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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