Archetypes

A character’s Archetype describes their innate nature, and grants them:

• attributes in which they have a bonus (+1) or malus (-1)
• a unique Ability that exemplifies their potential, and a related Move
• available Skills

Choose one Archetype from below, describe any Ability details, and pick one starting Skill.

The Artist

Attributes: +1 Focus, -1 Reason.

Ability: Artwork

You have a natural ability to describe reality as you experience it, using some form of Artwork: whether in visual mediums, music or soundscapes, or performative. It comes naturally enough that the results often surprise you, hinting at deeper realities of the Other. Describe the type of art that you are known for. Gain the following Move.

Create Art

When you spend time creating a work of art, describe the piece (subject, aesthetics, etc.) and roll +Focus.

On a 10+, you craft an excellent piece with a deeper meaning beyond you. Choose two benefits.
On a 7–9, the piece stands out in an odd way. Choose a benefit.

• It’s cathartic: improve a mental Condition.
• It’s inspiring: worth admiration, attention, or money.
• It’s intriguing: ask a mysterious question about the piece you created.

On a 6-, the piece is deeply unsettling, even haunting. Suffer a Slight mental condition.

Skills

Automatic Writing

When you let the Other guide your artistic ability, describe what you want to achieve, and roll +Weird for Create Art. The outcomes will be deeply amplified or altered by the Other.

Creative Chronotype

You have a preferred time to work on your art. Choose a period that you gain Advantage during when you Create Art.

Muse

When you successfully Create Art with a specific person in mind, you also gain insight into a Clue related to them.

Pleasant Demeanor

You can roll +Focus to Convince Someone.

Vestige

Once a session, you can examine a crafted item and determine who handled it.

The Boss

Attributes: +1 Presence, -1 Focus.

Ability: Minions

You command a group of Minions, willing to do your biddings and dirty work. Describe your leading position over this group, their general makeup, and the type of jobs you typically ask of them. Broadly, describe what makes them follow you and respond so readily to your direction. Gain the following Move.

Give Order

When you direct Minions of yours to perform an action, choose a task below and roll +Presence.

• follow a person
• observe a place
• retrieve a thing

On a 10+, they succeed.
On a 7–9, they barely succeed; choose a consequence:

• It takes longer than expected.
• Your Minions are unavailable for the rest of the session.
• Your involvement is obvious.

On a 6-, they fail and suffer a consequence.

Skills

Outsource

When you consult an abnormal associate that has business in the supernatural, describe your meeting and your request, then roll +Weird.

On a 10+, they manage to help within the week.
On a 7-9, they report a complication within days.
On a 6-, you’ll never hear from them again, and fear the outcome.

Overwhelming Influence

When you Overcome during a social situation, gain Advantage.

Proxy

When you’re in trouble and use your Minions to get out of it, describe how they get involved and roll +Grit.

On a 10+, the Minion(s) take the fall for you.
On a 7–9, they stand in but become unavailable for a day.
On a 6-, you’re left to your own.

Rumors

Once a session, your Minions give you a lead on a Clue they’ve encountered.

While You’re At It

When you successfully Give Order with a 13+, choose a secondary task for your Minions.

The Doppelgänger

Attributes: +1 Grit, -1 Focus.

Ability: Shape

You are gifted with a supernatural talent to alter your Shape, capable of transforming your physical appearance to mimic any other person you want to—with some amount of effort and limitations. Initially you require physical contact with part of them, and can only shift once a day for up to a day. Gain the following Move.

Shift Shape

When you spend time changing your Shape to someone, describe your transformative actions and roll +Grit.

On a 10+, you change your Shape to perfectly match your target, becoming physically indistinguishable.
On a 7–9, choose a flaw from the transformation:

• You suffer a physical deformity, minor difference in proportion, etc.
• Your voice sounds strange, inaccurate, and/or off in some way.
• You have an especially painful shift, and suffer a Minor Condition.

On a 6-, you are unable to shift from your current form.

Skills

Cogent Form

When you Convince Someone relying on your Shape, gain Advantage.

Conduit

When you spend time giving your physical body over to the Other to accomplish a task, describe your goal and roll +Weird.

On a 10+, you remain aware while the Other does exactly what needs done.
On a 7–9, you black out, awakening to mixed results.
On a 6-, the Other uses you as it sees fit.

Enhanced Form

Each time you take this Skill, choose one improvement:

• The physical requirement for shifting is lessened.
• You can maintain your Shape for an additional day.
• You can shift more frequently.

Mimic Voice

When you try to replicate the voice of someone you’ve heard speak extensively before, roll +Presence.

