Character Creation - Sin Eaters

[The Court of Barton]

1. As per creating a Mortal character, follow Steps 1 through 4.

2. Apply Sin Eater Template - Select Archetype and Threshold, record Krewe.

3. Select Three Dots of Manifestations and Two Keys - At least one Key must be selected from Threshold affinities.

4. Determine Advantages - Synergy (7 for starting characters), Willpower (Composure + Resolve), Psyche (starting rating of 1, may be increased at the cost of 3 Merit Pts per dot), Plasm (half of maximum for Psyche level, see below) and Virtue/Vice.

5. Select Merits and Flaws - Spend 7 dots on Merits, the fifth dot in any Merit costs two dots to purchase. Note that many Merits have prerequisites. The player may choose up to one flaw during character creation. The player gains an additional XP point per chapter for role-playing the flaw, if that flaw hinders the character during the course of play.

6. Spend Experience Points - 12 starting XP + May sacrifice up to 2 dots of Synergy for an additional 5 XP per dot. This represents a significant trauma in the character's past. The character starts with one Derangement per sacrificed Synergy, and does not gain any additional compensation for these mental defects.

7. Determine Geist and Keystone - No traits or system is involved in creating your Geist, but it is none the less an essential part of your character. Think about what your Geist looks like, how old it is, and how it died, and whether or not this is its first merging. Determine it's Keys, its Aspect, and what it's Keystone is. The Keystone is a physical representation of your character's Geist, and should be thematically similar. See the post on Keystones below.  

[The Court of Barton]

Thresholds

The Torn, Death by Violence: Chosen of the Red Horseman, the Bleeding Ones are victims of murder or suicide, those who have had great trauma inflicted on them, or inflicted great trauma on others. Some Torn choose to perpetuate the violence that nearly ended their lives, while others transcend that violence, choosing to fight only for a better way. Their abilities tend to be stained by Stigmatic and Passionate effects.

The Silent, Death by Deprivation: Chosen of the Black Horseman, the Starved Ones are those who die for lack of something vital: starvation, suffocation, dehydration or heartbreak. The Silent endure, but they also hunger. Their existence is now marked by a need to see, to experience the dead. Their abilities are most likely to have a subtle Stillness and a Cold Wind.

The Prey, Death by Nature: Chosen of the Pale Horseman, the Eaten and the Drowned are the victims of exposure or animals; those taken by the wild. Nature encompasses all things. To the Prey, the term “supernatural” is wrong. All of this–the ghosts, the underworld, second chances–is part of the cycle of nature. Where there is life so too will there be death. The Prey tend to manifest their Primeval nature as well as an affinity for Grave-Dirt.

The Stricken, Death by Sickness: Chosen of the White Horseman, the Ravaged Ones are plague victims, those taken by disease. Each looks upon the existence of the unquiet dead as a challenge, a puzzle to solve, an adversary to pit herself against. The geist drives her to see the dead as a challenge, and in return, the Sin-Eater engages in a battle of will and wits for ultimate control of her soul. Their abilities manifest as Phantasms, illusory horrors, as well as a connection with Tears.

The Forgotten, Death by Chance: Chosen of the Gray Horseman, the Lightning Struck are victims of freak accidents, those who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Forgotten feel no need to interact with the unquiet dead. One of the Lightning Struck tries to move on, to pretend that he did not look up just in time to see debris from a falling satellite plummeting toward him. But everywhere he goes, the dead follow. They have an affinity for Industrial effects as well as those of the Pyre.  

[The Court of Barton]

Krewes ((Under Construction))

((Reserved))

Covus Corax: Drawing on Greek Mythology and the works of Edgar Allen Poe, the Corax revere the raven as a messenger of the Underworld. Following in this tradition, these Sin Eaters speak for those who can no longer speak for themselves, carrying messages of both love and vengeance from the dead to the living.

The Ghosts in the Machine: All of existence is but a simulation, a program comprised of a massively complex sequence of code. So say the Ghosts in the Machine, and they have dedicated themselves to its study.

The Ferrymen: The Psychopomps, The Fleet

Slaves of the Flesh: The Unfettered

Disciples of the Watch: The Dark Ones  

[The Court of Barton]

Archetypes

Nobody comes back from beyond the veil of death unchanged. While a geist helps bring a Sin-Eater back, the real change is in how he reacts to spending time dead. The direction that change takes is illustrated by a character’s Archetype. Archetypes tap into a layer of myth and folklore surrounding death and those who walk close to it. A character can tap into that archetypal role to draw power from the Underworld, refreshing her plasm. She has to remain connected to her human side when channeling plasm, reaffirming her status as a bridge between the living and dead. In game terms, that means the character has to channel her Archetype through her Virtue or Vice


Advocate: Dedicated to finishing the unfinished business of the dead, Advocates may be driven to serve the dead or just relate to shades better than those who are still alive. Of all the members of a krewe, they have the best relations with the dead simply because they focus on the needs and wants of each ghost they meet.

