Poisoned Shadows

We in the Shadows fully support the rule published in The Sidhe: Book of Nightmares that limits mortal sorcerers to one Glamour Knack corresponding to each Trait, unless the sorcerer has a Trait exceeding Rank 5, in which case he may learn an additional Knack corresponding to that Trait for each Rank above 5. For convenience, the Knacks that correspond to each Trait are listed below, along with their source.

Note that there are a few differences between the list below and the official source material; these differences reflect the state of Glamour in the Poisoned Shadows campaign. Most minor changes will be obvious (e.g., The Green Knight instead of The Green Man); those that are not will be explained below, along with improved game effects for more recent Glamour Knacks, bringing them into line with the established Roll and Keep traditions from the Players’ Guide and Avalon sourcebook.

Traditional Glamour Knacks

Brawn: The Horned Hunter (Players’ Guide, p. 201), Iron Meg (Avalon, p. 102), Nicolas

Finesse: Anne o’ the Winds (Avalon, p. 101), Blackcloak (Avalon, p. 101), Robin Goodfellow (Players’ Guide, p. 201)

Wits: Isaac Snaggs (Avalon, p. 102), Jack (Players’ Guide, pp. 201-203), King Elilodd (Avalon, pp. 102-103)

Resolve: The Green Man (Players’ Guide, p. 203), King Robert (Avalon, pp. 103-104), The Stone Knight (Avalon, p. 104)

Panache: Captain Rogers (Avalon, p. 104), Lady Ann, Thomas (Players’ Guide, p. 203)

Dark Glamour Knacks – acquiring one of these Knacks incurs an immediate loss of ten Reputation Points, as these legends draw their power from evil mortals favored by the Unseelie. While they may be used without restriction once learned, anyone who relies too heavily on these dark gifts may incur the wrath of more traditional Glamour mages, not to mention the Seelie Court.

Brawn: The Faithless Knight

Finesse: The Treacherous Thief

Wits: The Traitorous General

Resolve: The Forsaken Priest

Panache: The False Lover

Seelie Glamour Knacks – as described in The Sidhe: Book of Nightmares, invoking one of these Knacks will arouse the attention and/or curiosity of the named being if a roll of 1k1 (2k2 in Bryn Bresail) meets a TN of 20.

Brawn: Queen Maab

Finesse: Mad Jack O'Bannon (Avalon, p. 103)

Wits: The Seelie Queen

Resolve: The Lady of the Lake

Panache: The Horned King

Unseelie Glamour Knacks – while similar to the Seelie Knacks described above, these darkly capricious Sidhe tend to keep a closer eye on the mortal world. Invoking one of these Knacks will arouse the attention and/or curiosity of the named being if a roll of 1k1 (2k2 in Bryn Bresail) meets a TN of 15.

Brawn: Jack-in-Irons

Finesse: Redcap

Wits: The Shadowed Prince

Resolve: The Mistress of the Hunt

Panache: The Dancing Man

New Glamour Knacks

The Dancing Man (Panache): The diminutive Sidhe known as the Dancing Man is the lord of the muryan, and one of several generals in the Shadowed Prince’s armies. When the Prince led his rebellion against the Seelie Court, it did not take much prodding to sway the muryan to his cause. The Seelie offered the status quo: the occasional revel punctuating an eternity of boredom. The Unseelie war offered the same opportunity for revelry, plus combat. Glorious, glorious combat.

No one knows why this particular muryan leads his people. He is marginally larger and stronger than the others, but whether that is the reason for his position or a mark of his office is unknown. It is known, however, that he is as capable in combat as any muryan, and he passes this on to any mortal who calls upon his dark blessing.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to a single attack roll made with a knife, or to automatically succeed at a single check using the Dancing Knack, regardless of TN.

Adept: If you are trained in the Feadail fighting style, spend a Drama Die to use its techniques as if you had the Small Advantage, regardless of your actual size. This effect lasts for a number of Rounds equal to your Rank in this Knack.

