Shadower Discipline

Also called Concealment training, this Discipline is learned by those who wish to be invisible and undetectable, whether it is for defensive measures or for other more nefarious ends.

Invest in this Discipline if:

• You want to be able to hide yourself and others from immediate view.

• You want to play an assassin that can strike hard from Concealment

• You want to play a sneaky ambusher or an elusive prowler

DISCIPLINE OVERVIEW

BASIC SKILLS

Camouflage: Render yourself invisible to the unwary, while stationary.

Conceal Item: Hide certain items on your person and prevent others from finding them

Set the Ambush: You can render yourself and your allies invisible. 

COMPLEX SKILLS

Art of War: Hide body movements from attackers, allowing you to avoid attacks

Expert Shadower: Conceal yourself faster and you can walk while concealed. 

Hide in Shadows: Emerge from concealment while shielded by trickery and shadows.

Shot in the Dark: Your first ranged attack from Concealment hits hard

ERUDITE SKILLS

Distracting Defenses: Augment your defenses, deflecting an attack into another target

Duck and Cover: Use cover as a defense, allowing it to absorb attacks in your stead.

Fade into Shadow: You can flee from your hiding place or prepare something potent. 

Supreme Exodus (1/P): Suddenly hide or escape.

Veiled Aspect (ATN): Enshroud your movements to become more difficult to read

BASIC SKILLS

CAMOUFLAGE

(Basic Shadower; Active-Conc/Focus, Conceal)

You are able to fade into invisibility, preventing most folk from sensing your exact location.

To use this spell, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• Position: Lean against immovable cover (e.g. wall, tree, shrub) with a minimum of 50% coverage. You don’t need to be behind it.

• Equipment: No Ultraheavy/Heavy armor, held items over 4 feet long, or active light sources (unless covered).

When these positional and item requirements are fulfilled, do the following:

• Step 1: Perform 30-counts of quiet Concentration (aka qConc-30).

• Step 2: Expend 1 Focus. If you don’t have any Focus, you cannot use this skill.

• Step 3: If you are uninterrupted, invoke "Camouflage"

• Step 4: You are imbued with the "Concealed" status and must follow the points below or lose said condition.

  • Crossed Arms: Cross your arms over your chest. You may hold items.

  • Stand Still: Don’t move from your location, Concentrate, or use any Skills/Defenses.

  • Stay Silent: You may not say anything, except for out-of-game clarifies.

Concealed Creatures: You cannot be seen or pinpointed, but you can see normally. Other Characters can vaguely sense your presence (i.e. "I think we're being watched"). When hit by an attack, respond with "Immune, I am Concealed" -- the only effects that will hit you and remove Concealment are Unveiling effects and Global effects

Being Unveiled: Even if the restrictions above are followed, you can be removed from Concealment if you are hit by an Unveiling effect or a Global effect. The former comes from individuals under the “Perceiving” status. The latter is an effect that hits the whole area.

CONCEAL ITEM

(Basic Junker/Shadower; Active-Focus, Sense/Inquiry-Defense, Conceal, Deception)

You are able to smuggle items so that they are harder to find upon your person.

• Smuggle Item: Whenever someone uses Scavenge upon you, you can withhold items items the size of or smaller than a fist or a 2-foot long dagger upon your person. This can’t be used on items you are holding in your hands.

  • This can be defeated by an “Unveiling” effect that is used directly on you while they are next to you.

• Mask Item: Whenever an individual uses an Inquiry effect that asks about the small items on your person, React with “No effect” if the items are small-sized as per above.

• Smuggle Item and Mask Item are abstract representations of how well you hide these items. Thus, you can use them even if you are dying, dead or unable to use Defenses.

Quickdraw (-Focus): Use swift sleight of hand with a Knife Pack/Hand Crossbow/Pistol.

• Step 1: Your weapon is holstered or one hand is empty

• Step 2: Expend 1 Focus

• Step 3: Invoke “Quick Draw”

• Step 4: Perform a basic ranged attack without a Targ count.

Effect: Invoke your weapon’s damage or “Knockback”, “Mangle”, or “Hobble”. Veiled Aspect, Shot in the Dark, and Veiled Visage improves upon this Skill, as does Gunsmith and Ballistic Push and certain Item Augments.