On a 10+, you convincingly sound like them for the rest of the day.
On a 7–9, you convincingly sound like them for a period of time.

Synchronized

Upon shifting your Shape, you gain insight into a Clue linked to your current form, if it exists.

The Dreamer

Attributes: +1 Weird, -1 Grit.

Ability: Dreamscape

You have always experienced incredibly intense dreams: frequently lucid, often disturbing, and never without purpose. Through your experiences, you have acquired a deep mental model of your personalized Dreamscape. Describe your shaped Dreamscape, with three aspects (entities, objects, etc.) within. Gain the following Move.

Lucid Dream

When you spend time sleeping during Night or Late Night and enter your Dreamscape, choose a task and roll +Weird.

• Replace one aspect with another.
• Seek a vague answer to a question from the Other.
• Study a Clue to uncover linked details.

On a 10+, you succeed at your task, awakening refreshed.
On a 7–9, you succeed, but suffer a Minor mental Condition.

Skills

Déjà Vu

When you enter a location for the first time, roll +Reason.

On a 10+, describe a detail you’ve witnessed in your dreams.
On a 7–9, you have a strange sense that lingers; suffer a Slight Condition while you’re here.

Dissociation

During Morning and Afternoon, you gain Advantage when you Oppose Danger.

Inception

When you spend time sleeping and concentrate on someone else instead of your Dreamscape, you can automatically Convince Someone with subtle details.

Manifest

When you concentrate intensely on your realized Dreamscape to bring one of its aspects into the real world, roll +Focus.

On a 10+, the aspect appears as you describe, permanently brought into reality.
On a 7–9, the aspect appears only briefly before returning to your Dreamscape.

Transient Insight

During Early Morning and Evening, you can roll +Weird when you Read Person.

The Eccentric

Attributes: +1 Weird, -1 Presence.

Ability: Idol

You have a close, otherworldly bond with an otherwise inanimate object. You receive information from it, somehow—whether it be as emotions, sensations, voices in your head, etc. It is seemingly never lost or destroyed. Describe this Idol, its history, and your relationship with it. Gain the following Move.

Consult Idol

When you spend time communing with your Idol for a specific question that you have no other way of knowing, describe the “conversation” and roll +Weird.

On a 10+, the Idol gives a clear answer.
On a 7–9, the Idol gives a vague answer.

Skills

Outlandish Insight

When you share an unexpected explanation for something, roll +Reason.

On a 10+, you’re strangely accurate, discovering a hidden truth.
On a 7–9, you’re partially right, but are mislead in some way.
On a 6-, you’re wildly off base, but someone still acts on it.

Prophecize

Once a session, when you discuss a subject (person, place, or thing) with your Idol, flip a coin.

On heads, the Idol shares insight into a related Clue. On tails, the Idol shares insight into a completely unrelated Clue.

Rant

When you use your Idol in some way to Convince Someone, roll +Weird instead.

Unburden

Once a day, when you spend time with your Idol, heal your lowest mental Condition.

Weaponize

Your Idol can cause Major harm when used for Oppose Danger.

The Enigma

Attributes: +1 Focus, -1 Reason.

Ability: Stability

You have strange powers infused into your very being that enhance your physical and mental abilities. These powers manifest as a tertiary mental state called Stability: either Stable, Neutral, or Unstable. Generally these affect your mood, reactions, and social behavior. Gain the following Move.

Meditate

When you spend time centering yourself and concentrating, roll +Focus.

On a 10+, choose your Stability.
On a 7–9, flip a coin; heads you’re Stable, tails you’re Unstable.

Skills

Empowered

Each time you take this Skill, choose one improvement:

• When you are Stable and Oppose Danger defensively, gain Advantage.
• When you are Unstable and Oppose Danger offensively, gain Advantage.
• While you are Stable, you resist mental Conditions (lower Severity) but are weak to physical Conditions (raise Severity).
• While you are Unstable, you resist physical Conditions (lower Severity) but are weak to mental Conditions (raise Severity).

Heightened Awareness

When you are Stable during Morning or Afternoon, you can sense the presence of Clues.

Sense Other

When you are Unstable during Night or Late Night, you can sense the presence of the Other.

Telekinesis

When you are Unstable and try to manipulate matter with your mind, choose an outcome and roll +Grit.

• Deal a Minor physical Condition.
• Move something smaller than you, that you can see, as if pushed.
• Temporarily alter a visual property.

On a 10+, you succeed.
On a 7–9, you succeed, but either become Neutral or suffer a Minor physical Condition.
On a 6-, you fail and suffer a Minor physical Condition.