Master: Spend an Action and a Drama Die while engaged in combat with any enemy to perform the muryan’s “dance of despair.” Make a contested Panache + Dancing check against the opponent of your choice (you may use your Apprentice level ability to win this contest automatically). If successful, you cause your opponent to stumble, losing his next Action Die. You gain an Action Die showing the same Phase as the Die lost by the opponent. If the opponent does not have any Actions remaining that Round, he rolls one less Action Die at the beginning of the next Round, while you roll one extra.

The Faithless Knight (Brawn): Though this woman’s name is lost to history, it is known that she was once a bold and noble warrior who served Avalon during the reign of King Elilodd. She was fortunate enough to engage in many battles as part of the superior force, and soon began to believe she was invincible. One fateful day, while she led a small scouting expedition, she was attacked by an overwhelming force of Unseelie warriors with Firbolg slaves. Faced, for the first time, with a superior enemy, the woman fled the scene in cowardice while her fellow knights were slaughtered. Without advance warning of the Unseelie host, King Elilodd’s forces were caught by surprise and barely managed to defeat the foe, though many lives were lost.

Utterly disgraced, the Faithless Knight’s heart turned black and cold, and she dedicated herself to luring others into her own pit of despair. She traveled Avalon by night, drowning many innocent knights in blood and leading several others to disgrace. She became a harbinger of terror, and it was widely believed that she had fallen as far as any mortal could fall.

And then, she drank from the Cup of the Unseelie…

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die when facing any opponent with a Fear Rating to multiply that Rating by your Rank in this Knack and add it to a single roll needed to escape the encounter.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die when you are being chased (per the Chase rules in the Game Masters’ Guide) to add your Rank in this Knack to your Rank in whatever Knack is being used to resolve the Chase until the end of the Round.

Master: Spend a Drama Die when you are engaged in combat to immediately gain a single Action Die showing the current Phase. This Action may only be used to defend yourself (via an Active Defense), or to flee from combat. If used to flee, you may automatically apply the Apprentice effect of this Knack, if appropriate.

The False Lover (Panache): This nameless bard was once the paragon of grace and charm, effortlessly wining the hearts and souls of virtually anyone who looked upon him. He inspired heroes to achieve great deeds in far off lands, while his wit and beauty lured their wives to his bed while the heroes were away. He carried on in this manner for many years, leaving a trail of broken hearts (and wrecked marriages) in his wake, until age began creeping up on him and his looks waned. While he could still inspire greatness with songs of valor, it finally came to pass that one of his propositions was turned down.

Enraged, the man took the woman by force, then sent word to her husband on the battlefield, thanking him for the hospitality of his home—and his wife’s bed. He spent the remainder of his years using his powers of persuasion to manipulate those he met and leech every drop of happiness from their lives. As he grew old he remained unrepentant, his only regret that he was slowly losing the capacity to wreak the heartbreak he had come to enjoy.

And then, he drank from the Cup of the Unseelie…

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add three times your Rank in this Knack to a single check involving a Knack found in the Courtier Skill. Thus, if your Rank in this Knack is a 4 and you roll an 18, the roll becomes a 30.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to automatically succeed at a single contested roll when attempting a Charm Action. This effect may be invoked after the roll has been made and determined to be a failure. This is considered a success with no Raises, even if Raises had been declared on the initial roll.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to immediately enrapture a member of the opposite sex, as if he or she possessed the Star Crossed Hubris and you had just activated it. This effect lasts until the end of the Scene, after which the victim will not know what caused such strange behavior, but will remember everything he or she did (and how you took advantage of it).

The Forsaken Priest (Resolve): There are few greater crimes in the eyes of men or gods than when a holy man forsakes his vows of obedience and uses his influence to lead innocent members of the faith down the path of corruption. This vicar of the Church of Avalon, whose name has been lost to history, is guilty of just that: he lined his pockets at the expense of his church and his flock, while advising powerful men to make decisions advantageous to him, and convincing young women to secure the blessings of Theus by providing him with deplorable favors.

