Darkness Powers (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

Darkness is linked to both physical and mental darkness. Darkness is opposed to light. Darkness is associated with our psychological shadow, base drives, primal instinct, evil, and the subconscious. In physics, darkness is merely the absence of light, and many claim that spiritual evil and darkness is the absence of enlightenment and control. Darkness powers deal with moral and physical darkness, base carnality, indulgence, and deception.

Dark attacks are made up of bolts and weapons of dark energy that drain life and energy from targets to cause horrible wounds similar to burn, causing necrosis. This is less effective against nonliving targets but extra effective against creatures of spirit and energy.

Dark creatures are shades, devils, and creatures of the night. They are usually more interested in corrupting people than in killing them. Learning who to summon may require study or be a a score in itself. Giving the single order you get from summoning a creature of darkness is rarely very useful. These subtle creatures need time to use their full powers of deception and coercion. This means you often have to bargain with them, which they of course use to corrupt you.

Darkness 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	Umbral Understanding You can detect creatures and powers of Darkness.	Umbral Undoing Dismiss any summoned creature. End the operation any power.	Umbral Urge Summon a creature of Darkness.	Umbral Universe Create a portal to a plane of darkness.
Command	Dark Decree Command any creature of Darkness. You cannot understand them.	Voice of the Void Communicate with creatures of Darkness over long distances.	Abyssal Authority Command Darkness creatures as if you were their superior.	Twilight Tyranny Permanently bind creatures of Darkness to service.
Consort	Dark Mask Assume an appearance to provoke darkness and envy.	Devil Form Assume the form of a creature of darkness. Devil Mask another.	Devil Possession Devil Form a willing or helpless creature into a creature of Darkness.	Devil's Dance Devil Form a number of willing or non-sentient creatures, give them a dark desire.
Finesse	Ride the Dark Ride Darkness mounts as if they were trained and you had the key.	Shadow Strike Fine and potent close-range attack.	Dance of the Dark Play with shadows to confuse or conceal.	Shadow Storm Storm of blades of darkness suppresses scale.
Hunt	Dark Scout You can see perfectly in the dark.	Shadow Sniper Darkness attack similar to a fine and potent rifle.	Nightfall Darken an area, create shadows, and move them.	Shadow Shockwave Darkness attack similar to a fine and potent grenade.
Prowl	Dark Cloak Merge with shadow.	Dark Step Teleport from one shadow to another.	Dark Team Bring crew with Dark Cloak and Dark Step.	Void Walk Teleport from one location in darkness to another.
Skirmish	Shadow Shove A Darkness close-range attack, similar in effect to a melee weapon or pistol.	Shadow Strike Shadow Shove, and fine and potent.	Eerie Evasion Create shadowy distractions that prevent scale.	Shadow Surge Darkness strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area.
Study	Dark Name Identify physical or moral Darkness and power abilities.	Dark Lore Exactly analyze Darkness powers and abilities.	Dark Past Read the past events of Darkness.	World of Darkness Dark Lore a wide area, then Dark Pas some targets.
Survey	Eye of the Bat See in the dark.	Gift of the Bat You can give the ability to see in darkness to allies.	Eyes of the Dark Choose a location or creature. See them from nearest darkness.	World of Darkness You perceive from every dark place at once over a wide area.
Sway	Infernal Empathy Understand Darkness creatures and motivations.	Infernal Influence Crew can communicate with Darkness creatures. Tempt normal folk to commit evil deeds.	Temptation Post suggestions in the mind of Darkness creatures and in the minds of folk to corrupt them.	Infernal Indoctrination Permanently change personality and motivations of a creature.
Tinker	Mold Darkness Shape darkness like soft black clay, keeps its form for a few minutes.	Shape Darkness Mold Darkness, and you can form simple solid objects of darkness.	Craft Darkness Create complex tools, such as fine and potent items of solid darkness.	Master Darkness Craft Darkness to mass produce or make something large, like a building.
Wreck	Dark Corrosion Withers and corrodes, a powerful but slow process that leaves twisted remains.	Dark Smash Break most materials if they were wood	Dark Disintegrate Dark Smash targets disappear or are reduced to a fine dust.	Dark Obliteration Dark Disintegrate over a large area. Level a city block or wither a wood.

