Witchfinder Pre-release

Description

++Will/+Sensory

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

— — Exodus 22:18

You are a shadowy persecutor on the hunt for magical evildoers, wielding accusations, prejudice, and fear as proficiently as any weapon. While generally specialized against spellcasters, your skillset is very broad, though your teammates may find you difficult or distasteful to work with.

Conduits designing a mission for you should give you some magic to interact with, though impressionable bystanders can be even more important. Your game plan is largely social at its core, so if the Conduit wants to really challenge you they could try making smarter NPCs who are harder to scare and manipulate.

Grounded in witch-hunting traditions and tales from all around the world and the modern media they have inspired.

Examples from history & pop culture include:

  • Matthew Hopkins, Heinrich Kramer, Reverend John Hale, and other historical anti-witch agitators
  • Solomon Kane (eponymous)
  • Mad-Eye Moody (Harry Potter)
  • Edward Grey (Hellboy)
  • Silver Dagger (Marvel)
  • Brad Alcerro (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)

Challenge Level: Mid

Edition: Aspirant v1

Public: Yes

Owner: Robby

Signature Gear

Base Gear

Capotain

Base

Tall hat with a broad brim.

  • Predisposes any being approached subtly and privately towards conspiring with the owner.
    • The owner will instinctively become aware if such a conspirator ever double-crosses them.

Watchcoat

Base

Very heavy coat with shoulder-to-ankle coverage.

  • Provides a Mid Ward against both weather and ambient magics.
  • Lurking in shadowy surroundings will gradually render the owner harder to detect over a Low Duration, scaling Low–Mid on how slowly they are moving.

Ballestrino

Base

Miniature crossbow worn on the back of the hand, easily reloaded with a twist of the wrist.

Quarrels
Low
Power
Low
Effective Range
Low
  • This crossbow is harder to detect until the moment it is aimed at a target (Mid Cooldown).

Elective Gear

Eyepatch

Elective
  • When removed from an eye, that eye gains greater acuity and can see through up to a Low combined depth of chosen solid objects, both scaling on how long it had fully covered that eye before being removed.
    • The eye incurs damage as it remains uncovered, becoming unusable after a Mid Duration.

Firebrand

Elective

Metal rod whose tip may be superheated at will, causing great pain but only minor damage.

Essence Burden
Mid
  • Those burned by this rod are strongly inclined towards rage, which lasts for up to a Low Duration scaling on how long it burned them for (up to several seconds).
    • If the heated rod is brandished while the owner speaks rousingly, listeners are inclined towards a lesser but longer-lasting anger, scaling Low–Mid on how long they listen (up to a Low Duration).

Aspergillum

Elective

Consecrated one-handed mace with a spiked head.

  • This mace is infused with holy power when striking beings the owner compellingly deems as evil, scaling on how evil the owner believes them to be.
    • Speak a sacred verse while swinging this mace to spray holy water from it, which scalds and briefly weakens those deemed evil, scaling as above (Mid Cooldown).

Abilities

Cloud of Suspicion

Create a dark, obscuring mist that steadily fills your surroundings, gradually predisposing all within towards fear and mistrust.

Essence Cost
Mid
Range
Mid–High
Duration
Mid–High
Cooldown
Mid

Paired Action: Make an ominous speech to a group of listeners lasting up to a Low Duration.

  • Duration, Range, and maximum Impact all scale on the length of the user’s Paired Action.
  • This mist will not appear to be sourced from the user, arriving instead like a sudden weather phenomenon.
  • Upon expiry, this mist and its associated fear and mistrust will dissipate at the same rate it arrived.

Omoriori

Learn from your Conduit the direction and intensity of a chosen type of magic or negative emotion.

Essence Cost
Low
Range
Mid
Cooldown
Low

Paired Action: Specify what you are sensing for, then deeply inhale.

  • The chosen type of magic/emotion should be succinct and straightforward. (e.g. “Fire Magic”, “Religious Magic”, “Rune Magic”; “Hatred”, “Greed”, “Jealousy”.)
    • Sources of the chosen magic/emotion already known to the user are exempted unless specified otherwise.
  • Alternatively, closely examining clear evidence of an unknown magic while inhaling will identify that magic’s type (as above) instead of this Ability’s normal effects.

Malleus Maleficarum

Redirect a hostile magic towards yourself while delivering an empowered strike against it or its source.

Essence Cost
Mid
Cooldown
Low

Paired Action: Shout a zealous proclamation while brandishing a weapon.

  • Empowered strike Impact scales Low–High on the potency of the magic this Ability is redirecting.
    • This empowered strike may target the redirected magic itself as though it were a physical object, negating it outright if the strike is of substantial Impact.
    • If the magic’s source is hit by the empowered strike, they are prevented outright from using that magic again.
  • Innate supernatural capacities or notably longstanding or widespread spells cannot be affected by this Ability.