He was a force of pure malevolence and temptation, and by the time he was exposed, unfathomable damage had been done to the community he served and the souls of those who lived there. He had spent many years hiding his true nature behind pleasant-sounding lies, worming his way into the trust of good men and women and subverting them to his own cause. No man, it was widely believed, had ever abused his trust with such shameless skill, and no one could ever surpass this dark vicar for pure evil.

And then, he drank from the Cup of the Unseelie…

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to a single check involving the Sincerity Knack when you are attempting to tell a lie, regardless of its nature.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die after you have spent at least one Scene interacting with another character. If the character has a Hubris (or a Flaw), you become aware of it. If he does not have a Hubris or Flaw, you learn nothing about that character, but you do not lose the Drama Die.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to activate a character’s Arcana, whether it is a PC or NPC. If it is a Hubris or a Flaw, the character may not oppose this activation. If it is a Virtue or a Wile, the character receives the benefit of the Arcana the next time it is appropriate (e.g., on the very next roll), and will know that he has you to thank for your words of divine inspiration. You receive a number of Free Raises equal to your Rank in this Knack on any attempts to charm, persuade, or otherwise influence that character.

The Horned King (Panache): The Horned King is an embodiment of all that is masculine and virile among the Sidhe. Few women, human or Sidhe, can resist his advances; few even consider it after catching sight of his magnificent form. (Note: The Horned King of the Poisoned Shadows campaign is a more romantic figure than described in The Sidhe: Book of Nightmares, as the version presented there has no place in 7th Sea the way the game was originally intended.)

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to a single roll when attempting to seduce a member of the opposite sex.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to assume the form of any mundane, male animal of bear size or smaller until the end of the Scene. Specific animals are not possible. You gain the Hedonistic Hubris while you are transformed.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to move from any forested area to any other forested area within a 100-mile radius. However, you cannot control exactly where you will arrive within that area.

Jack-in-Irons (Brawn): As the war in Bryn Bresail began to wane, and it seemed certain that the Unseelie rebellion would be put down, the Shadowed Prince grew desperate. He sent agents to the mortal realm to summon the Firbolgs, offering them a place in his army and a chance to strike back against their old enemies, the Sidhe. The company of giants needed a leader, and the Prince turned to Jack-in-Irons, calling in the favor the Unseelie had done for him countless generations before. The fierce giant refused to leave the mortal world (and his favorite victims: humans) without the promise of great power. The Prince responded by infusing him with the essence of the Unseelie, making him a full member of his dark Court and granting him a commission as one of his generals. He continues to wear the chains of his confinement from so many years ago, and he now carries the heads of Sidhe alongside those of mortals.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to a single Brawn check to break chains, batter down a door, or otherwise free yourself from confinement.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to add your Rank in this Knack to your Rank in the Attack (Improvised Weapon) Knack until the end of the Round.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to target a single creature (excluding the Sidhe, and never a human) with a Fear Rating less than your Mastery Level in Glamour, or to target a Firbolg, regardless of its Fear Rating. That creature cannot harm you until the end of the Scene. If it is capable of understanding you, it must obey whatever simple requests (e.g., “Show me a way out of the forest,” or, “Stop eating my friends”) you make of it. It will not fight for you under any circumstances. If the creature happens to be a firbolg, it must serve you for an entire day, and will fight alongside you, but will not risk its life to save yours (unless you prove willing to do the same).

Lady Ann (Panache): Lady Ann was the much-loved daughter of a minor noble in a forgotten age of Avalon’s past. Favored by her parents as well as the Sidhe, the little girl wanted for nothing and soon became spoiled. As a young woman, she boasted in her father’s court that she could even best her namesake, Anne of the Winds, in a foot race. This finally incensed the Seelie Court, who sent the Legend to take the girl up on her challenge, with the understanding that if she lost, she would lose everything: her family’s fortune, her Glamour, and even her good looks. Frightened beyond measure, she begged the Court for the ability to defeat Anne, and an unknown Sidhe visited her in her sleep, offering her the speed of a jackrabbit. She naturally agreed, and woke to find she indeed had the animal’s grace—as well as its feet!