SET THE AMBUSH

(Basic Shadower; Active-Conc/Focus, Conceal-Aug, Bond)

When an ambush is needed, they call upon you and your skills for the grisly task.

If you have Camouflage and use it, you may also Conceal an ally who is within a step and arm’s reach (aka close range) of you. They must fulfill the position, equipment, and gesture requirements, except that they can be wearing Heavy or Ultraheavy Armor.

You and those you have affected remain visible to each other, although the restrictions prevent you from communicating with each other easily. A Concealed individual’s actions do not affect the Concealment of the others.

• Bonded allies: If you have allies that are Bonded to you by Blood, Oath, or Liege, you can Conceal two Bonded allies instead of just one non-Bonded ally.

• Shot in the Dark: If you have this skill, then Shot in the Dark can apply to yourself and the allies you effect with Group Conceal. However, they can only inflict Strike effects, not Wound effects.

COMPLEX SKILLS

ART OF WAR

(Complex Shadower; Active-Focus, Defense)

Requires: Any two Basic Masker or Shadower skills

Deception and manipulation are central to the art of war. You are able to bring your talents in them both to assist you in the heat of battle.

You gain the ability to use the Parry defense as per below.

Parry (-Focus): As a Reaction to receiving an attack, invoke “Parry”and expend 1 Focus. This negates all melee attacks that hit you within the last second. The following conditions must be fulfilled:

• Wield a melee weapon: Be wielding a melee weapon that is not Sundered.

• No Ranged attacks: None of the attacks are ranged attacks (see Masked Parry below)

• No Ambush attacks: None of the attacks come from behind you and hit your back torso (aka Ambush attacks)

• No Master attacks: None of the attacks are invoked as “Master” attacks

Masked Parry (-Focus; Skill Aug, Aftereffect): While wielding a Small/Medium weapon tied with colorful tassels or a colorful fan/scarf/cloth, you may flourish it to use an Augmented version of Parry. Invoke this as “Masked Parry”, modifying the defense as follows

• Negate Ranged Attacks (Unless they are Ambush or Master attacks)

• A Colorful Fan/Scarf/Cloth counts as a melee weapon for this skill’s requirements.

• Aftereffect: In the next 3 seconds, make a melee attack and invoke “Blind 10” in mid-swing.

• If you hit, your target takes the Blind effect for 10 seconds.

• The Masker’s Mind Games skill grants an alternative Aftereffect to the above.

Prop requirement: A colorful fan, scarf or a Small/Medium Weapon tied with colorful tassels

EXPERT SHADOWER

(Complex Shadower; Conceal, Defense-Sense, Attack-Ranged)

Requires: Any two basic Shadower skills including Camouflage

With this skill, you have additional functions with the Camouflage skill representing advanced proficiency in the art of obscurement.

Shadow Walk (-Focus, Conceal): While you are Concealed, you may expend 1 Focus to slow walk up to 10 steps instead of standing still. You must remain touching Cover, whether it is the same one you were touching previously or a different one. You have an additional limitation on your movement, you may not move toward any Character you can see.

Silent Preparation (Aftereffect): If you spend Focus to become Concealed and remain so for at least 60 seconds, you are considered to have performed any necessary Targeting, Concentration, or Etheric Concentration count for a skill. As an Aftereffect, you may break your Concealment with this attack, skill, or spell (non-Erudite only), Augmenting it and prefixing it with “Silent” -- this also waives the Focus cost of what you are doing but prevents you from Augmenting it further.

Swift Camouflage (-Focus, qConc-5): You may augment the Camouflage Skill and invoke its effect as “Swift Camouflage”. This may be preceded by a qConc-5 instead of a qConc-30.

HIDE IN SHADOWS

(Complex Shadower; Conceal, Impervious, Aftereffect)

Requires: Any two basic Shadower skills including Camouflage

You are able to use shadows and distractions to emerge safely from Concealment, whether willingly or when Unveiled.

As an Aftereffect to losing Concealment, either through your own actions, or via an Global or Unveiling effect, you may choose to benefit from a 5-second “Emerging” count that must be invoked.

While “Emerging”, you are “Impervious” (details below)

However, if you move while “Emerging”, you may not move toward any Player or Non-player characters unless it is to move past them and elude them. This is meant as an aid to disengaging, not a way for characters to maneuver behind their enemies.

