Edges

Innocence
Although many Innocents are young, there are no age restrictions. Hunters on this primary path answer the Call but do so with no preconceived notions. more than any other hunters, Innocents deal with the immediate present, without holding grudges from the past or scheming for the future. Like others on Mercy's paths, they recognize kindred spirits in monsters — beings with horrific powers and terrible lives foisted upon them. Whereas the Martyr hates what he sees and the Redeemer wants to change it, the Innocent looks on without judgement.

Innocents' unusual candor can sometimes produce unexpected reactions from night-creatures, but more often it simply puts them in danger. who else could ask a monster a direct question and expect a straight answer? This straightforwardness has led other hunters to give innocents various nicknames, some meant kindly ("cherubs"), others less so ("bait").

Hide, Level 1

Roll Wits + Mercy, difficulty 6. A Perception + Alertness roll, difficulty 6, is made for each monster in your character's presence. A single, average roll can be made for a group of monsters. The difficulty is reduced for creatures with extraordinary senses such as smell or hearing, or for creatures that are exceptionally old, powerful or wary. If your character gets more successes, he goes unrecognized. He is seen normally if the enemy gets more successes.

Your character goes unnoticed for the remainder of the scene as long as he does not attract attention to himself. Making physical contact with the enemy or performing blatant acts such as jumping up and down shouting draws attention. Once creatures know your character is present, they do not forget again. And once a monster in a group recognizes your character, all of the enemies in the vicinity do; one of the monsters doesn't simply swing wildly at the "air." However, standing, talking lowly and walking do not attract unwanted attention.

This power does not work on other hunters or normal humans. It does not function when the user is Incapacitated; supernaturals perceive your character's immobile form.

Illuminate, Level 2

This edge makes it possible for your character and fellow hunters to identify supernatural creatures. Not only does it indicate which beings are inhuman, it suggests what kinds of creatures they are. One drawback to Illuminate is that monsters seem able to perceive it's use and can even tell which human generates the effect.

System: Roll Perception + Mercy, difficulty 6. If you get any successes, your character and all hunters in her presence perceive any supernatural creatures in the area. The effect duplicates and replaces the need for hunters to spend Conviction on second sight. Furthermore, this edge allows all affected hunters to recognize the true nature of creatures that otherwise appear normal — warlocks, the recently deceased, shapechangers in human form. These beings seem to be outlined in nimbuses of various colors. Note that Illuminate does not confer any of the resistence to mind or body control that spending a point of Conviction does.

Illuminate lasts 10 minutes for each success rolled. Duration can be extended for another 10 minutes for each Conviction point spent. The power can be deactivated at will and shuts off if the user is Incapacitated.

Creatures exposed by Illuminate perceive the wielder as a source of bright light; she is clearly the one revealing the monsters. Use of Illuminate undoes Hide.

Radiate, Level 3

If there were ever evidence that hunters are of divine origin, this is it — or, at least, this edge could be used to justify such claims. Once this power is activated, your character radiates a white light that impedes supernatural attacks. People protected by this field appear blurry and indistinct to the eyes of unnatural creatures. The light itself is distinct to hunters but otherwise has no effect on them, whether they're inside or outside the aura. Monsters that do not rely on visual senses are still confused and disoriented by the power.

System: Roll Stamina + Mercy, diff 6. Any time a supernatural creature attacks a radiating target, the difficulty of the attack is increased by one for each success achieved in your edge roll. The nature of the attack does not matter — guns, claws, mystic attacks of any sort; all are impeded. For each success you score after the first, your character may also project his light to include one additional person within the aura. That person must be standing within Mercy in yards of your character. The light persists for one turn per success rolled. The edge can be canceled by the user at will, and its protection can be denied to an individual at any time. The power fails completely if your character is Incapacitated.

No monster's mystical sight or other sense can be used to negate the field. Hunter senses, even edge-based ones, are not affected.