Fast as she now was, Anne of the Winds was just a hair (or a hare) faster, and would have won the race if she had not tripped over an exposed root a matter of yards before the finish line. Despite winning the race, Lady Ann had learned her lesson; she spent the rest of her life grateful for her many gifts, and blessed with abnormally good fortune by the satisfied Sidhe. To this day, citizens of Avalon are known to carry rabbits’ feet, hoping to capture a bit of Lady Ann’s supernatural luck.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die after you have made a single roll of any sort to add twice your Rank in this Knack to that roll. Thus, if you have a 3 in this Knack and you rolled a 22, your new total would be 28.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die before making a roll. For every die that explodes during that roll, Roll and Keep two additional dice instead of one.

Master: Spend a Drama Die after failing a roll. You may re-roll and try again. If you fail the second time, however, you’re stuck with the result. You may not use this ability more than once per roll, nor may it be used with any other re-roll ability.

The Lady of the Lake (Resolve): The Queen of the Earth watches over Avalon and Bryn Bresail, and gently guides both lands towards the future.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to automatically succeed at a Perception Check, regardless of its TN.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to receive a glimpse of the future before attempting a single task. You may add your Rank in this Knack to the Rank of a single Knack used to carry out that task until the end of the Round.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to completely alter your appearance until the end of the Scene. Your new form must be human in shape and appearance, but can be as handsome, ugly, or nondescript as you wish (and you may give yourself the Above Average Appearance, Stunning Appearance, Dangerous Beauty, Below Average Countenance, or Ugly Countenance Advantages). You may take on the form of a specific person, but your voice will remain unchanged, and you do not gain any special knowledge needed to portray that person (though you gain Unkept Dice equal to your Mastery Level in Glamour to any Disguise attempts made to pass yourself off as someone else).

The Mistress of the Hunt (Resolve): The Mistress of the Hunt leads the Unseelie Host, and serves as one of the chief advisors to the Shadowed Prince. She is the Prince’s bounty hunter, the one responsible for bringing back those who have displeased the Unseelie Court…dead or alive. No one has ever seen her true form; she appears at Court wrapped in voluminous black robes, with shadows obscuring her face. She can be seen in roughly the same form, flying among her charges when engaged in the Hunt, her robes fluttering like demonic wings, while shadows cling to her exposed skin. She is known to be a tireless, perfect tracker, and she is also known for her eternal hatred of the Horned Hunter and his Hounds of Night and Fog, any of whom the Mistress will attack on sight.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to automatically succeed at a Tracking check, regardless of the TN.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die when you are Crippled to immediately eliminate the effects of being Crippled for the rest of the Scene. You may also spend a Drama Die to completely eliminate the effects of fatigue, and eliminate the need to sleep for one full day.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to summon a nightmare from the stables of the Unseelie Host. The nightmare will appear in a cloud of smoke within moments of your telepathic call. If the nightmare is summoned out of doors and after sunset, it will serve as your steed until the next sunrise, allowing you to travel twice the distance an ordinary horse could cover in the same period of time without the Riding Check ordinarily required. The nightmare is capable of crossing rivers, but will refuse to cross (and will automatically gallop around) larger bodies of water.

If summoned during daylight hours or indoors (regardless of the time of day), the nightmare will immediately go berserk and begin attacking your enemies. While it is enraged, the nightmare receives a +5 bonus to all Wound Checks and damage rolls, and its Fear rating increases to 3. It will fight for 1d10 rounds (the GM should secretly roll a non-exploding die); if all of your enemies are killed or knocked out before this time elapses, the nightmare will begin attacking your allies. If all of your allies are killed or knocked out, it will attack you, instead. You cannot dismiss the nightmare before the specified amount of time, though you may be able to get it to stop attacking with the Shadowed Prince Knack (or with the Jack-in-Irons Knack, if you can somehow achieve a Mastery Level of 4). When the creature’s time of service has ended, it dissolves into a pool of blood which evaporates or seeps into the ground almost immediately.

