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What’s Your Chorus?

Mage: The Awakening and Were- wolf: The Forsaken use four increas-

ingly narrow classifications to identify

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spirits: type, chorus, descant and then the spirit itself. We’ve chosen to really only talk about “type” for a couple of reasons. First, this treatment of spirits is meant to be all- inclusive, and simply put, most mortals don’t know enough about the Shadow to make meaningful subcategories of spirits. Sec- ondly, many spirits don’t care about these divisions.

We address these subdivisions here be- cause some of the Numina carried over from these earlier games recognize them. So, when trying to figure this out, just remember that each type of spirit is broken into choruses (and then descants). So, artificial-spirits include these choruses: vehicles, structures, tools, weapons, infor- mation, etc. The elemental choirs would be air, fire, earth, water and perhaps wood, metal, plastic and void. Conceptual-spirits might be emotions, ideas or reactions. The particular subdivisions don’t matter. Noth- ing is written in stone. Some spirits keep up with this and use these subdivisions for their own politics, and power, but many do not. A fear-spirit would be in the emotional choir, a hammer-spirit would be in the tool choir and a computer-spirit would be in the information choir.

• Claim (R): This Numen is a more powerful version of Possession; if the roll is successful, the pos- session is permanent. Spend three Essence points and roll Power + Finesse in an extended and contested roll versus the victim’s Resolve + Composure + Super- natural Advantage; each roll represents one hour. If the spirit gains 50 successes between dusk and dawn, the spirit gains permanent control of the victim’s body. Use the victim’s available traits (except Will- power points, which are equal to the spirit’s current Willpower points) and dice pools for any action the spirit wishes to take. If the spirit fails to accumulate 50 successes within the required period of time, the attempt fails. If a possessed body is killed, the spirit is forced out and must possess another victim if it still wishes to act. Use of this Numen creates a Ridden, specifically a Spirit-Claimed (p. 180).

• Clasp: This Numen allows the spirit to lock a target in a crushing embrace. The Numen functions like any brawling attack. If in the physical world,

the spirit must be Materialized to affect a material target; otherwise, this Numen can only be used on other spirits in Twilight. The spirit may roll Power + Finesse when grappling instead of Power alone. (This takes the place of any Strength + Brawl rolls; see the

World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 157). If the spirit

spends one point of Essence, the spirit’s grappling at- tacks inflict lethal instead of bashing damage for the rest of the scene.

• Commune (R): The spirit can learn the general

state of its home spiritscape. When materialized, this Numen can also function with any environment tied to the spirit’s chorus: woodland for tree spirits, sewers for rat spirits, etc. Successful activation of this Nu- men allows basic information (presence of intruders, potential threats such as fires) up to 500 yards from the spirit. Each additional success increases the radius by an additional 100 yards and increases the detail of information learned. One success could tell the pres- ence of intruders, while three successes could reveal the species/chorus and gender of those intruders. The Numen lasts as long as the user remains in the trance, but she is unaware of and cannot react to the outside world, nor can she relay her findings while the Nu- men is active. It costs one Essence per round spent in communion.

• Concealment: The spirit is able to create a fog,

summon shadows or whip up a dust storm to conceal its exact location. The spirit spends a point of Essence per level of concealment (barely, partially or substan- tially, or fully concealed; see the World of Darkness

Rulebook, p. 162) and rolls Power + Finesse. Each

success extends the effect up to one yard from the spirit. The effect lasts up to a scene. Remember that the spirit suffers penalties to its ranged attacks as well while in cover.

• Corpse Ride: This Numen allows the spirit to

Claim a dead body as other spirits would Claim a liv- ing being. The body’s Soul is not Claimed, however, meaning that a contested roll is not necessary, the spirit simply spends three Essence points and Claims the body automatically during the course of a single hour. The host’s attributes increase a normal, but at a drastically accelerated rate: the Claimed gains points at a rate of one per hour instead of one per week, This power comes at a price, however; while most Claimed can last for years, if not centuries, the corpse is not so lucky — once it achieves full synthesis with its Rid- ing spirit, the corpse begins to deteriorate, losing one Attribute point every three days as the spirit power consumes the body. Once any of its Physical Attributes reach 0, the body disintegrates, shunting the spirit and

information choir.

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Chapter Four-Denizens of Shadow the body’s soul (if present) into the Shadow Realm. Fortunately, this fate is typically a theoretical one; most such spirits have completed their business long before such a fate becomes an issue.

• Damnation’s Path: This Numen makes it im-

possible for its victims to regain Willpower without fulfilling their Vice. While under the spirit’s curse, they no longer are able to regain Willpower by fulfilling their Virtue — this Numen does not prevent the virtu- ous act, but there is no mechanical reward. Fulfilling a Vice restores Willpower as normal. Satisfying a Vice that also leads to a degeneration roll returns all spent Willpower, whether the degeneration roll succeeds or fails. Spend three points of Essence and roll Power + Finesse in an extended and contested roll; each roll represents one hour. If the spirit gains the requisite successes between dusk and dawn, the victim is forced onto Damnation’s Path. The number of successes needed by the spirit is equal to the victim’s current Morality times three. To fight off the spirit’s influence, the victim rolls Resolve + Composure + Supernatural Tolerance. Her target is the spirit’s Power + Rank.

