INHABIT

 

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Wraiths skilled in Inhabit are masters of the inanimate. The can infuse their very essence into an inanimate object, attuning themselves to its every inch, in time even learning how to animate their “home". By preparing an inanimate Consort, a wraith can exert more control over its functions when Inhabiting it. Those who use Inhabit on computers and other technological devices have found that after a time their corpus gains charred traceries of circuit-board patterns.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________IINHABIT  SPECIAL RULES

 

• If an object is destroyed while a wraith is Inhabiting it, he’s ejected from the item’s remains and suffers one point of lethal
  damage.

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• If a wraith is attuned to an object , his Inhabit rolls against that item are at –2 difficulty. (see Attunement)

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• Unless otherwise specified, only one wraith at a time can Inhabit an object. If an Artificer attempts to Inhabit something that already contains another wraith, the current occupant’s successes cancel the interloper’s on a one-for-one basis. If the Artificer wins anyway, the initial occupant is ejected from the object and suffers one  bashing damage equal to the Artificer’s net successes.

 

• Each use of Inhabit on another wraith’s Fetter grants the Artificer’s Shadow 1 Angst.

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SHROUD THICKNESS RATING (used occasionally with some Inhabit powers)

RATING                       AREA                                           

    1                             Cearn                                                

    2                             Node/Graveyard                               

    3                             Deep Wilderness                                 

    4                             Rural Countryside                               

    5                             No mans land                                     

    6                             Most Urban Areas                             

    7                             Downtown alley

    8                             Downtown interior locations

    9                             Downtown Mainstreet.          

    10                           Technocratic Lab*   

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MAGE TECH:

Artificers love messing with the cybernetically enhanced minions of Iteration X. Even with the high Shroud rating of secure systems, they’re still susceptible to a sufficiently motivated wraith’s efforts to hack things from the other side. And as most Technocrats flat out don’t believe in ghosts (with a few exceptions among the Void Engineers), they certainly don’t build defenses against ghostly incursions.

 

Any Virtual Adept with a Spirit rating of at least 2 can put together a basic defense against Artificers cruising their networks

WITS + INHABIT RANK: DIFFICULTY 16+ to engage with a system defended thus.

Sons of Ether, on the other hand, have tech that’s easy to penetrate but difficult to escape from. Due to their passing acquaintance with the normal laws of physics, Sons of Ether devices require an INTELLIGENCE + INHABIT RANK  roll DIFFICULTY 14+ to escape once a wraith is inside.

The imprisonment lasts up to one day. Certain sharp-eyed Sons of Ether have noticed their unwanted guests and gone into the business of making ghost traps, moebius loops of circuitry that can trap an overly curious wraith in an endless loop unless the mage chooses to free them.

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GHOST IN THE MACHINE: HACKING AS A WRAITH

WRAITH who enter computer systems with the aim of hacking roll REMOTE hacking as per the HACKING page.

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◉ ASSUME THE SHELL (COMMON) A single success is required to enter the computer system. Challenge the device owner as if normal hacking.

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ROLL : WITS + INHABIT RANK for short tasks

ROLL: INTELLIGENCE  + INHABIT RANK for long tasks

For difficulties and contested rolls treat the wraith as attacking from a Trinary Computer. (It's not -actually- using a Trinary)

Any defender successes do not -track or trace- the wraith. Instead they cause 1 lethal damage per success and immediately -boot- the wraith from the device. 

A wraith cannot enter other networks or servers from the device unless he has ◉◉◉◉ WIRE RIDER  (A.K.A Ride The Electron Highway) (COMMON) 

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This ability may make necromancers and those without sufficient the sufficient hard ware to hack glass walkers or virtual adepts consider utilizing a wraith with the Inhabit Arcanoi. Indeed "Projectors" with this Arcanoi often moonlight as white hat /black hat hackers too.

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INHABIT COMMON

◉ ASSUME THE SHELL (COMMON) 
Inhabit’s most basic art allows a wraith to insert himself into an inanimate object. He has no control over it and can’t perceive anything outside its immediate area, but he may study its inner workings and is undetectable to normal senses.

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION

ROLL: DEXTERITY + INHABIT  RANK

DIFFICULTY 12+
SUCCESS:

Only one success is necessary for the wraith to enter the object; additional successes provide details of the device’s principles of operation or information stored within it.

If a character scrutinizes the object any form of supernatural perception  that could reveal the wraith’s presence, she must beat his inhabit roll successes to detect him.