Nicolas (Brawn): Nicolas was a simple blacksmith whose great strength was matched only by his gentleness. When he was not shoeing horses or repairing plows, he took great delight in making small toys for the children of his village. For reasons known only to itself (if, indeed, it even had any reasons), a particularly malicious Unseelie took offense at the joy this simple man spread with his gifts, and cursed the toys in his shop to hurt the children they were given to.

Thankfully, before any harm could be done, the Holly Prince intervened. He blessed the smith with Glamour, and gave him the ability to detect good from evil, so that he could ensure the cursed toys were given only to wicked people who deserved them. Nicolas spent the rest of his life on the run from the enraged Unseelie, often traveling in disguise and with the aid of his awakened sorcery to stay one step ahead of his dastardly foe, while continuing his charitable works until the end of his days.

Apprentice: By spending a Drama Die and using one Action to focus your attention on an individual, you can immediately discern his true Reputation score (regardless of any concealment). No known magic can shield this divination; however, if the individual has an Arcana which helps mask his true Reputation, the ability is reduced. While unable to discern how virtuous or vile the character truly is (e.g., his exact score), his status as a Hero, Scoundrel, or Villain will still be revealed.

Adept: By spending a Drama Die, you can use your sorcery to fit any inanimate object into a container obviously too small for it. Using this sorcery, you may place a rapier into a pouch, a strongbox into your own pocket, etc. You may not affect any item larger in volume than your own body. It requires an Action, but not a Drama Die, to retrieve the object once it has been stored. At the GM's option, numerous small items of the same type (coins, pebbles, etc.) can be affected with a single Drama Die. The weight of the item is not affected.

Master: A Glamour Master with the Nicolas Knack may spend a Drama Die (plus any additional Dice required for activating another Knack) to "store" a use of any other Glamour Knack into a small, inanimate object made with his own hands, or by any Sidhe. The object must be small enough and light enough to be carried in one hand. The item may be given to another person, who can discharge the Knack as if he were a Glamour Mage of the minimum Rank necessary to use it. If that person gives the item freely to another, the right to invoke the power is passed along. If it is taken from him by force or trickery, the offender will suffer from unusually bad luck (-1 Unkept Die on all rolls) until it is returned. If the offender tries to activate the item, the Glamour will have the exact opposite effect of what was intended. Once the Knack is invoked, or if the item is inadvertently destroyed, the magic fades and the item reverts to normal.

Queen Maab (Brawn): The Queen of the Sea controls and commands all beings beneath the waves except for her hated rival, the Black Siren and her kin. Maab is a spiteful Sidhe who lashes out against any insult or slight. Her powers beneath the waves are unparalleled.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to speak with any sea-based creature and understand what it is saying. This does not necessarily indicate that the creature will be friendly, though most non-hostile forms of sea life will tend to be favorably disposed towards you. This power lasts until the end of the Scene.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to survive without breathing and adapt to underwater conditions for one hour per Rank in this Knack. This ability will allow you to survive in other situations without breathing, such as while being buried alive, strangled, or surrounded by poisonous gas.

Master: Spend a Drama Die while standing in a foot of seawater to gain a Fear Rating of 2 and a bonus of two Kept dice (+2k2) to all rolls for a number of Rounds equal to your Rank in this Knack.

Redcap (Finesse): Redcap is one of the most bloodthirsty and vicious of the Unseelie. Delighting in torture and death, he dips his cap into the blood of his victims and allows it to drip down his face. In the wake of the war in Bryn Bresail, Redcap became an important part of the Shadowed Prince’s Court, serving the Prince as both courier and assassin.