SHOT IN THE DARK

(Complex Shadower; Active-Attack, Aug-Ranged, Conceal, Aftereffect)

Requires: Any two basic Shadower skills

Your skills in subterfuge allow you to launch a devastating shot upon your emergence.

If you spent a Focus to Conceal yourself or on Expert Shadower’s Shadow Walk, you may waive the Targeting count of your first ranged weapon attack if you choose to break your Concealment with that attack. This is an Aftereffect of your Concealment and thus, mutually exclusive with other Aftereffects like Hide in Shadows.

You may preface this attack with “Shot in the Dark” -- it inflicts “5 damage” and its damage type can be changed by your Items or Traits that affect Smite attacks. Alternatively, you may inflict a “Blind Wound”, “Silence Wound” or “Hobble Wound”.

Set the Ambush: If you have this skill, then Shot in the Dark can apply to yourself and the allies you effect with Group Conceal. However, they can only inflict Strike effects, not Wound effects.

Vorpal Quickdraw (-Focus): If you can use Quickdraw (see Conceal Item or the Masker’s Masked Mind), the damage cap for this attack is 7 instead of 5, but it cannot be Piercing if it exceeds 5 damage.

ERUDITE SKILLS

DISTRACTING DEFENSES

(Erudite Shadower; Active-Focus, Aug-Defense, Aftereffect)

Requires: Any two Basic Masker/Shadower skills and any two Complex Masker/Shadower skills

Your skills at misdirection have been honed to a knife’s edge and applied to your physical defenses.

When you use the Parry Defense, you may augment and invoke it as “Veering Parry” or “Fading Parry”

Veering Parry (-Focus, Aftereffect): Redirect an attack to a different target.

• Step 1: Be subject to an attack

• Step 2: Use the Parry defense to negate the attack.

• Step 3: Augment and invoke the defense as ”Veering Parry”

• Step 4 As an Aftereffect, make a melee attack against a different creature

• Step 5: In mid-swing, invoke “Piercing” followed by one of the damage or effects you just negated.

-- This may not target the source of the original attack

-- You may not take more than one step during the Aftereffect.

Fading Parry (-Focus, Skill Aug, Aftereffect): Mitigate another attack afterward

• Step 1: Be subject to an attack

• Step 2: Augment and invoke the defense as ”Fading Parry”

• Step 3: Aftereffect -- In the next 10 seconds, invoke “Minimal” once and stop forward momentum to reduce the damage of an attack you received to 1 point. It keeps its damage type. This has no effect on Control effects or basic attacks,

Effect: This negates the attack unless it is a “Master” or “Ambush” attack.

DUCK AND COVER

(Erudite Shadower; Active-Self inflict, Ranged-Defense)

Requires: Any two Basic Shadower skills and any two Complex Shadower skills

You are able to leverage your shadowing and Concealment skills toward your own defense.

Deflecting Cover (Self-inflict 2): While you are touching “Cover” that you can use to hide, you can instead use it to defend yourself from attack. Invoke “Duck and Cover” and self-inflict 2 damage to negate all the Ranged attacks that you have received within the last second. This does not apply to Melee, Piercing, Master or Ambush attacks.

Immediately after you use this Defense, you receive a Master Knockback from your Cover. If you are not in a position to take at least 5 steps away from this Cover (i.e. you are cornered), then you are unable to use this Skill.

Hunker Down (Self-inflict 2): If you are hit by a Global effect while Camouflaged, you can invoke “Duck and Cover” to negate that effect and remain Concealed -- unless it was a Master effect. This only works against Global effects but it doesn’t force you to move away from your Cover.

FADE INTO SHADOW

(Erudite Shadower; Aug-Conceal)

Requires Any two Basic Shadower skills and any two Complex Shadower skills, including Camouflage

Your skill in shadowing arts borders on the supernatural. Those who try to find you will find the dust of your departure instead. Furthermore, while you wait and hide, power and discipline suffuses you toward a dangerous emergence.

Devour Shadows (-Focus. Resolve): If you have spent Focus on becoming Concealed, you gain “Resolve 5” if you spend at least 60 seconds Concealed.

