Gifts
Courtier
Though all members of a Beast-Court are courtiers, taking up the Courtier Auspice means that the character intends to follow this path professionally and (probably) permanently. The duties of the Courtier vary, and are appointed by the gai'nan. Many gai'nan do not have time to member a sentai and take up this Auspice instead.
Befriend (Level One) - Gurahl.
Create Element (Level One) - Hengeyokai.
Mindspeak (Level One) - Werewolf.
Scent of the Shen (Level One) - This sensory power permits a Courtier of the Beast-Courts to detect the presence of another shen. The shen (supernaturals) of Asia are not as secretive in their dealings with one another as they are in the West. It is often necessary to know whom is shen and who isn't. This Gift was thusly developed for initiates of the Beast-Courts. It is taught by any loyal spirit of the Emerald Mother.
System: Roll Perception+Occult (difficulty 5) to determine if any given individual is supernatural. It does not reveal the exact race -- the hengeyokai will not be able to tell with this Gift if the subject is Kuei-jin, hsien, chi'n ta, or something else.
Truth of Gaia (Level One) - Werewolf.
Awe (Level Two) - Werewolf.
Courtly Speech (Level Two) - Hengeyokai.
Sense Imbalance (Level Two) - Hengeyokai.
Sense Silver (Level Two) - Werewolf.
Mental Speech (Level Three) - Werewolf.
Tongues (Level Three) - Werewolf Player?s Guide.
Waking Dream of Unity (Level Three) - Hengeyokai.
Attunement (Level Four) - As the Bone Gnawer Gift. Whether the Courtier learns this Gift as attuned to the wilderness or city depends on where his Beast-Court stands. If he ever switches Courts to a different environment, he must relearn the Gift to get the benefits of both wilderness and urban Attunement.
Draught of Jade (Level Four) - Hengeyokai that know how can alter tap True Jade in lieu of using their own reserves of Gnosis for Gifts, stepping sideways, and other uses of the Gnosis score. Hengeyokai can also learn of the secret uses of True Jade. Unfortunately, because Gnosis is a form of energy that leans more to Yang than Yin, hengeyokai are limited in the sorts of properties they can invoke in any True Jade that demands Yin energy. This Gift bypasses that limitation. Not only that, but the shapeshifter who knows this Gift needn't know the secret applications of True Jade. (Incidently, this Gift does not impart that knowledge. The character must still acquire Stone Lore.) In fact, the shapeshifter doesn't even need True Jade! Simply by paying chiminage to spirits of Jade, the hengeyokai reaps the privileges of these powers. This does require, unfortunately, a piece of normal jade of the appropriate color as focus, which is sacrificed with the use of this Gift.
System: The hengeyokai must spend three points of Gnosis and then make a Gnosis roll (the permanent rating at difficulty 7). Each success lets the benefit linger for one scene. The color of jade sacrificed determines what powers the hengeyokai gains:
- Blue/Green: No shen may approach within 5 feet of the hengeyokai, repelled by the magic. This ward can be overcome with a successful Willpower roll at difficulty 6 (difficulty 8 for vampires); failure inflicts incapacitating pain for one turn. There is nothing to prevent a shen from attacking the character from beyond 5 feet. This ward has no effect on spirits.
- Yellow/Gray: The initial activation successes must be split between duration (at least one success must be spent for the duration of one scene) while other successes add to damage. Each success so allotted adds one die of lethal damage to the character's damage dicepools in hand-to-hand melee combat against the shen. This extra damage may be soaked separately. However, this damage is aggravated against hsien (only).
- White: No spirit (including wraiths) may approach within 5 feet of the hengeyokai, repelled by the magic. This ward can be overcome with a successful Willpower roll at difficulty 6 (difficulty 8 for wraiths); failure inflicts incapacitating pain for one turn. This ward has no effect on earthly shen.
