In Earnest Playing
6rd of February 2007 A.D.
Watching the hounds literally snatch bolts of ghostly energy out of the air before they can hit their intended target, the same bolts that had slain the hulking abomination in the depths of the Wicked City is uncanny... all the more so because your brother had volunteered to take his own turn as the target after you, Lash and Olivia had taken yours. Granted Lydia isn't putting her all into it, it is only about as deadly as a riffle shot, not the point of death's own spear seeking hearts-blood and you have plenty of healing potions, but still. Maybe this is another one of those things you shouldn't share with Mom... along with freeing a trio of ancient dragon-knights from the underworld.
Said knights had taken you calling them that oddly, not with surprise, but a sort of lingering unease 'like someone had just walked on their grave' as the saying went. When you share the thought you are surprised to find it's old enough to be understandable, old even in their time. Half-Tongue at least seems to take comfort that these little nuggets of the familiar still exist as he leafs through the ashen pages of relic books, brought and abandoned by spirits long-gone from the borders of the world. Sir Madon had taken his turn at playing with the hounds, manfully ignoring the snickers of his more bookish companion to the effect that he might be enjoying the pain a little too much. One supposes he'd gotten a lot of practice at that over the last millennia and a half. He seems not a little impressed at Daniel's skill at calling ice without 'freezing his fingers to the bone', to judge from the kinds of questions he's asking he might be considering learning himself.
"Well, that is unusual..." Tiffany tips her head in the direction of Sir Gwair. The younger knight had seemed ill at ease in his new-found freedom, perhaps because his own power speaks to life and there is no life on these black shores save the five of you and the hounds. He keeps to himself though never wandering far from the old banquet hall you'd made into a sort of base camp to take advantage of the still solid table and the handful of chairs still able to bear one's weight with only moderately alarming creaks. Looking over you are startled to see the green of his hair take on a more earthy tone, his stance growing somehow more solid.
He calls over something to Sir Madon that Tiffany helpfully translates as 'there, happy now?'
They can shift aspects, you muse.
Gwair at least can. It does make sense when you think about it, the elements are part of a cycle, each feeding into the next, though you don't imagine it would last for long without more essence to sustain it. Dragon Nests would be all the more precious to them. You wonder how much of Arthur's conquests were motivated by the need to feed his own bright-burning magics and those of his companions, but there really isn't a polite way to ask that.
As Lydia gets used to the hounds and they to her some of her wellspring of power passes to them, granting them powers they had of old, and some which are wholly new:
Cŵn Annwn/Hound of Arawn
Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2, Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Empathy 2, Intimidation 4, Stealth 2, Survival (Tracking) 4; Occult (Ghosts) 3
Willpower: 6
Gnosis: 6
Rage 4 [Usable Only in Spirit Form without Ferocity]
Mana Pool: 24 (Gnosis*4)
Health Levels: OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, Incapacitated
Armor Rating: 0 (two soak dice, total)
Attack: Bite for five dice (lethal); claw for three dice (bashing)/Aggravating Special
Gift of Tongues: Once attuned to a Land may speak any tongue spoken by the living or the dead in that land
Deathless Beast Fetter: Each time the sun crosses the horizon, hound may choose to walk in flesh or spirit, living being or a ghostly spy.
Graveyard Bite: All attacks to Aggravated Damage to the unquiet dead
Death Sense: With a successful Perception+Awareness roll you may sense spirits across the veil and well as the presence of impending death
Deflect Harm: With an invisible wave of power, the spirit deflects incoming attacks made against the spirit or — if the spirit "lends" this Charm to a mortal host — the host imbued with the spirit's blessings. Each point of Mana spent by the entity blocks one health level of damage from an incoming attack that turn.
This Charm deflects bashing, lethal, and aggravated damage equally well, and protects against damage caused by magickal assaults as well as it protects against physical ones.
A spirit may employ this Charm for as long as that character's Mana Trait holds out. A mortal host blessed with this Charm by a spirit helper, however, may deflect up to five health levels of damage per turn; additional damage slides past the deflection effect and affects the host normally.
