Seekers: The Step Sideways

By Brandon Quina (lore@tmgbbs.com)

Chapter 1: The Meat and Potatoes

What are Seekers

Seekers are normal people that have lost something very important to them. Nonetheless, the lack of this certain thing allows them to reclaim their heritage and walk the diffrent worlds and explore the vastness of reality as was supposed to be the birthright of humanity. In a sense, they have awakened -- but not totally.

Seekers are ruled by something they call Karma. This is, perhaps, a bad word for it. Karma, to the Seeker, represents a deep longing to not be a part of this world anymore. Perhaps they've seen too much, and don't want to see anymore. Perhaps they've been through a great crisis and have had a mental breakdown. Whatever the cause, it has more of an impact on them than it would on other people -- it makes them Seekers.

However, this sense of not-belonging isn't always good. In too much quantity, the being forces himself not to exist, and shuts him out from existence as we know it. Seekers refer to this as Fading, and although they do not blame it on themselves, it is totally their faults. However, their state is not a bad one; they are now free to leave this reality and examine other places. Ever wanted to visit Ancient Rome; Seekers can. Or maybe visit a world where there are two suns, and elves rule in the woods while knights fight for chivalry and honor. Seekers can visit there too.

It's not that easy, Seekers can't just pop whereever they want. First of all, the veils of the world are only thin enough for travel in some places, called Fonts by the Seekers. These locations link the earth (or some other world) to one other place or time. Some places, called Grand Fonts, link more than one location.

The people, however, are not limited to that. They can also discern the truth, walk the spirit world, and sometimes have amazing bouts of luck. The powers of Seekers are truly amazing. The powers, however, result from the Seekers link to a place called the Shadow.

The Shadow

What is the Shadow? The Shadow is a place that doesn't exist, to put it bluntly. It is a place where nothingness and entropy rules. While you are there, you can almost feel the force of entropy gnawing at you. No spirits exist here, and most humans that are brought here die shortly after their exposure to the raw entropy. The Shadow, however, isn't empty. Other Seekers have learned to take the malleable stuff of Shadow, and shape it into something they can use, or even realms of their own design. The Shadow is practically choking with little locales made by this Seeker or that Seeker.

The grandest of these locations, is the majestic city of Vandais: the City of Nothingness. This city was built long ago, in ages that are so far gone as to make naming a date impossible. It is by far the largest realm, and was made by the greatest Seeker who ever existed, who entrusted Mayors to maintain his 'small nation ' sized city. Vandais is, by its very nature, the center of the infinite place. Some speculate that Vandais wasn't created by a Seeker at all, and that it doesn't need the Mayors to maintain it, that it was always there, and will always be there. These people say that the city used to be the home of the Gallias, and that the mayors keep their creation under control, not keeping it in existence.

Vandais: The City of Nothingness

This immortal city is the place to which most Seekers who have Faded retire. Here, they can keep themselves in an enviroment that is somewhat like home and they don't have to create it. But the thing that keeps Vandais as populated as it is is the simple fact that it is populated -- Faded Seekers have watched everyone on their homelands forget about them; they know what it is to be alone. They never wish to feel that feeling again.

Vandais, although it is commonly called a city, is more of a small kingdom. There are areas where there are no buildings. In these areas, Trees stand majesticly, and deer roam in the forest. Beyond the forest, you can find a small hamlet, home to a small population of Faded people, and some people that just seem to be 'native' here. There are rumours that some of the most powerful Seekers, who keep the city, can actually create humans out of the Shadow -- although how this could be done is unknown.

There is also a beaucracy in Vandais. To keep the ever-growing empire in shape, there must be people to maintain the areas. These people, given the title 'mayor' are in charge of the local area and must make sure that it doesn't slip away into shadow. There are also several noble families in Vandais that serve the crown and make sure that everything runs smoothly in their realms. These families, some of which dwell in Vandais and some of which rule realms elsewhere in the name of the crown, are very powerful -- and not to be trifled with.

