GIFTS

Gifts are special abilities possessed by few.

Gifts cannot be learned. A gift is an inborn quality, a random mutation, or a divine blessing.

Gifts do not have levels; they are all-or-nothing and require a flat number of points.

Below is a list of possible gifts. It is not exhaustive. Players may feel free to invent their own gifts, which the Master may then feel free to deny. The Master may add or drop gifts from the list to make it fit the game world.

Some of the listed gifts are useful for players who wish for their characters to be from other worlds. The Master has the final say about whether He will allow particular gifts into his game. The list is a suggestion, not a promise.

Gifts should not give bonuses to traits except in particular circumstances. They can help to negate penalties in their domain of function, however.

Sorcery
Cost: 8 per discipline

To use sorcery, one must be "touched" by a god. There are six disciplines:

Amelatu
Mahasu
Nekelmu
Sabatu
Seheru
Talamu

This sorcery allows the user to open supernatural gateways to other worlds. These gateways allow the user to observe events from afar, to journey to exotic places, or to gather allies from other realms.

This sorcery lets the user manipulate the physical energies of the world, such as heat, light, sound, and lightning. It gives the user the power to destroy.

These energies can cause fires to erupt. They can be used against people or obstacles. Mahasu spells have little in the way of direct force, however.

This sorcery is for manipulating minds. It can be used to hear or project thoughts, to control automatons, or to shatter sanity.

This sorcery allows the user to project force at a distance. It can be used to attack persons or objects.

This sorcery allows the user to diminish or destroy the sorcery of others. It functions much like Defiance, but works at range and destroys spells instead of evading their effects.

Seheru is, in essence, anti-sorcery. It is used to nullify spells or to set up supernatural wards.

This sorcery gives the user control over the forces of life and death. It allows the transfer of Health and Sanity from one individual living creature to another.

It also allows the sorcerer to feel the emotions of creatures that are near. This is a sense, like Perception or Mysticism.

Senses

The following gifts allow a character's senses to operate in an unusual way. This does not add anything to the character's Perception, but may cancel penalties caused by certain situations.

Superior Hearing
Cost: 8

This gift allows one to hear sounds whose pitch is above or below the range of normal human hearing. Ultrasonic noises include things like dog whistles and the screeches used by bats for navigation. Subsonic sounds include subtle vibrations that humans might feel, but can't hear. Some large animals, such as elephants, communicate using subsonic frequencies. More exotic creatures might also communicate this way.

Superior Olfaction
Cost: 8

This gift allows one to detect scents with fine detail, like an animal. This can be used to tell individuals apart (which can be useful for seeing through a disguise) or to track someone like a bloodhound. The Master may require Perception rolls in either case.

Starvision
Cost: 8

Starvision allows one to see at night as if it were broad daylight. This ability works even when the night is overcast. Starvision does not allow a character to see in pitch blackness, however. Deep caves and sealed rooms will be as dark to a character with starvision as they are to anyone else.

Immunity
Cost: 8

This gift makes one immune to sickness, disease, and biological poisons. The character is still vulnerable to dangerous inorganic chemicals.

Longevity
Cost: 8

A character with longevity ages at a slower rate than normal human beings. The rate at the discretion of the player and The Master. One could even be virtually immortal.

Alien Biology

The following gifts are meant for non-human characters from other worlds. Players should recognize that all of these come with a price beyond their cost in points - a character that looks strange and alien will be hated or feared by most humans. It can not enter civilization without an excellent disguise, so must often rely on others to acquire simple needs like food and gear.

On the other hand, strange-looking characters are more likely to instill fear in their human opponents.

Amphibious
Cost: 8

A character with this gift is equally at home in water or on land. The character has no penalties to movement, skill, or initiative in water.

Depending on the wishes of the player and the discretion of The Master, the amphibious character can either breath water like a fish or hold its breath for hours like an aquatic mammal.

Extra Limbs
Cost: 4 per limb

This gift lets a character have additional arms, legs, tentacles, tails, etc. Different limbs give different advantages. Extra legs can provide better balance and stability, while extra arms allow one to grasp more objects at once.

Phosphorescence
Cost: 4

This gift allows a character's body to emit a soft glow like that of a firefly. This glow can be used to see only a few feet. It can be used for reading unless the writing is faint.

The player may choose whether this glow emits from the entire body or specific parts.

The glow can be turned on and off at will.