim that Druids are reincarnated time and time again, with the power of the Druid being something that is handed down to another being once an established Druid dies.
Requirements: Body or Presence 3+, Survivalist Boon, Mysterious Blood (Druidism) Edge
Weakness (Sylvan Oath): Those who wish to draw upon the most potent of Mother Nature’s powers must swear the ancient Sylvan Oath, which forever binds the Druid to answer any calls from natural creatures or beings to aid in the defense of their land. This very sacred Oath compels a Druid to answer any who plead for their aid as long as the cause is earnest and the threat dire enough to warrant intervention. No being would dare to fabricate a lie in order to compel a Druid to service, however, as the retribution for such an act would indeed be inspired. The Sylvan Oath also compels a Druid to endure civilized places only for as long as is absolutely necessary, and make use of naturalistic modes of living whenever possible. For this reason, it is common to see Druids eschewing all forms of modern living and technology, making do only with what the Earth provides them.
Neptune’s Child
You are kin to the beings of the deep, and gain a bevy of abilities involving the ocean:
-You may communicate effortlessly with aquatic animals and entreat them for aid or information. They are not obligated to assist you, but most will at least listen and have an affinity for you where they do not openly see you as a threat.
-You may breathe naturally underwater through a set of slit-like gills that form on the sides of your neck when you are submerged in water. This allows you to function underwater indefinitely if you choose.
-You gain Knack on all rolls relating to swimming if you didn’t have it already. Your Swim Speed is equal to your walking Speed.
Note that if you choose this Secret, you cannot learn the Predator’s Heart Secret.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. Also, you gain the Sonar ability, allowing you to get a much better awareness of your surroundings than normal when underwater. You can never become surprised while under water.
Predator’s Heart
You have a tie to the wild that is unable to be denied, and you gain a series of abilities because of it:
-You may communicate effortlessly with natural, warm-blooded animals and beasts (not monsters, reptiles, or aquatic denizens) through a series of growls, chirps, or other primitive sounds. They are not obligated to assist you, but most will at least listen and have an affinity for you where they do not openly see you as a threat.
-You gain Thermal Vision, allowing you to see heat patterns and detect the general health of any living creature you can see.
-Your sense of smell intensifies dramatically, allowing you to track others by scent. You gain Knack on all rolls involving vision or scent if you don’t already have it.
-You may spend a point of Spark to grow a set of rending claws that deal either Code Yellow (Acolyte) or Code Orange (Adept) damage. Your claws ignore 1 point of Armor Rating and last for either 3 (Acolyte) or 5 (Adept) rounds. These claws grant you Knack on all rolls to climb as well.
You must have the Primal Spirit to learn this Secret. If you learn this Secret, you cannot learn the Neptune’s Child Secret.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy.
Bountiful Harvest
By touching the ground and infusing it with a sliver of your naturalistic essence, a bountiful vine sprouts from the soil, stocked full with ripe, delicious fruit that has the following magical qualities:
-Ingesting one of these yummy fruits as a Half-Action immediately allows the imbiber to make a healing Vigor roll, regaining 5 + 5 Energy per Success rolled.
-Upon consumption, the imbiber is healed of any and all Fatigue Levels, as well as any non-magical poisons that they are suffering from.
-Each fruit is worth 3 points of Rations if you are using the Optional Rules for Survival presented in Chapter Six.
The number of Bountiful Fruits each use of this Secret grows depends on your Strangecraft level, as well as the Energy cost of using it. This ability can be used once per day.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 5 Energy and produces 3 Bountiful Fruits.
-Adept: This Secret costs 3 Energy and produces 5 Bountiful Fruits. Furthermore, consuming 3 of your Bountiful Fruits now instantly heals one Wound.
Thorn Armor
You summon forth a suit of spike-covered bramble-vines to protectively wrap around your body, punishing those foolish enough to attempt to engage you in close combat. Each time you suffer damage in close combat, you deal 1 damage to the attacker per success they rolled against you. Therefore, someone who attacks you with a close combat attack and scores 3 Successes on their attack roll would immediately suffer 3 damage.