- Black: The hengeyokai's hand-to-hand strikes do no extra damage, but allow the character to steal Gnosis (Quintessence, yugen, Chi) from another shen. Each successful strike saps one point and grants it to the character (though this cannot exceed the hengeyokai's permanent Gnosis rating). This drain can be inflicted on the same opponent but once per turn; it can also be affected with a touch instead of attack. Regardless of activation successes, this form of the Gift lasts only one scene.
- Red: The hengeyokai is bestowed with a small measure of good luck. Once per Story, the character can reroll one botch on any roll in combat (the new roll's results must be kept). Furthermore, the hengeyokai is given a limited measure of countermagick defense against the spells of chi'n ta. As with yellow/gray jade, the character must split successes between duration and a countermagick dicepool. This countermagick works just like a mage's basic countermagick: the hengeyokai rolls the dicepool at difficulty 7 and cancels out a mage's spell-casting successes on a one-for-one basis. Note to players unfamiliar with Mage: this means only Sphere Effects, not other Gifts or vampiric Disciplines, and the spell must be directly cast on the hengeyokai. Indirect Effects (such as an Entropy spell used to crumble a ceiling down on the shapeshifter's head) cannot be countered.
- Yu-Ying: This is provided the hengeyokai can actually get her paws on such an extremely rare and mythical piece of True Jade and is willing to sacrifice it! Unlike the other effects, Yu-Ying only exists in a True Jade form, and the character can only use this effect of the Gift with such a treasure in grasp. For each success on the activation roll, one year of life is added to the hengeyokai's lifespan (reducing aging effects appropriately). Yu-Ying Jade is so rare that dangerous quests across the Middle Kingdom must be undertaken to find any.
Serenity (Level Four) - Werewolf.
Elemental Gift (Level Five) - As the Lupus Gift. Gai'nan may employ this Gift to defend their Beast-Court's sacred sites.
Totem Gift (Level Five) - As the Metis Gift, except the Courtier channels the blessings of the Beast-Court's/Dragon Nest's (foremost) spirit patron rather than his own Changing Breed or Tribe's.
Mantle of Wani (Level Six) - This Gift is only as common as Jade-ranked hengeyokai, which is to say it is very rare! There are never more than a handful of such wise and powerful (and often ancient) elders. This Gift is fairly standard to Rank 6 hengeyokai, provided they visit with Gaia herself. This Gift must be learned directly from that mother-Celestine, not one of her avatars. Learning this Gift confers a measure of spiritual status to the elder. She is thereafter considered a lesser Minister of Heaven, a direct representative of the Dragon Princes, Totems, and Celestines on Earth. She may issue orders to minor spirits and expect obedience. She carries herself with an imperial and princely bearing, and even other shen revere the elder, though they are not subject to this mantle of authority. The downside to this Gift is that the Mantle of Wani is for all intent and purpose a rank within the Celestial Bureaucracy. If the elder is not careful, she may be drawn into the politics of the Spirit Courts. Most Jade-ranked hengeyokai are either Regents of the most influential and powerful Beast-Courts in the Middle Kingdom, or live life as recluse hermits. A few, however, willingly embroil themselves in the intrigue of the spirit world.
System: The character may issue commands to any spirits of Gaffling rank with a successful Charisma+Leadership roll (difficulty 7). Unwilling spirits may resist with Willpower (difficulty 7). Normally, spirits allied to the character will not be unwilling. This resistance roll is mainly for attempts to order around Banes or Pattern-spiders or other "enemies of Gaia". This Gift functions similarly to Command Spirit otherwise. But in addition to this power, the character with Mantle of Wani is completely immune to the mental domination powers of other shen, regardless of the power of the user. Thus, Obligation, Dominate, Gifts such as Roll Over, direct Mind magick commands, and similar powers have absolutely no effect on the character. It doesn't matter if Caine himself tries to Dominate the character about. The Mandate of Heaven goes beyond all shen. However, emotion-based powers such as Presence and Song of Rage can still affect the character.