Confront, Level 4

To use this Edge, your character must meet a creature's gaze directly and make no attempt to avoid the monster's attack. Even though your character is a "sitting duck," striking her becomes terribly difficult. The few creatures who've been subjected to this power and are willing to discuss it say that striking them becomes emotionally impossible. The hunter seems to embody everything that is (or that ever was) pure, important and valuable to the attacker — perhaps even dredging up emotions the creature had thought lost for centuries. Striking or acting against the hunter seems psychologically suicidal — a crime of grotesque magnitude. Attackers who do force themselves to perform the repellent action find it excruiciating.

System: Spend one Conviction point and roll Manipulation + Mercy, diff 5. For each success you get, an attacker has to spend a point of Willpower to act against your character. Each subsequent action against your character also requires a Willpower expenditure. The enemy still has to succeed at its attack normally, even though your character makes no attempt to avoid it. this edge functions against only one opponant at a time, unless more can somehow be captured eye to eye, simultaneously. The target remains inhibited as long as your character maintains eye contact.

Blaze, Level 5

Your character can make one light source agonizing and damaging to unnatural creatures of all kinds. The degree of damage inflicted depends on the intensity of the light source. A match is irritating, a powerful flashlight is dangerous and (on a clear day) the sun is destructive.

Blaze is instantaneous: Your character uses this power and the light source in question becomes amazingly powerful for a moment. While the effect does not last, it can traumatize every supernatural exposed to the rays. Strangely, Blaze does not work with moonlight.

Some Innocent extremists with this power describe it's use as "sharing the true light."

System: Spend two Conviction points and roll Strength + Mercy, diff 8. Even one success inflicts the aggravated damage dice listed on the following chart, bawed on the light source used.

Light Source Damage dice
Match/Lighter flame 1
Torch/Small flashlight/flare 3
Large flashlight/car headlights 5
Bonfire 6
Spotlight/Searchlight 8
The Sun 10

The range of this power is five yards per success rolled. Thus, all supernatural creatures within range of your character (as opposed to the light source, which can be in someone else's possession) when this power is used suffer searing pain. If you score four successes on your edge roll and your character holds a flare (three damage dice), you roll three aggravated damage dice against all supernaturals within 20 yards of your character (or against those within range and that are caught in a light beam).

Many artificial light sources are directional and can be pointed at only one or two targets at a time. As a rule of thumb, using Blaze with a flashlight allows your character to harm three creatures at most, if they're standing close together. Targets do not have to be physical; spirits and ghosts are vulnerable, too.

Martyrdom
Martyrs are compelled to destroy the unknown and the monsterous, but they can't escape the knowledge that their quarry has (or had) human feelings just as they do. Avengers have a definite us/them mindset. Martyrs don't have that luxury. They understand all too well the emotions and motivations of the intolerable. Yet, for all their empathy, followers of this primary path hunt with an almost self-destructive fury.

Martyrs can understand the misery of a compulsive predator, because they are the same. They know that these hideous beings, whose very appearance fills a Martyr with repulsion and disgust, might have once been fully human. Martyrs are therefore miserable with their role, but know that if they pursue it, fewer others will have to share their fate. Every Martyr longs for the day when hunters are obsolete.

Demand, Level 1

Martyrs, by definition, are willing to hurt themselves to save another's life or to hurt an enemy. This willingness to case even Pyrrhic victory is reflected in Demand. Your character is willing to exhaust himself in a desperate bid to accomplish amazing deeds; he puts his all into an action and receives might born from purity of purpose. Martyrs' willingness to sacrifice themselves simply invigorates them with energy and power.

System: Your character can perform an amazing feat of strength at the cost of his health. Mark a level of bashing damage on your character's Health chart. The damage cannot be soaked. You can now add Mercy to Strength for any roll to inflict brawl or melee damage, an effort to lift an object or a Strength + Athletics roll to perform a stunt. Willpower cannot be used to further bolster this roll, although Conviction points can be risked in any Strength-related roll made.

If Demand is used to increase the damage inflicted with an attack, your character must suffer a bashing health level before the attack is made. If it fails, the health level is still lost, even though no damage roll is made. The punch or swing is still potentially devastating, but doesn't find it's mark.

