Death Powers (FiD)

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Death and disease are powerful forces.

Action and motivation need not cease with death. Characters can use the powers of the dead, learn their secrets, and even reanimate them as undead.

Death attacks are made with phlegm and ectoplasm that inflict disease. Paradoxically this means that death attacks don't kill quickly, instead they take their time as disease and infection kills you, and this is extremely hard to cure. Death attacks can weaken and corrupt objects, but again this is slow.

Death creatures are spirits of the dead. Study can call apparition that can communicate but not act. Attune can call ghosts that scare and some poltergeist activities at and undead spirits can be called to inhabit corpses as zombies and skeletons. At mid to high tiers, spirits can be called to possess stronger things, such as an undead knight or a powerful mummy, or as incorporeal undead that can walk thru walls and are invulnerable to weapons that are not potent.

Death Power Effects Table

Action	Basic No minimum 3 Stress	Advanced Minimum 2 Dice 5 Stress	Master Minimum 4 Dice 7 Stress	Apex Minimum 6 Dice 13 Stress
Attune	Soul Sense Detect undead and Death powers.	Defy Death Banish undead and dismiss Death powers. Animate corpses.	Defiant Spirit Summon undead.	Soul's Crossing Create a portal to the plane of death.
Command	Wraith's Whisper Command undead even if you don't share a language.	Spectral Speech Communicate with undead and dead things over vast distances.	Wraith's Will Command undead as if you were their superior.	Enslave Permanently bind undead to service.
Consort	Death Mask Make clothes and accessories rotten but functional when used by you and undead creatures.	Gift of Undeath Assume the form of an undead.	Curse of Undeath Shapechange a willing or helpless creature into a undead.	Haunted Hunt Transform a number of willing creatures into undead, give a simple instruction.
Finesse	Harrowing Herse Ride undead or a vehicle of death as if they were trained.	Scythe Fine and potent close-range attack, similar to a fine potent weapon.	Dead Man's Hand Fine manipulation of corpses and undead.	Deluge of Death A wall of undead, suppressing scale.
Hunt	Scent of Death Track and pursue undead and corpses.	Shard of Death Attack similar to a fine and potent rifle.	Shard of Death You can create signs of haunting, such as faintly glowing images, rattling noises, and banging doors. You can cover a single room indoors or a city block outdoors.	Outbreak Attack like fine and potent grenade.
Prowl	Deathwatch Hide in graveyards, tombs, and haunted places.	Ghost Walk Move on and through tombs, corpses, and cadavers.	Dance Macabre Bring allies when you use Deathwatch and Ghost Walk.	Death March Crew teleport from one burial place to another.
Skirmish	Touch of Death A close-range attack, similar in effect to a melee weapon or pistol.	Hand of Death Fine and potent Touch of Death.	Ghost Dance Distractions and obstructions prevent scale.	Carnival of Carnage Attack all enemies in a wide area.
Study	Name of the Deceased Identify corpses, cadavers, and materials taken from the dead.	Seance Summon an apparition of a dead person you have a link to and ask them questions.	Obituary Sense the past events of of a corpse or place of death.	Tale of Tragedy Obituary for every corpse in a large area.
Survey	Scent of Death Sense manifestations of death, including undead and Death powers.	Skull Eye Choose an skull or a representation of one; perceive as if you were at that spot.	Seeking Skull Choose a location or creature. You gain a sensor at the nearest skull.	Omnipresent Death You perceive from all skulls at once over a wide area.
Sway	Moody Dead Understand undead even if normally couldn't and sense their motivations.	Dead Men Talking You and allies can communicate with undead. You can make folk morose.	Elegy You can post suggestions in the mind of an undead.	Unity in Death Permanently change the personality and motivations of undead.
Tinker	Dead Style Work the remains of the dead. Make decrepit and broken items function normally.	Dead Craft Shape materials you can Dead Polish as if they were of clay.	Luxuries of the Dead Create Dead Polish objects out of nothing, Create fine and potent items.	Funerary Splendor Mass produce Dead Craft or make something large, such as a vehicle or building.
Wreck	Rot of Death Wreck remnants of the dead. Finish off damaged things. Noisy and leaves a twisted object in place.	Rot of Oblivion Rot of Death, but faster as if they were wood. Works as a fine potent sledgehammer in combat.	Dust to Dust Rot of Oblivion and destroyed targets silently disappear or are reduced to a fine dust.	Crypt Cataclysm Similar to Rot to Oblivion, but over a large area. Level a necropolis or anything weathered.

Dismiss
Banish undead and dismiss Death powers. Summoned undead are usually just gone, natural undead may reform later. You can end the operation of a death ability. You can summon undead spirits to animate corpses as simple corporeal undead.

Shard of Death
You can create signs of haunting, such as faintly glowing images, rattling noises, and banging doors. You can cover a single room indoors or a city block outdoors.

Name of the Deceased
Identify corpses, cadavers, including silk, leather, and undead, learning their use and abilities.

Expanded Death Powers

Expanded descriptions of effects that differ significantly from Typical Powers.

Command

Translate: You and allies can communicate with undead. You can create fear in mortal creatures.

This allows full conversation with creatures of the power. It is still a Command ability, it is more forceful and less subtle than the Sway equivalent.

You can intimidate any undead or mortal creature, overcoming barriers of language, culture, and even sentience.

Study

Study and analyze objects and creatures imbued with death to gain insight and knowledge. This works on bone and skin used as materials, on corpses, and undead.

Seance: You can summon an apparition of a a dead who you have a link to and ask them questions.

This requires a link to the dead. Part of the corpse, grave, cenotaph, and place of death all qualify. A personal object can also do, as well as a close friend or relative of the deceased.

You summon a powerless apparition of the dead person. This can be a ghostly image or voice, or a manifestation on something like a Ouija board or tarot reading. The spirit of the dead can tell you about things that happened in its lifetime. Most apparitions are vain and eager to speak about their lives and the wrongs they suffered, especially to people close to them. They retain some of their habits from life, particularly negative ones like suspicion, greed, and vengefulness.

Depending on the setting, an apparition may or may not be able to speak of its continued existence after death.