Telepathy

When you are Stable and mentally reach out to someone nearby, choose an outcome and roll +Presence.

• Empty their current thoughts.
• Receive their active thought(s).
• Send a thought or idea to them.

On a 10+, you succeed.
On a 7–9, you succeed, but either become Neutral or suffer a Minor mental condition.
On a 6-, you fail and suffer a Minor mental Condition.

The Fatale

Attributes: +1 Presence, -1 Reason.

Ability: Promises

You are socially gifted, and through your exploits have learned to bend people to your will, whatever that happens to be. You can make a Promise to someone in exchange for their full effort in accomplishing a task, with seemingly supernatural assurance. Gain the following Move.

Make Promise

When you ask someone for a favor of any nature and are willing to make them a Promise, roll +Presence.

On a 10+, they agree, and you Promise something relatively quick and/or simple.
On a 7–9, they only agree when you make a Promise with some constraint:

• It’s dangerous.
• It’s time-consuming.
• It’s harmful to your social standing.

On a 6-, they’ll agree with a demanded constraint.

Skills

Break Promise

When you intentionally break a Promise, describe the circumstances and roll +Grit.

On a 10+, you discover a Clue involving the person. They may or may not complete their task.
On a 7–9, you gain insight into a Clue involving the person. They will not complete their task.
On a 6-, you’re outed as problematic, cancelling the Promise.

Dark Pact

When you ask the Other for a favor and are willing to make them a Promise, roll +Weird.

On a 10+, the Other makes an odd request, and will follow through if you do.
On a 7–9, the Other makes a dangerous or disturbing request, and will eventually follow through if you do.
On a 6-, the Other is insulted; suffer a Major Condition.

Enticing

People notice when you enter a room. You always find someone willing to talk to you.

Lie Detector

You can always tell if someone is lying. When you successfully Read Person with a 13+, gain insight into their motives.

Reliable

When you complete a Promise before the other person has completed their task, gain Advantage when you Make Promise with them next time.

The Innocent

Attributes: +1 Reason, -1 Weird.

Ability: Purity

You embody a reliable, grounded view of the mundane nature of reality, acting as an anchor for others, and are capable of identifying and resisting the Other, if necessary. This is measured as your Purity: rated Low, Moderate, or High. You cannot spend Purity when Low. Gain the following Move.

Refresh

Once a day upon waking, roll +Reason.

On a 10+, choose two effects.
On a 7–9, choose one effect.

• Increase Purity.
• Reduce any one mental Condition.
• Gain Advantage on a Core Move for the day.

Skills

Cleanse

You can decrease Purity to repel the Other from someone or something nearby.

Clear Sight

When you carefully analyze a seemingly supernatural Clue, roll +Focus.

On a 10+, declare the Clue supernatural or not.
On a 7–9, flip a coin; heads it’s mundane, tails it’s supernatural.

Grounded

You resist any Condition dealt by a supernatural force.

Mend

You can decrease Purity to reduce someone else’s lowest Condition.

Miracle

When you help someone and decrease Purity, they automatically succeed.

The Investigator

Attributes: +1 Reason, -1 Grit.

Ability: Thread

You have innate insight into tying together and uncovering truths, exemplified by your tendency to follow a Thread to its inevitable conclusion. Using this insight, you’re able to pinpoint Clues and stay aware of how details are linked. Gain the following Move.

Identify Thread

When you anticipate a Clue tied to a subject (person, place, or thing), name them as your Thread and roll +Reason.

On a 10+, a Clue is guaranteed. Gain Advantage with actions directly involving your Thread.
On a 7–9, a Clue is likely, but it’s not strong enough to double down on. You can’t retry to focus for a day.

Skills

Between the Lines

When you successfully Study Something with a 13+, you find a clear answer to whether your Thread is entangled in the subject or not.

Close Call

Once a session, resist a Condition suffered from Oppose Danger.

Hunch

Once a session, you can declare one seemingly mundane item as crucial; roll +Focus.

On a 10+, your hunch is correct: the item is a Clue.
On a 7–9, the item is important, but you’re not sure why.

Peer into the Void

When you seek an answer through unorthodox means, describe your approach and roll +Weird.

On a 10+, the Other supplies a clear answer.
On a 7–9, the Other only responds with a vague hint.
On a 6-, the Other instead gives you a harsh truth.

Untangle

When you spend time tracking your Thread, describe your approach and roll +Reason.

On a 10+, choose a benefit.

• You anticipate their next move.
• You find an advantageous position over them.
• You identify another subject they interacted with recently.

On a 7–9, choose a benefit, but the trail is dangerous.