Bonepicker: Scavengers using their otherworldly powers for the benefit of themselves and those close to them. The whole point of dying and coming back is to get another chance at life, another set of years to live. Unlike people who believe in reincarnation, Bonepickers carry on where they left off, out to make their new lives as comfortable as possible.

Celebrant: Knowing with absolute certainty that you’re going to die is a powerful motivation to go out and live. Celebrants don’t just know that, they embrace it. Whether a Sin-Eater enjoys life through sex, drugs or base-jumping, one thing’s for certain: his life’s never boring. Time alive is a finite resource, so it’s up to a Celebrant to spend it as best he can. And if he can make other people’s lives more interesting, that’s just great.

Gatekeeper: Sin-Eaters have a deeper insight into life and death, and the distinct difference between the two. Having been in both states, some take on the role of Gatekeeper, policing the boundary between the living and the dead. Young ghosts may try to live vicariously through the living, while others torment the living world just because they’re no longer part of it. Older ghosts have stranger motivations, having lost so much of their sense of self that few can understand why they try to kill anyone who spends a night in the Barker House. When the dead interfere with the living, a Gatekeeper has to make a stand.

Mourner: Life after death is just a different kind of life, a new way of encountering the world, where the fetters of emotion and importance become explicit rather than implicit. Consciousness remains, albeit altered by the lack of a physical form. But all death is really is a change, not an ending. Sin-Eaters who recognize this first and foremost are known as Mourners. To one of these brave souls, her time among the living was forfeit when she died that first time.

Necromancer: A ghost is more than the echo of a person who was once alive. Not only do the dead carry on existing, some of them learn. Some Necromancers discovered just a taste of that occult lore when they died, and returning with a geist just makes them hungry for more. Others realize that they barely know anything about what happens after death, and hunger for details and secrets that can help them prepare their loved ones for their eventual death. A Necromancer’s family may think him morbid, but he’s not really thinking about death, he’s concentrating on what comes after.

Pilgrim: For some people, dying is a fundamental chance, a moment when everything they’ve done in life is taken apart and shown to be pointless. A Sin-Eater is unique because he knows all this when his geist gives him one last chance, a means to get things right. If a soul dies without fetters to the living world and no need to complete one last task, then it likely will not come back as a ghost, instead moving on to their final reward. Those who follow the Pilgrim’s path try to live a life that will lead them to that reward, and they encourage those they help to do the same.

Reaper: Whatever standards of moral relativism a person holds to, it’s only the most saintly—or the most misguided—who think that everyone has a right to life. Some people poison the world just by existing. Beyond redemption in this life, it’s up to someone who’s seen the other side to offer them another chance in the afterlife. Reapers do what they can to make the world a better place, bringing death to those who don’t deserve to live any more.  

[Stitchwork Doll]

Manifestations & Keys

The most powerful implements in any Sin-Eater’s arsenal are her Manifestations, those strange and unearthly powers which are born of the fusion of living and dead. As a living vessel for a geist, the Bound also serves as a channel for its power — a power the two now share. All Sin-Eaters have access to Manifestations, but relatively few dedicate themselves to studying all or even most of them. Fewer still completely master more than a single Manifestation. Each Manifestation represents a fairly general power usually associated with ghosts (a genus of which the Sin-Eater’s geist is merely an unusual specimen). When a Sin-Eater makes use of a Manifestation, she is often said to “unlock” the Manifestation. This is because Manifestations are closely connected with several metaphysical concepts which the Sin-Eaters refer to as Keys. Different Keys may cause a Manifestation to function very differently depending on how it is unlocked.

Keys

The Cold Wind Key
The Grave-Dirt Key
The Pyre Flame Key
The Tear-Stained Key
The Industrial Key
The Passion Key
The Phantasmal Key
The Primeval Key
The Stigmata Key
The Stillness Key


Manifestations

The Boneyard - Allows the Sin-Eater to assert control over her immediate environment, usually by triggering “haunting” effects.

The Caul - Permits the Sin-Eater to reshape his own body as needed, often in esoteric and frightening ways.

The Curse - The Sin-Eater can afflict her enemies with strange curses and ailments and to subtly influence their minds.

The Marionette - Allows the Sin-Eater to control physical objects, animals and even other people, manipulating their bodies like a twisted puppeteer.

The Oracle - Grants the Sin-Eater heightened sensory powers, clairvoyance and even precognitive abilities.

The Rage - With this manifestation, the Sin-Eater may channel her emotions to strike at others with pure, unadulterated power.

The Shroud - Governs effects which alter or improve the Sin-Eater's own aura in some way, most often as a form of protection.  

[Stitchwork Doll]

Sin Eater Merits

((Reserved))  

[Stitchwork Doll]

Experience Costs

New Key - 10
Manifestation - New Dots x6
Psyche - New Dots x8
Synergy - New Dots x3  

[Stitchwork Doll]

Forming Your Own Krewe

((Reserved))