Arts&Realms

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Arts

AutumnContractKryosMetamorphosisSkycraftStorm CraftSummerChicaneryDragon IreOneiromancy (art)SoothsayTalecraftChronosInfusionPrimalSovereignWayfareLegerdemainPyreticsSpringWinter

The Autumn Art is among the oldest magic still practiced by the Kithain. Regarded by some as the most fearsome of the four seasonal Arts, this is the magic of the fall, of Samhain, of the turning from light into darkness. It possesses none of the creative energy or passion of the Spring or Summer Arts, nor the solemn dignity of Winter. Instead, it is an art of shadows and decay, of withering away, of death not yet accepted and doom still befalling its victims. The Autumn Art is regarded by most Kithain as black magic of the most unwholesome sort. While many would like to believe such Glamour would only be wielded by the most dark hearted of Unseelie, the truth is that the Autumn Art has a long history among sluagh of both Courts, as well as certain satyr grumps and Unseelie boggans.

• Creeping Shadows

The changeling commands nearby shadows to bend to her whim. A satyr summons the shadow of a reluctant partner to dance with her. A sluagh curdles the nighttime shadows of a bully’s bedroom into a theater of menace. This Art may be used subtly, twisting or slightly manipulating shadows to grant a sinister aspect to the scene, or it may be used to commandeer shadows to become great leering things, utterly disconnected from the actions of those that cast them, or even to swallow the changeling (or another) up and hide the subject from sight.

System: The Realm selected determines who or what casts the shadows this cantrip manipulates. Subtle uses of this power lower the difficulty of all Intimidation rolls by the caster by one per success rolled. Overt uses of this power simply tend to announce the changeling’s power as a sorcerer to other Kithain and terrify mortals (at least until the Mists obscure the wildly leaping, monstrous shadows they witnessed). Used to swallow up a subject in its own shadow, an individual lowers the difficulty of Stealth rolls by one per success, while a shadowed object raises the difficulty to find it by one per success rolled (to a maximum of 9).

Type: Chimerical or Wyrd, depending on how overt the use

•• Autumn Eyes

The duke leans forward, scrutinizing the wanderer before him, eyes burning with the orange light of Samhain. Glimpsing the great curse dogging his visitor’s footsteps, he withholds hospitality and sends the eshu on his way, igniting a flurry of whispers.

Infusing the Glamour of Autumn into her eyes, the changeling attunes her senses to decay and doom. She can see the illness and infirmity in those around her, recognize the weaknesses and stress points of objects, or even recognize those marked by some great or impending doom.The changeling’s eyes always take on some unearthly characteristic when using this cantrip — her irises may become the orange of fresh-fallen leaves, or might glow white with ghostly limbal rings. Although every other element of this cantrip is chimerical, the change to her eyes can be spotted even by astute mortals (difficulty 8 to do so).

System: The Realm used determines who or what the character can scrutinize. If used on a person, the character learns the general state of the individual’s health (this can act as a diagnosis roll if the character has the Medicine Ability), gaining more detailed information the more successes she rolls. Alternately, the changeling might identify a weak point in an opponent, adding one additional die of damage to her next attack against that target for each success rolled. Objects may be scrutinized to similar effect to identify weak points. If the subject of Autumn Eyes is the subject of some curse, debilitating magic, or great impending doom (such as the Dark Fate Flaw — see p. 189), then this fact is revealed with three or more successes, along with the nature of the doom or supernatural malignance.

Type: Chimerical

••• The Poisoned Apple

A young redcap brings a pan of her mother’s cookies to her third-grade class, enough for each student to have one. She’s very careful to hand the boy who throws rocks at herafter school one very special cookie — one infused with all of her fear and anger.

This terrible cantrip has given generations of mortals ample reason to fear both the gifts and wrath of the fair folk. Condensing her ire into a deadly infusion of Glamour directed at something within arm’s reach, the changeling poisons her subject.

System: The Realm used determines who or what is poisoned. If used on a person, the target is simply struck down with poison. If used on an object, the object becomes poisonous to the next individual who uses it in a manner decided by the Storyteller and the nature of the object. (A poisonous apple would need to be eaten, while an envenomed book would likely deliver its deadly enchantment to the one who reads it.) This cantrip inflicts damage equal to the successes rolled, and is resisted as normal for a poison (see p. 292). Supernatural beings resist it as a category 3 poison, while for mortals it is resisted as a category 5.

