Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

108
Chapter II: Character
an immaterial ghost as readily as it would strike a living
target.
Cost: 1 Essence
Dice Pool: No roll is required.
Action: Instant
The werewolf must be holding or touching the
weapon in question in order to infuse it with Essence. The
object need not be specifically designed as a weapon; this
Gift can be used to imbue a crowbar, 2x4 or chainsaw as
readily as a sword or gun. For the duration of the scene,
the imbued weapon is considered enchanted for purposes
of damaging ghosts (World of Darkness Rulebook, p.
214). A weapon enchanted by Ghost Knife may inflict
bashing or lethal damage, depending on the character’s
choice. A klaive sword can be given a merciful enchantment
so that it inflicts only bashing damage on ghosts
(though it still inflicts lethal damage to corporeal targets).
A weapon affected by this Gift also adds a bonus die to
any attack rolls made with the weapon against a ghost.
This Gift does not grant a weapon the ability to strike
any ephemeral entity - only ghosts. Thus, a weapon imbued
with Ghost Knife could not harm a spirit that is in
Twilight (p. 252) or an Irraka using the Gift: Ghost Step
(p. 133). However, the +1 bonus to attack spirits does still
apply if the spirit could normally be struck, such as if the
spirit was using a Numen to materialize or if both spirit
and werewolf were in the Shadow.
If Ghost Knife is used to imbue a gun with Essence,
the Gift effects apply to any bullets loaded at the time of
infusion — bullets loaded into the gun after infusion do
not acquire the Gift’s effects. Muscle-powered projectile
weapons such as bows do not convey the Gift’s properties
to ammunition. The werewolf must instead use the Gift
on a quiver of arrows or a handful of javelins.
A character may use this Gift to imbue his own
natural weaponry, allowing him to tear into a ghost as if it
were solid, or even punch or grapple it. This Gift cannot
be used to empower the natural weaponry of another
creature. Only the Gift user can benefit.
This Gift in itself does not grant the ability to see or
otherwise perceive ghosts.
Corpse Witness (•••)
Many occultists believe that a corpse retains some
memory of the moments just before its death. The Bone
Shadows, however, know that a corpse can sometimes
know more. With this Gift, a corpse can be ordered to
give up the secrets of all that it has “seen” since its death.
This Gift works only on corpses that still have some flesh
to them, and only the head is necessary. The werewolf
opens the jaws of the corpse and breathes into the corpse’s
mouth. If the Gift works, the breath returns with the
corpse’s words.
Some Bone Shadows have historically exploited this
Gift in gruesome fashion, setting up the severed heads of
their foes (or victims) as sentinels on the boundaries of
their territory. In the modern era, it’s hard — but not impossible
— to set such morbid guardians in place without
attracting the wrong sort of attention.
Cost: 1 Essence
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult + Purity
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The corpse speaks a garbled litany
of blasphemies from the darkest corners of Death’s realm.
The werewolf loses a point of Willpower from the experience.
This Gift may not be used again on the same corpse.
Failure: The corpse divulges nothing more than a
death rattle. This Gift may not be used again on the same
corpse in the same day.
Success: The corpse breathes out a report of what it
has “perceived” — the key notes of what has transpired
within view of its eyes or eye sockets within the last day
and night. The report is not incredibly detailed, but generally
hews to the facts that the werewolf would consider
important. For example, the corpse might mention that
18 cars had appeared along the country road it “watched”
during the day. It would only single out an individual car if
the vehicle was significantly remarkable, such as a pickup
with several armed men sitting in the bed. A corpse’s account
for any given day can be attained only once.
Exceptional Success: The corpse demonstrates
vestiges of its former intelligence and can actually clarify
its account by answering the character’s questions. The
character may ask one question per success gained on the
roll before the corpse goes dormant again. Information
gained may still be somewhat imprecise, though. A corpse
is not likely to have retained a license-plate number unless
the plate remained in its line of sight for a few minutes.
Word of Quiet (••••)
One of the greater secrets of the Bone Shadows is the
Word of Quiet, a complicated word in the First Tongue that
bears great power. The sound was allegedly spoken by the first
Incarna of Death, and a portion of that great spirit’s authority
lingers in its twisted syllables. When spoken, the word tugs
at the hearts of all living beings that hear it, brushing them
with the stillness of the grave. And yet, the word’s true power
comes when it is spoken against the undead, for it compels
them to lie down in their graves and rest again.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Presence + Occult + Honor – subject’s
Stamina
Action: Instant
All living creatures capable of hearing the word
within a radius of (10 x the user’s Presence) yards suffer
one point of bashing damage. All undead creatures such
as ghosts and vampires in the same range (and within the
same realm as the speaker) suffer one point of lethal damage
per success. If multiple undead creatures are present,