Speaks for the Silent Dead
You exist at the seam between the living and the dead. The dead know you can hear them — word travels even in that silence — and they have claims on your attention. You have learned to negotiate, compel, and sometimes release them. You see what others cannot, and carry what others cannot bear.
Connection: Choose one of the following.
- Pick one other PC. You saved them from something that would not let go. They may not fully understand what it cost you.
- Pick one other PC. You accidentally learned a secret of theirs from a spirit — something the dead knew that the living did not. You have not said anything yet.
- Pick one other PC. A spirit you work with regularly has taken an unusual interest in them. Whether that interest is protective or predatory is not yet clear.
- Pick one other PC. They helped you learn to distinguish the dead from the living. Without them, you might have lost that distinction entirely.
Additional Equipment: A small object associated with death or personal loss — a coin, a lock of hair, a fragment of funerary cloth — that anchors your practice.
GM Intrusion: The dead do not want to talk. A spirit attaches itself to you and will not leave. What you summon is not what you intended. The dead tell secrets that were not meant to surface.
Geas: The dead have prior claim on your attention. Any spirit that becomes aware you can hear it has the right to address you, and you cannot ignore the appeal — you must engage, though you are not obligated to comply. The dead know you can hear them, and word travels. You have an inability on tasks involving blocking out or dismissing the dead when they are actively trying to reach you.
Minor Effect Suggestion: The spirit or dead creature reveals one piece of information it was not asked for — a secret it has been keeping, or a warning.
Major Effect Suggestion: The spirit is so grateful, compelled, or overwhelmed that it performs one additional service beyond what you asked before departing.
Tier 1
Question the Dead (2 Intellect points): You call a spirit to you and petition it to answer up to three questions before it fades. To summon a spirit of the dead, you must have personally known the creature, possess something it owned, or touch its physical remains. The spirit may manifest as a visible shade, inhabit an object you provide, or appear as an invisible presence that speaks only to you. It may resist answering, in which case you may attempt to persuade, deceive, or compel it (an Intellect task). The GM determines what the spirit knows based on knowledge it possessed in life. Action to initiate.
Spirit Sense: You are trained in tasks involving perceiving, identifying, or interacting with the dead, spirits, and residual supernatural presence. You always know when you are in the presence of a spirit, even if it is attempting to hide. Enabler.
Speak with the Recently Passed (1 Intellect point): You put one yes-or-no question to a creature that died within the last twenty-four hours, provided you can touch its remains. The creature answers involuntarily and cannot lie, though it may not know the answer. If the creature died violently or in great distress, the GM may require a difficulty 2 Intellect task to stabilise the contact long enough to receive a response. Action.
Tier 2
Spirit Companion: A level 3 spirit accompanies you and follows your instructions. It must remain within immediate range — if it moves further, it fades at the end of your next turn and cannot return for a day. The spirit takes up residence in a small object you designate and can manifest as a visible shade or an invisible presence that only you can perceive. It is specialised in one knowledge skill the GM determines, appropriate to its origin. Normally insubstantial, you may spend 3 Intellect points as an action to give it enough substance to affect the physical world; while substantial, it has level 3 stats and 9 health. It does not attack, but while substantial it can serve as an asset to one attack you make on your turn. If your spirit companion is destroyed, it reforms in 1d6 days. Enabler.
Tier 3
Ability Choice. Choose either Command Spirit or Read the Room as your tier 3 ability.
Command Spirit (3 Intellect points): You command a spirit or animated dead creature of up to level 5 within short range. If you succeed, the target cannot attack you for one minute, during which time it follows your verbal instructions if it can hear you. Action to initiate.
Read the Room (3 Intellect points): You gain knowledge about a location by speaking with its spirits or reading residual energies from the past. Ask the GM one factual question about the location and, on a successful Intellect roll, receive an answer. Simple questions have a difficulty of 2; obscure or intentionally hidden facts may be considerably higher. Action.
Tier 4
Spirit Cloak: At your command, your spirit companion wraps itself around you for up to ten minutes. While cloaked, it automatically inflicts 4 points of damage to anyone who touches you or strikes you with a melee attack. All tasks involving evading the perception of others are eased while the cloak is active. Enabler.
Tier 5
Call the Recently Dead (6 Intellect points): At your touch, the remains of a creature dead no longer than seven days manifest as a physical-seeming spirit at the same level it had in life. The spirit persists for up to a day, or less if it accomplishes something important to it. It remembers everything it knew in life and retains most of its abilities, though not its equipment. It may become insubstantial as an action for up to one minute at a time. The spirit is not beholden to you and does not need to remain near you to stay manifest. Action to initiate.
Tier 6
Ability Choice. Choose either Call Across the Veil or Infuse Spirit as your tier 6 ability.
Call Across the Veil (6 Intellect points): You summon a spirit creature from further beyond than the recently dead — something older, stranger, or more powerful. It manifests for up to a day or until it accomplishes something important, then fades and cannot be summoned again. The spirit is level 6 or lower and may be substantial or insubstantial at will. It is not beholden to you. Action to initiate.
Infuse Spirit: When you destroy a spirit or kill a creature, you may choose to absorb its spirit. You immediately regain 1d6 points to a Pool of your choice. The absorbed spirit is stored within you — it cannot be questioned, raised, or communicated with by any means unless you allow it. Enabler.