Printable cards Talent Cards 224
Skills let you understand, prepare, resist, investigate, or execute procedure. Talents let you do the exceptional thing.
How Talents Work
Talents are purchased with XP, using The Hollow's own talent cost table rather than the core rates (see Talent XP Costs below). Talents are otherwise bought the standard way, in tier order: Tier 2 requires Tier 1, Tier 3 requires Tier 2, and so on within the same tree.
All characters receive one free Tier 1 talent from the core rules at character creation, which may be applied to any Tier 1 talent in any tree for which they meet access requirements. Faction members receive a second free Tier 1 talent from their faction's designated primary trees (see each faction's Starting Talent Option in Chapter Four). Faction members begin play with two free Tier 1 talents; Independent characters begin with one. See Chapter Three for the full starting talent rule.
Talent Access
Universal Talent Trees are available to any character. No faction, skill, or magical access requirement.
Discipline Talent Trees require a specific skill prerequisite, but no faction membership or Magical Tier Access. These trees represent specialized practice that can be learned by independents, associated-organization members, or faction characters whose training crosses institutional lines.
Faction Talent Trees require faction membership. Each faction designates primary trees and, in some cases, aligned Discipline trees as starting talent sources: the character receives one free Tier 1 talent from any primary or starting-talent-eligible aligned Discipline tree at creation (this is the faction starting talent, the second of the two free Tier 1 talents faction members receive). Each faction also has secondary trees, accessible to faction members at normal talent cost but with no free starting talent. Non-members may access faction trees only through story events sanctioned by the GM.
Magical Talent Trees require Magical Tier Access. Each tier of a magical talent tree requires the corresponding tier of access unlocked via permanent Wound Point cost. Purchasing Tier 1 access (1 permanent WP) permits Tier 1 magical talent purchase. Purchasing Tier 2 access (2 total permanent WP) permits Tier 2 magical talent purchase, and so on. Additionally, the following magical trees have a skill prerequisite:
- Exorcism Tree: requires Deliverance rank 1+
- Spirit Banishment Tree: requires Discernment rank 1+
- Summoning Tree: requires Forbidden Rites rank 1+
No other magical trees carry skill prerequisites beyond Magical Tier Access.
Corruption Talents are purchasable by any character who has reached the specified Corruption threshold, regardless of faction or magical access.
Dossier and Signature Abilities may appear on named NPCs, associated-organization exemplars, season figures, or pregenerated characters. If an ability is not listed in one of the trees in this chapter, it is a signature ability for that dossier or a bespoke advanced build, not a general player purchase by default. A GM may turn one into a player-facing talent by placing it in the closest existing tree, assigning a tier, and applying the normal access requirements.
Reading an NPC talent list. A dossier prints the talents that matter at the table, not the character's full sheet. Where a dossier lists a talent above Tier 1, assume the NPC also holds the lower tiers of that tree; they are the prerequisites, they are already paid for, and printing them would fill the page with entries the GM will never roll. If you need the omitted tiers in play, take them from the tree as written.
Talent Tree Index
Universal: Investigation, Forensics, Combat Proficiency, Iron Will, Commanding Presence, Growth
Discipline: Discernment (Discernment 1+; Order of Mercy and Watchfires aligned), Deliverance (Deliverance 1+; Watchfires and Order of Mercy aligned), Soul Work (Discernment 1+ and Theology or Dead Languages 1+), Relic Operations (Relic Lore 1+ or Containment 1+; Latchkey primary), Practical Occultism (Occult Lore 1+)
Faction: See each faction entry below for primary, secondary, and aligned Discipline trees.
Magical: Occult Sight, Warding, Binding, Exorcism, Spirit Banishment, Summoning, True Name, Consecration, Relic Communion, Mediumship
Corruption: Threshold-gated talents at Corruption 2+, 3+, 5+, 7+, and 9+.
Talent XP Costs
Talent costs in The Hollow are double the Exodus NDS core rates. Out-of-profession talent access costs 10 XP more per tier than in-profession access: double the core differential, preserving the same proportional premium at every tier.
| Tier | In-Profession | Out-of-Profession |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 XP | 20 XP |
| 2 | 20 XP | 30 XP |
| 3 | 30 XP | 40 XP |
| 4 | 40 XP | 50 XP |
| 5 | 50 XP | 60 XP |
In-profession applies to: Universal trees (always); standard Discipline trees whose skill prerequisite the character meets; a faction member's primary, secondary, and aligned Discipline trees. Out-of-profession applies when a character accesses a tree outside their normal access: non-faction characters accessing a faction-aligned Discipline tree (such as Discernment or Deliverance), or story-event access to another faction's exclusive trees. Magical trees use in-profession rates; the WP cost is the access gate, not the talent cost.
Design Principles
Exorcism, Warding, Binding, and Summoning cover distinct procedures; a talent from one tree does not substitute for another's requirements. These distinctions matter at the table.
Do not let talents replace skills. A talent improves a skill's use in a specific circumstance, permits a supernatural action, or alters consequences. It does not replace the check. It does not make a character omniscient in their lane.
Tier 1 should permit the exceptional action. Tier 3 should make the character reliable at it. Tier 5 should let them attempt the things people write case files about.
Universal Talent Trees
No faction or magical access requirement. Available to any character.
Hardy (Ranked, Universal)
Core Exodus NDS talent, available to any character.
