Night's Pawns: Necromancy For Shadowrun


On A Pale Horse

[New/Special Powers and Weaknesses of the Restless Dead]
Ghost Powers
Corruption ()
This power is ALWAYS used in conjunction with another of the Ghosts powers, e.g., Corruption (Influence). It gradually erodes the victim's resistance. Whenever the victim of the Power in parenthesis fails to make ANY successes in an OPPOSED Test, the Ghost may invest one of its own Force (or spirit energy) points to convert one of the victim's Karma Pool dice to a Permanent EEP die, which can be used by the Ghost to influence the victim (cf "Necromantic Traits: The Chains Of Death") whether or not they are subject to such influence from other ghosts. Note that if the linked Power does NOT normally require an Opposed test, the Ghost must decide IN ADVANCE to allow its victim to oppose the Power (the Target Opposes with the most-applicable skill or Attribute, as determined by the GM).
Dead Weight
An Opposed Willpower vs. Force Test must be made to move a Ghost with this power against its wishes, even if it is contained, or being moved within a vehicle, etc. The visible effects of this power will always appear coincidental, e.g., a truck carrying it may become mired, a bump in the road can cause it to fall from a truck, it may appear vastly heavier than it would have seemed, or caught on something, too slippery or awkward to carry, wedge in a turn or doorway, etc.
Deja Vu
Brief flashes of the defining memories of the Phantasm will "leak through" causing similar situations to trigger "flashback" effects in similar circumstances.
Haywire
The Ghost can cause electromagnetic effects in its vicinity to randomize and malfunction (compasses swing wildly, static disrupts comm, etc. Treat as an ECM/Jamming Rating equal to the Spirit's Force.
Hijack Karma
Any time Karma or Essence is expended or stolen in the ghost's LoS, it can attempt to steal it for itself instead. Ghosts in the area of effect of an Essence drain my pit their Force against the Essence of the Drainer. If the Ghost has ANY net successes, the victim of the Essence drain feeds the Ghost a point of Good Karma per Essence drained up to a maximum of the number of successes... the Drainer MAY make an Assensing test vs. a Tgt# of 8 - karma received if they have any successes on the test, to notice the Ghost's presence, but a magic theory roll is required to determine WHAT the Ghost is actually doing. At the GM's option, Hijacked Karma may be subject to the Grimoire's rules for giving Karma to a Free Spirit as well.
Home Ground
As the Edge from the Shadowrun Companion: The ghost receives a -1 to all Tgt#'s on its home turf. Generally used by Ghosts Haunting a particular location.
Invulnrability
A short-hand catagory for a set of more traditional Powers, it applies to a ghost both in Manifest and non-manifest forms. It combines the normal Spirit's Immunity to Aage, Pathogens, Poisons, Toxins, and Normal Weapons (The Ghost has an Armor Rating equal to 2x its Essence) with a lesser Immunity to Magic, Magic Weapons, and Elemental Effects (Armor = 1x Essence). An Invulnrable Ghost can also heal ALL its injuries by expending an action and a Force point. Note that NONE of these abilities may be used against Damage caused by a Weakness. Also, most "Invulnrable" ghosts also have a specific means of bypassing this Power (Reburying their bodily remains in Holy Ground is a common one, but others exist as well. If the prescribed means of "Laying" the ghost are followed, they are permanantly dispersed, not "damaged" in any normal sense.
Magic Resistance
As the PhysAd Power from Awakenings: The ghost with this power has a strong unconscious resistance to Sorcery, adding one die per level to Resistance Tests against spells in the same manner as spell defense. These dice are only usable by the ghost and cannot be given to others. Magic Resistance does not affect voluntary spells or critter powers.
Magic Sense
As the PhysAd Power from Awakenings: This power is a limited form of astral awareness that allows the ghost to sense magical energies and effects within a radius equal to the ghost's Force x10 in meters. Make a Perception Test using the ghost's Intelligence and consult the description of the Detect Magic spell (Grimoire) for general target numbers and levels of information that can be gained with a successful test. The Perception Test requires a Simple Action to perform. The ghost is astrally active while using this ability, open to the energies of astral space and therefore vulnerable to astral combat.