Choose Three (3) Patterns
XP Availibile 30
XP Costs:
Attribute: current rating x 4
Ability: current rating x 2
New Ability: 3
Rage: current rating
Gnosis: current rating x 2
Willpower: current rating
Special Advantage Points: 9
[] Alacrity (2-6 pts.)
Damn, you're fast! Capable of bursts of inhuman speed, you can strike before most people can think. Each two points spent in this Advantage, up to the maximum six points, allows you to spend a Willpower point and take one extra action within a single turn. That six-point Advantage, for instance, would let you act four times in a single turn for the cost of one Willpower point. Subsequent Willpower points spent that turn do not add up, however; six points let you act four times in one turn no matter how many Willpower points you spent that turn. This bonus lasts only one turn per point of Willpower spent that turn; if you need to burn Willpower in order to move like the wind, however, you can do so for as long as your Willpower lasts.
[] Armor (variable)
Thanks to thick hide, armored plates, warty skin or some other form of innate protection, your character gains extra soak
dice, and can soak lethal damage as well. For double the usual cost — that is, two freebie points per point of protection — she can soak aggravated damage, too. This armor isn't invisible, though; in most cases, it's pretty obvious, and for every three points in protection, the character loses one point of Appearance. (This penalty does not apply to animals or beasts with natural armor — turtles, alligators, dragons, and so forth.) As an optional rule, the Storyteller might decide that an aimed blow (typically +3 difficulty, although the specific penalty depends upon the nature of the armor) can bypass that protection. The normal cost for Armor can be found on the chart; armor that soaks aggravated damage costs double these amounts.
Points Armor
1 pt. One soak die (thick fur or hide)
2 pts. Two soak dice (scales, ridges)
3 pts. Three soak dice (chitin, shell)
4 pts. Four soak dice (bone plating, dragon hide)
5 pts. Five soak dice (metal plates, thick hide plus layers of fat and muscle)
[]Aww! (1-4 pts.)
Cuteness excuses a multitude of sins. In your case, you're so adorable that people tend to give you more slack than your activities deserve. Every point in this Advantage adds one die to the Social rolls you make based upon endearing yourself to someone through your sheer cuteness. This power works in any form, but it grants only half of the usual bonus (rounded up) when you're in a human guise.
[] Bioluminescence (1 to 3 pts.)
Fireflies. Anglerfish. Certain forms of mold. And you. Like those luminescent beings, your body — or parts of it — can glow, and you can turn this self-contained light on and off at will.
For a single point, that glow is roughly as bright as an average cell phone, and it cannot be focused or directed. For two points, it's either brighter (like a halogen flashlight) or directable, and for three points it can be both. The light in question could come from natural luminescent organs, cybernetic implants, biotech body modifications, magical powers, mutant abilities, or what have you.
Generally, this light allows you to illuminate a small area, as if you're holding a hand-held light source. Directable luminescence, however, could be used to blind a character for a turn or so with a successful Dexterity + Perception roll. The difficulty for the latter application depends on the target's sensitivity to light, the contrast between light and darkness, potentially protective gear, cover, distance, and so forth, and ranges from 4 (a point-blank flash in some surprised person's eyes) to 10 (trying to blind a protected and hostile opponent).
Beyond 15 feet or so, however, this Advantage illuminates an area but isn't strong enough to blind someone at range.
[] Blending (1 pt.)
This creature has the ability to alter their appearance to match the dominant attributes of their surroundings, much like a chameleon. Creatures with this power can either slowly acclimate to their surroundings, requiring at least a scene, or they may quickly acclimate through a successful Wits + Survival roll, difficulty 8. Creatures with mana can spent 2 points to immediately blend into their environment. Successfully Blending causes a +2 difficulty to perceive the creature with any natural sense.