Demand cannot be combined with other attack or physical-action based edges in the same turn.

Witness, Level 2

Witness allows your character to recognize the nature of supernatural creatures in her presence. It also gives her a glimpse of specified creatures' relationships with mankind.

System: This edge expands upon the capabilities of secnod sight. A creature that seems wrong with second sight, but not in any perceptible way — a warlock, a shapechanger in human form, a bloodsucker imitating life signs — is revealed to your character. The monster's horrific side is clear on a successful Perception + Mercy roll, difficulty 6. To your character's eyes, the creature's most horrific aspect flashes across it's face. This sight persists for 10 minutes for each success rolled; any creature observed in that time is revealed for what it really is. Witness can therefore be used in conjunction with or can replace the need for second sight while this edge is in effect. Duration can be extended for another 10 minutes for each Conviction point spent. The power can be deactivated at will. Witness provides no mind or body control protection.

Additionally, for each success scored after the girst in the edge roll, your character can momentarily witness one previous contact had between a human and a monster in your character's presence. The first contact viewed is usually the most recent, and each viewed thereafter occurred further back in time. If multiple monsters are present, your character may choose which is "studied," or recent flashes may be taken from a variety of creatures.

Visions might reveal attacks, such as feeding, or could reveal a passionate or poignant meeting, depending on who was contacted. The Storyteller creates the vision, which can be clear or distorted; participants may be obvious or confused. The image is visual only and is virtually instantaneous. Sometimes such visions suggest regret or even mercy in creatures' attacks, a hint at their true nature.

Witness seems to conjure no images of humans' or hunters' acts, but it does for those people who possess powers or gifts bestowed by unnatural creatures.

Ravage, Level 3

No one's quite sure what the hell happens when a hunter cuts loose with this edge. It seems to produce a roiling heat-haze. This gas (for lack of a better term) pours out or from your character and travels where he gestures. Physical matter seems unaffected, but supernatural creatures react violently. It seems to corrupt and decay their very bodies. Not even intangible creatures are safe.

Ravage has no physical effect on human targets, but it causes deep emotional trauma: headaches, depression, terrified fugues and uncontrolled weeping. As for wielders of Ravage themselves, the power makes them sick. Stomach pains, coughing, blurred vision and vomiting are all associated with this edge.

Martyrs describe the power as "Tearing something open — like injuring the world. It hurts us, it hurts them — but it hurts them worse."

System: Roll Manipulation + Mercy, diff 7. Range is your characters Mercy in yards. If the target is human, the number of successes rolled indicates the number of turns that a person is stunned with horror. He suffers no physical damage, and can still dodge or flee, but cannot attack your character or anybody else. (Particularly tough individuals might be allowed a Willpower roll, difficulty 8, to attempt and perform a particular action). Another hunter targeted by Ravage goes unaffected if his Conviction defense is active. If not, he is treated like a human victim.

If the target is a supernatural creature, it suffers a level of lethal damage for each success rolled. Even intangible opponants are affected, including ones that possess physical hosts.

Every time tihs edge is used, your character suffers one level of bashing damage that cannot be soaked.

Donate, Level 4

A hunter far along the Martyrdom path can blur the lines between herself and others. Her sense of self becomes so diffused that it's possible to lend that "self" to others for their use. The most obvious loan is physical potency or speed, but less tangible capacities can be donated as well. One Martyr has likened the experience to another person walking a mile in her shoes — while she's still in them.

Your character can make this "loan" to any willing person whom she can touch. The exchange is immediate, though not always complete.

If physical qualities are lent, your character is weakened commensurably. Lending mental acuity is a bit more complex: The doner's intellect and attention are literally split between herself and the recipient. This "split attention" can function almost like a two way radio, with no known limit to the distance separating the two parties. The biggest restriction is time: Your character can share of herself for a limited period.

System: Spend two Conviction points and roll Mercy + the Attribute you want to lend, diff 7. Your character loses a number of points from that Attribute equal to the number of successess you roll, up to a limit that you stipulate or up to your character's full Attribute score. The recipient gains the same number of points in the same Trait. Any Attribute can be donated except Appearance. No other traits — abilities, backgrounds — can be conferred with this edge, and no more than one Attribute can be shared at one time.

