Chapter Four Sample - Shame, Sleepy, & Vampiric (Patreon)

Controlled Scar: Shame (• to •••••)

Keywords: Mental, Social; Subtle; Repeatable

The entangled Variation is a source of shame for the Deviant, representing as it does the loss of who they once were. They don’t want it and they go out of their way not to use it. When, in a moment of weakness or desperation, they resort to it, feelings of guilt are never far behind.

At Magnitude •, they try not to rely on the Variation and rarely use it except when asked to by one of their Loyalty Touchstones. The Broken takes a Beat when their refusal to activate the Variation creates a complication for the Remade or their cohort.

At Magnitude ••, as Magnitude •, but the guilt lingers. When the Deviant activates the Variation without first receiving permission to do so from a Loyalty Touchstone, they gain the Guilty Condition. Until the Remade resolves this Condition, Scar Finesse rolls to activate the Variation without permission suffer a penalty equal to (6 – Scar Resistance), and the Broken may only attempt to do so once every several minutes (once per turn in action scenes).

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

•            Contrition: The Broken cannot attempt to activate the Variation if they are already suffering the Guilty Condition, and suffer a penalty to activate the Variation equal to (6 – Scar Resistance) even if not currently suffering the Condition.

•            Humiliation: Calling upon the hated Variation is the ultimate act of self-humiliation, and the Deviant can only overcome the feelings of worthlessness through an act of self-sacrifice. The Guilty Condition lasts until the Remade takes an action that would refill all their Willpower (suffering hardship to serve a Loyalty Touchstone for a Renegade or doing so to oppose a Conviction Touchstone if a Devoted), which resolves the Condition but does not restore any Willpower.

•            Purity: Activating the Variation is a grave moral crime, and even a loved one’s orders or desperate pleas cannot excuse such a sin. The Guilty Condition manifests even if a Loyalty Touchstone gives her permission to use the Variation, and such authorization does not make it any easier for the Broken who already has the Condition to compound their crime by activating it again.

At Magnitude ••••, as Magnitude •••, but choose two Magnitude ••• effects, instead.

At Magnitude •••••, as Magnitude •••, but the Deviant suffers all three Magnitude ••• effects.

Persistent Scar: Sleepy (• to •••••)

Keywords: Mental, Physical; Subtle

The Deviant struggles to get restful sleep.

At Magnitude •, the Remade has an unnaturally hard time falling asleep and sleeps only fitfully, which causes him to wake up groggy and makes him prone to fall asleep when he doesn’t intend to. The Broken takes a Beat whenever this creates a complication for him or his cohort.

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

•            Drowsy: Weary as he is, the Deviant loses consciousness at random moments. Once per chapter, the Storyteller may offer a Beat to have the Remade nod off at an inconvenient moment that creates a complication for him or his cohort unless he makes a successful Scar Resistance roll. The Broken can be awakened normally by shaking, loud noises, or physical pain; otherwise, he awakens naturally after several minutes (6 – Scar Resistance turns, in action scenes).

•            Groggy: The Deviant is disoriented for some time after waking up. He suffers a penalty equal to (6 – Scar Resistance) on all actions immediately after waking up, including after a short nap imposed by Drowsy. This penalty fades at the rate of one per minute (one per turn, in actions scenes).

•            Insomnia: Despite his exhaustion, the Remade finds sleep elusive. Whenever he attempts to sleep, the Broken tosses and turns unless he makes a successful Scar Resistance roll. If this roll fails, he doesn’t sleep deeply enough to regain Willpower and any restless sleep accumulates towards gaining or worsening the Fatigued Condition (Deviant, p. 322). Even if he falls asleep due to the Fatigued Condition, the Deviant must still succeed on a Scar Resistance roll to sleep deeply enough to resolve the Condition. However, the penalty imposed by the Fatigued Condition instead grants a bonus to this Scar Resistance roll. The Deviant can’t have the Nightmares Standard Deviation (Deviant, p. 171).

•            Somnambulism: The Remade sleepwalks. Once per chapter, the Storyteller may offer a Beat for the Broken to rise from his slumber and perform some physical activity that creates a complication for him or his cohort. This can put him in dangerous or alarming situations but shouldn’t result in injury or imminent risk of death.

At Magnitude •••, as Magnitude ••, but choose two Magnitude •• effects.

At Magnitude ••••, as Magnitude ••, but choose three Magnitude •• effects.

At Magnitude •••••, as Magnitude ••, but the Remade suffers all four Magnitude •• effects.

Standard Deviation: Vampiric

Scar Type: Controlled

The Deviant inflicts a Scar on others instead of paying the price herself.

Some Scars are not appropriate for this Deviation, including Cooldown and Fluctuating Variation.

–1 Magnitude: The Deviant may afflict a willing victim within 40 yards/meters with the Scar, instead of suffering it herself, although resisting its effects uses the Remade’s Scar Resistance, not the victim’s. This victim can be (and usually is) different from the target of any Directed Variation that might be fueled by this Deviation. This must levy a price the victim could conceivably pay; a Baseline cannot suffer Instability, for example. Scars like Concentration and Power Failure rely upon the victim’s concentration and exposure to distractions or the defined failure conditions.

•            Radius (–1 Magnitude): Exclusive with both Touch and Unwilling, all potential victims (whether willing or unwilling) within 10 yards/meters (other than the Broken) suffer the secondary Scar unless they successfully contest the Deviant’s Scar Finesse roll with their Resistance + Supernatural Tolerance. The Variation does not activate unless a number of victims no less than the Variation’s Magnitude suffer the Scar.

•            Unwilling (–1 Magnitude): An unwilling target suffers the Scar, instead, unless they successfully contest the Remade’s Scar Finesse roll with their Resistance + Supernatural Tolerance. If the Remade loses, the Variation does not activate.

•            Occult (+0 Magnitude): The Deviant does not and cannot impose the Controlled Scar on the victim. Instead, she drains occult “fuel” from a type of supernatural victim chosen at the time the Broken develops this Deviation (such as sorcerers or ghosts). This is points of fuel equal to Scar Magnitude for creatures who can readily source a supply of their fuel, half Scar Magnitude (rounded up) for those who must take great pains to replenish their occult energies.

•            Group (+1 Magnitude): The entangled Variation’s activation relies upon a group of willing victims. Exclusive with both Radius and Unwilling, but the number of willing victims must exceed the Variation’s Magnitude or else it will not activate.

•            Mandatory (+1 Magnitude): The Deviant cannot activate the entangled Variation except by exacting the price from a victim.

•             Touch (+1 Magnitude): The Deviant must make skin-to-skin contact with the target in order to impose the Scar on him with this Deviation.