If a spirit encounters its ban during the duration of Damnation’s Path, the curse is lifted and the Numen fails. Encountering a ban during the “conversion” pro- cess likewise ends the struggle. A victim who success- fully fights off the spirit’s curse (via ban or otherwise) is immune to this Numen for one lunar month.

• Dement (R): This Numen assaults a person’s

mind with a cavalcade of nightmarish imagery, break- ing down his sanity in the process. Such images are often personal and culled from a victim’s own memory, although the user sometimes applies images from its own history or “memory” to decide such visions. Use of Dement is a contested action, with opposing rolls being made reflexively. Spend one Essence and roll Power + Finesse versus the victim’s Intelligence + Supernatural Tolerance. If the spirit rolls the most successes, the victim gains a mild derangement of the Storyteller’s choice (see the World of Darkness Rule-

book, p. 96) for a number of days equal to the successes

rolled. If the victim already possesses a mild derange- ment, the derangement the derangement becomes severe rather than possessing another derangement. If the target of the Numen rolls the most or an equal number of successes, the power has no effect on him, but successive attempts are possible.

• Desiccation: This Numen is most often pos- sessed by water-spirits, although rumors speak of blood-spirits that use it to devastating effect. Desic- cation allows a spirit to withdraw some or all of the fluid most closely associated with it from its opponent’s

body. Water-spirits can drain their victims of the water in their bodies; blood-spirits can do the same with blood. The range is five yards per point of power. Roll Power + Finesse; the number of successes determines the number of points of damage the target takes from loss of fluid. The damage is bashing. Due to a lack of real biology, vampires and the Created may contest the spirit’s roll with Stamina + Supernatural Tolerance; however, if the spirit wins the contest, the supernatural loses a point of Vitae or Pyros in addition to taking bashing damage.

• Discorporation: This Numen allows a spirit to discorporate voluntarily, surrendering its Corpus to the Shadow Realm and allowing itself to reform elsewhere as normal. Discorporation is always painful, but desperate spirits choose this route rather than face a greater spirit in combat, with the risk of permanent destruction such conflict carries. Roll the spirit’s Power + Resistance for this Numen to succeed.

• Drain: This Numen enables the spirit to steal Essence or Willpower from a material being, much as spirits can attempt to siphon Essence from one another (see p. 135). The spirit first decides which trait it is attempting to drain, then rolls Power + Finesse against the subject’s Stamina + Resolve + Supernatural Toler- ance. If the attacker wins, the victim loses one point of Essence or Willpower; these points are gained by the attacking spirit. If the target wins, the attacker loses a number of points of Essence or Willpower equal to the successes scored by the target. This spirit must “touch” the target to use this Numen, and must Manifest or Materialize to do so as normal.

• Elemental Immunity: Normally, this Numen

is only possessed by elemental-spirits, making them effectively immune to attacks from their constituent elemental energy. When a victim is targeted by one of these attacks, add the spirit’s Resistance to its Defense. The spirit’s Resistance is also automatically subtracted from environmental exposure as well. For example, a Rank 2 fire elemental with a Resistance of 6 could sleep in a burning chemical plant with no ill effects (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 180).

• Emotional Aura (R): This Numen is somewhat like Harrow, but broadcasts a general pulse of emotion over a wide area rather than focusing on one target. The spirit spends one Essence to activate the aura of emotion, which then lasts for a scene. Anyone within five yards of the spirit, or who later comes within five yards of the spirit, must make a Resolve + Composure + Supernatural Tolerance roll contested by the spirit’s Power + Finesse. If the spirit wins, the subject suffers a –2 dice penalty to dice pools for the duration of

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the scene or until the spirit stops using this Numen, powerfully distracted by the broadcast emotion. If the subject wins, she is immune to this Numen for the duration of the scene.

• Ensnare: The spirit possesses an entangling at-

tack, be it mystic webbing, gobbets of intestine, wire mesh or glue-like spittle. To hit its target, the spirit makes a Finesse roll – the target’s Defense (armor does not add to Defense in this instance. Subjects struck by the attack are automatically grappled (see the World

of Darkness Rulebook, p. 157). Each turn the victim

may roll Strength + Athletics – the spirit’s Power to escape; otherwise she is immobilized. After a number of turns equal to the spirit’s Resistance, begin reducing the effective Power of the snare by two each turn. This attack costs one point of Essence. Additional Essence may be spent to add to the snare.

• Fearstruck: This Numen allows a spirit to cause an opponent to become paralyzed by fear. The spirit spends a point of Essence and then rolls Power + Finesse; the targeted opponent contests the roll with Presence + Composure + Supernatural Toler- ance. Success renders the victim unable to move or speak (or even scream) for one turn. Exceptional success indicates that the victim freezes in place for three turns.

Spirit Mechanics: