Lore of Chaos
Description: There are worlds beyond this one, levels of reality crafted by the Elohim as a home for mortal spirits that have met their death. And beyond those worlds, beyond the spirit realms known to the fallen, there is something else, worlds that the Creator’s hand never crafted. These chaotic realms came into existence after the Fall, and the prisoners of Hell never learned of their existence or how to control them until the Earthbound came back to Creation. The Dread Kings have found out how to control these wild realities and how to force the chaotic power of these worlds onto the fabric of Creation with terrible results.
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- ● Reality Tremors: This evocation causes the unpredictable, chaotic energies of the spirit realms to bleed into Creation. Doing so causes a variety of strange effects, events that violate the laws of nature and cause and effect — fish fall from the sky, blood oozes from a house’s walls, reflections bare their teeth and threaten their maker. These events are real, not illusory, but they fade away after a short period, as reality reinforces its power over the area.
- System: Roll Manipulation + Occult. If the roll succeeds, an area within the demon’s line of sight with a radius in yards equal to the character’s Faith becomes the site of unnatural phenomena — a cosmetic, non-harmful, but still unsettling violation of the laws of nature and common sense. The Storyteller decides what kind of event manifests in the area. The evocation allows the chaos realms to bleed into this world, but it doesn’t dictate how they do so. The result is always disturbing and wrong, though, and it can seriously spook and distract witnesses. Unless a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 7) generates more successes than the evocation roll, each mortal or non-Earthbound demon in the area of effect suffers a +1difficulty penalty for all actions. The penalty is re-moved once the victim leaves the affected area. A botched Willpower roll made on a mortal’s behalf also causes a temporary derangement at the Storyteller’s discretion. The strangeness persists for a scene, after which it fades out of existence.
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- ●● Sphere of Chaos: This evocation infects reality with the shifting,unpredictable laws of the chaos realms, worlds where nothing works the same way twice. Within the area affected by the evocation, probability breaks apart, and nothing works as it should. Even the simplest tasks might fall prey to sudden shifts in reality and fluctuations in cause and effect.
- System: Roll Wits + Expression (difficulty 8). The evocation affects an area within the character’s line of site and has a radius equal to the demon’s Faith score in yards. The affected area is the site of a breakdown in normal causality, where nothing works as it should. Within this area, all actions and dice rolls — except for evocation and Faith rolls — have their difficulty in-creased by a value equal to the successes generated by the evocation roll (so with three successes, the difficulty of all rolls increase by three). When actions fail due to the increased difficulty, they fail because of fluctuations in probability and natural law. A bullet falls apart before reaching its target, gravity suddenly increases under a jumping athlete, a computer suddenly starts displaying gibberish and obscene messages, et cetera. The Earth-bound suffers the same effects as everyone else if it is within the area affected. The effects last for a number of turns equal to the successes on the evocation roll.
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- ●●● Wave of Mutilation: As the Earthbound’s control over the chaos realms grows, it can project the energies of the realms into living tissue. Living bodies are affected by this energy in random — but always painful and dangerous —ways. Neurons misfire, lungs spasm, joints collapse,hormones and adrenaline flood the body, and thoughts ricochet wildly through the brain. Mortals and demons alike are left confused and injured as their muscles and nervous systems turn against them.
- System: Roll Strength + Medicine. If the roll succeeds, an invisible wave of chaotic energy permeates the area surrounding the Earthbound, out to a radius equal to the character’s Faith in yards. Any living being in that area (except for the Earthbound itself) is affected by the energy unless a successful Stamina roll is made. If the roll fails, the victim’s body and mind are sent into spasms and seizures, while her organs shudder randomly and hormones flood her body. She suffers a number of health levels of bashing damage equal to the successes generated by the evocation roll. This damage cannot be soaked. The victim’s player must also make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) and gain more successes than the evocation roll to keep the character from panicking, flying into a rage, collapsing into catatonia or similar reactions(determined by the Storyteller), as her brain and nervous system misfire. Injuries caused by this power manifest as subcutaneous bleeding and bruising, and possibly even hernias, sprains and broken bones.
Demons are affected by this power since it isn’t mind-control, but rather a physical effect that affects their host’s brain. Demons suffer the bashing damage as normal with no extra protection. While this evocation lasts for only an instant, the effects continue to ravage victims for some time before their bodies regain equilibrium. Affected characters will not recover their senses, for a number of minutes equal to the successes of the evocation roll, and they suffer +1 difficulty penalties to all rolls (except evocations) until the end of the scene.
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- ●●●● Summon Outsider: The Earthbound can rip open a small portal be-tween Creation and the chaos realms and pull something through— a creature too bizarre and dangerous to exist in this reality. The creatures summoned by this evocation are always dangerous monstrosities with terrible killing powers and a desire for destruction. The Earth-bound cannot control the creature, but it can watch from afar as the outsider strikes down its enemies with claws and supernatural powers.
- System: Spend one Faith point and roll Wits +Occult (difficulty 7). Success means that a supernatural creature suddenly materializes within a number of yards equal to the Earthbound’s Faith rating. The Storyteller decides on the traits and appearance of the creature, while the Earthbound character’s player determines any special powers the being has. The outsider gains a pool of “form points” equal to the successes of the evocation roll, which the Earthbound player can spend on granting visage features to the creature as if it were an Earthbound (Earthbound p. 93). None of the creature’s base traits may be higher than the number of successes rolled for the evocation (unless improved by visage features). The creature is controlled by the Storyteller,and it might turn on the Earthbound or its minions if they cross its path. The monster rampages for a number of turns equal to the successes on the evocation roll, after which it returns to the chaos realms.
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- ●●●●● Hell on Earth: This evocation smashes open the barrier between Creation and the chaos realms, allowing otherworldly madness and dangers to rampage into the real world. Reality cracks apart and falls into splinters over a wide area— the skies turn red, stones bleed and float through the sky, and tentacled horrors writhe beneath the skin of babies. Wounds spontaneously open on the bodies of those within the area, and almost every action has disastrous consequences. When the evocation fades and the barrier between worlds returns, reality snaps back to normal, but the changes caused by the reality breakdown remain. This can have grave consequences — such as when a floating,screaming pillar of stone suddenly plummets to the ground as gravity reasserts itself.
- System: Spend one Faith point and roll Stamina+Occult (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, an area around the Earthbound with a radius in yards equal to10 times the character’s Faith rating suffers a massive reality breakdown. Uncontrollable and dangerous events occur at random, horrific sights assail the eyes and minds of witnesses trapped within, and nothing works as it should. The Storyteller should flex her imagination to come up with strange and awful things with which to plague the area.
The successes on the evocation roll form a dice pool that can affect characters within the area indifferent ways. If a character encounters a dangerous hazard, such as a cloud of fanged mouths, the pool is the amount of damage she might suffer (bashing or lethal as appropriate). If a character attempts an action, the pool is rolled to resist that action (even if it’s not normally resisted), successes reducing the other roll’s successes as normal. Players and Storytellers might find other ways to apply the successes to represent the unpredictable dangers of the affected area. Rolls made with this pool cannot botch. Within the area, all appropriate dice rolls (including evocations) botch on a roll of 1 or 2. Mortals exposed to the horrors of the area gain a temporary derangement unless a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 7) generates more successes than the evocation roll. (If the Willpower roll botches, the derangement is permanent.) The evocation lasts for the duration of the scene
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Visage
Demon: Earthbound, p. 87-89