Emanation()
The Ghost can create a single-sense Physical Illusion with a Range of "Self" with a Resisted Success Test (Force vs Intelligence). Generally this will be of "itself", though it can appear/sound/etc. however it desires. In no case may the Emanation be created at a distance. The effect of this Power can be either single-target, or in an Area (ie, the Ghost can "appear" to EITHER one person, OR to everyone around. In all other respects, the Power functions exactly as an Illusion-Catagory Spell effect.
Masking
As the Metamagical ability of Masking. The ghost has Grade and Magic Rating equal to Force for resisted tests to break through the Masking.
Momento Mori
The Target is afflicted with visions of death and disaster... this isn't directly prophetic, but can be self-fulfilling, as the visions will appear spontaneously and be related to any situation the victim is currently thinking about. This Condition will last for 1 day per Force of the ghost, a vision occurring randomly (whenever the victim rolls more ones than successes on a roll). When a vision occurs, roll opposed Willpower vs. Force, each net success for the Ghost representing a lost action by the victim caught up in the vision, and 10 minutes during which the feeling of doom adds a +1 to all Tgt#s.
Necromancy ()
Some ghosts possess abilities to manipulate ectoplasm much as a Necromancer does, either broad spectrum (As the General Skill) or in specific areas (concentrations, etc.). A Spirit with this power possesses both Necromancy and the Complementary skill for whichever Concentration it possesses at a rating equal to its Force.
Oneiromancy
Similar to but more potent than the Dream spell (From Awakenings), this Power allows the ghost to "physically" enter the dreams of the sleeping target as if it were an unguarded, unstructured metaplane (ie, no Dweller, Places, or Citadel, etc.) Once there, the ghost can totally control the dream setting and occurances, creating intensely vivid illusions so powerful that if the Caster is intent on creating nightmare's, the target will not gain any recovery benefit from his rest. Note that once the Oneiromancy power has taken effect, both ghost and target remain linked within the Target's Dream. Because of the semi-meta-planar nature of the Dreamscape, the ghost and the target can interact as if both are fully astrally active (including determining, (for mana spells only) Range and targetting). Astral stats are used regardless of the "physical" appearences of the Dreamscape. Like the Dream spell, when the Target awakens, they may make a roll of Intelligence vs 2xSucc. to realize that the dream was artificial, and magically imposed. If someone outside the dream world attempts to awaken the target and the ghost does not have an available free action, ghost and Target make opposed Intelligence (ghost) vs Willpower (Target) rolls ... either side may use their Magic Pool to add to their avaialble dice... if the ghost wins, he escapes normally.. if the Target does, the ghost remains trapped within the target's subconcious until they next sleep.
Oracle
Similar in many ways to a Portent, an Oracle is different in that the pronouncement is INFLUENCED to come to pass, and the Necromancer may state a DESIRED Fate for the Spirit to utter an Oracle based on. The target of the Oracle must in some way be made aware of the Spirit's pronouncement before the Power may take effect. Once the Power takes effect, the first time the Oracle CAN come to pass, the GM adds or subtracts up to the Spirit's Force from whatever Tgt# manipulations make the outcome MOST LIKELY, in a literal sense. If the Oracle FAILS to come to pass, it will re-surface the NEXT appropriate time, but with 1 less Force, until it either occurs or fades away. All Oracles must be balanced: If a Necromancer forces the Spirit World to Utter a Negative Portent, not only does the Target receive Karma (representing compensating Attention of Fortune), but the Caster risks a Negative Backlash, as well. This negative backlash will tend to be of a "Poetic Justice" type, and will have a force equivalent to the amount of artificial HARMFUL adjustment that was NEEDED to cause the negative Oracle to be fulfilled, unless the victim of the negative oracle somehow manages to find a "loophole", causing a LITERAL fulfillment of the Oracle without its hostile intent being fulfilled: if THAT happens, the Necromancer suffers a negative backlash with the FULL force of the Oracle.
Perceptive()
As the Edge from the Shadowrun Companion: the Ghost has a -1 to all Perception-related Tgt#'s. Generally this is limited to a single sense and/or under a single set of conditions noted in parenthesis with the Power.
