Merits/Flaws
Perfect Protocol (1 Trait Merit)
You have a natural talent for interacting with other
shen. You were born to address the courts of the hsien, and drink
sake with the most horrible Keui-jin and look good doing it. You
are +2 Traits up on any Empathy, Expression, and Etiquette tests
when dealing with other shen in a courtly fashion.
Auspicious Birth
You were born on a very lucky day. You are considered
lucky to be around, and are a natural choice to lead a sentai.
Once per session, the Storyteller may choose to negate one of
your failed Challenges and change it to a win instead. You never
know when this will be, but usually at a dramatically appropriate
point in the story.
Rival Clan (1 Trait Flaw)
For some reason or the other, another faction of shapeshifters in
your court have an intense dislike for you. Perhaps the local
Hakken feel you don’t know the true way of honor, or the
Kitsune think that you are insufferably barbaric. Whatever the
reason, you are down two Social Traits in all situations when
dealing with this Changing Breed (it may even be your own).
Inauspicious Birth (2 Trait Flaw)
The hour of your birth was marked by a poor omen, and you life
has been written by it. You are considered bad luck to have
around, and the more superstitious hengeyokai seem to use it as a
way to blame you for all sorts of bad things that happen. Once
per session, the Storyteller may choose to make one of your
Challenges automatically fail, even after the Challenge has
already been won in your favor.
Angry Ancestor (2 Trait Flaw)
One of your Ancestor-spirits has been watching your
progress since your birth, and she is very displeased. Perhaps
you have made a mistake and broken an ideal that she honored
greatly, or perhaps you just don’t live up to her
expectations. Whatever the reason, she refuses to quietly leave
you alone; she intends to place you back on the correct path,
like it or not.
As long as your ancestor is displeased with your actions, she
will use her pull in the spirit world to hinder you. The all
Rites are harder to perform, and the Storyteller may choose other
inauspicious times for when she will strike. What’s more, if
you have Past Life, she may attempt to take over you body and
force you to take the “proper” course of action. She
doesn’t necessarily want to kill or endanger you – she
simply wants you to amend your behavior in some manner that the
Storyteller determines.
General Gifts
Basic
Create Element
As the Metis Gift. Hengeyokai in tune with the
appropriate elements can summon “moon” as an element.
This manifests as a bright ray of moonlight, providing
illumination and often some measure of comfort.
Mindspeak
As the Galliard Gift.
Sense Imbalance
This Gift allows the hengeyokai to focus his
perceptions on the balance between the three, discerning any
local imbalances of energies – whether between the Triat, or
thos eof Yin, yang, and Yomi. He may, for instance, learn that
the Wyld is particularly strong in one area, or that the taint of
Yomi is suspiciously missing from one hovel in the midst of a
slum. This Gift is taught by any spirit servant of the Emerald
Mother.
System: The player makes a Static Mental Challenge. Like the
Gift: Sense Wyrm, the difficulty may vary depending on the
strength of the relative forces in the area. Keui-jin smell of
the strongest Chi in their bodies, and those with a powerful
P’o have a taint of Yomi about them.
Blaze Talons
A war art of the hengeyokai, this Gift allows the shapeshifter to
wreath his hands, paws or even wings (in the case of Tengu) in
flame. Hengeyokai using this Gift are often wonderour to behold,
as arcs of fire whirl around them as they strike blows at their
opponents. This Gift is taught by a Flame-spirit.
System: The shapeshifter spends one Gnosis Trait and ignites her
hands in deadly flames. All Physical attacks with their hands
cause aggravated damage, and can cause vampires to from
Rotschreck. Same-Bito, Nagah, and Zhong Lung must learn this Gift
as an Intermediate, as their deep ties to water preclude any
greater affinity to fire.
Courtly Speech
When acting in the role of a courtier, the hengeyokai find it
only polite to speak in the tongue of one’s host. This Gift
allows her to speak any of the Changing Breed tongues as if she
were a native. The growls of the Khan, the pheromonal cues of the
Kumo, even the hisses of the Nagah; this Gift grants mastery of
all. However, it does not grant the ability to read written
symbols, nor does it work on human language. This Gift is taught
by a Crane-spirit.
System: By expending a Social Trait, it grants fluency of the
desired tongue for the scene.
Intermediate
Waking Dream of Unity
A more potent form of Mindspeak, this Gift allows all of those
the user wishes, to communicate with each other silently. It is
taught by a Chimerling or spirit official serving the Ministers
of Heaven.
System: By spending a Willpower Trait, the hengeyokai may place
up to thirty characters into silent communication. Of course, all
participants need to be present for this to work for them.
Everyone participating can act with some clarity; all actions are
reduced by one Trait. The user may bring unwilling subjects into
the conversation as well, but must defeat them in a Social
Challenge. If he fails, then the Gift ends.
Exorcism
As the Intermediate Theurge Gift. The Yama Kings often send their
vile servants to gain control of mortals.
Part the Wall
This Gift allows those hengeyokai that cannot normally
step sideways, to do so. It allows them access to the Mirror
Lands as easily as their more fortunate cousins do.
System: The hengeyokai may now step sideways, just as a Garou
can. This ability becomes automatic as soon as the shapeshifter
learns the Gift.
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