-Acolyte: It costs you 4 Energy to activate this Secret. It lasts for 3 turns. Your thorns negate 1 point of Armor. This Secret grants you an Armor Rating of 3.
-Adept: It costs you 2 Energy to activate this Secret. It lasts for 5 turns. Your thorns negate all Armor. This Secret grants you an Armor Rating of 5.
Embrace of Earth
The use of this power causes the earth beneath you to open up and embrace you like a long-lost lover as you effortlessly sink into it. Many Druids use this Secret each evening when they retire to sleep, communing with the sacred Earth and making it their bed. While submerged in Earth, you gain immunity to all forms of physical attack, but retain general perceptions about what is going on above you. Clever Druids use this Secret to evade detection from interlopers. In case it needs to be said, you can only perform this Secret on natural soil.
-Acolyte: Use of this Secret costs 5 Energy. You cannot move while submerged.
-Adept: Use of this Secret costs 3 Energy. You can move at your speed while submerged, using this Secret to burrow.
Soul of the Ancients
Your ties to the natural world are indeed strong, and you have been blessed with everlasting abundance. Like the mighty and ancient trees of the forest, you will live throughout the years and acquire wisdom others only dream of. This Secret greatly extends your natural lifespan and the rate at which you age. Druids who invest in this Secret have often times existed for centuries.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is taken, Invest 5 Energy. For every ten years that pass, you age 1 year.
-Adept: When this Secret is taken, Invest 3 Energy. For every hundred years that pass, you age 1 year.
Anger of the Land
You spend a Full-Action to dramatically pound your foot or fist into natural ground and cause the area within in a 25-foot radius around you to rumble and split open, putting your enemies off balance (your allies are unaffected). Any caught in the radius of the quake must immediately succeed at an Agility test (Knack for the Acrobatic Boon). Those that fail are immediately knocked Prone and take 1d6 damage. The Earthquake persists after it is summoned, and any enemy who starts their turn in its radius must test again for its duration.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 4 Energy. Your Earthquake lasts for 3 turns.
-Adept: This Secret costs 2 Energy. Your Earthquake lasts for 5 turns and deals 2d6 damage instead of 1d6. Furthermore, you can spend a point of Spark to cause your Earthquake to destroy any structure that is no larger than a one-story house. This Secret is now a Half-Action for you to perform instead of a Full Action.
Cragborn
Calling upon the spirit of the Mountain, you turn your organic flesh to solid, impervious Stone. When this ability is used, you freeze in place and all your life functions are suspended. You become immune to the vast majority of forms of damage, but regain consciousness. You may communicate telepathically with any allies within 50 feet of your new form. You do not age, nor do you require food or water. In essence, you may maintain this form indefinitely, but you cannot move or otherwise take action until you end this ability. Many Druids take this Secret and use it to hibernate for decades (or even centuries). This Secret can also be used to save a Druid from certain death, allowing them to reanimate once a pressing danger is gone. While in your Stone Form, you regain Energy at a rate of 1 per hour, and you even heal Wounds at a rate of one Wound per Month. Once you enter your Stone Form, you must maintain it for at least 6 minus your Body or Presence (whichever is higher) Score in weeks before returning to your normal organic form.
-Acolyte: Assuming or ending your stone form costs 10 Energy and a point of Spark. You may perform this Secret once Season.
-Adept: Assuming or ending your stone form costs 5 Energy and a point of Spark. You may perform this Secret once per Month.
Celebration of the Lizard
You gain some of the regenerative powers of the Reptile with this useful ability:
-At the start of each of your turns, you Regenerate 1 Energy.
-You may regrow lost limbs by spending Experience Points. Regrowing a finger or toe costs 2 Experience Points each. Regrowing a Hand or foot costs 4 Experience Points. Regrowing an arm or leg costs 6 Experience Points. Regrowing your entire Head costs 147 Experience Points. I was only kidding about that last part. You can’t regrow lost heads, because you are dead. After the Experience Points are spent, the lost limb regrows itself fully in 6 minus your Vigor score hours.
-You may communicate with Reptiles effortlessly when this Secret is learned.