The empire has stayed at a roughly medieval level, mostly to avoid the need to empower everything with juice -- and also for a nice 'heroic' feel. Every once in awhile, a Gallias slips into the kingdom and 'knights' are sent out to deal with it. These incidents, however, are almost a fun occasion compared to the four wars that have happened in the past. The first of these wars, supposedly when the city was first built, was brutal and much of the newly built city was reduced to rubble. The Gallias seem to hate this beacon of existence in their realm of nothingness with a passion unknown to any other.

Gallias -- Legions of Nothing

These are the immortal legions of nothing that dwell and live in the Shadow.. The Seekers believe them to be beings of pure nothingness given form -- thus their name, which means 'Things that do not Exist' in the language of Vandais. The Gallias are very dangerous, and have killed more than one Seeker who was dwelling in the Shadow -- or even just passing through on the way to another place.

It is believed that the Gallias are non-sentiant, and merely react to their surroundings. Despite the human-like nature of some of the Gallias, they don't seem to be able to do anything but attack without any sense or strategy. The people of Vandais fear Gallias for at least four times their forces have besieged the city.

There are four principle types of Gallias. These are the Typhons, Hellions, Dopples, and Hordes. The Typhons are the most common type of Gallias. They hurl themselves at the enemy with no intelligence and basically live to die in the service of the shadow. They know, after all, that after death merely comes rejuvenation and another day to fight for the Shadow.

Hellions are generally considered to have some intelligence, although those that have encountered these things are few and far between. They are the generals of Gallias, the masterminds behind the diffrent attacks. It is rumoured that Hellions are not subject to the rejuvenation of most of the Gallias, and thus are much more guarded of their existences.

Dopples are unknown to most of the people in Verdais, and only certain members of the crown know anything of them at all. They can drain someones very life-force, making them join the Shadow and comepletely cease to exist (Attacks do Fade Ratings in damage, and when you get to 10 your dead for good). After doing this to someone, they take that person's form and learn his memories. They make the best spies for the only way to detect them is by judicious use of truthsight, which is not always recognized in its signifigance.

Hordes are units of four to sixteen Gallias. They work as a team, and have a communal essence -- they can't be destroyed until they are all destroyed. Needless to say, this is quite lethal.

Note: Most people do not known even this much about Gallias.

Chapter 4: Character Creation

Step One: Character Concept

• Identify a Concept for your character. Who is she, and what does she do? What caused her to become a Seeker, what triggered her becoming?

Step Two: Select Attributes

• Prioritize your three categories: Primary 6, Secondary 4, Teritary 3
• Choose your Physical Traits, your Social Traits, and your Mental Traits.

Step Three: Select Abilities

• Prioritize your three categories: Primary 11, Secondary 7, Tertiary 4
• Choose your Talents, your Skills, and your Knowledges

Step Four: Select Advantages

• Choose Five Backgrounds
• Karma starts at 3, Willpower starts at 5
• Choose a Shadow-Affinity
• Choose Birthrights (3 points)

Step Five: Last Touches

• Spend your 21 "Freebie" points to purchase traits.
• You have ShadowStuff equal to your Karma
• You're set to go!

Freebie Costs

Trait	Cost
Attributes	5
Birthrights	5
Abilities	2
Karma	1
Background	1
ShadowStuff	1/2

Chapter 3: the Rules

Abilities

All the abilities are from Vampire: the Masquerade except one: Shadow Lore.

This represents your character's affinity for 'learning' things from whatever world he is on. This power will not work on the character's home world, but could allow him to learn things when he's off on other worlds. You have a number of 'shadow traits' equal to your rating in this knowledge. It costs a juice to assign them to things, or change what their assigned to. Thus, if you shift to a medieval world and have Shadow Traits at 4 you can spend a juice and get 'Melee 2, Archery 2' from your affinity to this world.

Backgrounds

These backgrounds can be taken at character creation.

Resources

How much money you happen to have at your disposal. Your access to this money might be restricted if your Fade rating goes up during the course of the game.