Plasmorphosis
This vile (and fortunately rare) Power is combination of more normal "lesser" powers and ectoplasm effects. Only victims vulnerable to Viviphagy effects (as explained in the section on Ectoplasm effects) or the victims of the Ritual Necromantic Spell "Dark Devouring" can be affected by this Power -- the Spirit attaches itself to its victim and slowly drains the victims Essence over the course of the Infestation... victims killed in this way lose their "reality", bodily transforming into another, lesser, Spirit of the type that killed them (as if by a normal Essence Drain/Infection combination). While a victim of this power is inhabited by the Ghost, this fact is only truly obvious to methods specifically detecting Ectoplasmic energies: normal astral examination only shows a degenerative taint to the victim's aura. Victims thus infested through aura-damage CAN attempt to banish the spirit killing them, but they must first have a Magician able to diagnose the problem correctly, then make an Astral Quest for the Ghosts True Name, before they may use any means of Banishing the ghost. Note that during this process, the Ghost uses its normal means of Essence Drain, but is NOT subject to its normal Essence Loss Mechanics, being sustained by its Victim.
Portent
Tgt#'s & mechanics as the Ancestral Spirit Power of Divination, but the "predictions" are determined by the Phantasma's defining memories... FUTURE memories in detail, however, rather than PAST ones, and this limitation (you have to get a ghost that might KNOW something about the subject) gives a -2 to the Divination Tgt#'s.
Possession
The Ghost makes an Opposed Force vs. Willpower roll against the target. If unsuccessful, the Ghost takes 1 box stun damage per Target Net success. If successful, the ghost enters and merges with the targets aura for 10 min. * Force * Net Successes. While in the target's body, the ghost may control the victim's consciousness -- the target perceives only what the ghost wishes when the ghost exerts its control, and will act, speak, etc. however the ghost wishes, while the ghost retains full access to its own abilities/mind AND the host's memory and abilities as well. Any command or action terribly destructive to the host or its loved ones allows the victim another chance to escape possession with another opposed Force vs. Willpower test, but if the ghost again succeeds, the Powers duration is recalculated from THAT point with the NEW net successes determining the duration. The Possessed Host gains all effects of a Necrosis rating of its original rating plus the ghosts force whenever it takes active control, and whether control is active or not, any Essence Loss normal to the ghost halts for the entire duration of the possession.
Soulwound
The victim of a Soulwound has an instability to their aura above and beyond simple damage. Their essence "Leaks" 0.01 Essence each sunrise AND each sunset, AND for each box of Aura Integrity or Aura Cohesion damage taken. Essence so lost is GONE, and may not be regained. It MAY, however, be hijacked through the Hijack Karma Power, thus victims of this damage tend to attract swarms of hungry ghosts.
Spectral Induction
This Power is a more focused version of the Haywire Power. It allows the ghost to use their energies to alter electromagnetic phenomena in a controlled fashion to manipulate ANY device that uses electricity: The ghost can cause Trideo, phones, radio, etc. output to be whatever it wishes. The Ghost makes a Resisted Intelligence test to determine if the resulting "Output" is believed by the viewers (or listeners, etc). This Power may be used on any STRICTLY electronic functions of anything within (Force) Meters. I.e, it cannot turn on devices using mechanical switches, nor does this Power allow it to cause a device to do things it cannot do under normal circumstances. If the target device has ECM/ECCM, the ghost makes a Force vs ECM rating test to determine if the device is effected. The ghost CAN actually CREATE an electric current within a device by sacrificing Force Points, allowing an "unplugged" device to operate for 1 action per Force point so expended. Of course, Spirit Energy and/or EEP dice may be used for this too.
Stolen Youth
The being using this Power uses stolen life-force to reverse the effects of time upon themselves. This ability/effect can ONLY be used along with Soulfires skill as a target disembodied spirit is consumed for energy. Years UnAged = ((Age - 21) * (Force Eaten/(UNfilled Aura Integrity Boxes + Cacophony + Necrosis))). This effect is immediate, and lasts until ALL the consumed ectoplasm is used up or fades. There are no immediate game-mechanics benefits from this power, it's purely a Roleplaying device: living necromancers will appear young and vigorous, protoplasmic ghosts will un-rot, appearing almost alive, etc.
