The Masks

Terror

The Mask of Terror was born of fear and pain. The fear of the lash, the bludgeon, the rent, and starvation. But fear can become strength as easily as it becomes hate. Terror can be righteous, stilled into the hearts of oppressors like a shock, a sudden jolt of animal empathy. It can be a shield to guard the oppressed, to give the masters pause, to force the boss, the foreman, the lord to consider the dangers of pushing a populace too far.

Intended Roles: Defensive, Assault and Social
Potential Looks: Sharp, twisting vines; fierce, circling horns; wide maws, grinning with razor-sharp teeth, twisted, misshapen oak

Status Trackers

Essence: 1/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Frighten: 0/4 - When you Frighten, you instill fear into others.
Awe: 2/4 - When you Awe, you create a spectacle of wonder.
Disarm: 1/4 - When you Disarm, you remove an enemy’s ability to do harm.
Flash: 0/4 - When you Flash, you disorient, confuse, or speed past.

Special Abilities

[ ] No Lords, No Masters: Gain +Effect when either soothing the souls of the oppressed or inspiring them to action.
[x] Fear Your Slaves: Gain +1d whenever you try to turn servants or followers against their master.
[ ] Sow Discord: Spend 2 Essence and roll Frighten to terrify an enemy force, reducing their scale as combatants flee in terror.
[ ] No Excuses for the Terror: Gain +1d when you Awe a friendly cohort. You may grant them potency on a success.
[ ] Primal Terror: You may spend 2 essence to summon a small cohort of ravens, spiders, or rats that you can Command.
[ ] Silenced Fears: You may expend special armor to cancel a consequence that increases your heat.
[ ] Shock and Awe: Whenever you perform a Desperate action, pay only 1 essence to take +Effect, as all are shocked and awed by your sheer audacity.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You instilled terror into the heart of an oppressor.

Violence

Violence was the last of its brothers and sisters to be forged. A blunt instrument, cruel, keen, and vicious. It has no mercy for the oppressor. No compassion for those that would grind the humanity of others beneath their heel. It does not negotiate. It does not waver. It acts, it protects, it directs, and when the last vampire is slain, it rests.

Intended Roles: Aggressive and Defensive, Assault
Potential Looks: Red tears, gashes. Spikes and twisting tattoos, ram horns, sharp antlers, crimson flowers

Status Trackers

Essence: 0/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Slaughter: 0/4 - When you Slaughter, you use close, personal violence.
Carnage: 0/4 - When you sow Carnage, you fight at a distance.
Direct: 0/4 - When you Direct, you command others in the heat of battle.
Cover: 0/4 - When you Cover, you use violence to protect your comrades.

Special Abilities

[ ] Taunt: Gain +1d when taunting an enemy into focusing its attention on you.
[ ] Threaten: Gain +Effect when using boasts, threats, and general shouting to intimidate your foes.
[ ] Wholesale Carnage: Gain +Effect when using carnage to fight a group that is at a larger scale then your own.
[ ] Fleshmend: You may expend special armor to avoid physical harm.
[ ] Lead from the Front: Add +2 ticks to any morale clock of a cohort or allied group you personally lead.
[ ] See Red: Spend 2 Essence to “see” the blood of everyone at your current location, even through walls, until the end of the foray.
[ ] Bloodtaker: Instantly gain 2 Essence whenever you defeat a vampiric enemy.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You used violence to protect a comrade or ally.

Lies

Lies is the oldest mask, the teacher and instructor of its brethren. It was made when the world was young, worn by the first shamans to speak of things that were not, to teach of things that could be, to explain the darkness of the world and add tinder to the thin flames of hope and progress. It aids as it harms, it educates as much as it deceives. It has lived so very long, it knows when a lie will heal, when the truth will cut. But its work is never done, there is always another story, another performance. Another moral to be learned, another lesson to teach. Won’t you help it at its work?

Intended Roles: Defensive, Social and Stealth
Potential Looks: Grinning, laughing mouth; a crown of branches or antlers, jeweled, emerald eyes, twisting golden filigree over amber-colored wood

Status Trackers

Essence: 2/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Deceive: 2/4 - When you Deceive, you use lies and trickery to coerce others.
Hide: 1/4 - When you Hide, you veil people, intentions, or plots.
Reveal: 0/4 - When you Reveal, you discover what was hidden.
Educate: 0/4 - When you Educate, you teach, elucidate, or hold forth a topic.