*	You have an apartment and perhaps a motorcycle. If liquidated, you would have $1000 in cash. You have an allowance of $500 a month.
**	You have an apartment or condominium. If liquidated, you would have $8,000 in cash. Allowance of $1200 a month.
***	You own a house (or at least have some equity). If liquidated, you would have $50,000 in cash. Allowance of $3000 a month.
****	You own a large house, or perhaps a delapidated mansion. If liquidated, you would have $500,000 in cash. Allowance of $9000 a month.
*****	You are easily a millionaire many times over. If liquidated, you would have at least $5,000,000 in cash. Allowance of $30,000 a month.

An older Seeker who knows more about everything than you. This Seeker, particularly at the higher levels, might reside in Verdais.

*	Your mentor is just a bit more knowledgeable than you.
**	Your mentor is older, and knows far more than you. He might have a small base set up somewhere.
***	Your mentor is old, and knows much. He has a small base set up somewhere, and has a bit of pull in Verdais. He is probably an important person.
****	Your mentor is powerful, old, and knows alot. He is probally a elder of Verdais, and probably Faded from the physical world long long ago.
*****	You are friends with one of the Lords of Verdais, or someone of similar knowledge.

Friends that will help you out. Having higher levels of fading could very well delete your allies' memories of you, and thus their loyalty.

*	You have one friend, probably highly valued for her uniqueness.
**	You have two friends. Are they jealous of each another?
***	You have three friends. One may be special in some way.
****	You have four friends. Do your friends know of each others existences?
*****	You have five friends; why are you so popular?

People you know that will give you some information. It doesn't take much fading to have these contacts, who don't have much contact with you in the first place, totally forget about you and cease being contacts. This, needless to say, is the first sign that your fading.

*	One major contact, and a few others. You probably have a special arrangement with this contact.
**	Two major contacts in diffrent areas and a scattering of associated minor contacts.
***	Three major contracts, and a fair helping of minor ones.
****	Four major contacts, all in different areas, although you could double up and cover one particular field completely.
*****	Five major contacts and an associated minor contact on almost every street corner.

This is an area in the Shadow that you've shaped and made your own. You must have at least ShadowShaping 2 to take this background. Realms have to be visited, or they will Fade away, returning to the shadow from which they were shaped. This generally happens at the rate of one month per realm rating.

*	You have a small realm, about the size of a single small room.
**	You have a realm about the size of a small house.
***	You have a realm the size of a larger house, and the yard.
****	You have a realm the size of a mansion.
*****	You have a realm the size of a mansion with the rest of the estate.

This is how well known you are to other people. This will degrade rapidly with Fade rating, as fans gradually forget about you. Most Seekers don't become famous, although some have just so they could use said fame as a 'fading meter'. Every point of Fade you get, reduces your fame rating by one.

*	You are known by a select subculture of society in the city; e.g. among the elite.
**	Your face is recognized by a majority of the populace; local celebrity.
***	You are fairly famous; your name and face are known by many.
****	You are quite renowned; everybody knows something about you.
*****	You are a nationally famous individual -- a movie star, politician, performer, or mass murderer.

Status

This represents how well-known you are in the city of Verdais. As other shadow-dwellers are unaffected by Fade, it is not affected as most of the other backgrounds are.

*	You are a citizen of Verdais, and the government there has records of you.
**	You are a citizen of note in Verdais, and some people know of you there.
***	You are a Noble of Verdais and have some sway in the city. (You must have ShadowShaping of atleast 1 to hold this rank)
****	You are a Mayor of Verdais, and have responsibility over a portion of the city. (You must have ShadowShaping of atleast 2 to hold this rank)
*****	You are a Marshall of Verdais, and are considered a very important person in that city. You have control over a group of Mayors, and can get control of some of the guards. (You must have ShadowShaping of atleast 3 to hold this rank)

Shadow-Affinities

Seekers have one thing about them, that unites them -- most of the time. Their affinities describe what about them attracted the Shadow to them, and usually have something to do with their becomings. People of the various affinities often have very little in common with each other, but sometimes they do. All in all, this mainly just describes how your character became -- and nothing else.

