Chapter Three Sample, part 2 - Opener of Ways & Cursed Flesh (Patreon)

Opener of Ways (• to •••••)

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Directed, Tiered, Toggled

The Deviant wields power over doors and other portals.

For the purpose of this Variation, a door is any opening that can be opened and closed, through which the Remade can pass. It can therefore include anything from an airplane hangar door to a panel covering the entrance to an access tunnel.

At Magnitude •, the Broken may open or close a target door as long as nothing prevents it from being opened or closed (including a mundane lock). She can also sense all doors within 10 yards/meters, which is not a Directed effect.

At Magnitude ••, as Magnitude •, and the Deviant may lock or unlock a target door, whether the lock is mechanical or electronic.

At Magnitude •••, as Magnitude ••, and choose one:

•            Erase: The Broken may erase an existing door, causing a continuation of the wall, floor, or ceiling to replace it. The door reappears at the end of the scene.

•            Force: The Remade may create a door where there wasn’t one before, provided the solid surface on which the door appears is no more than one yard/meter thick. This door vanishes at the end of the scene.

At Magnitude ••••, the Deviant benefits from both Magnitude ••• effects.

Deviation

•            Occult (+1 Magnitude): The Variation also works on magical doors, including portals that lead to alien otherworlds or distant places. A supernatural door opened or closed by this Variation remains so until the end of the scene unless the Deviant is defeated in a Clash of Wills. A supernatural door is considered locked if it will only open to someone who holds a special key or meets specific criteria, while one that can be opened by a password or physical manipulation of the existing space is considered unlocked. If erased, a magical door remains closed until at least the end of the chapter (and likely stays closed longer or permanently). The Broken has no control over the destination of a forced supernatural door; it leads wherever the Storyteller needs it to lead. Forcing a supernatural door more often than once per story inflicts a point of medium Instability each time after the first the Deviant does so.

Living things find their way into all sorts of places they shouldn’t be able to get, but none can exceed the Chimeric’s ability to do so when he also has Out of Phase active, although he never remembers quite how he got in (Tabula Rasa; Controlled; Wits; Deviations: Dependent Variation [Out of Phase]).

The Coactive’s spirit companion opens many doors to her, but it demands regular ritual sacrifices to coax it into continuing to do so (Maintenance; Persistent).

The Mutant’s biology interacts strangely with what Baselines describe as “doors”. They shut others out, but they somehow never bar his passage. He is, however, bound to respond to some passphrases in ways that rarely do him any favors (Subliminal Conditioning; Persistent).

Mutant Variations: Cursed Flesh

Subtle 

Discrete, Toggled

The Broken can impose an unwelcome burden on others.

This Variation allows the Deviant to impart a single Persistent Scar (including Deviations) chosen at the time she develops this Variation (the secondary Scar). This is otherwise built like Sacred Flesh (Deviant, p. 151), complete with options for Boons, Secretions, Tokens, and Fragments (although it does not impart Variations). The Remade may purchase this Variation multiple times, and each time allows the Broken to impose a different Scar.

At Magnitude •, choose a Magnitude •• Scar.

At Magnitude ••, choose a Magnitude ••• Scar.

At Magnitude •••, choose a Magnitude •••• Scar.

At Magnitude ••••, choose a Magnitude ••••• Scar.

Deviations

•            Aura (+1 Magnitude): Must be a Boon. The Scar affects all viable targets within short range, whether friend or foe.

•            Parasite (+0 Magnitude): The secondary Scar is Controlled or Involuntary, instead, but it can only affect other Remade, adding an additional drawback to all the Variations entangled to one of the victim’s Scars. The Remade imposing this curse may choose a known Scar (or stipulate that it affects whichever Scar is entangled with a Variation known to her); otherwise, it affects a Scar at random. This cannot affect Persistent Perpetual Variations.

•            Infection (+1 Magnitude): As Parasite, but the Scar may target supernatural beings other than Deviants, punishing them whenever they use an occult ability that requires an action and/or roll to activate. This affects a single supernatural ability — either a known capability or one chosen at random.

•            Infestation (+1 Magnitude): As Parasite, but the Scar instead imposes a new burden on all the target’s Variations, regardless of the Scars entangled with them. If paired with Infection and used against a supernatural being who isn’t a Remade, it affects all supernatural abilities that require an action and/or a roll to activate.

•            Long-Lasting (+1 Magnitude): The target instead suffers the Scar until the end of the current chapter (instead of scene, as Sacred Flesh). If this Scar is applied as a Boon, the Deviant may spend a point of Willpower to extend its effects until the end of the next chapter, potentially extending its duration from chapter to chapter.

•            Randomized (+0 Magnitude): Choose additional secondary Scars equal to Scar Power. Each time the Broken activates the Variation, it imposes one of these Scars chosen at random.

•             Versatile (+1 Magnitude): As Randomized and exclusive with it, but the Deviant decides which Scar to impose each time she activates this Variation.

The Chimeric’s bite carries a curse that will bring out a bestial side not long after (a Boon with Alternate Persona with the Bestial Deviation), but she hates using it and can only deploy it when she has Inhuman Digestion active (Shame; Persistent; Deviations: Dependent Variation, Intimate).

The Invasive synthesizes a toxin in an artificial gland in their right shoulder that, if it enters a Deviant’s bloodstream, causes her to destabilize if she uses her powers (a Secretion with the Parasite Deviation that imposes Unstable Variation), but the gland’s waste products thin their blood (Hemophilia; Persistent).

The Mutant’s hair, when braided into a bracelet, circlet, or necklace, immobilizes the arms and legs of anyone bound with them — a Fragment that imposes the Missing Limb Scar. However, the process of growing and crafting such accessories requires substantial time and effort (Preparation; Controlled; Dexterity).