Special Abilities

[ ] Many Faces: If you are able to get a single drop of blood from someone, you may spend 2 Essence to change your face so that it matches theirs.
[ ] Simple Truths: Gain +Effect when countering propaganda or exposing some commonly accepted lie.
[x] Honeyed Words: When using lies or flattery to influence your enemies, gain +1d or +Effect.
[ ] Unseen, Unheard: You may expend special armor to avoid a consequence that would lead to your discovery.
[ ] Taste Truths: If you are able to drink a dram of blood from a person, you may gather information about their past, seeing some of their life through their eyes.
[ ] Twist the Lie: When you catch an enemy in a lie, you immediately harm them for 2 ticks on a relevant clock or with a -1 to their Threat.
[ ] Cloak of Rumors: Spend 2 Essence and use the Deceive action to whisper a "rumor" in someone’s ear. They will believe that rumor and will most likely act on it within the next hour. You may need to spend additional essence for more dangerous rumors, at the GM’s discretion.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You taught someone else something or learned something important.

Riot

Riot is multitudes. Forged of many trees, many branches, many magics. They speak in echoing voices, a cacophony of riotous sound. They are the voice of the unheard, the agitator of action, the spark that lights the flame. They urge, they cajole, they sway and persuade and never, it seems, shut up. They are perpetual action, almost exhausting in they’re thirst for justice, for the end of villainy, for the blood of the wicked. They have such things to tell you, to tell the world. Wear Riot, and let your voice, and the voice of the multitude ring out for all to hear.

Intended Roles: Aggressive, Social and Assault
Potential Looks: Fiery reds and oranges; orbs of flame for eyes; branching horns, tipped with smoldering embers

Status Trackers

Essence: 0/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Rouse: 0/4 - When you Rouse, you inspire people to take action.
Burn: 0/4 - When you Burn, you set fire. To hearts with your words, to buildings with torches, to vampires with more torches.
Inspire: 0/4 - When you Inspire, you fill the hearts of your allies with passion, and their minds with purpose.
Provoke: 0/4 - When you Provoke, you use rhetoric and other means to get your enemies to do things they really shouldn’t..

Special Abilities

[ ] Language of the Unheard: Gain +Effect when you invoke a known cause or common struggle to stir others to action.
[ ] Common Struggle: Gain +1d when gathering information by talking with a commoner.
[ ] Friends, Comrades, Countrymen: Gain +Effect or +1d when addressing a crowd.
[ ] Fiery Rhetoric: Whenever you deliver a speech, you may spend 2 Essence to spontaneously cause something in the scene to catch on fire.
[ ] Torches and Pitchforks: Any crowds or cohorts you lead gain +quality.
[ ] Righter of Wrongs: You may invoke some crime, tragedy, or other horrible deed committed by the vampires to gain +1d or +Effect.
[ ] A Single Spark: Gain +1d or +Effect to any arsons or explosions you help engineer.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You led others or spoke truth to power.

Torment

Torment is agony and relief, suffering and mending. It is the necessary pain, the sharp knife that cuts out the caustic tumor, the pin-prick of the suture that closes the wound, but also the aloe that soothes and the bandage that protects. It was made to help it’s brethren, to keep them safe, to protect and heal where it can. It loves all, cares for all, enough to urge the end of those that are past all hope of redemption. A quick blade is it’s mercy, tearful and empathetic, it does not kill with joy, but with sorrow. The greatest torment is it’s own, but only slightly less will be the suffering of the oppressor.

Intended Roles: Defensive, Stealth and Social
Potential Looks: Tears of azure lapis lazuli; a face twisted in permanent grief; sharp thorns and knotted branches

Status Trackers

Essence: 0/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Suture: 0/4 - When you Suture, you use stitches, powders, unguents, to repair people and things.
Exsanguinate: 0/4 - When you Exsanguinate, you draw blood from the veins of another.
Vivisect: 0/4 - When you Vivisect, you use quick, precise blade strikes on the living and dead.
Tend: 0/4 - When you Tend to another, you care for your comrade’s well-being, both mental and physical.

Special Abilities

[ ] Lure: You gain +1d when attempting to lure someone away or set up a future action.
[ ] Suffer in Silence: You may expend special armor to avoid being detected while doing violence.
[ ] A Stitch in Time: Gain +1d when repairing something or rigging up a trap.
[ ] Tormenting Laughter: You may expend 2 Essence to make a target hear mocking laughter coming at them in all directions.
[ ] Thousand Needles: You bid wounds stitch themselves closed. You may use Suture or Tend on a nearby group.
[ ] Shared Pain: You gain +1d or +Effect when trying to understand the pain of others or by invoking shared hardships.
[ ] Expert Vivisection: Gain +1d when performing an autopsy to determine how someone died or when using blades to rend someone limb from limb.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You cared for an ally, either physically, emotionally or mentally.