You were depressed. Everything was going wrong. You lost the job, the wife was going to divorce you, your little angel OD'd at school; life sucks. It finally got too much, you just wanted to get out!! You were discovered by the Shadow, which adopted you as your own. Some are not as lucky as you (if this be luck), and end up commiting suicide.

Things couldn't have been better. You were happy, and everything was just so perfect. People always told you that life was difficult -- a real cruel place -- but you never found it to be that way. Something about you, just made you glide through life with no problems whatsoever. This often leads to a longing to go other places, see the unknown. Celebrals often traveled a lot before the becoming.

You were looking for something. There had to be something else out there, afterall -- something greater than this. You were seeking to transcend this horrid place, and go someplace nicer -- or even just someplace diffrent. You might have looked in religion, or in science-fiction. Eventually, however, the Shadow noticed you looking and decided to meet you half-way to your new paradise.

You liked drugs. The high they gave you made you feel on top of the world. The way they expanded your viewpoints. You used drugs, heedless of the many dangers involved. When your friends told you they would open up the world for you -- you didn't believe they were talking all literal like. Boy were you surprised.

These people are an enigma. There doesn't really seem to be a reason for the Shadow's attraction to them. For some reason, they just ended up Seekers. They often are radically diffrent, but they usually had some sort of fascination with space, and heaven in your youth.

You are the child of a Vandain. Whether you were born in the city or not, you were almost Shadow-touched from birth. Those born in Vandais have special problems in the world, for although they have a physical body, they were born to shadow -- they essentially have Shadowstuff running through their blood.

Native Vandain: (3pt Flaw) You were born and raised in the Shadow City. You start off with a Faded rating of two, and will find it hard to make contacts in the real world as people have a tendency to look over you, and not remember you very well. Your Fade can never be lowered below two and all rolls to gain Fade are at difficulty 7, instead of 8.

These are the special abilities of the Seekers, that allow them to do things that normally can't be done. These powers are only possessed by Seekers and no other supernatural can ever learn them.

All Seekers have a few innate birthrights. These are listed right here.

Seekers are able to talk with anyone. No matter what language they are speaking, Seekers are able to understand and communicate with all other beings. Before their becoming, they often display an amazing affinity for languages, and can learn so many of them that its almost amazing.. Once they have become, they can speak or read any non-magical language.

For some reason Seekers have an affinity for the worlds they visit. This allows them to sometimes know things that they shouldn't know. Sometimes they step to a medieval world, and find that they are able to use melee weapons and sail boats. (See the Shadow-Lore knowledge)

All Seekers can, at any time, reach for the Shadow. This is an important ability for them, for it is also how they travel to other places, times, and so forth. You have to be careful, however. Spending too much time in the shadow is a good way to Fade. They roll their Karma to step into Shadow. They must walk into an area of heavy shadows, or no light.

Seekers heal from all wounds at 1 Health Level per day. While this is slower than some supernaturals, it is far superior to the slow healing of the humans. They also heal from these wounds seemlessly, with no long term impact from the most severe wound -- provided they survive.

All Characters start with 3 points of Birthrights, although more can be bought with freebie points.

Freebie Cost: 5pts per Dot

Experience Cost: 7 pts for the first dot and then Current Level x5

This power allows you, when you're at a Font, to step into another world. Fonts are rare, and really have no special signifigance to them other than their ability to allow you to move between worlds. Each Font usually only has one world that it goes to but some of them allow you to move to different worlds, these are called 'Grand Fonts'. To SideStep you must be at a node, and spend a point of juice. You then roll your Karma to see how long it takes.

Successes	Time Spent in Shadow
1	30 Minutes per rank
2	5 Minutes per rank
3	30 Seconds per rank

Your rating decides how many ranks out you can travel before you start to gain Karma. This is fairly important, as if you try to go farther than that -- you gain one point of Fade for every rank higher than your rating. Thus somebody with SideStepping 1, who travels a rank 4 Font all the way, would gain three points of Fade. This, of course, is a very bad thing.