Timeslip
A more severe form of Deja Vu, the Phantasm can actually cause its target to experience the past as if it were the present... this is a two-way street in a sense, in that the "current" setting must be able to be fairly mappable to the "past" scene, but the "past" scene will alter in accord with some aspects of the current scene while the target experiences it. (I.e., individuals in the "present" will appear to be taking actions defined in the "past" setting, and appear to interact with the target, but target's actions occur in the "present". Harder to explain than implement, I suspect :-)
Vision
This odd power represents the numerous folk reports of ghosts whose very presence somehow sensitized mortals to other things... a prickling of hair, inexplicable premonitions and knowledge, etc. In game terms, the Vision Power conveys the effects of a semi-random Detection-category spell. Note that neither the ghost nor the target of the Vision power have any way of immediately knowing WHAT Detection-effect they've received, merely that they "Sense something" about whatever the Vision triggers on. The Vision TENDS to fix on something nearby but unknown. For instance, if a nearby "elven" friend is actually an elf poser, but this fact is unknown to the target of the Vision Power, it may manifest as a "Detect Human" spell, causing humans to glow subtly in the target's perception. In use, the benefits of this power should only slightly outweigh the difficulties of not really KNOWING what the substance detected IS, and being unable to control it. GM's are encouraged to make the manifestation of this effect as subtle and ambiguous as possible.
Viviphagy
Viviphagy is the ghostly reverse of Soulfires skill: Instead of a necromancer devouring the soul-stuff of a ghost, the ghost attempts to devour the spirit of a living target. While some Ghosts possess this ability innately, ANY ghost that has been devoured by a living host (i.e., reduced to 0 Force by Soulfires skill use) can attempt it versus their devourer whenever his Aura Integrity Damage overflows into Aura Cohesion damage. In the case of Devoured Ghosts rising up, it should be noted that a cast Phantasm is automatically Devoured as well, remaining trapped and voiceless within his old body. Whether used by a Power or in backlash, Viviphagy can ONLY be attempted on targets whose Aura Cohesion is damaged. The Ghost Rolls Force vs. (10 + Essence - Necrosis), Succ = Base Aura Cohesion Damage. The Victim then Rolls (Essence) vs. (Force)Base Aura Cohesion Damage as a normal Stage-down. Aura Cohesion Damage inflicted goes to the attacking ghost exactly as if it were Force Points Soulfires-drained from a ghost. A ghost that fully Corrupts a victim's Aura Cohesion CONSUMES its victim's spirit, usurping their place within their victim's body (though the trauma of this event often casts some remnant of the victim's spirit as a Phantasm (cf). The new composite/hybrid being is a Duende (cf), and possesses none of the victim's memory or skills, though any existing Magic Rating remains with the body: This means PhysAd abilities are usable by the bodies new inhabitant, and while spells and sorcery skills are lost, the body's new owner can use their own sorcery rating and abilities.
Weather Control
A catchall Power representing a ghost's ability to alter environmental conditions within an area equal to 1km/0.6 mi per Essence. This can include creating or banishing fog and/or precipitation, raising or lowering the temperature by 5.4°F (3°C) per Essence, and altering wind speed and/or direction (10°& 5mph/8kph per Essence). In no case can this power cause DIRECT damage, and detrimental effects cannot exceed +1 to Tgt#'s per Ghosts Essence. When a subset of the Weather control power is listed in paranthesis with the Power, the radius of effect is reduced to 33ft/10m per Essence, with secondary effects bleeding outward from this area as appropriate. In most cases, with both the general and limited versions of the Power, a Ghost can voluntarily limit its radius of effect to any smaller area it desires.

Ghost Weaknesses
Alienation
Exactly as the effects of the Alienation Power, but centered on the ghost itself. This is an EXTREMELY common Weakness among ghosts, by the way. The Effects of Alienation apply IN ADDITION to normal perception modifiers for spotting Plasm.