Expanded Darkness Powers

Attune

Harness the power of Attune Darkness to perceive and manipulate supernatural energies, allowing you to detect and interact with beings and phenomena from planes of darkness. These places are often simply called Hell.

The position and consequences usually depends on what happens around you when you do it. Having helpers and bodyguards reduces the consequences, and sometimes a creature wants to be dismissed and the consequence might be that it loses control of itself, or that other creatures appear to intervene. If a powerful creature resists being dispelled, its obviously dangerous. Having helpers and bodyguards reduces the consequences.

Umbral Understanding You can detect creatures and powers of Darkness.

This is usually done to spot a disguised summoned creature. However, it can also help identify a creature's connection to powers, providing valuable insights into their nature. Limited effect suffices against a creature you can clearly see. You need greater effect against against a creature that is hidden (standard effect) or behind a wall (great effect).

Umbral Undoing Dismiss any summoned creature. End the operation any power.

You can force a creature based on this power that is native to another plane of existence to return to that plane, or to end the operation of an ability of the power you use.

Dismissing a creature is hard and usually requires great effect. A creature that has been wounded or otherwise weakened only needs standard effect. A creature that wants to be dismissed requires only limited effect.

Darkness is powerful in that it can dispel any power, not just Darkness powers. It can be used as a defense against others' use of power, or it can be used to break the continuing effects of powers.

Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using powers. Limited effect creates an opening that makes the supported action potent. Normal effect improves the position of the supported action. Great effect improves both position and effect of the supported power.

When used directly, the effect is usually limited unless the opponent is relying on powers for their safety. Against an opponent that uses power to fly or even breathe you may have a better effect.

When it is dramatically appropriate that a power is hard to dispel, often because it is the crux of the situation, this will simply not work, but will instead give you a clue to what you need to do to resolve the situation.

Umbral Urge Summon a creature of Darkness.

You can call a creature of darkness. This is generally an unwilling servant.

Learning who to summon may require study or be a score in itself. It will obey one command from you and this can be extended. Darkness creatures will often cooperate in plans that corrupt you or other people.

Darkness creatures, also known as devils, come from realms of Darkness known as Hells. In a science-fiction setting with powers this is usually related to faster-than-light travel, so if ships travel through hyperspace, this is where Dark summons come from.

Summoning can bring you allies to fight, but more commonly you summon a spirit to do some specific task related to your power. Summons can use most power effects and maintain power effects you have created. They can also give advice and information related to their power. In general, you can summon generic creatures one tier lower than yourself without having to do a flashback. Such a creature is similar to a cohort, either a skilled follower or a group of goons.

To summon a particular creature, similar to an expert, you need its unique identity, called true name in the mystical power traditions. For a technomancer this would be something like an id number, a blueprint, or genetic data. Learning about the right creature to summon is a task in its own right, often requiring a flashback or downtime activity to use Command, Consort, Study, or Sway to gain information.

Spirits generally come in three types, elementals, spirits, and creatures with powers.

Darkness elementals are shades, blobs of solidified darkness. They embrace enemies and cloak allies. Most elementals have animal intelligence, and often take the shape of a dog or simply a dark blob.

Darkness spirits are similar to elementals in that they are made out of darkness, but the powers that create spirits are less material. This makes spirits ephemeral, less physically oriented, and more intelligent than elementals. They can use sophisticated power effects and usually have an agenda of their own.

Creatures with powers resemble normal creatures, most having a biological body, metabolism, and functioning as ordinary living creatures but also some exceptional abilities related to their power. A succubus is an attractive human female, but sports horns and a tail and may have hooves, wings, and an unusual skin color as well as Darkness abilities. As Darkness is the essence of deceit, Darkness creatures can often mask themselves to appear as if they have no powers. Not all creatures with powers are summonable or dismissible, many are native to this world and have no special vulnerability to Attune power effects.

Depending on your degree of effect the creature is willing to do different things. Limited effect allows you to ask questions of an intelligent creature or demand a short period of physical labor from a simple creature. The creature will not fight for you. If forced into a fight due to circumstances, it will resent it afterwards.

Standard effect allows you to ask for any service appropriate to the type of creature. A devil will do evil, terrorize, tempt, and seduce. This includes dangerous tasks such as combat if the devil has such abilities, which most of them do.

Great effect allows actions outside the creature's comfort zone, but not things it directly opposes. A devil will do most things except those associated with Light. Lengthy service also requires great effect, like summoning the creature to guard a treasure for as long as it can.