*	You can travel rank one Fonts.
**	You can travel rank two Fonts.
***	You can travel rank three Fonts.
****	You can travel rank four Fonts.
*****	You can travel rank five Fonts.

Some Seekers prefer to investigate the strange 'spirit world' that the magi have discovered, the Umbra. This strange world is right next to and part of, our normal world. Some Seekers have adopted the Garou theory that the two worlds used to be one, but were split apart. To step sideways, you must stare into some bright light, and zone out. You then roll your Karma to see how long it takes to shift.

Successes	Time Spent in Shadow
1	30 Minutes
2	5 Minutes
3	0 Seconds

Your rating determines how long you can stay in the Umbra before you start to Fade. If you can only stay in the Umbra for 30 minutes, and you stay over that time -- every 30 minutes over that limit you stay, you gain a Fade point. If you can stay for an hour, then every hour over the limit you stay, you gain one Fade point.

Also, you must spend the amount of time you stayed in the Umbra resting in the physical world before you re-enter, or you will start gaining Fade as if you never left.

*	You can stay in the Umbra for 30 minutes at a time.
**	You can stay in the Umbra for an Hour at a time.
***	You can stay in the Umbra for 4 Hours at a time.
****	You can stay in the Umbra for a Day at a time.
*****	You can stay in the Umbra for a Week at a time.

Seekers have been known to slide through the timestream when they are at Fonts. This takes them to one specific time in the world, and only that time. Seekers usually have a rather hard time actually changing history, however, as things that the magi call 'Paradox Spirits' will clean up most of their mess afterwards. Sometimes, however, things get through -- expecially if you can defeat the spirit sent to clean your mess. To use this power, you must be at a Font, and you must spend a point of Juice. You then roll Karma (difficulty varies).

Successes	Time Spent in Shadow
1	30 Minutes
2	5 Minutes
3	30 Seconds

Your rank is how far in the past you can travel, measured in ranks. The time period of a rank is also given. Every extra rank that you travel, gains you one Fade point. You have to be careful about this stuff.

*	You can travel one rank through time. (10 years)
**	You can travel two ranks through time. (50 years)
***	You can travel three ranks through time. (100 years)
****	You can travel four ranks through time. (1000 years)
*****	You can travel five ranks through time. (Any amount of time)

Seekers can also move from place to place in their own time/world. This is much easier for them, but still has to be taught. They cannot do this when they are being watched; only when totally unwatched. They also cannot 'teleport' to somewhere that is being watched. Their entire travel has to go unnoticed by everyone. To use this power you must spend a point of Juice. You then roll Karma (difficulty varies)..

Successes	Time Spent in Shadow
1	1 Minutes.
2	30 Seconds.
3	Instant.

Your rating also determines how far you can travel, and unlike the other travelling abilities, not only does it not require a Font or focus to do, but you can't 'push your limits' either. You can only travel as far as your rating indicates.

*	Line of Sight (You have to be able to see where you're traveling)
**	1 mile.
***	10 miles.
****	Any place you've personally been too.
*****	Any place you've seen, or have a picture of.

Many Seekers have learned to build something out of Shadow, to mould it to their will. This allows them to set up places in the Shadow between worlds to live and exist. You can pretty much make anything out of Shadow, but these things literally don't exist in the 'real' world. In fact many Seekers will argue until they're blue in the face about how these things 'don't exist' at all, because they are in fact made of nothing. To shape Shadow, spend a willpower point and roll Intelligence + ShadowShaping (difficulty varies). Your rating also affects the type of things you can shape from the shadow.

