Spirit (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

That which does not kill us makes us stranger.

Trevor Goodchild (Æon Flux TV 1995)

Spirit is a complex playbook that creates a play experience outside normal expectations.

As a spirit, you are immaterial by nature — a supernatural manifestation of Power. Your abilities come instinctively, but you struggle to affect the physical world.

Your general appearance resembles your Race, idealized and reshaped by your Forms. A Fire spirit may have flame for hair and searing red skin, a Darkness spirit may be a silhouette with star-dim eyes. As you learn new Forms, your grow stranger and more otherworldly, mixing or shifting between Forms.

If a character dies, they may continue play as a Spirit by selecting this playbook through Additional Playbook without the usual XP cost. They retain all abilities of their former playbook but begin fully immaterial and must rely on Powers to Materialize until they take a Spirit ability that grants materialization.

Trauma Condition — Immaterial

You are normally immaterial, existing in the spirit world — an aspect of the ether. You cannot touch anything in the physical world, but you see and hear and can manifest as a faint, whispering image. You cannot be harmed unless an attack is Potent. Others may Survey to sense you and Attune to see and interact with you. Any action involving you as actor or target begins at Limited Effect and Controlled Position.

You may roll: Attune, Command, Consort, Prowl, Study, Sway, Survey. You may not roll: Finesse, Hunt, Skirmish, Tinker, Wreck, or use their associated Powers. Exception: Master-level Finesse and Hunt Power effects that alter the environment.

Two immaterial Spirits interact with one another as if both were material. Non-spirits may enter the Spirit World temporarily through an appropriate Power or Ritual and can then fully interact with immaterial spirits.

Power Activation

Your Powers are triggered by will alone. While you are immaterial, powers manifest only faintly in the physical world, with Limited Effect and Controlled Position (see above).

Materializing

You cannot materialize by default. You must either use a Special Ability or be the target of an Advanced Attune Power. When material, you function like any other creature. You may become immaterial again when banished (such as by Attune) or at the end of a scene. You can use Attune powers to Banish or Manifest yourself.

Spirit Travel

You cannot travel physically. You exist in a parallel Spirit World anchored to a small Haunt such as a glen or alley. You can move normally within any scene you are present in.

To go further you use Spirit Travel by focusing on things you Haunt. Your starting Haunts are: your home, the crew’s lair, all crew members (including cohorts), and all your contacts. A downtime action can place or item into a Haunt, or you can gain a new contact in the usual ways to act as a Haunt for you. Creatures and objects are mobile Haunts — you may travel to them wherever they go. You have no sense of your physical location beyond the immediate vicinity after using Spirit Travel.

Spirit Travel is usually simple, but wards, rituals, or circumstances may demand an Attune roll. You must be immaterial to travel; you may have to wait until the end of a scene if you are material. It is possible to exorcise a Haunt to sever its connection to you, usually only for the current score.

Vulnerabilities

• You are vulnerable to Powers that affect Spirits and extradimensional beings.
• You are tied to all Powers you know, which influences how Command and Sway effects can compel or manipulate you.
• You can be summoned or banished with Attune Powers.
• Some effects force you to Materialize; this prevents Spirit Travel until you become immaterial again (normally at the end of a scene).

Special Abilities

Haunting Presence

When a creature is one of your Haunts or within the area of one of your Haunts, you get an impression of what is happening around them and count as present for Assist and Set Up actions. You may Assist twice per score without spending Stress. You may also impose or ease an emotion — fear, calm, distraction, or curiosity — as part of the action.

When you use this to Set Up, you risk consequences, usually mental effects or temporary loss of that Haunt.

Invulnerability

Your material forms are highly resistant to damage. When you are material and take physical Harm that is not Potent, make an Attune roll. 1-3: No reduction. 4-6: Reduce Harm by 1 level. Critical: Reduce Harm by 2 levels. This stacks with the Skirmish ability of many Forms to absorb damage when both are relevant.

Remember: When immaterial you are immune to damage that is not Potent, and even Potent damage is affected by your starting Position, which is always Controlled. This always applies, even if you don't have Invulnerability.

Judge of Life

During downtime, you may add or subtract your Attune dice from the recovery roll of nearby creatures. If you penalize a roll and it results in 1, their Harm increases by 1 level instead of decreasing. You do not need to Materialize to use this ability.

Remember that you cannot go anywhere you like — you need a Haunt to a place, object, or person to Spirit Travel there.

Manifest Shape

Materialize and assume a shape chosen when you learn this ability — a specific animal or a specific person. An animal shape may grant natural capacities like flight, swimming, speed, and keen senses. A shape can improve or worsen Position or Effect depending on circumstances.

