Swindler beta

Description

+Spirit, +Skill, +Luck*

*Choose from among all three when determining your two Class-based Personality Traits (the final may come from any Stat).

“Cheater’s just a fancy word for Winner.”

— Twisted Fate, League of Legends

You’re a swindler, a crook, a gambler who nudges the odds into your favor, regardless of how fair the methods are! You get people together and swindle them out of their life savings (or just a favor or two, if you’re feeling a bit nice), then book it away before they get back at you after uncovering your cheats! You excel at getting groups of people together and getting things from them, but are nigh useless in actual fights.. and suck at getting away from them.

Conduits designing a mission for you should give you plenty different kinds of NPCs to swindle interact with. You can get a lot of mileage out of a won game against an influential lord or merchant, but even when there’s just peasants around, getting a favor or two owed can be quite helpful. You do best when there’s neutral or helpful NPCs around, so if the conduit wants to challenge you, they can give you mainly hostile beings to interact with (especially non-human ones).

Grounded in con-men and cheats who trick people for benefit and scurry away before people catch on and confront them with the consequences of their actions.

Examples from history and pop-culture include:

  • Phil Ivey, George C. Parker, Charles Ponzi and other swindlers
  • Mat (Wheel of Time)
  • Nikaido Hiroshi (Poker King)
  • Howard Ratner (Uncut Gems)
  • Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
  • Gambling King (Ranma ½)
  • D’Arby Brothers (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
  • Celestia Ludenberg (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)
  • Twisted Fate (League of Legends)
  • Setzer Gabbiani (Final Fantasy VI)
  • Gambler/Gamer/PI, Grimsley (Pokemon Franchise)
  • Swindler (Akudama Drive)

Challenge Level: Mid

Class by JustJules

Edition: Advent v2

Public: Yes

Signature Gear

Base Gear

Gambler's Hat

Base

A short hat with a wide, sweeping brim, decorated with small ornaments.

  • Partially obscures owner’s face, making them more resistant (M) to Empathy.
  • Can take the hat off and set it aside while reciting a fake “Oath” to Galvanize (M) others towards believing you’re being truthful.
    • Galvanization lasts until user puts the hat back on or is exposed as a liar (Mid Cooldown).

Two-Headed Coin

Base

A coin with heads on both of its sides.

  • Looks like a regular coin until a coin toss with stakes is performed with it.
    • Remains visibly two-headed for a Low Duration.
  • Expend and toss into a body of liquid to make a Wish (L), which comes true after a Mid Delay.
    • May find a copy of this Signature a Mid Duration after the wish came true (found in a Pitched location).

Pouch of Jetons

Base

A pouch with some jetons inside, appearance and worth of which are Pitched upon retrieval (e.g. poker chips).

Buying Power
Mid
  • Characters instinctively understand the supposed worth of the jetons (even if it differs from their actual worth).
  • Allows owner to convert any payment they’ve earned into one jeton (and back).
  • Owner may Teleport (H+) any owned jeton not currently in their possession back into the pouch if a Mid Duration hasn’t passed since their last contact with it (Low Cooldown).
  • Once the owner has a High amount of wealth, having the pouch visible will attract non-allies to try and win it.

Elective Gear

Loaded Dice

Elective

A set of dice appropriate to the local area or the character’s background, with extra weight on the inside.

Quantity
Low
  • Always land on the side that the owner wishes.
  • Extra weight is Inconspicuous (M).
  • Hitting a throw at someone’s head with a die Dazes (M) the target.

Thimblerig

Elective

Three small containers and a ball that fits under them, appearance of which is Pitched when you pull them out first.

  • Summons a flat surface (at around torso level), about as big and durable as a standard table, to play atop if needed (Mid Duration, Mid Cooldown).
  • Boosts (M) user’s hand speed and dexterity while shuffling the containers.
  • Successfully tricking someone with this item restores a Low amount of Essence (1/target).

Cheater's Deck

Elective

A plain-looking deck of playing cards, marked with magical ink.

  • Owner can identify cards via the magical markings on their back (only visible to them).
  • Can swap out any cards currently held by the owner with any cards still remaining within the deck (Low Cooldown).
    • This is treated as a double Teleport (L).
  • Appearance can be altered to fit any kind of card (Mid Duration, Low Cooldown).
    • Does not impart any of the functions of the new appearance.

Abilities

Wanna Bet?

Offer someone to bet on something.

Essence Cost
Mid
Range
Low
Cooldown
Low

Paired Action: Ask your target(s) to bet something on a game’s outcome in a friendly manner.

  • May target up to a small (L) group if they all belong together (e.g. a mob boss and some of their underlings).
  • Galvanizes (L-H) the target(s) towards betting on the offered game, scaling inversely on both how malicious the user’s intent sounded and how easy the game would be to be deceived at.
    • Loser of the game is Compelled (L) to keep up their end of the bet.
  • May make a Boosted (M) Happenstance on the subject of the game (e.g. betting that a solstice is about to happen, betting how quickly a bird of a nearby rooftop takes off, etc.).

Get Rich Quick

Convince someone to invest into a profitable scheme run by you, with promised and totally real returns.

Essence Cost
Low
Cooldown
Mid

Paired Action: Tell your target about the scheme, especially all the profit they could make from it, then ask for an investment from them.

  • Galvanizes (0-H) target towards trust in the scheme, scaling on the perceived plausability of getting a profit.
  • While galvanized, target may spread word of this project to other people, getting them to invest as well.
    • These investments get Conjured next to the user (if they have a physical form).
  • After a Mid-High Duration (scaling inversely with target’s street smarts), investors that have not received their profit are Galvanized (M) towards anger at the user. Those that have are instead Galvanized (M) towards trust.

Cold Read

Spot someone’s “tell” to make a Query (M) about their emotional state or intentions, also learning about their wealth whilst doing so.

Essence Cost
Mid
Cooldown
Low

Paired Action: Focus your attention on one target for several seconds, then Pitch a specific behavioral pattern you have picked up on as a quiet mumble to yourself.

  • Alternatively, if the target was already acting suspiciously, you may instead Pitch why they are acting that way.
  • Information about the target’s wealth is treated as an Insight.
  • Repeating this ability on a target you’ve read previously on-mission reduces Cost to Low.