Donating Physical Attributes is fairly straightforward: Your character's rating is reduced while the subject's is increased. If a Mental Attribute is shared, the two characters can speak to each other telepathically for the duration of the donation; the recipient can use your character's mind as a sort of "parallel processor." If a Social Attribute is donated, telepathic communicationis not possible, but both people have a vague sense of how the other feels emotionally.

If your character donates all of one Attribute, she passes out and remains unconscious until the edge wears off. You as a player may continue to advise the recipient in terms of the Trait shared, as far as the Storyteller allows. You can contribute solutions to the problems if Wits is shared, or suggest emotions to play upon in social situations if Manipulation is lent, but you probably can't advise another player how to do research in either case, because Intelligence hasn't been shared.

The duration of a donation is determined with the following chart:

Successes Rolled Duration
1-2 Two turns
3-4 The rest of the scene
5-6 Five hours
7-8 One day
9-10 Three days
If your character is conscious, he can cancel donation at any time. However, the recipient cannot choose to "give back" a borrowed trait at any time; the lender must take it willingly.

If your character becomes Incapacitated while sharing, a donation continues until she regains consciousness. If your character is killed with dots lent out, the recipient loses them immediately. If you botch the donation roll, your character could lose one point of the Trait in question, permanently, or the Storyteller can devise another mishap. Hunters are already disturbed people. Would the identity of one trapped in the body of another really be acknowledged as anything more than schizophrenia.

Payback, Level 5

Your character can impose a human, mortal limitations and vulnerabilities upon inhuman opponents. He can also rob such beings of their powers. All your hunters has to do is lock his gaze with a supernatural enemy's and concentrate on the specific way he wants to cut that being down to size. The Martyr imposes a righteous moral punishment upon the creature.

System: To inflict a human limitation upon a supernatural being (say, to make a dead thing need to breathe to survive, or a ghost assume physical form), spend five Conviction points and roll Manipulation + Mercy, difficulty of the target's Stamina +4. If you get even one success, the creature suffers that vulnerability until it leaves your character's presence. (In the case of truly powerful opponents, the storyteller may impose a higher difficulty to your roll, and may grant a resisted roll, say Willpower, to the creature). Only one human "failing" can be imposed on a single creature at one time. The circumstances and the Storyteller often determine the immediate results of making a supernatural "mortal" again. Food, not blood, might be required for sustenance. Human form might become the only one a creature can assume. A spirit might become as physical and fragile as he was in life.

Now, an ages-old creature does not turn to dust because it's suddenly mortal, but it could perhaps be destroyed forever by conventional means. Also, beware granting monsters the strengths of a human. What bloodsucker would not relish withstanding the sun again? She might even ensure your character's constant presence by capturing him.

This power can also be used to deny a creature use of a certain supernatural power. To do this, you have to specify what the beast is prevented from doing: "I want it to stop moving so fast." "I don't want it fading away again!" "I don't want it to be able to turn invisible." Assuming the Storyteller knows what power you refer to, she sets the difficulty — usually the creature's Willpower rating or Stamina + 3. If you get even a single success, the creature cannot use that capability until it leaves your character's presence. Only one power can be denied a creature at one time, and a monsterosity cannot be assigned a human weakness and be stripped of a capability simultaneously.

If your character is conscious, she may revoke human weaknesses or reinstate supernatural powers at will, even if she is still in the presence of the victim. If your character is Incapacitated, the effects of Payback fail immediately. And, of course, if a creature manages to leave your character's presence and return, all bets are off. Payback must be used again to impose a human frailty or strip a monster of the same power previously removed.

Redemption
Individuals whose first instinct is concilatory tend to find themselves on the primary path of Redemption. Redeemers are widely sought for their ability to put injured people back together, but they often find themselves at odds with hunters who possess different priorities. Some Redeemers aren't afraid to understand their prey. They hope that through understanding they can either settle the spirits that haunt mortal life or remove whatever curse or psychic illness creates "monsters."