*	You can create small non-mechanical objects out of the Shadow.
**	You can create a realm, or maintain a realm. You can make larger non-mechanical objects as well.
***	You can create small mechanical objects. You can also change already Shadow-shaped objects. Note: Any mechanical object created will not function unless you put some juice into it.
****	You can create large mechanical objects, of great complexity. Note: Any mechanical object created will not function unless you put some juice into it.
*****	You can create non-sentient life out of shadow. Verbais has squirrels, farm animals, and other 'living' things running through it. These things, however, don't require maintenance; they maintain themselves.

All things created by Shadowshaping, except animals must be used or acknowledged in some way about every month or they will begin to Fade. This is the reasons mayors exist; to keep Verbais from melting away. Some realms, however, are so complex that they must be maintained by someone with a certain level of Shadowshaping. Most things, however, don't require any amount of knowledge of Shadowshaping to be maintained.

Seekers are often put in very . . . hostile situations, however they just as often display amazing luck. Perhaps you 'just happen' to stumble onto a crucial conversation, or step out of a doomed building in the nick of time. This will happen without any priming by the Seeker, and is totally up to the Seeker to give the player the advantage of this birthright.

*	You find pennies on sidewalks.
**	You can always find a parking spot.
***	You would have been kicked off the Titanic before it set sail.
****	You've been thrown out of a lot of casinos.
*****	Compared to you, James Bond is one unlucky guy.

Seekers have an affinity for seeing past lies and misperceptions. Seekers with this Birthright can tell when someone is lying, see what they are feeling, or even see things that should be invisible. To use this power, you must roll Perception + TruthSight (difficulty 6). Seekers can resist this power by rolling their manipulation + subteruge (difficulty 6) if they wish to.

*	You can tell when a person whose feeling guilty is lying.
**	Even little white lies don't get past you.
***	Con-Artists of the world, beware.
****	You can almost smell peoples true intentions.
*****	You can spot obfuscated vampires with ease. No one can lie to you, ever.

Seekers have amazing instincts, and often learn to follow their hunches to a tee. They are seldom surprised, and sometimes get 'weird feelings' when things are weird. This power can also let a Seeker detect a Font that he was unaware of. This power seems to be picked up almost instinctually by Seekers after their becoming. Whenever danger rears, or the Storyteller decides its time to use this power, the Storyteller should roll your Perception + Instincts (difficulty 8). The more successes, the more warning you get.

*	You generally have an umbrella with you when it rains.
**	You never get cold-cocked in a fight.
***	Good private eye material.
****	You never answer the phone when a creditor calls.
*****	Jungle predators could learn from you.

Some Seekers have learned to control the forces emenating from the Shadow, and they call this process sorcery. Most, however, call it ShadowMagic. The effects of ShadowMagic are many, and there have been sorcerers over the years that have added their own knowledge to the mix. There have also, of course, been those who have kept their knowledge to themselves -- so beware, expecially when in the Shadow.

Sorcery is a bizarre birthright, as it is incredibly flexible. Once you learn to manipulate the energies of Shadow, you can use them to do many things -- however, each of these things has to be learned separately. Characters who take ShadowMagic for their birthright have to have a mentor of at least level 2. They start off with one spell, of the first level. You may only take one dot in ShadowMagic at character creation.

To use a spell, you must roll Willpower and sometimes spend a point of juice. Any additional things required will be described in the spells description.

*	You can cast minor spells and incantations.
**	You are able to manipulate the Shadow in ways that can be quite useful.
***	You've learned most of the basics, and are a Shadow-sorcerer.
****	You're a master sorcerer, and very good at ShadowMagic.
*****	You've learned that all you've learned thus far was just the tip of the iceberg.

ShadowMagic Spells

You can only learn spells equal to your level in ShadowMagic. You start off with 1 level one spell, and all others must be learned. Most spells must be taught, although you can also invent your own spells. Inventing a spell from scratch, however, is much harder and doubles the XP amount needed.

These are just examples. Storytellers and Players should make more.