Type: Wyrd

•••• The Withering

A legbreaker backs a satyr up against his door and draws a wrench from his pocket. But the satyr clenches his fist and leers across it and, in so doing, snatches away fifty years. The legbreaker is suddenly an old man, weak, tottering, liver spotted — and light enough for the satyr to push him over the apartment building’s railing with one hand. The curse abates as the tough falls, but it’s all in gravity’s hands by then. With a vicious gesture, the changeling steals away a target’s vitality, leaving only the seeming of age and decay. System: The Realm determines who or what is withered. Used on a mundane object, this Art’s effects are permanent. Otherwise, successes must be split between duration and severity of the withering inflicted by this Art. Each success ages the subject by one decade, or may be dedicated to the duration chart below. For every two successes dedicated to withering a living subject, it suffers a –1 penalty to all physical dice pools.

0 successes The withering lasts for the caster’s Glamour in turns.
1 success The withering lasts for one scene.
2 successes The withering lasts for one day.
3 successes The withering lasts for the caster’s Glamour in days.
4 successes The withering lasts for twice the caster’s Glamour in days.
5 successes The withering lasts for thrice the caster’s Glamour in days.

Multiple castings have no effect unless they garner more successes than the curse already afflicting the target. No matter how badly this cantrip withers its target, it cannot kill it outright with advanced age.

Type: Wyrd

••••• Shivers

A quietly angry sluagh slips into the nursing home’s employee lounge. There — that’s the jacket belonging to the orderly who is too rough with his nana. He slips a fistful of crushed leaves into its pocket, and across this place of old age and despair, the shades of the dead stir to attention. The jacket’s owner will find little peace any time soon.The changeling draws out her own dreams of death and darkness, and bequeaths them to a target. The person or thing so cursed becomes a beacon for ghosts, and suffers the attentions of the restless dead for a time thereafter. System: The Realm used determines who or what is haunted. The exact effects of being haunted by ghosts can vary tremendously, based on the location, object, or person being haunted, the likelihood that any ghosts already have an interest in them, and so forth. At the extreme end, non-mechanical calamities may occur such as the walls dripping blood during an important business meeting. As general advice, the attention of the unquiet dead may produce results such as –1 penalties to actions requiring intense concentration, or to actions using a haunted object, or they may prevent characters from regaining Willpower when they sleep, as their dreams are haunted.The haunting lasts for a number of days equal to the successes rolled times the caster’s permanent Glamour.

Type: Chimerical

Practitioners of Chicanery bend and weave Glamour, knowing the Mists will follow to obscure the magic from the mundane world. Commoners were the first to harness the Mists to alter perception and memory, and considered the resulting Art a small act of rebellion against the force which normally limits their power. Perhaps because of the Art’s origin, Chicanery was long considered an Art fit only for commoners. Knowledge and use of the Art still carries a stigma in courts ruled by elder nobles.

• Trick of the Light

A subtle manipulation of Glamour to muddle perceptions, Trick of the Light creates misunderstandings and mistakes. A pooka running a kidnapping con sounds just like the mark’s mother over the phone. An eshu hounded by a deranged hunter walks into a market and blends into the crowd. Down on her luck, a sidhe passes off a one-dollar bill as a 100 so she can eat tonight.

System: Casting Trick of the Light on a target causes anyone perceiving the target to misinterpret what they see or hear as determined by the player, but the effect does not hold up to prolonged scrutiny. The changeling invoking Trick of the Light uses the Realm to determine what becomes changed or altered with the illusion. Each success on the cantrip roll maintains the subterfuge for one turn. A character spending longer than a turn paying close attention to the target can roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 8) to see through the cantrip. This cantrip cannot be used to weave elaborate illusions; if a target couldn’t reasonably mistake the target object for the genuine article without much attention, it’s probably too involved for Trick of the Light.

Trick of the Light is considered chimerical even when used on mundane targets because the effects are subtle and do not withstand prolonged examination.

Type: Chimerical

•• Veiled Eyes

Where Trick of the Light makes the viewer mistake one thing for another, Veiled Eyes uses the Mists to make the target of the cantrip instantly forgettable. A Kithain dressed in courtly robes can walk through a crowd of mortals unnoticed, a troll’s ornate broadsword hangs freely on her hip but goes ignored as she enters a bank, and the changeling’s enemies remain oblivious to the storm clouds rolling across the sky toward their home. The target does not become physically invisible, just not worth noticing. Changelings can create malicious applications of Veiled Eyes, making speeding cars or incoming enemies go unnoticed until it’s too late.

System: The Realm determines the thing that everyone else ignores, but additional Realms can be used to create exceptions to the effect. Using Fae and Nature, for example, could allow the character to cloak herself with Veiled Eyes, but allow animals to still sense her. The number of successes determines the duration:

1 success One turn
2 successes One minute
3 successes One hour
4 successes One scene
5 successes One day

Changelings can counter the enchantment with a resisted action using Perception + Kenning (difficulty 8), but must be looking for either the focus of the cantrip or searching for something hidden. Other supernatural creatures also have the same chance to see through the illusion, provided they possess some form of supernatural senses or mystic insight.