Your level in Druidism determines the potency of your regenerative abilities, as well as reducing the Experience Point cost associated with regrowing lost limbs.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. All Experience point costs for regrowing lost limbs are halved, and all your regenerations occur in one hour. You also regenerate 1 Wound every week naturally.
Leader of the Pack
This legendary ability grants you the form of a Dire Wolf or that of a fearsome hybrid of Wolf and Man known as a Lycan. Changing into either form takes a number of turns equal to 6 minus your Vigor score. It is a painful procedure, as your bones crack and reform to their new, horrifying shape. During your transformation, you are far too busy screaming, howling, and writhing in anguish to defend yourself, and are helpless and vulnerable to attack, so choose your transformations wisely!
When assuming a Dire Wolf form...
-You gain Knack on all vision, hearing and scent-related rolls if you didn’t have it already. You can see far better in darkness than most.
-You gain a 3d6 Bite attack (Half Action) that you make with Knack. This deals Code Orange Damage. If your target is wounded, then re-roll all 1’s whenever you use this attack.
-You gain the Fleet-Footed ability. All attacks made against you in your Dire Wolf form have their first Success Negated.
-Your Speed increases by 10 Feet.
When assuming a Lycan form...
-You can take a Full Action to take two Claw Swipe attacks. This is a 5d6 attack with Knack that deals Code Red damage. This attack ignores Armor.
-You can take a Half-Action to take a Bite attack, which is a 4d6 attack that deals Code Red + 1 (8) damage. This attack ignores Armor.
-You gain an Armor Rating of 5.
-Due to the wild, volatile nature of this Form, you must roll a d6 at the start of every turn of combat. On a result of 1 (or on a result of 1-3 if the moon is full), your feral bloodlust gets the better of you, and you lose all reason and self-control, lashing out at a random friend or foe. All participants in battle roll 2d6 (3d6 if they have the Challenge! Boon or 1d6 if they have the Serene Soul Boon). Whoever rolls higher is the target of your attack, whether they are an enemy or ally.
When in any Beast Form, you can only take Move or Attack Actions. You can communicate with allies, but only in short, brief and guttural sounding sentences. You can only use this Secret if you have more than half your Maximum Energy score remaining. If you ever drop below half your Maximum Energy score when in Beast Form, you assume your normal form immediately.
-Acolyte: You may change into a Dire Wolf by spending 5 Energy. It costs 5 Energy to change back to your normal form. You may retain your Dire Wolf form for one hour.
-Adept: You may change into a Dire Wolf or a Lycan by spending 3 Energy. It costs 3 Energy to change back to your normal form. You may retain your Dire Wolf or Lycan form for your Body or Presence score in hours.
MENTALISM
Most beings use a small fraction of their inherent mind-power, but the Mentalist has managed to tap into hidden avenues of pure psychic might that astound and amaze. Many Mentalists are quirky and tilted due to the new revelations and hidden laws of Reality that they have penetrated with their enhanced, bulging brains, and it always makes encountering one a memorable experience. Mentalists are never taught their abilities, but inherently born with them, always being odd-balls or strange ducklings from a very young age. Many were thought as incurably insane for their warped stance on the world and forces around them, but what else would small-minded peons think when confronted with such obvious, overwhelming genius?
Requirements: Smarts 3+, Perceptive Boon, Mysterious Blood (Mentalism) Edge
Weakness (Sensory Overload): It takes far less light to blind someone with a wide-open third eye, and Adept Mentalists often find loud, unexpected noises, bright lights and other sensory stimuli to be irritating at best and painful at worst. Once per adventure, the Director can decide that a Mentalist is overwhelmed by a certain strong sensation, like encountering something (or someone) particularly beautiful, or entering an area that has strong psychic resonance (like a violent crime scene). Once victim to such a scene, an Overwhelmed Mentalist must immediately make a Vigor test without Knack. Failure means that the Mentalist stares in awe, or clutches their head in blank, dumbfounded shock as they are racked with sensory input for d6 turns. The Director should use this sparingly, of course, and only when dramatically appropriate.