The position is usually risky. The creature is being forced to serve and might lash out. Typical consequences are: The creature strikes out at you once. A tightwire struggle to keep the creature under control The creature breaks things around you, demands concessions from you. Overly literal interpretations of your commands. The creature deliberately does its tasks poorly.

Offering a creature gifts or services appropriate to its nature can make the position controlled, with consequences like half-heated efforts, demanding not to be summoned again until some time or event has passed, or just general sulkiness.

Desperate position usually comes from trading position for effect, but it might come from a difference in ethos. If you are a priest of light and summon a demon, or if the summon is three or more tiers above you the position will be desperate. Desperate consequences include the spirit demanding you sell your soul, become its agent in the world, that you come to its home plane to serve it there for a time, that you defeat the creature in a duel or similar dramatic story events.

Umbral Universe Create a portal to a plane of darkness.

You can create a portal that allows travel to and from Hell. This is situational, but highly useful under exceptional circumstances. There are things that are possible to in Hell that are not allowed in the regular world, most Darkness effects are reduced one step in difficulty, from advanced to basic, master to advanced, and apex to master. This opens the possibility of new super-apex powers that have to be negotiated with the game master. Such effects rarely reach outside of Hell, but if they affect creatures in Hell, the effect may remain when you return to the mundane world.

Gating can allow access to creatures too powerful to summon, so you instead ask for an audience. This includes archdevils and lords of Hell. The creature may then use the gate to come to you, call you into its presence, or just communicate with you.

Using a gate is usually played out as a score, which means there is an engagement roll. Depending on how quickly the matter is resolved, the game master may require a separate game to return home again. However if you do this in a scene that is dangerous, such as asking for help against an enemy too powerful for you to defeat, the position is usually much worse. Once you have established a connection to a certain place or audience with a certain creature, you can usually do so again from a controlled position and without doing it as a score.

Command

Command and intimidate Dark creatures, projecting authority. Position and effect depend on the situation and your relationship with the listeners.

The position depends on the creatures' actual relationship to you—ordering a creature that sees itself as your superior is a desperate position. A controlled position comes from a creature that agrees you are superior, usually just making retrying harder. A risky position is typical against a creature that sees itself as your equal and not your enemy, possibly leading to heat, misunderstood orders, or a small rebellion.

Dark Decree Command any creature of Darkness. You cannot understand them.

This is useful for intimidating creatures under your power and commanding foreign or alien subordinates. Combined with the basic power of Sway, it allows two-way communication.

Voice of the Void Communicate with creatures of Darkness over long distances.

You can communicate with Dark creatures over any distance as long as you know the target, and a line-of-sight even if you do not. You can communicate with the most powerful creature related to your power in a vehicle or installation as long as you can see the exterior. The communication is simple and direct, suitable for the Command skill.

You can send nightmares to any creature (not just Dark creatures) you know or see. This allows you to send vague messages and receive vague answers influenced by the subconscious of your target.

Abyssal Authority Command Darkness creatures as if you were their superior.

Targets will see you as a higher-ranking devil. This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts. Understanding the social order of your targets helps avoid conflicting with their established loyalties. Ordering devil to investigate a disturbance is harder (needs more effect) than telling them to ignore it, Dark creatures lack a sense of duty.

Limited effect might result in a creature not doing what it might not have done anyway, like ignoring a situation. Standard effect makes the creature do what it should, but in a way you decide, like a guardian hell hound chasing rather than attacking. Great effect means targets will ignore their normal routine and go out of their way to please you, like a shade moving into the light or enemies ignoring or fleeing from you.

Twilight Tyranny Permanently bind creatures of Darkness to service.

This won’t work unless you are already in a position of power. The effect is similar to Authority but potentially permanent. A creature under your enemies' care may break free over time. Strong emotions can also break your control, but otherwise, it lasts until dispelled.

Consort

Consort powers changes your form and later that of other creatures. These powers might also be used as a set-up action for a later Consort roll. This will often give a bonus to effect or improved position or even allow an action that a human could not do.

A common consequences is that you are mistaken for someone, or that your assumed form is somehow a hindrance. You might be obnoxiously attractive, trigger prejudices, or have unexpected handicaps.

Dark Mask Assume an appearance to provoke darkness and envy.