Fleeting Camouflage (-Focus, Escape, Aftereffect): If you are Unveiled or willingly leave Concealment, you may immediately use an Escape effect. This is an Aftereffect and similar to the Flee the Scene skill, costing an additional Focus to use. If you are within arm’s reach of your Concealed allies, you can bring them with you if they are willing.

Salvo in the Dark (Aftereffect): When you use the Shot in the Dark skill, you may expend all of your Resolve (at least 3 Resolve) to turn the attack into a Barrage 3 -- this allows you to make three ranged attacks instead of only one attack. You have 5 seconds or until you move your feet to make all three attacks (whichever comes first).

Supreme Exodus skill: Fade into Shadow can be used with Supreme Exodus to gain the Superior Conceal effect

SUPREME EXODUS

(Erudite Runner/Shadower; Active-Periodic/Concentration, Conceal/Escape)

Requires: Any two complex Shadower/Runner skills and any two basic Shadower/ Runner skills

Your mastery of evasion and subterfuge has led you to this Skill, which allows you to immediately vanish from the sight of everyone there, although whether you are still present or have left the area is up to question

Once per Period, invoke “Supreme Exodus”. As a Periodic Skill, once this is used, it cannot be used again until the next Period and after you have completed a 10 minute Rest. This has one of two effects, chosen by you at the time of the Skill’s use.

• Concealment: You instantly gain the Concealment status. You must still fulfill all the normal requirements except the Concentration count and the Focus cost.

• Escape: Alternatively, you may grant yourself a Basic Escape effect. You must still fulfill all the normal requirements except the necessary footsteps and the Focus cost.

Fade into Shadow: If you have this skill, you may imbue yourself with a Superior Conceal effect. When affected by an Unveiling, you may respond with “Superior Conceal” to continue hiding and take up to three steps away from your position. Only the incredibly rare “Master Unveiling” may reveal your location.

Like the Wind: If you have this skill, you may imbue yourself with a Superior Escape effect. When someone attempts to use a Pursue effect upon you, pause your count and clarify the effects of a Superior Escape if necessary. Only the incredibly rare “Master Pursue” may see through your evasions.

VEILED ASPECT 

(Erudite Masker/Shadower; Active-ATN, Aspect)

Requires: Any two Basic Shadower/Masker skills and any two Complex Shadower/Masker skills

You may enter into a mental state that greatly enhances your ability to elude detection and deceive senses at the cost of some vulnerability.

• Step 1: Have no other Aspect ATNs on your person (see Lord of Lies)

• Step 2: Write “Veiled Aspect” to two empty ATN slots

• Step 3: Perform 5+ minutes of meditation in private

• Step 4: Gain the benefits and limitations below. This Aspect lasts for 1 Event.

After you have completed these requirements above, you gain the following effects below.

Swift Camouflage (Conceal): You may use the Camouflage skill as though you had it. If you actually have Expert Shadower, you can augment Camouflage and invoke it as “Swift Camouflage” to require only a qConc-3 instead of qConc-5.

Veiled Cover (Self-inflict 2): You can use the Shadower’s Duck and Cover as though you had it. If you do have it, you can augment and invoke it as “Veiled Cover” so that it can defend against ranged Piercing and ranged Ambush attacks.

Veiled Essence (Self-inflict 2): When a creature uses Harmonize to synergize with and target your spirit, you can ward it off through strength of will and sheer duplicity. Invoke “Veiled Aspect, negate” as a Reaction to “Harmonize”.

Veiled Exodus (Escape): You may use the Flee the Scene skill as though you had it. If you actually have Fleet of Foot, you can augment Flee the Scene and invoke it as “Veiled Flee the Scene” to waive the Focus cost without the increased Conc count.

Veiled Intent (Deception): You may use the Masked Mind skill as though you had it. If you actually have Veiled Visage, this counts as wearing the necessary props.

Veiled Reversal (-Focus, Self-inflict): You may augment Parry as per the Nimble Defense skill, allowing you to negate an attack and redirect it elsewhere.

Nimble Defense or Distracting Defenses: If you have these skills, you can redirect one melee attack into its source, though it is not a Piercing attack. This technique Self-inflicts 2 damage.

Exhausting Presence -- Being able to deceive others with ease leaves you vulnerable. Your maximum HP may not exceed 7 HP.