The Seer

Attributes: +1 Focus, -1 Reason.

Ability: Ritual

You have long witnessed visions and received messages from the Other, eventually being taught or developing a Ritual that allows you to strengthen this sight into the ambient fabric of reality. This can be through visions, voices, hidden messages, etc. Describe your ritual practice and what’s involved. Gain the following Move.

Perform Ritual

When you spend time to perform your Ritual, choose a task and roll +Focus.

• ask a question to a supernatural entity or force
• call forth a fragment of someone’s memory or emotion
• detect nearby hidden truths or supernatural forces

On a 10+, the ritual succeeds without issue.
On a 7-9, the ritual is successful, but comes with unintended consequences.
On a 6-, the ritual is disrupted by some external force.

Skills

Curse

When you channel strange words to someone who can hear them, roll +Presence.

On a 10+, describe their Major injury that they suffer within the day.
On a 7–9, describe their Minor injury that they suffer within the week.

Dark Omens

When you Study Something using occult means, instead roll +Weird.

Invitation

When you invite the Other to your Ritual, its influence amplifies the outcome dramatically, whether positive or negative.

Remote View

When you concentrate fully on a Clue and visualize a scene before you, roll +Grit.

On a 10+, you witness an ongoing scene linked to the Clue.
On a 7–9, you receive glimpses of a scene.

Shifting Light

Your Ritual is enhanced during different periods of the day. You gain Advantage when you Perform Ritual when…

• recalling a memory during Morning or Afternoon.
• detecting the supernatural during Early Morning or Evening.
• asking a supernatural question during Night or Late Night.

The Traveler

Attributes: +1 Reason, -1 Presence.

Ability: Rift

You have become intimately aware of an inescapable pattern, a delicate math that permeates physical reality, and using this you’re able to link two places together using a Rift. Any characters can use these to traverse spaces at will. Initially, you are able to maintain a single Rift for a day. Gain the following Move.

Open Rift

When you spend time at a location and concentrate fully on another place that you’ve been to, describe the entry and destination points, and roll +Reason.

On a 10+, a Rift appears precisely where you conceived it.
On a 7–9, a Rift appears, but choose a consequence:

• The entry point is not where you intended.
• The destination point is not where you intended.
• You suffer a Minor Condition.

On a 6-, your concentration is broken; you suffer a consequence.

Skills

Advanced Geometry

Each time you take this Skill, choose one improvement:

• You are capable of generating and maintaining an additional Rift.
• You are capable of maintaining each Rift for an additional day.

Locational Insight

When you focus on a Clue, you can Open Rift to an unknown location linked to it.

Pocket Dimension

When you attempt to hide something smaller than yourself outside of reality, roll +Focus.

On a 10+, it’s hidden. You’re able to retrieve it at this location with Overcome (Weird).
On a 7–9, same as above, but retrieval is at Disadvantage.

Strange Loop

When you observe a scene near a Rift, describe variables (who, what, when) for an objective “equation”, and roll +Weird.

On a 10+, the Other solves for remaining variables, completing the equation.
On a 7–9, the Other gives you new variables to consider.
On a 6-, your math is flawed, and you’re as disappointed as the Other.

Thin Places

When you Study Something focusing on a place, gain Advantage.

The Troublemaker

Attributes: +1 Grit, -1 Focus.

Ability: Chaos

You have a knack for funneling your own energy into useful outbursts, described as Chaos: rated Low, Moderate, or High. You gain and spend Chaos through various methods. You cannot spend Chaos when Low. Generally you behave more erratically with higher Chaos. Gain the following Move.

Make Trouble

When you intentionally stir things up in one of the following ways, give specifics and roll +Grit.

• cause a disruptive scene in public
• damage property in a blatantly obvious way
• sow mistrust between otherwise allies

On a 10+, increase Chaos and describe the aftermath.
On a 7–9, increase Chaos, but the situation doesn’t go as planned.
On a 6-, your interjection goes wrong, and the tables are turned on you.

Skills

Accidental Insight

When you successfully Study Something that remains at a violent scene, detail a Clue that you find.

Infiltrate

Once a session, you can enter a location you don’t have access to.

Intimidate

You can roll +Grit when you Convince Someone implying or using violence.

Skulduggery

When you spend time seeking something strange during Night or Late Night, roll +Weird.

On a 10+, the Other nudges you towards a dangerous situation. Increase Chaos.
On a 7–9, the Other plunges you into a dangerous situation.

Strong Arm

You can decrease Chaos to:

• gain Advantage with a physical action
• immediately escape a scene
• succeed with Oppose Danger