Level One Spells

ShadowSight: This spell allows you to look at someone through the Shadow, and see the Shadow's taint upon them. This is useful for determining things about people and also their intentions. This requires concentration, and you must stare at the target -- other than that, there is no cost for the ability. The effects of this power is basically identical to aura reading in Vampire: the Masquerade (Auspex 2)

FontSight: This spell allows you to look through a Font's path, and get some idea of where it will lead. This is a highly useful power, especially when you discover a previously unknown Font and you don't know exactly where it will take you. This merely requires concentration, and leaves you defenseless for a period of afew minutes.

Every rank of the Font involved leaves you oblivious to the outside world for ten minutes while your minds-eye travels the path. Thus, to look at the destination of a rank 4 Font would require fourty minutes.

Minor Divination: This spell allows you to see the possible outcome of something. This is not what will happen, per se, although it is likly to happen. The actions of people, and other variables involved might change what happens. You must spend a point of Juice to use this spell, but it only takes afew seconds to cast. You see the outcome in your minds eye. Note: Many Seekers have gotten kicked out of Vegas after use of this ability.

Weird Traits

This trait represents how divorced you've become with your homeworld, and the higher it is the less real you become. This has advantages and disadvantages for any Seeker. First, Karma is the only thing that makes you a Seeker, and it is possible to lose all of it, and thus lose all your birthrights. However, too much of it has the possibility of totally divorcing you from the physical world -- that process, known to the Seekers as Fading, is one of the most painful that could possibly be felt. When you Fade, everything about you gradually fades away. First minor things, people you've just met won't remember you. Your name won't be on that book you wrote, and people will lose stuff with your name and other personal information on it. Gradually, your life unravels. It gets to the point where everything that could say that you exist is gone, and the only thing left to go is -- you. This is not a fate most Seekers like, but it usually happens sooner or later.

You gain Karma by spending time in the Shadow, and any other thing that might loosen you from your normal existence. The Storyteller is the only person who can raise your Karma rating. A few things that can cause a gain in Karma.

• Deep Suicidal Feelings
• The loss of someone important to you
• Overwhelming Joy
• Spending time in the Shadow
• Transcendal Feelings
• Drug Use

These will not always cause a gain in Karma. It depends on the circumstances and the individual involved. A few minor points about Karma:

• Players start with 3 Karma. This is what makes them Seekers
• You cannot have a birthright rated higher than your Karma rating.
• If you ever lose all your Karma, you forget all your encounters in the Shadow and on worlds other than the one you're in now -- and become a normal person.

ShadowStuff, known as 'Juice' to most Seekers is the primal-stuff that allows them to do what they do. You can never have more Juice than your Karma rating, and start with an amount of Juice equal to your Karma rating. Juice is used to give yourself a 'push' and allow you to move between worlds. You regain spent juice at the rate of 1 point per day. You can also finD raw ShadowStuff in the Shadow, and if you do you can add this stuff to your rating -- this is the only way your ShadowStuff rating can go over your Karma rating. You do not regain this extra juice however, it's lost once used.

What is Juice? Depends on who you ask. Ask a garou, he'll tell you its Dark Gnosis. If you ask a mage, he'll tell you its a exotic flavor of Quintessence, tainted with entropy. In the end, their all wrong -- Juice is just Juice, nothing else matters. What's important is what Juice allows you to do!

Chapter 4: the Neat Stuff

Experience

Characters spend experience points, gained by going on adventures and role-playing and the standard things for a storyteller game, to increase their abilities.

Experience point costs

Trait	Cost
New Birthright	7
Birthright	Current Level x 5
Attribute	Current Level x 4
ShadowMagic Spell	Level of Spell x3
New Ability	3
Ability	Current Level x 2
Willpower	Current Level x2

Note: Characters do not spend XP on their Karma. It is raised or lowered by the Storyteller.

Mortals in the Shadow

Mortals must make a Stamina roll (difficulty 9), or they will slowly die while in the Shadow. They will take 1 Health Level a day, and cannot heal short of magickal effort.

Fading

When you get a Karma of 7 or higher, you're in danger of Fading. Unless you manage to lower the rating, everytime you re-enter a world from the Shadow you have to make a Fading roll. You roll a number of dice equal to your Fading rating, difficulty 8. Every success increases your Fading rating by one. You automatically get one point of Fading rating when your Karma gets to level 7.