Bluster, Level 1

A shouted syllable becomes a veritable shield against harm. The word spoken doesn't matter ("No!" "Stop!" and "Don't!" are all common choices), but it can abort any type of deliberate attack. A hunter often learns a word's power when she blurts it out instinctively, and the word amazingly averts them.

Bluster can turn aside anything from a switchblade to a chain saw — or even arcane weapons such as bolts of fire or lightning. The attack can be made against your character or another person. The edge has no effect on attacks that don't do damage (such as mind-control attempts) or on attacks that are not direct (such as stabbing a voodoo doll of your character). Furthermore, it works only against actions other individuals undertake. It can protect your hunter or another person from being run down with a car (even if the driver is careless, not actively malevolent.) It cannot stop an avalanche or a natural bolt of lightning.

System: Roll Wits + Mercy, diff 6. The roll is typically resisted against the appropriate attack roll made by the enemy, and your character must be able to see — have line of sight to — the action he intends to interrupt. This edge can be used in a turn at any time that a defensive manuever — dodge, parry or block — can be. In fact, Bluster should be treated like a fourth form of defense for system purposes — all the same mechanics apply. This edge cannot actually be combined with dodge, parry or block, though; you must choose one course of defensive action. Note that an attacker can still harm it's target, even if your character attempts to avert the action (the attacker gets more successes than you do).

Insinuate, Level 2

Your character has to ask oe question of a supernatural creature, and the creature has to understand that a question has been asked. The particular question is not really important, and it doesn't matter if the being replies. What matters it that your character interacts with the creature as if it were a person, not a thing. This simple act, when fueled by hunter spirit, forces the creature to confront mortals in human terms. This edge usually causes intense feelings of sorrow, loss and isolation.

A common question is, "Do you remember?"

System: Roll Manipulation + Mercy, diff 6. Each success adds one to the difficulty of the supernatural creature's next intended action. The feat becomes challenging as the being is confronted by forgotten memories, long-dead feelings and desperately suppressed compassion. With a spectacular number of successes, the target may undergo a substantial shift in behavior. Even an undamaged creature who is winning a fight may flee rather than have to face the emotions raised by Insinuate.

The specific psychological effect of this edge depends on the creature confronted, of course. Spirits experience a taste of what life was like before they perished. Bloodsuckers are reminded of their lost mortality. Other creatures may have visions from the lives of the people they've slain. More "human" creatures may foresee futures in which they succumb to their monsterous natures, or they may remember a lost love or a choice they regret. Creatures who have very little thought or feeling left may be less affected. Insinuate's visions may simply annoy or confuse them.

The Storyteller decides the exact results of this power in the story, whether as a distraction for a monster, another attempt in an ongoing effort to get through to the buried vulnerability of a creature, or as a cathartic moment (if you roll enough successes) that confronts a being with its very perversity.

Typically, insinuate can be used against a single creature only once per scene, unless the Storyteller authorizes otherwise.

Respire, Level 3

Also called the "Kiss of Life," this edge allows your character to heal a person by breathing into her mouth. While your character appears to be performing mouth to mouth resuscitation, this power accomplishes a lot more: It can heal cuts, slashes, damaged organs and broken bones.

Respire can do something altogether different to supernaturals. Instead of infusing healing energy, it steals energy. Mouth to mouth contact isn't required for this usage. Yet your character must be nearby to inhale the stuff from an enemy. This power is dangerous even to intangible foes.

System: To heal someone, roll Stamina + Mercy, diff 6. This target gains one health level, bashing or lethal, for each success achieved. Using Respire in this fashion is draining. You must pay for each level healed either by spending one Conviction or by suffering a +1 difficulty to all actions for the remainder of the scene. (It's possible to mix and match payments. A character who heals three health levels can spend two Conviction and accepts a +1 penalty for the rest of the scene.) If a botch is rolled, your character suffers a bashing health level, instead. This edge cannot be used on oneself, but can be used on normal people and even supernatural creatures.