Apprentice: Redcap is known for toying with his prey before finishing them off. Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to the contested Panache roll for a single Taunt Action.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to gain a portion of Redcap’s fighting prowess. You may add Unkept Dice equal to your Mastery Level in Glamour to the Attack (Dirty Fighting), Eye Gouge, and Throat Strike Knacks. Furthermore, your fingers elongate into claws, and all your barehanded attacks inflict an extra Kept Die (+1k1) of damage. These effects last for a number of Rounds equal to your Rank in this Knack.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to take on the most fearsome aspects of Redcap’s appearance. Your torso shrinks, but your limbs grow longer. Your face elongates and twists into a hideous grin, and fresh blood begins to drip from your hair, running down your face. This transformation gives you a Fear Rating of 3, which lasts for the rest of the Scene.

The Seelie Queen (Wits): The Queen of the Sky acts as the sole monarch of the Sidhe. While her sisters may disagree with the extent of her domain, they do not dispute it publicly because of her shrewish nature and ability to drain their power from them.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to channel some of the Queen’s stature and aura. You may add twice your Rank in this Knack to all social rolls until the end of the Scene.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to summon rushing winds, designed to disorient and overwhelm an opponent. A small whirlwind surrounds a single person within your sight, causing no damage, but reducing all his rolls by a number of Unkept Dice equal to your Mastery Level in Glamour, for a number of Rounds equal to your Rank in this Knack.

Master: Spend a Drama Die and target any person within your sight. The target loses one point from the Trait of your choice until the next sunset.

The Shadowed Prince (Wits): Pale and sinister, cold and beautiful, the Sidhe now known as the Shadowed Prince was once one of the highest members of the Seelie Court. Afflicted with the most raw, untamed form of emotions (all of them bad), and obsessed with increasing his own stature, he led the rebellion that triggered the most savage war Bryn Bresail had ever seen. Driven from the Court, he found refuge among the Unseelie and soon rose to a position of leadership, largely by forming shrewd alliances and outmaneuvering (or simply destroying) his rivals and absorbing their power.

As the master of the Unseelie Court, the Prince has augmented his power by researching dark magics that even those among his allies feel might have been better left buried. Heedless of their concerns, the Shadowed Prince has become the virtual embodiment of raw power and terror, and he could not be more pleased—even if it ultimately costs him his sanity.

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to channel a portion of the Prince’s menacing aura. You may add five times your Rank in this Knack to the contested Resolve roll for a single Intimidate Action.

Adept: The Adept of the Shadowed Prince has learned a single word of power from the vaults of knowledge belonging to the Prince himself, though it requires an expenditure of your own energy just to speak it. Spend a Drama Die to speak this word, targeting a single Sidhe within sight. If the Sidhe is a member of the Seelie Court, it suffers damage: roll a number of dice equal to your Rank in this Knack, keeping a number equal to your Mastery Level in Glamour to determine how many Flesh Wounds the attack inflicts. If the Sidhe is one of the Unseelie, you may give it a single command of no more than seven words. If the Sidhe does not comply, or if it agrees to comply but fails, it takes damage as if it were from the Seelie Court. (Obviously, no Sidhe will agree to perform a task that carries the risk of causing more damage than this.) If the Sidhe is legitimately unable to perform the task (e.g., asking a muryan to give you a pot of gold), or if the task cannot be completed by the next sunset, the Sidhe is not obligated to comply, and this power is wasted. No Sidhe may be compelled to perform more than one task in any 24-hour period.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to take on the appearance and substance of pure shadow. While in this state, you receive four Free Raises on all Stealth checks, and you cannot be harmed by any physical attacks. However, neither can you affect anything in the physical world; you are unable to attack anyone, and cannot even pick something up. You remain in a semi-solid (but permeable) state, and are therefore unable to fit through any openings you could not already squeeze through.