Imbue your appearance with darkness and envy, such as luxury clothes, jewelry, and personal beauty. This is not a disguise, but such a makeover can be extreme enough that people may not recognize you.

Devil Form Assume the form of a creature of darkness. Devil Mask another.

Devil Mask applied to another creature does just that. They still use their own Consort action.

Assuming the form of a creature of darkness is a true physical transmutation. You need not assume the form of an existing creature, as long as the gamemaster agrees your new form embodies Darkness.

Devil Form can work as a set-up action for a number of other actions but may penalize other things, as appropriate to your new form. When appropriate, your new form can use Basic and Advanced Darkness powers inherently without risking stress.

With limited effect you can transform into yourself as a devil. Those familiar with you will recognize you. Standard effect can make you a generic creature, very hard to recognize as yourself. Great effect allows you to assume the shape and some of the personality of a specific creature you have studied.

Devil Possession Devil Form a willing or helpless creature into a creature of Darkness.

This is Devil Form applied to another creature. The duration depends of the effect, limited effect is very temporary. Standard effect lasts for the duration of a score. Great effect lasts a long time and potentially become permanent, depending on the the story. If you also want to make the target unrecognizable, that requires additional effect, see Devil Form.

Devil's Dance Devil Form a number of willing or non-sentient creatures, give them a dark desire.

This is where Consort becomes a combination of Devil Form and Umbral Urge. You transform a number of existing creatures and give them a corrupt personality, turning them into minions. Targets must be willing, non-sentient like animals, or just very minor figures in the plot, many tiers below you.

This is usually used to create a host of goons that will fight and chase for you. Such goons are more interested in chasing and cornering targets than in actual combat. Or they can be given bit parts, creating a cout of imps to serve you.

Finesse

Exercise finesse with Darkness, manipulating and attacking with precision

Ride the Dark Ride Darkness mounts as if they were trained and you had the key.

This allows you to use Finesse with mounts and vehicles you are not familiar with as long as they include an element of darkness. This includes Dark creatures serving as mounts as well as hyperspace and ether vessels. You can bypass simple locks on vehicles, but not more serious security. You can ride beasts even if they are not trained to carry a rider. They must still be physically able to carry you.

Shadow Strike Fine and potent close-range attack.

Besides variety, this only substitutes for equipment, fine and potent finesse weapon is just as effective. Using this does not take any more time, activating your attack power is equivalent to drawing a weapon.

Dance of the Dark Play with shadows to confuse or conceal.

Play with shadows in small and precise ways. This can momentarily blind, or alter a shadow to cause a misstep or confuse sight.

Shadow Storm Storm of blades of darkness suppresses scale.

As Shadow Strike, and you also create distractions. The effect is like having a number of trusty but entirely defensive allies in the fight. This negates any scale advantage an enemy gets for having allies of their own.

Hunt

Dark Scout You can see perfectly in the dark.

Shadow Sniper Darkness attack similar to a fine and potent rifle.

Nightfall Darken an area, create shadows, and move them.

You can darken an area and create conjure shadows. You can cover a single room indoors or a city block outdoors.

Shadow Shockwave Darkness attack similar to a fine and potent grenade.

Prowl

Dark Cloak Merge with shadow.

You can make yourself appear as a shadow. This allows you to hide in impossible places as long as the environment is dark. This works just like any other attempt to use Prowl to avoid notice, except that shadows and darkness provides more concealment than it ordinarily would. Note that only you can use this ability, your friends and allies cannot unless you use Dark Team, below.

Dark Step Teleport from one shadow to another.

You can move through darkness. This allows you to teleport from one shadow you can see to another, walk through walls as long as both sides are in the dark, and so on. Your friends and allies cannot unless you use Dark Team, below.

Dark Team Bring crew with Dark Cloak and Dark Step.

Now you and your allies can Prowl in dark places. They still use their own Prowl action

Void Walk Teleport from one location in darkness to another.

You and allies can teleport from one location in darkness to another. This is regional travel, you stay within the same city or region, but it is generally sufficient to escape just about any situation or location.

This takes you to places you are familiar with. Both effect and position is worse unless you know where you are going, which means it is great for escapes but less so for intrusion into an enemy's territory that you are likely to be much less familiar with.

Skirmish

Shadow Shove A Darkness close-range attack, similar in effect to a melee weapon or pistol.

Shadow Strike Shadow Shove, and fine and potent.