Judgement

Without judgement, there can be no true peace. Judgement was born from a desire for truth and reconciliation. It was made to execute the guilty, to spare the penitent, to strike down the wicked and strengthen the oppressed. It is placid, almost gentle in it’s stoicism. It speaks simply, directly, without embellishment or theatrics, stating only the facts of the matter as it discerns them. It does what must be done, nothing more, nothing less, a cold executor of the will of a collective whole.

Intended Roles: Aggressive, Stealth and Assault
Potential Looks: Placid ivory overlay, subtly featured, imperceptible, dark, concealed ebony wood, expressionless

Status Trackers

Essence: 0/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Snipe: 0/4 - When you Snipe, you shoot at targets from long range.
Scout: 0/4 - When you Scout, you gather intelligence on terrain and enemy forces.
Read: 0/4 - When you Read, you read and interpret writing or situations.
Slip: 0/4 - When you Slip, you quietly fade away.

Special Abilities

[ ] Executioner: Gain +Effect or +1d when attacking a target who is badly wounded.
[ ] Review the Evidence: +1d when gathering information about a specific target.
[ ] The People's Razor: Gain +Effect when using bladed weapons.
[ ] Swift Justice: When there is a question as to who acts first, you do.
[ ] Careful Aim: Gain +1d when shooting a target from a controlled position.
[ ] Pronounce Sentence: Your words carry the weight of democratic authority. Gain +1d when giving information to others or commanding them to action.
[ ] Read the Room: You can always tell when danger is coming your way. The GM will warn you of upcoming danger, or provide you with a free flashback to prepare for it.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You pronounced your judgement on a situation or character.

Ruin

Ruin is the slow death, the crawling chaos, the inexorable drumbeat and the march of time. It is the end that comes for all things, but it only by it’s consumption that rebirth becomes possible. Ruin was forged at the waning days of war, when defeat seemed inevitable, it was made to be a glowing coal, a slow simmer, that it might one day reignite.

Intended Roles: Defensive, Assault and Social
Potential Looks: Cracked, aging wood. Dry rot, spreading mushrooms, crumbling bits of stone, unfinished, half-made.

Status Trackers

Essence: 0/7
- Spend at least 1 essence to use a Special Ability.
- Spend 2 essence to gain +1d or +Effect
- Spend essence for stress at a 1:1 ratio

Actions - When a Mask Action overlaps with a Background Action, they are in coherence. Roll the lower of the two action ratings to gain +Effect.

Corrupt: 0/4 - When you Corrupt, you use your blood as a weapon.
Crack: 0/4 - When you Crack, you force a small but critical break.
Quarry: 0/4 - When you Quarry, you strengthen, reinforce, or hunt.
Spoil: 0/4 - When you Spoil, you rot and spread illness from within.

Special Abilities

[X] Alchemic Blood: You may infuse your blood with one of the following effects, and may combine your blood with explosives. You may unlock additional effects by spending additional advancements.
   [ ] Soporific, puts folk to sleep
   [ ] Ashen, spend Ashwood to spread ash into the air
   [ ] Caustic, melts armor
   [ ] Flechette, cuts and maims flesh
   [ ] Naptha, flammable, “sticky” fire.
   [ ] Narcotic, causes euphoria, may be ingested to allow allies to ignore their wounds
[ ] Envenom: You may apply the effect of your blood to a weapon for a single attack.
[ ] A Slow Poison: If you poison an enemy or mark them with your blood, they cannot hide from you. You may always sense them and track them all across Cardenfell. Gain +Effect when harming your quarry.
[ ] Transfusion: Gain +Effect when using bladed weapons.
[ ] Cruel End: When your poison kills someone, it does so horrifically, terrifying your foes and increasing your position.
[ ] Bulwark: Gain +1d to all resistance rolls when leading a cohort.
[ ][ ] Drink Deep: Gain an additional essence slot.
[ ][ ] Multifaceted: Gain an ability from a different Mask.

XP Triggers

Experience: 0/8
When the Mask XP clock fills, choose a new Special Ability or add a new Mask Dot.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 Mask XP, or 2 Mask XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You fulfilled your Oath.
- You defeated a Vampire Noble.
- You strengthened a fellow brigand or an ally.