Scion of a Skinwalker (Supernatural Scale)

True skinwalkers are millennia old. They are typically only found in the American Southwest on tribal lands; it costs them power to stay away too long.
Most skinwalkers are just people—powerful, dangerous people. They’re successors to the traditions and skills taught to avaricious mortals by the originals—the Naagloshii. The Naagloshii were originally messengers for the Holy People when they were first teaching humans the Blessing Way. Although they were supposed to leave the mortal world with the Holy People, a few didn’t. Their selfishness corrupted the power the Holy People gave them. Thier offspring often retain the same abilities as the parent and usually become just as corrupted as them too. But some few resist the corruption and can join the rest of society becoming powerful champions against the darkness.

Create your character according to a Pure Mortal mantle of your choosing and then add the conditions and stunts below, which operate at Supernatural scale (page 182).

UNIQUE CONDITIONS:

Skinwalker (sticky): [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

You have the power of the Naagloshii running through your veins. Mark a box when using certain stunts provided by this mantle. Once per scenario, you may mark all 5 boxes to operate at Otherworldly Scale for a scene. Recover one box at the conclusion of any scene in which you do not mark a box. Recover two boxes at the start of a new session.

CORE STUNTS:

Beast Forms:

You may mark a box of Skinwalker and transform into the form of any animal that you have a skin of. You gain the Aspect “[Creature] Form” and may switch the value of any two Approaches. You lose access to stunts that are not about physical prowess.

You may gain new Scale on actions that benefit from your new form. You are limited in movement and communication by your animal’s form (fish cannot operate on land, bears cannot go into small spaces, etc). Switching from Human to Beast or back takes one action.

Skinwalkers begin with one form to start with. In an emergency new forms can be taken during play but require a skin of the animal form in question and attunement. This is an overcome roll of Focus at a minimum of +4 and takes at least a scene per the GM. Forms taken in this way will only be available for a scene until they are added to the permanent catalog by purchasing the Additional Forms stunt below.

Supernatural Senses:

Skinwalkers can see spirits, including ghosts, nature spirits, and Elementals. They can also see through the Seemings and Glamours of the Sidhe, and can “smell” the presence of large amounts of Essence in people and places, which enables them to uncover probable Gifted characters. This ability works even while in human form; when the character senses something strange, her nostrils flare up and she involuntarily makes sniffing noises. Skinwalkers gain a +2 to detect the true nature of supernaturals and the gifted and to see through faerie Glamours.

Corruption:

When you really want a failed action to succeed, corruption can be the great cost you accept to convert it to a success. You reach out to the darkness in your spirit channeling seductive power of the Naagloshii to your benefit. It burns a path through your soul, leaving behind a permanent mark. You are changed. You have permanently embraced a more sinister way of doing things. Once you start down that path, it’s not so easy to give it up again.

Once you declare that you’re accepting corruption to succeed at great cost, the GM can’t spend additional fate points or invoke additional aspects to alter the outcome—it’s decided. If the number of shifts matters, consider your success to be by 2 shifts.

If the conflict is PC vs. PC, the general rule be that you can’t embrace corruption in order to beat a player character opponent, unless they consent to it—and if they do, the GM should give them a fate point.

Accepting corruption fundamentally changes the way you approach conflicts. On your character sheet, find the approach you rolled for the action where you accepted corruption. Keep the bonus the same, but change the name of that approach. Yes, you change the word written on your character sheet, according to this table:

• Fearful: You act out of Fear when you obsessively plan for every contingency, when you are cautious and suspicious to a fault. Fearful actions are ruled by anxiety and paranoia.

• Arrogant: You act with Arrogance when you’re convinced, you’re the only one who can do it, when your brilliant plan is clearly superior to anything anyone else can do.

• Aggressive: You act with Aggression when you show no mercy, when you get them before they get you. Aggressive actions are often disproportionate to what provokes them.

• Angry: You act out of Anger when you let hatred and vengeance rule your actions. If you hate the target of your action, you might be acting Angrily.

• Reckless: Your actions are Reckless when you act without considering the consequences to anyone else or, sometimes, to yourself. Reckless actions are frequently ruled by immediate gratification.

• Treacherous: Treachery is deceit plus malice. It respects no loyalty, debt, or allegiance. It’s not just being sneaky, it’s being mean about being sneaky.

If the approach you’re using is already corrupt, choose a different one. In either case, the bonus remains the same, but the name—and the fiction implied by its use—changes.

Corrupt approaches aren’t more powerful than uncorrupt approaches, but they can sometimes lend an advantage. The corrupt approach becomes a permanent character aspect, in addition to your existing aspects, that you can invoke. If the fact that you’re not just being Aggressive, or Angry, or Treacherous, but evilly so would work to your advantage, describe how, spend a fate point, and benefit in the same way you’d benefit from invoking any other aspect.