Once you get Faded, it can only be gotten rid of at the Storyteller's discretion. Also, even on other worlds other than your homeworld, this problem will affect you -- except it will erase stuff shortly after you do it. People you meet on this new world will forget about you after you leave them for afew minutes. This makes it very hard to visit other places after you've Faded much.

Fading Rating	Effect
*	References to you in out-of-the-way places will disappear (your name won't show up as the author of that book you wrote). Etc.
**	People who don't know you very well will no longer know you at all. They'll completely forget about you, although they might remember if you jog their memories, but they won't remember much more than "I've met you."
***	Some friends might forget some details of your experiences together. They'll still know who you are, but they might forget that dinner you had the other day.
****	Some blatant losses of information will occur. Your name wont show up in the phone book. This will only affect things related to you, but that you didn't actually personalize and that you don't have on you.
*****	Your friends will forget about you. This doesn't effect close friends -- parents, lovers, girlfriends who love you, wives, husbands, etc. They will remember if you jog their memories.
******	Things that you've personalized or that you carry with you will reflect the fact that you don't exist. You're drivers license is blank, with no personal information. That tree no longer has the initials you carved in it. You no longer legally exist.
*******	Your closest friends will forget some experiences you've shared together. Your wife won't remember details about the marriage, and certainly won't remember about the candle-lit dinner the other night.
********	Your closest friends will completly forget about you. You'd have to jog their memory to get them to remember who you are, and even then-- they wont remember everything.
*********	You've almost Faded completely. People might not notice you unless you yell and make a scene. You tend to be looked over, and any signs that you existed no longer exist. Its about time to move to Vandais if you haven't already.
**********	You've been erased and no longer exist except in Vandais.

As a rule of thumb, the more important something is to you and other people the longer it will take for it to Fade away. Memory loss prior to level 9 isn't permanent, you can jog people's memory and make them remember you -- although they won't remember every detail, and probably won't be able to get much detail. You might be able to convince someone that she knows you, but it would take awhile to get her to remember much in the way of details.

You can, however, invest a point of Juice in someone. This allows them to remember you. However, it is also dangerous as she must make a stamina roll (difficulty 7), or take 4 levels of damage from a stroke. Such regaining of memory will last as long as you feed her juice once a day-- but if you feed her long enough, he becomes dependent on the substance, and will Fade without it.

Note: Fade has no affect on other Seekers, they will always remember you.

Appendix: Character Sheet

NAME                 NATURE                  HOMEWORLD/TIME

PLAYER               DEMEANOR                SHADOW AFFINTY
                        
CHRONICLE            FADED                   CONCEPT
                     0000000000


PHYSICAL             SOCIAL                  MENTAL
Strength     *0000   Charisma        *0000   Perception      *0000
Dexterity    *0000   Manipulation    *0000   Intelligence    *0000
Stamina      *0000   Appearance      *0000   Wits            *0000

TALENTS               SKILLS                 KNOWLEDGE
Acting       00000    Animal Ken     00000   Bureaucracy     00000 
Alertness    00000    Drive          00000   Computer        00000
Athletics    00000    Etiquette      00000   Finance         00000
Brawl        00000    Firearms       00000   Investigation   00000
Dodge        00000    Melee          00000   Law             00000
Empathy      00000    Music          00000   Medicine        00000
Intimidation 00000    Repair         00000   Occult          00000
Leadership   00000    Security       00000   Politics        00000
Streetwise   00000    Stealth        00000   Shadowlore      00000
Subterfuge   00000    Survival       00000   Science         00000

BIRTHRIGHTS           BACKGROUNDS










OTHER TRAITS          MERITS/FLAWS










KARMA                 WILLPOWER              SHADOWSTUFF
***0000000            *****00000             ***0000000
                      0000000000             0000000000

HEALTH
    OK  -1  -1  -2  -2  -5  INC