Third Eye
Your perceptions stretch out far beyond normal, and you gain a slew of abilities that allow you to interact with the world on a whole new frequency:
-You can see perfectly clearly in any lighting condition. You have an extra Sense beyond vision that allows you to interact with, navigate and appraise the world around you even if you are blindfolded.
-You can spend a point of Spark to activate True Sight, which immediately allows you to see through any illusions or see any invisible beings that are within your vicinity. Illusions appear translucent and hollow, and invisible beings are clearly outlined and plain as day to you when this ability is used.
-You can spend a point of Spark to hear conversations being spoken in other rooms that would normally be impossible to eavesdrop upon.
-You can spend a point of Spark gain X-Ray vision, making you able to see clearly through any barrier that is less than an inch thick for one minute. Yes, this allows you to be perverted.
It is worth noting that Adepts with this Secret are far more likely to fall into Sensory Overload than than those without it, so be warned!
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. Your first use of True Sight or X-Ray vision each day costs you no Spark, but each use beyond the first does.
Brainspike
You unleash the full power of your unshackled mind into the consciousness of your poor, unenlightened foe, jabbing their consciousness with your own wickedly sharpened thoughts. This is a Smarts attack that you can perform as an Attack Half-Action. You may target any thinking being that you can see. As this is not a physical attack, this Secret negates Armor entirely. If the target has the Iron Will Boon, they ignore damage from this equal to their Smarts score.
-Acolyte: Your Brainspike costs you 2 Energy and deals Code Yellow Damage.
-Adept: Your Brainspike costs you 1 Energy and deals Code Orange Damage.
Mind Over Matter
This useful ability allows you to manipulate the world around you with your thoughts alone. Any items you wish to interact with must be within 5 feet of you per point of Smarts you have, must be under a certain weight, and must be unattended. For example, you could not use this Secret to remove the keys from a guard’s pocket, but you could do so if the keys were left on a table. Your level in this Strangecraft determines the weight and force you can manipulate. You cannot hurl objects with this Secret.
-Acolyte: You can manipulate items weighing no more than 5 pounds by spending 4 Energy for one turn of manipulation.
-Adept: You can manipulate items weighing no more than 25 pounds by spending 2 Energy for one turn of manipulation.
Soul Read
By simply looking at an individual, you can determine an array of useful information. This ability can only be used on targets who have Smarts scores lower than yours. Anyone with the Iron Will Smarts Boon is immune to this Secret, no matter their Smarts score. Just what you can uncover is listed below:
-The exact age of the target.
-One random fact about the target.
-The general mood of the target.
-The surface thoughts the target is thinking at this moment.
You can read the Soul of anyone you can visibly see as long as they are within 25 feet of you.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 4 Energy per use.
-Adept: This Secret costs 2 Energy per use. The range of this Secret is now 50 feet instead of 25 feet. Furthermore, the information you glean from use of this Secret is more in depth than normal, revealing deeper thoughts and more complex arrays of mood.
Telepathy
You can project your consciousness into the minds of others, sending your voice right into their psyche and opening a neural pathway to telepathic communication. Sometimes, they can even talk back to you! Each time you wish to use this Secret, spend a point of Spark. This gives you 5 minutes of Telepathic conversation. Note that you can only use this ability on targets that you have at least a cordial relationship with. Your rank in this Strangecraft determines the distance of your communication, as well as if the target can respond or not.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy. You may speak to any ally of yours as long as they are within 5 x your Smarts score Miles of you. Your allies cannot respond telepathically to you.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. You may speak to any ally of yours as long as they are in the same Country as you. Your allies can respond telepathically to you.
Psionic Field
You surround yourself in a protective field of pure mental force that deflects attacks that come your way. For the duration of your spell, whenever you are the target of a Physical Attack (energy attacks are not blocked by this ability) roll a Smarts test with Knack. Each success you score negates a success of the attack roll. You may only use this Secret on yourself.
-Acolyte: Spend 5 Energy to activate this Secret for 3 turns.
-Adept: Spend 3 Energy to activate this Secret for 5 turns. Re-roll all 1’s you roll using this Secret.