GMs, just as players can invoke their corrupt approaches as aspects, you can use them to make life interesting. You can compel a corrupt approach that a player is rolling (or the player can suggest a self-compel), suggesting how their action is laced with malice and hatred and how that complicates things for them. Do this frequently—make sure there are consequences to becoming corrupt that the player can’t ignore. Make it sting, especially if the corrupt character’s comrades are more virtuous.

Usually a compel earns a player a single fate point. In this case, it might earn them more, depending on how many corrupt approaches they have. It’s also the number of fate points they need to spend to buy off the compel.

When all Approaches have been corrupted the Skinwalker falls to their Naagloshii nature and becomes and NPC villain. They will likely hunt down and murder any and all their former friends, lover and allies.

When a corrupt approach is compelled against you, you can buy it off just like any other compel. However, you always have the option of buying it off with three fate points (assuming you have three fate points)—if you do, that approach returns to its uncorrupted original approach. Yes, this means that if you have 5 or 6 corrupt approaches, you always have the option of redeeming them when you buy them off.

As your character becomes more corrupt, look at the approaches that you’ve acquired. Consider what they imply about how you use them; you’re no longer Careful so much as you are Fearful, for example. Does this give you trouble sleeping? When you’re rolling Aggressive, do you snap at people you don’t mean to attack? Does your newfound Arrogance make you smug, or perhaps bitter, toward others?

Do you carry any physical manifestations of your corruption? Do you begin to look sallow and sickly? Do your eyes acquire an unhealthy hue?

ADDITIONAL STUNTS:

Additional Forms:

Add two new beast forms every time this stunt is taken which will add to the skinwalker’s catalog of forms.

Improved Beast Forms:

As your affinity grows with skinwalking you gain the ability to use magic or other talents while in beast form. You no longer lose access to stunts that are not about physical prowess while in beast form.

Human Form (Requires Improved Beast Forms):

You have mastered shapeshifting and change into different human shapes. This requires a fairly substantial sample of the target’s blood. Once the sample is secured you must attune yourself to it taking at least a scene and an overcome roll of +4 or better depending on circumstances determined by the GM. Once attuned it costs a box of Skinwalker to assume the form. You may maintain this form indefinitely and it is indistinguishable from the original providing you with the Aspect “{Character} form” that may be invoked twice for free as needed. You may turn back to this form until you take another human one. After that you would have to retain more blood from the original form to take it again.

Faster, Stronger, Tougher:

Mark a box of Skinwalker to add +1 to any physical action. The GM may elect to add scale (page 182).

Inhuman Toughness:

Mark a box of Skinwalker to soak two shifts of Physical Stress.

Inhuman Recovery:

Outside of a conflict, mark a box of Skinwalker to treat a sticky condition relating to physical injury as if it were fleeting.

Healing Transformation:

Once per session, when you resume human form after a transformation, recover from In Peril or start to (but not fully) recover Doomed, provided either condition reflects physical injury.

Cloak of Shadows:

You can see perfectly in the dark and are immune to any potential effect of normal or magical darkness. Additionally, once per session, you may declare that you automatically succeed at hiding from any non-magical attempt to spot you, provided you have a nearby shadow to hide in.

Natural Weapon:

Your physiology includes claws, spikes, razor-sharp teeth, or another feature for attacking or defending. Unarmed attacks are worth +1 shift on a successful hit and may have scale (page 182) at GM discretion.

Unusual Size:

Either much larger or much smaller than the average human, you automatically gain scale (page 182) on actions in which your size is advantageous. Opponents will, however, gain scale in situations in which they may use your size against you.

Project Fear:

Mark a box of Skinwalker to use the Create an Advantage or Overcome actions to conjure strong fear in any person you have line of sight to. You gain a +1 to the roll.

Onslaught of Fear:

(requires Project Fear) You may use Project Fear to make Attacks against a target in your line of sight. This will immediately corrupt the Spirit Walker requiring the change of an Approach.

Magic Eater:

(requires Onslaught of Fear) Any enemy spell casters Taken Out via attacks from Onslaught of Fear have their magic devoured by the Skinwalker who can clear all boxes of their Skinwalker condition. Mark the Burned Out Condition preventing magic use until fully recovered. This can only be Overcome through a cleansing ritual requiring a Native Shaman to make an overcome roll in a ritual with a difficulty of +4. This will immediately corrupt the Spirit Walker requiring the change of an Approach.

Pathfinder:

You can open portals between the mortal world and the wild (unaffiliated) regions of the Nevernever. Spend a box of Skinwalker to declare your convenient arrival in a scene via a portal.

Summon Animal Spirits:

By calling upon her totemic animal, the Skinwalker can summon a number of “spirit fragments” to materialize and do her bidding. The Skinwalker must be in the appropriate bestial form to summon her brethren. Spend a box of Skinwalker and you can declare momentary aid from your affiliated brand of beast and choose one of the following benefits: +4 to any one action, a situation aspect with two free invokes, or automatic success on an overcome roll.

Created by: HumAnnoyd

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