[] Cause Insanity (2 pts. per die)
Consciousness is fragile. With this Advantage, a creature can rattle the cage of sanity and provoke temporary fits of madness. Generally possessed by entities of cosmic horror or stunning beauty, this power provokes hallucinations, derails trains of thought, and forces the target to doubt her grasp on reality. Especially among mages, this ability can have fearsome consequences.
A target of this Advantage must be within visual sight of the creature who inflicts the madness. The player with this Trait spends one point of Willpower, and rolls one die for every two points spent on this Advantage. The target's Willpower Trait provides the difficulty for that roll. A single success forces the targeted character to assume a Derangement
[] Deadly Demise (2, 4, or 6 pts.)
Certain enemies take you with them when they go. Often associated with zombies, robots, poisonous fungus-folk, and other beings with innate capacities for self-destruction, this Advantage inflicts damage on everyone nearby when the character goes to meet its maker. If that character drops below the Incapacitated health level, thanks to attacks which inflict lethal or aggravated damage, then the character screams, explodes, or performs some other final strike against its enemies on the following turn, dealing out damage as per the chart below.
The blast radius for this final strike is roughly 30 feet (nine meters). If the character is some sort of vehicle, or is otherwise carrying other characters in its body, arms, or what have you, then those other characters meet a messy demise unless they manage to escape before the blast. Run!
Value Damage
2 points 4 dice of lethal damage
4 points 6 dice of lethal damage
6 points 8 dice of lethal damage (or 6 dice of aggravated damage)
[] Dominance (1 pt.)
You have a naturally commanding demeanor, or an elevated place in the social hierarchy of your people or species. Therefore, you gain three additional dice to any Social interaction within the appropriate groups, and also reduce the difficulties for your Intimidation or Leadership rolls by –2.
[] Earthbond (2 pts.)
A bond with your surroundings helps you perceive trouble and respond to possible threats. Rules-wise, this Advantage reduces the difficulty of your perception rolls by -2 if you're trying to spot potential trouble. Maybe your keen senses help you hear, smell, feel, or otherwise perceive trespassers; perhaps you've got passive sonar or high-tech scanning devices. Maybe the wind speaks to you. Whatever the reason, you're seldom surprised by anything that's not teleported to your location, stepping in from the Umbra, or otherwise using unusual methods to surprise you.
[] Extra Heads (2 pts. per head)
For better and worse, this Advantage grants you a friend that never leaves your side… or your shoulder, for that matter. Game-wise, this Trait provides one additional head for every two points spent on the Advantage. This benefit also provides two extra dice (per head) for Perception-based rolls; increases the difficulty for mind-control attacks against you by +2 per head (difficulty 10, maximum); and allows each head
to make a bite attack (at the usual dice pools) if your target is within reach.
[] Ferocity (2 points)
You seethe with uncanny fury and may turn that fury to your benefit. You may use your Rage in physical shape, though you become vulnerable to Frenzy.
[] Healing Lick (3 or 6 pts.)
In legend and in fact, animals can lick wounds in order to soothe the pain. Certain beasts, however, can do more than that: Their licking actually heals cuts, burns, and so forth. With this Advantage, you can repair a certain amount of external damage — gashes, slashes, and the like, as opposed to venom or broken bones. For three points, you can heal one health level of bashing per 2 Mana Spent for six points, you can heal a level of aggravated damage the same way. In both cases, that healing also eases the pain of injuries, spreading a sense of calm along with the obvious relief from torn tissues and flowing blood.
[] Human Guise (1 or 3 pts.)
You have a human form you can wear by spending 5 Mana. For the one-point version of this Advantage you present a few tells setting your apparence to 1. The three-point version of this Advantage gives you a completely normal human guise with no obvious tells. Powers and abilities that can uncover a being's true form are the only way to discern that you are something other than a mild-mannered reporter (or whatever). The mana invested in human guise cannot be refreshed while you wear the form
[] Mana Gift (3 pts.)
