GIFTS

Gifts are special abilities possessed by few. They are inborn qualities, random mutations, or divine blessings. They cannot be learned.

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.

Gift	Cost
Sorcery	6 per discipline
Senses	6 per sense
Immunity	6
Longevity	4
Amphibious	4
Extra Limbs	4 per limb
Natural Weapon	6
Natural Armor	6
Phosphorescence	4

Sorcery

Sorcery is the power of gods given to mortals. 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.

Mahasu 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.

This sorcery gives the user control over the forces of life and death. It allows the transfer of stuns, wounds, and shocks from one individual living creature to another.

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

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

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

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.

Intuition

This is a catchall for supernatural abilities used to learn the unknown. A mystic may hear the whispers of spirits, read the future in the stars, or simply know things without reason.

Intuition allows one to know whether a person, place, or thing is supernatural - and, if so, what that nature might be. This is a passive power, a sixth sense. It serves the same purpose with regard to sorcery and the spirit world as the Perception trait serves in the physical world.

If sorcery is used anywhere near an intuitive, The Master should have the player roll Perception to see if the character senses it. More powerful spells are "louder" and "brighter," so The Master should subtract one point from the challenge level for each level of energy in the spell.

Note that this check is made the moment that any supernatural energy is channeled. A sorcerer who is trying to cast an enormous spell may take several hours to do so, during which time the amount of energy in the spell grows steadily. Any intuitives in the area should get regular trait checks to see if they notice.

Intuition also allows one to sense the presence of nearby disembodied spirits and to communicate with them on a primal level. A mystic does not receive coherent thoughts from ghosts, only urges, feelings, and desires.

Finally, Intuition can be used by The Master as a plot device. He can allow a character to sense danger, receive visions of the future, or anything else that adds to the game.

Empathy

This gifts allows one to feel the emotions of creatures that are near with a successful Perception check. The challenge level of the roll depends upon how familiar the creature is to the empath.

Familiarity	Challenge Level
friend	6
acquaintance	9
stranger	12
beast or alien	15+

Immunity

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

Longevity

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

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

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.

Natural Weapon

The character has claws, fangs, or some other natural attack. This gift gives the character a bonus to unarmed damaged equal to a small weapon.

The Master may allow normal humans to take this gift to represent amazing prowess in unarmed combat.

Natural Armor

The character has armored scales or a tough hide. This gift gives the character a bonus to endurance equal to light armor.

Phosphorescence

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.