Shimmer
By Scott Hollenbeck ([email protected]) for Daemon
Author's Notes
A while back, I was playing Vampire with my friends. I went through two
characters that became god-like but were slain through incidents of
misfortune. I got bored with Vampires (Can you blame me? Imagine my
disheartenment with losing not one but two characters I grew attatched to.)
So I read the rules about Daemons, and decided to play one of those. Then
I decided that it would be real neat to be an Incubus (male Succubus), but
there was a problem: they were basically wraith-like buggers that couldn't
do much at all. What to do, what to do? I talked it over with my GM and
found a way around this problem. We came to terms on a boon. We called it
"Shimmer," as I thought it would be more appropriate to stick to
traditional stories of Succubi; you know, stealing the life of others and
all that? Anywho, here it is in all it's darkness. Enjoy!
Level (1) Dream Walk
Allows the player to appear to others in dreams, make suggestions, cause
nightmares, and other such acts of mischief.
Cost: 1 vim per turn in use.
System: The player rolls Manipulation + Shimmer against a
sleeping target. The player needs more successes than failures to activate
this power.
Level (2) Appear to the Mortal Eye
Level (3) Dark Contract
Allows the character to make offerings for a
mortal's soul. Offerings cannot be extreme, (e.g. the Daemon can't grant
supernatural items such as immortality, etc. but material things and
minor miracles such as curing an ailment can be accomplished)
Cost: 1/2 vim.
System: The player rolls manipulation and perception,
difficulty target's humanity + 4.
Note: Any Succubus skilled in Shimmer requires souls to
physically manifest.
Level (4) Manifest
Allows the character to physically manifest(i.e. become corporeal).
Cost: 5 vim per use (can be activated or deactivated at
will)
Note: The number of souls possessed by the Succubus equals
the number of hours the Daemon can remain in flesh at a time. Fragments of
souls (1 part of 10) equal tenths of hours. Therefore, 1 soul and 5/10ths
of another equal 1 hour and 30 minutes of corporeal time.
Level (5) Charm
Beyond level (5): Master levels
These are the high-end powers of Shimmer, the more impressive ones.
Level (6) Mind Bend
Allows the player to create illusions (i.e.
Chimerstry level 2.)
Cost: 1 vim + 1 Willpower.
System: Just like Chimerstry.
Level (7) Possess
Allows the character to possess a target for a duration of time. The
character has the target's stats while this power is active.
Cost: 5 vim + 1/2 Willpower.
System: The player rolls manipulation and subterfuge,
difficulty equals character's (Perception + Awareness) + 2. If the target
fails this roll, the target can make a saving roll by rolling Willpower,
difficulty equal to the player's Willpower. If target is successful, the
Daemon is resisted, but the target is stunned for 2 rounds.
Level (8) Grant of Extreme Power
The character can now offer more tantalizing gifts, virtually anything the
subject asks for. The Daemon can now get souls in a single shot.
Cost: 1/2 vim.
System: The player rolls manipulation and perception,
difficulty target's humanity + 4.
Note: A soul owned is a soul owned. The target does
not have to be dead for the Succubus to access the soul. To
become physical for example, a bought soul equals another hour.
Level (9) Soul Suck
The Daemon no longer needs to offer anything for souls, but can simply take
them at will. Congratulations to the character: Now she is a real force of
darkness!
Cost: 4/10 of an owned soul. Therefore, for every two
and-a-half souls stolen, one is released.
Level (10) Warp Reality