Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

Blend In (••••)
This Gift makes a werewolf appear as if he belongs
in whatever environment into which he steals. He doesn’t
disappear from view or match ambient color patterns like a
chameleon does, but neither does his presence attract especial
attention. He appears to be nothing more than a face in
the crowd, even to traditional, digital or fiber-optic cameras.
Regardless of his attire or attention to personal hygiene, the
werewolf doesn’t appear to be at all out of place. Even if he’s
in blood-stained sweats and a duster walking through the
headquarters of a Wall Street brokerage firm, his mere presence
doesn’t make others sit up and take notice.
The protective anonymity that this Gift provides
protects the werewolf only so far, though. If he goes out
of his way to draw attention to himself by doing anything
notable (say, by starting a fight, changing forms in front of
someone, kicking open an emergency fire door or tackling
an oblivious pedestrian who’s about to be hit by a car),
the effect ends. Otherwise, the Gift lasts for a scene. The
effects remain active if the Irraka talks to the people
around him or otherwise interacts with them unobtrusively
(such as chatting in an elevator or waving nonchalantly
to a security guard behind a bank of monitors). The
Gift cannot fool security devices such as hand-scanners,
retina-scanners, voice-recognition systems or number
pads that require a key-code or password, but it can evade
facial-recognition software that someone is using it to try
to pick the werewolf out of a crowd. A security measure as
simple as needing to sign a logbook at a security station,
or handing over a ticket at the door of a bus or plane can
be problematic unless the Irraka takes an opportunity to
mingle discreetly at the scene. Finally, this Gift cannot
protect the Irraka if there’s a lack of genuine bystanders
with which to blend. He could not, for example, infiltrate
a corporation’s Board of Directors meeting, where an extra
head would quickly be noted. He might, however, be able
to crash a small, invitation-only affair by mingling with
the caterers rather than the guests.
Supernatural forms of awareness might be able to
see through the effect, but only if they are of an equal or
greater level. If the level is greater, the user of that power
sees the truth behind the Irraka’s efforts automatically. If
its level is equal, the number of successes achieved to activate
Blend In must exceed those rolled for the detecting
character’s power.
The Gift user must be in Hishu form to use this
power; it doesn’t work when he’s in any other form.
Cost: 1 Essence
Dice Pool: Wits + Subterfuge + Cunning versus the
highest Wits among observers
Action: Instant and contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character accidentally draws
immediate attention to himself and cannot use Blend In
again for the rest of the scene.
Failure: An equal or the most successes are rolled for
observers. The character must rely on his mundane abilities
to not draw attention to himself.
Success: The most successes are rolled for the character,
and he blends into the environment that surrounds
him for the rest of the scene.
Exceptional Success: The most successes — five or
more — are rolled for the character. He blends in so well that
witnesses have trouble even remembering that he was present
at all. They incur a –1 penalty to any rolls made to remember
anything about the werewolf or what he was up to.
Ghost Step (•••••)
Some Irraka can miraculously escape from danger
unscathed, even when trouble waits for them on both sides
of the Gauntlet. And some can find out damning information
that, by all rights, should have long since been buried
or forgotten. The trick of the Ghost Step allows a werewolf
to become immaterial, his body transformed to spirit
matter yet not conveyed across the Gauntlet.
The character becomes an insubstantial, ghostly form,
only barely perceptible as translucent mist. He cannot be
affected by any physical attack while using this ability;
he has no scent, and cannot make any sound even if he
wishes. It is particularly difficult to detect the ephemeral
Irraka via sight, and any perception rolls made to detect
him incur a –5 penalty. He is effectively in Twilight, much
as an unmaterialized spirit in the physical world is (see p.
252).
While insubstantial, the Irraka cannot affect the
physical world in any way, not even with Gifts. He doesn’t
fall unhindered through floors or sink into the poured
foundations of the structures that surround him if he
doesn’t want to — the generally accepted laws of physics
apply. With a little effort, though, he can leap up into the
ceiling of a room, catch hold, and pull himself up through
the roof or floor above him.
While the Irraka remains in this ephemeral state,
he can walk and use Gifts that affect himself rather than
the physical world, and can change forms as usual, but he
cannot remain ephemeral indefinitely. After a number of
turns equal to his Harmony score, the werewolf begins to
experience a sensation of being stretched thin. The Irraka
begins to suffer a –1 penalty to all rolls for each turn that
he spends ephemeral beyond the limit based on Harmony.
He may choose to end the Gift’s effects at any time. The
Gift also ends if he’s somehow rendered unconscious, such
as if overcome by spirits also in Twilight.
The personal possessions worn by a werewolf change
with him when he becomes ephemeral. He cannot carry
large items such as shotguns or crates and have them
transform with him, although a fetish weapon does make
the transfer.
The ephemeral state is also shared by disembodied
spirits that have entered the physical world as well as human
ghosts, who can see and hear the displaced Irraka.
New Moon Gifts
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