Type: Chimerical or Wyrd, depending on the targe

••• Dream Logic

Disjointed and illogical connections thrive in the chaos of the Dreaming, and changelings adept in Chicanery capitalize on the weirdness of dream logic to confuse and manipulate. As the target’s mind becomes shrouded by Glamour and the ensuing Mists, she becomes disoriented and does not question statements or commands that would normally make little sense to her. Covert eshu pass messages and packages with confused mortal couriers. The troll zookeeper tames new animals that no one else can safely approach.

System: The Realm for Dream Logic determines the target.

After successfully casting the cantrip, the changeling imposes a confused, suggestible state of mind onto the target(s) causing +3 difficulty to any Mental or Social tasks throughout the duration. The target(s) also become highly sensitive to the caster’s suggestion, going along with actions and ideas that would normally make little sense or that the target would rebuke.

Any time the character attempts to manipulate or command the target(s), the player or Storyteller may resist by rolling Willpower (difficulty 8) and scoring as many or more successes as the player rolled for the Dream Logic cantrip. Players of affected characters may spend a point of Willpower to overcome the cantrip if the changeling suggests anything which shocks their consciences or puts them in mortal danger. The duration of Dream Logic depends on the number of successes rolled when cast:

1 success One turn
2 successes One minute
3 successes One hour
4 successes One scene
5 successes One day

Type: Chimerical

•••• Veiled Mind

Legends and mythology paint fantastic, and well deserved, scenes of faeries stealing mortals’ memories. Moving beyond mere sight or sound, the changeling shrouds the focus of the cantrip with Glamour and the accompanying Mists to temporarily wipe the focus of the cantrip from everyone’s mind. The lover who scorned a Kithain may find her family staring at her with blank faces as she comes home for a holiday, or the changeling’s opponent forgets to draw her sword during the duel.

System: The Realm determines what everyone else forgets, and multiple Realms can be used to create exceptions. A character using Veiled Mind to make everyone forget her long enough to escape her enemies could add Fae or Actor so that her motley does not regard her as a stranger. The number of successes determines the duration:

1 success One hour
2 successes One scene
3 successes One day
4 successes One week
5 successes One month

Changelings employing Veiled Mind may unravel the effects any time they wish during the duration. As with Veiled Eyes, changelings and other supernatural creatures can resist the Art provided they have some reason to try to remember the subject.

Type: Chimerical or Wyrd

••••• Lost in the Mists

What is worse than being unable to trust your senses, being invisible, or even being forgotten? Masters of Chicanery employ the ultimate manipulation of the Mists to wrest away their target’s identity. The focus of this cantrip not only forgets who he is, but the changeling can employ her knowledge of other Realms to make him believe he is something else entirely. The nocker’s rival begins acting like a dog when presenting a new invention. The vampire terrorizing a local motley wakes up with no memory of her undead state and panics when she steps outside and the sunlight burns her skin. A clurichaun makes a mortal believe he is a rain cloud to create instant performance art.<b

System: As with Dream Logic, the Realm determines the target but additional Realms allow the changeling to define the inflicted delusion. In addition to their normal function as modifier Realms, including Scene or Time also allows the Kithain to build a different place or different time period into the effects. For example, using Scene the character could opt to have the target retain their normal identity, but believe she is in prison. Similarly, use of Time could transport the target into the past or an imagined future, at least in her own mind. When the character casts the cantrip, the target’s player should roll Perception + Kenning (difficulty 9) to determine if she is aware of the invasion into her mind. If successful, the character can resist the effects each turn with a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 8), or for the entire scene by spending a point of Willpower. The number of successes determines the duration:

1 success One hour
2 successes One scene
3 successes One day
4 successes One week
5 successes One month

Type: Chimerical or Wyrd

Once the purview solely of noble houses and the sidhe, the commoner Kithain now consider time magic fair game. Many sidhe remain jealous of this Art and may react with hostility when they see a commoner wielding it. At first, changelings studying Chronos deal entirely in the perception of time, but with sufficient practice (and courage) the Kithain can learn to relive a moment or stretch something temporary across eternity.

• Backward Glance

To start, the student of time magic learns to look backward in time. Although considered a rudimentary use of Chronos, the cantrip’s utility makes even novices sought after in freeholds and motleys. A sidhe investigating the disappearance of her vassal looks through the past of where she was last seen. Suspicious of his lover, a troll peers into her day and sees a rendezvous with her paramour.

System: The Realm determines the focus of the postcognition, while the number of successes determines how far back in time the changeling can look. The player can specify a time or event on which to focus, but if the event she looks for is outside of the timeframe allowed by the number of successes rolled, the cantrip fails.