Allergy (Food)
Beings formed exclusively of protoplasm can manifest in such a way that they MIMIC human form and nature, but do not truly LIVE. Some of these beings exhibit a peculiar sensitivity to organic food or drink: this food merely rots in their stomachs, and the odor of rot is not only quite detectable on them, but byproducts of the decay de-stabalyzes their grip on reality. For each "Meal-sized" amount of food ingested, the ghost with this Weakness must resist a (Necrosis) L attack with their UNdamaged Aura Integrity Boxes. The Damage applies to both its Aura Integrity AND its Intelligence, and damages the ghost's memory equivalent to the intelligence loss. This damage is permanent without Necromantic magics purging the impurities from their plasm. Note that non-organics that DON'T rot don't cause this reaction (Alcohol, for instance), and that the damage tends to be self-perpetuating, since as they get LESS intelligent, they tend to forget that they shouldn't eat food...
Amnesia (Partial or Total)
Exactly as the Flaws from the Shadowrun Companion. Ghosts with partial amnesia are aware of their condition and that they HAD a former life. They can use their ghostly powers without restriction, and often possess some skills learned during life, but have no memory OF that life, or who they were when alive. Ghosts with TOTAL Amnesia often do not even realize they ARE ghosts, believing themselves demons, etc., or no longer even possessing self-awareness. Others do not truly realize they're DEAD. In any case, Total-Amnesiac ghosts are often unaware of key aspects of their own nature, abilities, and weaknesses, and a clever ghost hunter can often exploit this.
Bloodlust
This Weakness is experienced by some of the darker ichorous spirits. The ghost can go berserk when wounded in combat, or when it kills an opponent. In either of these cases, the ghost will go Berserk for (3 turns - (successes of Willpower vs. Injury-modified Tgt# 4)). While Berserk, the ghost will either savage the remains of his just killed victim, or attack the closest living target. In either case, it will use its most powerful or physically damaging attack.
Body Ties
This significant vulnerability is threefold: First, the bodily remains of a Body Tied Ghost are transformed to Protoplasm at a cellular level. Because of the detail in the transformed corpse, this change will not be apparent to most testing, but such a corpse will NOT decay. This fact can allow a ghost-hunter to locate or identify the presence of a body-tied ghost. The Second limiting aspect of a Body Ties Weakness is that the so-Tied ghost must remain within or near it's Corpse. Normally Conjured ghosts must remain WITHIN their corpse, and non-protoplasmic ghosts do NOT gain any special ability to MOVE the corpse, instead remaining imprisoned within it, though such ghosts tend to have Powers that enable them to affect the world in other ways. "Free" Ghosts Tied to their corpse may travel up to 1000m per Force from their Corpse. The Third and perhaps most damaging aspect of the Body Ties weakness is that in ALL cases, damage inflicted on the body instantly and automatically applies to the ghost's Spirit form as well.
Energy Loss
Exactly like the Essence Loss Weakness, except that Spirit Energy is lost instead. If Spirit Energy is reduced to 0, the Ghost loses a point of Force and gains Spirit Energy equal to its REMAINING Force. Unless otherwise noted, the Ghost loses 1 Spirit Energy per month.
Flashbacks
Exactly as the Flaw in the Shadowrun Companion.
Obsessive/Compulsive
This particular Weakness is nearly universal among both Ectoplasmic and Protoplasmic Ghosts, due to its invariable presence in folklore. For some reason, the Dead seem to be captivated by trivia: original palindromes, scattered coins, trick coins, jigsaw puzzle pieces, etc. just GRAB a ghost's attention: they'll count the coins, try to discern the trick, solve the puzzle, etc. Any time a ghost with this Weakness is confronted with something interesting but out-of-place, it must roll its Willpower vs. 4 or spend (8 - Intelligence)d6 turns absorbed by whatever caught its interest. At the end of this time, it gets ONE more roll to break the obsession, if it fails, it will continue its actions until stopped by an external change. While absorbed, the ghost is at +6 to all Tgt#'s not directly involved with its current obsession. If attacked or otherwise forcibly interrupted from its activity, the ghost spends 1 action totally disoriented, but is then free of its obsessive/compulsive behavior (until it sees the puzzle again, of course).
Unstable Plasm
Some spirits, for one reason or another, are composed of material MUCH more unstable than normal Plasm. Such beings (even if composed of Protoplasm or Ichor), are affected by DOUBLE the situational Force Modifiers that apply to Ectoplasm, and take double Cohesion and Integrity damage whenever it's inflicted.

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