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◉◉ MISFIRE (COMMON) 

By passing his hand through a mechanical or electronic device, the wraith may cause a temporary malfunction. Gears jam, combustion falters, electricity shorts out or surges, and complex electronics throw error messages or reboot themselves. Simple machines are unaffected (Wrenches , Bows) ;a target must have moving parts or run on electrical power to be susceptible to Misfire. (Guns use combustions, so are prone to this)

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION

SPEND 1 PATHOS

ROLL: STRENGTH + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY 12+

SUCCESS:

The target device is disabled for one turn per success.

The operator may attempt to fix the problem with a roll of Wits + Technology :Difficulty 12+. Each success removes one of the wraith’s successes.

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◉◉◉ CLAIM THE SHELL  (COMMON) 
The wraith may enter a relic or a Skinlands object and use it as a surrogate body. He has full control over all its functions and can move its parts on their own, though he can’t make it do anything else outside its own capabilities. For example, a wraith possessing a revolver can cock the hammer, pull the trigger, and swing out the cylinder and eject spent shell casings, but he can’t levitate or aim the gun, nor grasp and load fresh ammunition. His senses function normally, though they’re spread over the object’s entire surface.

If a Skinlands object is destroyed while the wraith Inhabits it, he may bring it across the Shroud as a relic (though creating a relic from a container doesn’t also create relics from its contents).

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION

SPEND: 3 PATHOS

ROLL: STRENGTH + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY :7 + SHROUD RATING

SUCCESS:
The number of successes required  depend on the item’s size:

• 1 success Handheld: tablet or notebook computer, handgun, power tool, book

• 2 successes Two-handed: small appliance, greatsword, web server

• 3 successes Human-sized: motorcycle, crew-served heavy weapon, office furniture

• 4 successes Vehicular: speedboat, garage workbench, assembly line laser welding robot

• 5 successes Industrial: locomotive, marine diesel engine, newspaper printing press

• 6+ successes Structural: house, airliner, ship

Claim the Shell lasts for one scene.

If the object is destroyed while the wraith is within it, his Shadow gains 1 temporary Angst per successes required to Claim it.

However, he may convert the item into a relic by paying the necessary XP for the item.

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◉◉◉◉ WIRE RIDER  (A.K.A Ride The Electron Highway)  (COMMON) 
With this art, the Artificer can slide into the global network of electricity and digital communication, passing through power grids and data transmissions at the speed of light. Wraithly senses are too slow and entropy-bound to perceive this environment as it truly is, so riding the wires is a vortex of information and electrical flows transposed into a synesthetic fast-forward blur. Imprecise use of Wire Rider, or simply incautious navigation,
can land the wraith far from Stygian-claimed territory.

SYSTEM:
The wraith must have a material starting point and destination — while he can travel through wireless transmissions, he needs connected endpoints, even ones as simple as obsolete flip phones.

NORMAL ACTION:

SPEND 2 PATHOS

ROLL: DEXTERITY + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY 12+

SUCCESSES:

• 1 success Line of sight or local cellular tower’s range

• 2 successes Same city or local power grid

• 3 successes Same national power grid or telecommunication network

• 4 successes Same continent or satellites in low orbit

• 5 successes Global or satellites in geosynchronous orbit

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◉◉◉◉◉ EMPOWER (COMMON) 
A wraith skilled in this art can imbue a relic with one of his Arcanoi, creating a temporary Artifact. While this power lasts, other wraiths who know the command to activate the relic’s power can invoke the art it contains.

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION

SPEND:  1 PATHOS & 1 HEALTH

ROLL: STRENGTH + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY 12 (+1 if the relic is thematically inappropriate for the Arcanos to be place within it.)

SUCCESS:

The number of successes determine the highest rank art that may be placed into the relic. (Example 5 successes would allow a rank 5 art to be imbued. Imbuing Empower into A relic really is Inception levels of madness and simply cannot be done)

CHOOSE ART: (Must be an Arcanos the wraith has purchased with XP, Cannot be "Passive or arts that are consistently active)

SPEND THE ARTS PATHOS COST, HEALTH COST (If no cost, spend 1 pathos)

GAIN THE ANGST THE ART CAUSES

• The wraith chooses an activation phase for the empowered item.

• Wraith who have the empowered item can activate the item by speaking the activation phrase.

• The Pathos and Health cost of the art (if any) are paid upon activation by the pathos and health the creator invested upon creation.

• Any Angst gain transfers to the USER of the object.

• If the user of the object does NOT have a ranking in the Arcanos imbued in the object, they may roll their OCCULT rank in place of the Art Rank.

• Once all Empowered applications of the art are used, the Artifact becomes a normal relic again. There is no way to “recharge” an Empowered item, save for a second invocation of this art.

• Only ONE art may be imbued into a single relic in this way. These are ONE shot applications that once used are spent.