To drain a monsterous enemy, your character must be within a distance of Mercy in yards of the intended target. Roll Dexterity + Mercy, diff 6. The target resists by rolling Stamina, also against a diff of 6 (although the Storyteller can modify difficulties for both attacker and defender depending on their relative potency; a simple hunter may be hard-pressed to exhaust an ages-old ghost). For every two full successes in excess of the opponant's that you achieve, your character gains one point of Conviction, up to the limit of your character's starting Conviction (based on Creed). The target also suffers one lethal health damage for each single success earned (your character's starting conviction imposes no limit on damage). If your roll botches, your character incurs one level of lethal damage, and the supernatural opponant gains one point of Willpower. Respire can be used against spirits that possess humans, without harming the hosts. It cannot harm humans, and affects only one target at a time.

Becalm, Level 4

A Redeemer radiates his inner calm and tolerance as if it were an energy form. The edge has two simultaneous effects. The first is physical: Becalm makes it difficult for those around your character to act in a sudden or deliberate way. Events occur slowly. Response times are delayed. Actions seem to be performed as if subjects are groggy.

The second effect is emotional: Becalm stifles anger, alleviates fear and tension, and generally makes subjects gain perspective and relax — at least somewhat. This effect doesn't make the becalmed lose their will to fight or survive. The power doesn't change motivation, it just makes events seem less urgent.

Becalm does not affect normal actions such as speaking or moving slowly, as long as those actions do not have explosive or violent results.

System: Spend one Conviction point and roll Manipulation + Mercy, diff 7. The effect lasts a number of minutes equal to the number of successes rolled. During that time, anyone who tries to perform any sort of violent attack or sudden movement has to make a Stamina, Strength or Dexterity roll (whichever is highest), difficulty 8, per person. Even pulling a trigger is affected for the outburst that results. The effect extends five yards in every direction for each point of Mercy your character has. In addition to interfering with or stopping fights, this edge can be used to halt physical seizures or hysterical fits of any type, and can bring supernatural creatures out of frenzies, whatever the cause. Creatures that hope to maintain a frenzied state, despite the challenge or acting in your character's presence, must make a Willpower roll, difficulty 8.

Becalm affects your character as well as any hunters or normal people in its area of deployment. Humans may not behave hysterically in the presence of monsters while becalmed, but they still typically forget or rationalize what they experience afterward. This edge's effect can be terminated permaturely if you choose, and it ceases altogether if your character is Incapacitated.

Attacks, particularly ranged ones, performed outside the area of effect against targets within it are not affected by Becalm.

Suspend, Level 5

Many hunters believe in other worlds, including Heaven, Hell or Purgatory — perhaps even other dimensions or alien planes. A hunter who proceeds this far along the path of Redemption begins to understand that other realms might exist — and suspects that supernatural creatures are tied to them and can travel to and from places. Certainly, creatures have been known to disappear without a trace, even to hunter sight. This edge denies a monster those escape routes and forces it to face the error of its ways in the here and now. It also protects the world from unspecified "prying eyes." Redeemers who attain this level of dedication rarely discuss what they believe is "watching."

Users and witnesses of the power report sensations like popping ears, nosebleeds and headaches, but also a sense of liberation. Some fear horrendous side effects, such as keeping the souls of the recently dead from traveling to their rightful places — trapping those souls on Earth!

System: Spend two Conviction points and roll Charisma + Mercy, difficulty 8. If any successes result, your character seals the material world he knows from all other possible realms for the remainder of the scene. The barrier arises whenever your character can physically see. No supernatural creatures may escape your character's presence without leaving conventionally. Any power sources that orginate from anotherplane or reality, and that feed the physical world in your character's proximity, are severed.

Likewise, any supernatural creatures that can enter the physical world are suddenly barred from it in your character's vicinity. They must enter in an area beyond his influence. Otherworldly powers on other planes cannot even perceive the physical realm where your character stands.

Your character may undo the effect early if he chooses, but it persists for the scene, even if he's rendered unconscious.