Jolt of Insanity
You tweak a foe’s mind just enough to get a really interesting reaction, testing the limits of their mental well-being. You can only use this Secret on targets who have lower Smarts scores than you. Those with the Iron Will Smarts Boon are immune to this Secret, regardless of their Smarts score. When used, choose a target you can see and have them roll an immediate Smarts test. Failure indicates they roll 1d6 and react in one of the following curious ways:
-1 Victim becomes overwhelmed with dread, reducing their attack dice pool to 1 for 3 turns.
-2 Victim suffer 5d6 damage as streams of blood trickle from their nostrils and ears.
-3 Victim’s Smarts score becomes 1 for the next week. They speak in guttural sentences for that time.
-4 Victim attacks one of their allies at random on their next turn.
-5 Victim spends their next action screaming obscenities and rambling like a madman.
-6 Victim regards you as their closest personal friend for the next 3 turns.
Note that you can only use this Secret once per day on any given target. One’s sanity can only be tested so many times, even by the likes of you...
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 4 Energy.
-Adept: This Secret costs 2 Energy. You can spend a Point of Spark to choose the effect of this Secret instead of rolling a d6.
Resonance Reader
By physically handling an item and concentrating on it intensely, you can see mental images of events that transpired around it. Note that the more psychic resonance an item has, the clearer the picture will be. Using this on a brand-new ballpoint pen might not reveal much of anything, but a prized family heirloom or wedding ring might be brimming with Psychic Energy.
-Acolyte: This Secret costs 5 Energy to use. You can see snippets of events that transpired around the item, but cannot decipher sounds as anything other than garbled psionic feedback.
-Adept: This Secret costs 3 Energy to use. You can watch entire scenes in shocking clarity, complete with sound and emotional feedback, as clearly as you were witnessing the events yourself.
Prophecy
You have the gift (or curse) of seeing the future. Your visions are often times cryptic and symbolic, but they are always accurate, even if they make no sense to you at the time. At least once per day, the Director will give you some snippet of events to come, usually through strange, lucid daydreams or dramatic, straight forward visions.
-Acolyte: When this Secret is learned, Invest 5 Energy. Your visions are never far reaching, and you can only see events that will happen in the near future, and rarely are they impactful or important.
-Adept: When this Secret is learned, Invest 3 Energy. Your visions are profound and sometimes show you events that will transpire years from now. Your visions are generally clearer and less cryptic than most, and occur with greater frequency.
Astral Stride
This potent ability allows you to separate your Psyche from your physical form and traverse the Astral Plane, allowing you to cover shocking amounts of ground in seconds. While in your Astral Form, you can observe events transpiring around areas that have Psychic significance to you, but see places and events that don’t as blurry messes of psychedelic colors and shapes. For instance, if you were spying on casual friend in Astral Form, you would see hazy outlines of events and hear garbled speech. But were you to return to your childhood home or visit a place you spent a great deal of time or knew well, you would see and hear things with crystal clarity.
While navigating the Astral Plane, you are tethered to your physical body by a silver chord. Should this chord be severed by an angry Astral being, you are forever separated from your body, unable to find your way back.
You cannot interact or communicate with any Physical beings while in the Astral Plane, but should you stay for too long observing one person, they will get the uneasy feeling that something is watching them. Wise Astral Travelers don’t tempt fate for too long. Note that while in the Astral Plane, your body is vacant and vulnerable. Mentalists worth their salt only activate this ability when their physical form is in an exceedingly safe place!
-Acolyte: It costs you 5 Energy to enter the Astral Plane and 5 Energy to return to your physical body. No matter how long you spend in the Astral Plane, when you return to your Physical body, 8 hours have passed. Each time you venture into the Astral Plane, roll 3d6. If 2 or more of these dice come up 1’s, your Astral Chord is severed and you are lost in the Astral Plane forever.
-Adept: It costs you 3 Energy to enter the Astral Plane and 3 Energy to return to your physical body. No matter how long you spend in the Astral Plane, when you return to your Physical body, 1 hour has passed. Each time you venture into the Astral Plane, roll 5d6. If 3 or more of these dice come up 1’s, your Astral Chord is severed and you are lost in the Astral Plane forever.
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