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INHABIT INITIATE

RESTRICTED TO

◉ ALCHEMISTS ◉ ARTIFICERS ◉ HARBINGERS ◉

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◉ REVEAL RIDER  (INITIATE) 

An Artificer learns to read the subtle signs Inhabit leaves on objects. With a touch, the wraith can determine whether an object is currently Inhabited or has been in the past.

SYSTEM:

FREE ACTION

ROLL: DEXTERITY + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY 14+ 

SUCCESS:  

Each success reveals one prior use of Inhabit, starting with the most recent and working backward. The wraith gains an innate sense of each Artificer’s identity and will recognize her on sight; he also learns which Inhabit art she used if he knows it himself. In addition, each success on Reveal Rider counts as two successes for opposing Assume the Shell.

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◉◉ FORGE AFFINITY  (INITIATE) 

Inhabit’s origin as an outgrowth of soulforging is evident in this art. While any wraith can learn the smith’s art, the extension of one’s senses into the soul being worked on the forge remains a closely held Guild technique. 

SYSTEM: 

PASSIVE ALWAYS IN PLAY

The wraith’s dots in Inhabit are added to any soulforging roll.

Once learned, this art is always active.

The wraith's dots in Inhabit also reduce the cost of any soul forged object by 2 XP each so long as the object has an XP value of 20XP or greater before this discount is added.

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◉◉◉ SMITH'S TENACITY  (INITIATE) 

Most common among Artificers who work the forges, this art allows a wraith to take on some of the attributes of his work’s output. When using Smith’s Tenacity, the character’s skin takes on a metallic sheen and is uncomfortably warm to the touch.

SYSTEM:

FREE ACTION

SPEND 1 PATHOS

For the rest of the scene, the wraith’s dots in Inhabit are added to his brace roll, and he can treat aggravated damage as lethal damage. 

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◉◉◉◉ THE TOOL KNOWS ITS MASTER  (INITIATE) 

Elder Artificers fear few weapons wrought by the hands of the Quick or the dead. This art infuses an object with a portion of the wraith’s own essence, compelling it to act as if it were one with his Corpus — and what rebel portion of his own body would willingly harm the greater part?

SYSTEM I

NORMAL ACTION: The wraith must touch the object (material or relic) he wants to affect.

SPEND: 2 PATHOS

ROLL: DEXTERITY + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY 14+  

SUCCESSES:

Anything or anyone touching the object is considered to be in contact with the wraith for the purposes of his own Arcanoi — effectively, he can channel his touch through the object when using his arts. This lasts for 1 scene per Success rolled.

If the object would normally damage the wraith (Such as a sword or gun) It's attack bonus is considered zero when used against the wraith.

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SYSTEM II

REFLEXIVE ACTION:  The wraith may use this art reflexively on a weapon as it strikes him. (This is made after a successful -strike- against the wraith)

SPEND: 2 PATHOS:

ROLL: DEXTERITY +INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY: 12 + (Melee weapon) 14+ (Ranged weapon)

SUCCESS:

• A success removes one success per attack bonus of the weapon. Additionally that weapons attack bonus is removed when attacking the wraith for 1 scene per successes rolled. The weapon is also treated in the same way as the system 1 application of the art.

• Firearms are only negated for the single strike (Each relic bullet or arrow is technically a different entity)

• Thrown weapons are negated just as melee weapons are, after all the weapon needs to be retrieved.

• Do note the reflexive version of this is PATHOS heavy versus a horde of opponents or opponents with multiple weapons, or even those with firearms.

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◉◉◉◉◉ COMPEL THE SOULSTEEL  (INITIATE) 

One of the Artificers’ Guild’s less pleasant aspects is the work it’s done over centuries of turning once-living souls into material goods. Common wisdom holds that soulforged wraiths are no longer conscious (if the smith was competent, anyway…), but this art brings that comforting thought into question. Compel the Soulsteel allows a wraith to draw knowledge from the soul that comprises a soulforged item. Whether this is mere psychometry or actual communication with a fragment of someone’s trapped consciousness is an ongoing, bitter debate in Artificer circles.

SYSTEM: 

NORMAL ACTION:

SPEND 3 PATHOS

GAIN: 1 ANGST PER QUESTION ASKED

ROLL: STRENGTH + INHABIT RANK

DIFFICULTY: 14+

SUCCESSES:

Each success allows the wraith to ask one question of the target item. If the soul that was forged into the item knows the answer, the character receives a brief vision or a moaned response. The soul can’t lie or dissemble, though it only answers each question to the limits of its own residual memories. Compel the Soulsteel can only be used once on any soulforged item, ever.

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