Well, here's the first shot at the "Lawbreaker" style powers. Still no good ideas on names yet, so I'm going with Rulebreaker as a place holder. I'm modeling them almost directly off of the Lawbreaker powers, strictly for simplicity's sake at this time. It's their thematic effect that's most important, not the mechanics, after all.
I'm including the Dark Quickening as both a Rulebreaker power and an effect. Their relationship and use will be evident in the power's entry.
Also, an interpretive rundown of the nature of the rules and breaking them will be included at a later time.
Rulebreaker [-Varies]
Musts: This ability must be taken immediately upon violating one of the Rules of the Gathering. You must specify the rule broken at the time you take this ability. This ability must be taken separately for each rule broken - noted like so: Rulebreaker (first), Rulebreaker (third), etc.
Description: As an Immortal participating in the Gathering, you have violated one of the rules meant to restrain the impact of the Gathering on mortal society and ensure fair and impartial combat among Immortals.
- First: You have utilized ranged or area effect weapons such as guns or grenades, or you have used magic to incapacitate and/or kill another Immortal.
- Second: You have enlisted the help of one or more other beings, including non-sentient types such as beasts and ghosts, to kill another Immortal.
- Third: You have killed another Immortal on consecrated ground, or within the boundaries of a threshold augmented by true faith.
- Fourth: You have killed an Immortal that was under the influence of a Dark Quickening and did not spend the required fate point.
Skills Affected:
- First: Any. As stunts and powers, especially magic, allow for a very wide variety of skills to potentially violate this rule.
- Second: Most social skills, as well as any skills useful in ambushing an already engaged opponent.
- Third: Conviction.
- Fourth: Any. Whichever skill is used to deal the final blow is the one affected by this violation.
Effects:
Time's Taint: Gain a +1 to rolls involving the skill used to violate this rule each time you use the same skill in combat with another immortal to violate the specific Rule again. Increase the bonus to +2 if you've used the same skill to break the specific Rule three or more times; additionally, the the refresh cost of this ability increases from –1 to –2 and requires that you change one of your existing aspects into a version twisted by the violation of the rule. Every three times that you break this law past that point, another (different) aspect must be changed, though the refresh cost and skill bonus do not further increase. You cannot stack bonuses if you break multiple Rules in one battle—use the highest bonus.
Three-fold taint: Increase all skill bonuses from Rulebreaker abilities by one if you have three or more Rulebreaker abilities in any combination (i.e., if you’ve broken three or more Rules, sporting a Rulebreaker ability for each one), making the maximum possible bonus +3.
Dark Quickening: If you have three or more Rulebreaker abilities in any combination (i.e., if you’ve broken three or more Rules, sporting a Rulebreaker ability for each one), your Quickening becomes so tainted that for another Immortal to absorb it is harmful to them. An Immortal who takes your head must either spend a fate point and suffer a ___ stress mental attack that cannot be blocked or reduced, or immediately acquire Rulebreaker (fourth) as a power and suffer the same attack.
I considered keeping the Dark Quickening as its own thing, but I think it works better by incorporating it with the Rulebreaker powers.
Any suggestions on how much stress it should inflict? I'm thinking by the end of such a battle it should be awfully close to being enough to render an Immortal taken out after picking up some big consequences. Granted though, I suppose by the end of that it wouldn't take much. Under no circumstances should this ever result in something "good." Fun maybe, but never good.