Eerie Evasion Create shadowy distractions that prevent scale.

Shadow Surge Darkness strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area.

Study

Dark Name Identify physical or moral Darkness and power abilities.

Dark Lore Exactly analyze Darkness powers and abilities.

Dark Past Read the past events of Darkness.

World of Darkness Dark Lore a wide area, then Dark Past some targets.

Survey

Eye of the Bat See in the dark.

Gift of the Bat You can give the ability to see in darkness to allies.

Eyes of the Dark Choose a location or creature. See them from nearest darkness.

World of Darkness You perceive from every dark place at once over a wide area.

Sway

Infernal Empathy Understand Darkness creatures and motivations.

Infernal Influence Crew can communicate with Darkness creatures. Tempt normal folk to commit evil deeds.

Temptation Post suggestions in the mind of Darkness creatures and in the minds of folk to corrupt them.

Infernal Indoctrination Permanently change personality and motivations of a creature.

Tinker

Manipulate, shape, and create objects of darkness. When used with long-term projects, powers can often substitute for missing resources such as tools or raw materials, but that is all it does until you Master Darkness.

The position depends on how quiet your workplace is and how much time you have to work with. The effect determines the effectiveness of your construction, but also how long it will last. Devices that are more powerful are harder to contain, and thus wont last as long. Most shaping will only be good for a single scene, but if your effect surpasses that required for the effect you want, you can stretch the effect until the end of the score.

Mold Darkness Shape darkness like soft black clay, keeps its form for a few minutes.

You can play with shadows and dim light both are ephemeral and only last as long as you keep at it. You can solidify small amounts of darkness to shape objects like you can shape clay. These objects melt in strong light.

Shape Darkness Mold Darkness, and you can form simple solid objects of darkness.

Darkness can form simple useable objects that will retain its new shape and function for hours or even days. You can do more complex objects than Mold Darkness can, to the level of detail of basic mechanisms. This may allow you to create devices and traps from the stuff of darkness.

Craft Darkness Create complex tools, such as fine and potent items of solid darkness.

You can create darkness out of nothing, or transform an object from darkness into another material as long as you know the power required for both the starting and final form. You can create complex tools, such as fine and potent items of solid darkness.

This is two distinct effects. The first allows you to create darkness out of nothing, even in direct light. The second can only be used if you know multiple powers. You transmute darkness into material connected to another power and vice-verso. The result will maintain its form as if affected by Shape Darkness. The advantage of this is that you can transform a complex object and it will retain its form and function as far as its new material allows. This can transform something like a sword from metal to darkness, and it would still be a functional sword. A door could be changed from wood to darkness, you then pass through and the door reverts to wood.

Master Darkness Craft Darkness to mass produce or make something large, like a building.

This is similar to Craft Darkness, above, but you mass produce objects, even a set of different objects. You can also make something large, such as a vehicle or building.

Pretty self-explanatory, this is Craft Darkness on a larger scale. This is useful for equipping a large band or building something large out of nothing. When doing long-term projects that involve building or crafting, you can use Master Darkness to gain great effect, even under what normally be poor conditions, but this has the usual stress cost.

Wreck

It is easy to destroy darkness, but this only creates murk unless actual light is used. Darkness withers and corrodes other materials, this is a powerful but slow process.

Dark Corrosion Withers and corrodes, a powerful but slow process that leaves twisted remains.

Darkness withers and corrodes, this is a powerful but slow process that leaves twisted remains in place. Can attack like a dark torch in combat. Just as crude as it sounds. You destroy things related to your power, and strike with the force of a sledgehammer in combat. As usual, Wreck may be at an advantage or disadvantage compared to Finesse and Skirmish, depending on the situation.

Dark Smash Break most materials if they were wood.

This reduces the strength of strong materials, allowing you to break even the strongest barrier, as long as it of the proper material and not too thick. You can also use this as a sledgehammer to smash other things, and ads a fine, potent sledgehammer in combat.

Dark Disintegrate Dark Smash targets disappear or are reduced to a fine dust.

Darkness is powerful when it comes to disintegration, and is able to disintegrate most other materials.

Dark Obliteration Dark Disintegrate over a large area. Level a city block or wither a wood.

Similar to Dark Disintegrate, but over a large area. This can silently turn a city block to dust, darken a large city, ruin a city wall, and similar massive destruction.