You may freely share Mana with a mortal practitioner, though the rate of exchange depends on how much the mortal is aligned to your nature. Worshiper denotes a mortal who actively venerates you as a god (however minor); resonant is a mortal practitioner whose power aligns with your nature, for instance a medium for a hound of death. Unaligned is everyone else.
Alignment Exchange
Worshiper 1 to 1
Resonant 2 to 1
Unaligned 3 to 1
[] Mesmerism (3 or 6 pts.)
With a frightening glare or bewitching enticement, you can freeze prey (3 pts.) or draw it to you in a mild trance (6 pts.).
System-wise, this Advantage requires the right sort of contact with your prey, in your case a gaze, the expenditure of 1 or 3 mana depending on the scale chosen followed by a roll of Charisma + Intimidation. Either way, the difficulty is 6, and you need to collect at least one success for each point of your prey's current (not permanent) Willpower. So long as your prey doesn't object to your influence, this could employ an extended roll; if he does resist you, though, then the roll would be extended and resisted instead A botch on your part negates the mesmerism… and because he's wise to you now, you cannot attempt to mesmerize this character again.
[] Needleteeth (2 pts.)
Thanks to strong, sharp teeth and powerful jaws, you can bite through up to three levels of armor when chowing down on prey. This Advantage enhances biting attacks only, and leaves gaping, bloody wounds behind.
[] Nightsight (1 pts.)
You can see where other folks remain blind. So long as a little bit of light remains, you can see normally. Even in total darkness, a roll of Perception + Alertness (difficulty 8) reveals vague outlines of your surroundings. Certain atmospheric conditions (smoke, mist, dust storms, and so forth) may screw with your perceptions, though, at the Storyteller's discretion.
[] Rapid Healing (Variable)
Wounds don't sideline you for long. Although you lack the startling regenerative powers of werecreatures, your body heals at an amazing rate. This Advantage accelerates the usual recovery rate for injuries. Every two points spent on this Trait moves you one category higher on the Healing Damage charts If, for instance, you were taken to Mauled by bashing damage, two points would allow you to heal in one hour rather than the usual six hours, and four points would allow let you heal those injuries almost immediately. Lethal and aggravated damage, of course, takes longer to heal. Even then, though, this Advantage helps you recover more quickly than usual. Story-wise, such characters remain hardy and healthy despite the battering they endure. With six or eight points spent on Rapid Healing, such creatures can shrug off most forms of harm.
[] Soul Sense (2 pts.)
Your Death sense is now powerful enough to sense corporeal undead unless they are using a supernatural power to hide. Even when so veiled you may roll Perception+Awaredness (DC 7) opposed to their power activation roll. If you succeed that discipline from that quarry may never affect you again. You can hunt them to the ends of the earth and beyond.
[] Soak Lethal/ Aggravated (2, 4 pts )
Can Soak the relevant Damage with Stamina as well as you can bashing
[] Spirit Vision (2 pts.)
You freely see across the veil when in material form, though using this power increases the DC to perceive material happenings by 1 as you are distracted by the Otherworld
[] Tides of Fortune (5 pts.)
Invoking the fickle currents of fortune, you can employ a combination of the spirit powers Bad Luck Charm and Good Luck Charm.
[] Tunneling (3 pts.)
You have the ability to create a tunnel in the ground. You might eat the dirt like a worm, or you might burrow it out of your way like a badger, marmot, or rabbit. Either way, you move through the earth at half your walking speed. You can either create a tunnel or just push the earth out of your way. If you create a tunnel, it is the same size as your body. If you're a magickal rabbit, you still only create tunnels the size of a regular rabbit. If you're a giant, 10-foot tall rabbit, well… it that case you make pretty large bunny warrens, don't you?
OOC: In canon WoD Essence is used as the name for the power spirits used and then get rather large amounts of it. It felt wierd to use the name here so we are calling that Mana. I also changed the costs of a few abilities to better fit their nearness to the hounds nature, took out others because they do not fit and gave some of the more powerful ones a Mana cost. Also I wrote in Mana Gift because that feels like something spirits should be able to do 