1 success Up to one hour
2 successes Up to one day
3 successes Up to one week
4 successes Up to one month
5 successes Up to one year
Type: Chimerical

•• Effect and Cause

The first cantrip dealing with time distortion, Effect and Cause scatters the normal progression of time for the target of the cantrip. The sound of shattering glass might precede the tumbler falling to the ground, or a body would hit the floor prior to the gunshot ringing out.

System: The cantrip’s Realm determines the focus of the magic, and anyone or anything perceiving that target experiences the distortion. Only a sentient creature can suffer the effect imposed by the cantrip, because this level of Chronos does not alter the flow of time, just the perception of those around the target. Effect and Cause creates serious confusion in anyone trying to view or interact with the target, causing a three-die penalty for anyone experiencing the cantrip’s effects.

Characters with knowledge of Chronos or similar magical mastery over time may take an action, and the player rolls Wits + Gremayre (difficulty 8) to ignore the negative effects for the scene.

The number of successes determines how long the cantrip lasts:

1 success One turn
2 successes One minute
3 successes One hour
4 successes One scene
5 successes One day

Type: Wyrd

••• Set in Stone

Minor manipulations to the flow of time precede the Kithain learning to dam the river and temporarily stop time itself. Casting Set in Stone on a target prevents the normal effects of aging and exposure to the outside world, but does not prevent the target from normal interactions or intentional destruction. Time no longer has the same effect for the target, preventing growth, aging, deterioration, and sometimes progress. Weather patterns could remain constant for weeks, while food would stay ripe and edible indefinitely. The cantrip does not prevent intentional harm or damage, meaning the Kithain’s car may never need maintenance, but would still sustain damage in a crash.

A boggan determined not to lose her aging dog keeps it from growing any older. Determined to extract valuable information, a sidhe torturer keeps any of his victim’s wounds from healing. A troll stops progress on the construction of a new bridge, despite a construction crew continuing work every day.

System: The Realm determines the target and the number of successes indicates how long the cantrip removes the focus from the normal flow of time. Note that sufficient levels of Fae allow the character to prolong other cantrips with Set in Stone, but the specific interactions should be arbitrated by the Storyteller.

1 success One day
2 successes One week
3 successes One month
4 successes One year
5 successes One decade

Type: Wyrd

•••• Déjà Vu

Beyond the manipulation of temporal perception, past halting the flow of time around the target, the changeling next learns to relive a recent moment and re-experience the present armed with future knowledge. As time moves forward, the branching possibilities make any long-term application of the cantrip useless, but for up to a few minutes, the adept of Chronos becomes a time traveler. With such undeniable power, the changeling also accepts the risk of becoming overwhelmed with possible futures. Repeated use of Déjà Vu during the same scene becomes increasingly more difficult as the threads of fate become tangled.

A piskey courier relives the moments before she is cornered by her rivals and avoids the danger altogether; the troll bodyguard sees his client gunned down, but then experiences the moment again to push her out of the way and take the bullet; a dying selkie relives her final breath to kiss her true love one last time. System: The Realm determines who or what is sent back in time, although anyone subjected to Déjà Vu without warning will be disoriented and justifiably confused. Even the caster and other masters of time magic must overcome the strain of traveling through time in order to change the future. The turn the player declares her character has used Déjà Vu, the target(s) Chapter Four: Arts and Realms 203 (including herself) cannot take an action while they orient to the current flow of time.

The player must describe any bunk her character used while casting the cantrip and the Storyteller lowers the difficulty appropriately. After the player rolls the cantrip, the target(s) receive a –3 to the difficulty of all rolls for a number of turns equal to the number of successes from the cantrip roll. Each use of Déjà Vu increases the difficulty of the next use of Déjà Vu during the current scene by one.

Type: Wyrd

••••• Time Dilation

The source of the Rip Van Winkle legends, dilating time pushes the target forward through time and sends her out of sync with the rest of the world. The target will age and suffer the normal effects of time passing, but the world around her barely changes.

Helpful and generous, a troll quickly ripens fruit to help feed some lost children. Furious about the motley aiding his enemy, a powerful sluagh ages their house a century, causing it to rot and decay before their eyes. Under the care of the boggan gardener, newly-planted saplings grow into towering trees in a matter of moments.

System: As with the previous Chronos cantrips, Realm determines the target(s) but successes dictates the amount of time the subject experiences. The entire cantrip lasts mere moments even when decades pass for the target.

1 success Up to one week
2 successes Up to one month
3 successes Up to one year
4 successes Up to one decade
5 successes Up to one century

Type: Wyrd

Realms

ActorFaeNaturePropSceneTime