The Traitorous General (Wits): In a now forgotten age, there lived a great warrior, blessed with strength, skill, and rich with Glamour. He served as vassal to a landed noble, and in time his skill-at-arms and powerful Sorcery propelled him to the captaincy of a company of soldiers. When he had ascended as far as a man of his station could rise, he naturally longed for more. Anger and greed found their way into his heart; he and his men abandoned their liege-lord in the midst of a crucial battle. The nobleman was killed, his lands fell into the possession of his enemies, and the general and his men began new careers as mercenary blackguards.

They were a powerful force, and their leader was a brilliant strategist, so they seldom went without employment. Time and time again, the general secured promises of gold and other riches for himself and his men—and time and time again, when the money had run out, they quit the field (or worse, changed sides) in the midst of a battle, leaving their former employers outnumbered and at the mercy of their enemies. Embittered that his common birth would forever make him subservient to the nobly born, he began to play one aristocrat against another, persuading them of threats that did not truly exist and taking their money, then leaving them to die. When one of his men balked, the general ordered him cut down; over time, his savagery attracted the attention of the Unseelie, and one by one, they flocked to his banner, replacing his mortal troops.

In time, even his strong arm and potent magic could not outweigh his reputation for treachery, and his remaining mortal followers turned on him, driving him into the wild Avalon night. The soldiers believed he would meet his end there, lost forever in a haunted bog, or left for dead by malicious faeries as repayment for his lifetime of selfish cruelty.

And then, he drank from the Cup of the Unseelie…

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to a single use of the Repartee system against a sidhe. Only Charm and similarly positive effects may gain this bonus when used against the Unseelie, while only Intimidate and similarly negative effects may gain this bonus when used against the Seelie.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to call out to the nearest Unseelie for aid. Roll Resolve + Traitorous General against a TN of 30. If successful, an Unseelie answers your call, and offers to aid you (for a price). If the roll is 10 or less, a Seelie has answered your call, and it will attack you immediately.

Master: Spend a Drama Die to create a ten-foot wide circle centered around you that Seelie Sidhe cannot enter. They are hurled away from you if they are inside the circle when you activate this power, and they may not use their magic on you while the effect lasts. You may maintain this effect as long as you can stay awake (you must make a Resolve roll every morning or fall asleep—the TN is 10 for every day you’ve gone without sleep). If you move from the spot where you invoked the effect, it ends, and anyone else who leaves it is instantly vulnerable to the Seelie.

The Treacherous Thief (Finesse): There are thieves, and then there are thieves. This nameless blackheart used his skills to steal from those who had almost nothing, because they presented the easiest targets. He murdered people for a handful of coins, and gleefully betrayed even his own comrades when the prices on their heads were high enough, and when the shadows were dark enough to hide the knife aimed at their backs.

In time, he became wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, but the thrill of a daring theft (and more, a chilling betrayal) was too much to resist. He began take pleasure in depriving the poor of family heirlooms, even if they were of little value. He pillaged the precious materials from churches that could not afford to replace them, and turned brother against brother by stealing from one and placing blame on the other. At the height of his career, his powers of stealth were so great, he could slip inside the best-guarded vault or the most secure sanctum and make away with whatever he pleased. Despised by lawmakers and lawbreakers alike, it seemed this heartless rogue had done all that could be done to secure his place as the most hated man in Avalon’s underworld.

And then, he drank from the Cup of the Unseelie…

Apprentice: Spend a Drama Die to add five times your Rank in this Knack to a single check involving either the Stealth or Shadowing Knacks when you are trying to go undetected.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die when you are about to make an Attack roll against an opponent who is not aware of the attack (even if only momentarily distracted). If the attack is successful, the opponent is considered Crippled until the end of the Round. If the attack inflicts a Dramatic Wound, the opponent is considered Crippled until the end of the Scene, instead.

Master: Spend a Drama Die when you have failed a Wound Check. If you have an ally (even a single member of a Brute Squad) within ten feet, your ally suffers whatever Dramatic Wounds you would have suffered and your total number of Flesh Wounds resets to zero, as usual.