You may take this ability multiple times to learn additional shapes.

Materialization

You may assume a physical form. While Material, you act as a normal creature, reducing the restrictions of Trauma Condition — Immaterial. You may choose how much of your spiritual nature shows, but using Powers gradually reveals your true spirit form. You may become immaterial again at the end of any scene or when banished by an Attune effect.

Possession

When immaterial, you may touch a creature and roll Attune to enter and control its body, becoming Material.

Remember: as an immaterial Spirit, your starting Effect is always Limited.

The target’s role determines the Effect required. The GM assigns roles to NPCs similar to crew positions.

• Limited: a bystander
• Standard: a member of a cohort gang
• Great: a cohort expert
• You can never possess a core crew member (PC-equivalent).

While possessing, you use your Actions, Attributes, and Special Abilities, but keep the host’s appearance; imitating their mannerisms requires Consort. Using Powers gradually warps the host, revealing signs of your true nature. All Harm to the host also affects you.

Possession lasts for the score unless dismissed, the host falls unconscious, or you release it at the end of a scene. This leaves you briefly disoriented and unable to act. When it ends, the host returns to normal; only memories and physical Harm remain.

You may take this ability multiple times. When a possession ends, reduce all Harm you suffered while possessing by one level for each additional time you took this ability.

Size Change

You can change size to become either much smaller or much larger, less than half a meter or more than three meters in height. As a large creature you suffer one less level of physical harm from weapons. As a small creature you gain additional effect on Prowl.

Additional Playbook

Select another playbook. You gain immediate access to its Inventory and XP conditions. From now on, you can choose its Special Abilities. You can take this special ability multiple times, each time selecting a new playbook. Prerequisite: To select a playbook, you need an action rating of one in each of its starting actions.

Powers

You can learn these powers, expending a Special Ability for each. Air, Animal, Barrier, Darkness, Death, Earth, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Flux, Illusion, Kinesis, Life, Light, Metal, Mind, Order, Plant, Space, Time, and Water.

Dramatic Encounters

˄ ˅ Adler, an animist

˄ ˅ Ash, a child medium

˄ ˅ Cress, an inquisitor

˄ ˅ Thorne, a lunatic with potent vision

˄ ˅ Wicko, an occultist

Inventory

You do not carry normal gear. You only have the items in this playbook, each a manifestation of your nature that appears when needed and fades when not.

☐,☐,☐ Natural Object.

☐ or ☐☐ Potent Weapon.

☐,☐,☐ Second Sight Potion.

☐ Spirit Clothes.

Natural Object ☐: A simple item tied to your Forms — a sprig, ember, shard, clod of earth, wisp of mist. You conjure it from the Spirit World; it is never valuable or manufactured but might be useful as an ingredient in Rituals or Crafting. Playbook.

• Potent Weapon ☐ or ☐☐: A weapon magically potent against the supernatural. Certain creatures take less or even no damage from mundane weapons. This can be either a hand ☐ or heavy ☐☐ weapon.
• Second Sight Potion ☐: Gives the ability to see spirits and the invisible. Lasts several hours. Alchemical, Consumable, Unreliable/Volatile. You may see things that are not there.
• Spirit Clothes ☐: A stylish outfit. Without these, you have only minimal clothing which may scandalize people.

Inventory

You do not carry normal gear. You only have the items from playbooks — each a manifestation of your nature that appears when needed and fades when not. If you have more than one playbook, you can access items from any of them.

☐,☐,☐ Natural Object

☐ Potent Weapon

☐,☐,☐ Second Sight Potion

☐ Spirit Clothes

• Natural Object ☐: A simple item tied to your Forms — a sprig, ember, shard, clod of earth, wisp of mist, handful of water. You conjure it from the Spirit World. Unlike other manifested items, it remains in the physical world until used or discarded. It is never valuable or manufactured, but may serve as a pure, natural ingredient for Rituals or Crafting. Playbook.

• Potent Weapon ☐ or ☐☐: A manifested weapon potent against the supernatural. Certain creatures take little or no damage from mundane arms. This appears when selected and fades when the score ends. Available as a hand ☐ or heavy ☐☐ weapon.

• Second Sight Potion ☐: Gives the ability to see spirits and the invisible. Lasts several hours. Alchemical, Consumable, Unreliable/Volatile. You may see things that are not there.

• Spirit Clothes ☐: An elaborate outfit. Without this, you have only minimal clothing which may scandalize people.

XP

• Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action's attribute.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that item occurred multiple times.

• You addressed a challenge advising others or using powers.
• You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
• You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.

Starting Actions

Attune 2

Survey 1

4 points by choice, no higher than 2 in any one.