Increase your Wound Points by 2. You may purchase this talent multiple times; each purchase after the first increases your Wound Points by only 1. Hardy cannot raise your Wound Points above 20 + Might.
Hardy and Magical Tier Access
A character with any Magical Tier Access does not buy Hardy at the usual in-profession universal rate. Instead, each Hardy purchase is treated as out-of-profession and as one tier higher than the character's highest unlocked Magical Tier, priced at the time of purchase:
| Highest Magical Tier | Hardy is priced as | XP per purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Tier 2, out-of-profession | 30 XP |
| Tier 2 | Tier 3, out-of-profession | 40 XP |
| Tier 3 | Tier 4, out-of-profession | 50 XP |
| Tier 4 | Tier 5, out-of-profession | 60 XP |
| Tier 5 | Hardy cannot be purchased | — |
At Magical Tier 5, Hardy can no longer be bought. Hardy ranks purchased before reaching Tier 5 are kept; the character simply cannot acquire more.
Below Tier 5, this is the only sanctioned way to offset the permanent Wound Points spent on Magical Tier Access. Because Hardy is Ranked, recovering several Wound Points costs hundreds of XP, more than a starting character's entire budget. The permanent loss stays real; buying capacity back is a slow, costly, long-campaign choice, not a workaround. Already-purchased Hardy is not repriced when a character later unlocks a higher tier; only new purchases use the higher cost. Steadfast and other durability talents from the Exodus NDS core rules are unaffected, magical access costs Wound Points, not Strain.
Investigation Tree
Investigators, analysts, federal agents, journalists, and independent researchers: this tree is for building the accurate picture of what happened.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scene Discipline | Passive | After any successful Perception, Inquiry, Forensics, or Research check during an active investigation, ask one additional narrow factual question; the GM answers honestly, though not completely. |
| 2 | Keep the File Open | Reaction | When a mundane official explanation would prematurely close a case, report written, scene released, body cremated, add 1 Boon die to identify the contradiction or preserve the critical evidence before it is gone. |
| 3 | Witness Threading | Passive | After interviewing at least two witnesses separately on the same incident, reduce the difficulty of one subsequent Inquiry or Research check to reconstruct the accurate timeline by 1 step. |
| 4 | Pattern Case | Passive | When comparing the current case to a prior incident in your records or memory, treat one Research or Forensics check as having produced one additional piece of relevant information. |
| 5 | The Shape of the Case | Active | After gathering sufficient evidence in a case, you can read the accumulated pattern and name the enemy's nature. Ask the GM: What category of supernatural threat best fits the evidence? The GM must answer accurately from the following: demon, devil, ghost, spirit, Wound, relic, cult, monster, or unknown. |
Forensics Tree
For field medics, Lyncean agents, and pathologists, the body and the scene refuse to hide the truth for long.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood Tells Time | Passive | On a successful Forensics check, determine whether a scene was staged before or after the death or injury occurred. |
| 2 | Contradiction Map | Passive | Add 1 Boon die when comparing physical evidence against witness statements, official reports, or received accounts of the same event. |
| 3 | The Body Refuses | Active | Once per session, when a body's condition cannot be explained by the mundane cause of death on record, ask the GM what physical law was broken. The GM must name it specifically. |
| 4 | Autopsy Under Pressure | Passive | Perform useful field pathology without full lab conditions. Reduce the difficulty of Forensics checks by 1 step when working in the field without standard equipment. |
| 5 | The Corpse Gives Testimony | Active | Once per case, a successful Forensics check on a body or scene touched by the supernatural reveals that a clue requiring supernatural interpretation exists and what general category of cause it points toward, though not its full meaning. |
Combat Proficiency Tree
Fighters, hunters, and soldiers learn quickly that in The Hollow the fight does not always end when the weapon is blessed.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Press the Advantage | Passive | When you have a confirmed positional, numerical, or informational advantage over a target, add 1 Boon die to your Melee or Ranged attack check. |
| 2 | Controlled Aggression | Active | When you succeed on an attack, you may spend 1 Boon to grant the next ally who attacks the same target 1 additional Boon die on their check. |
| 3 | Under Fire | Passive | Move and take cover in the same action without penalty, even under active incoming fire or supernatural pressure. |
| 4 | Double Time | Active | Once per scene, make two combat-relevant actions in a single turn. You may not use the same skill for both actions. |
| 5 | Combat Ghost | Passive | You have internalized threat assessment past the point of conscious thought. You cannot be surprised by mundane attackers or conventional ambush setups. Supernatural ambush, things that move in ways combat training does not account for, still requires an active Perception check. |
Iron Will Tree
For anyone who survives The Hollow by refusing to break, regardless of whether that refusal comes from faith, stubbornness, or trauma.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steady Ground | Passive | When rolling Composure to resist fear, supernatural dread, or panic, treat a result of one Success as though it were two for the purpose of determining the check's outcome. |
| 2 | Pressure Holds | Reaction | Once per session, ignore the mechanical effects of a failed Composure check. You still fail, but you do not break. |
| 3 | The Horror Does Not Win Tonight | Passive | Reduce Strain gained from supernatural fear, oppressive dread, and infernal spiritual pressure by 1 per incident, to a minimum of 0. |
| 4 | Incorruptible | Reaction | When you would gain 1 Corruption from an environmental or accidental source, proximity to a high-stage Wound, a passive infernal effect, an unconsented contact, make a Willpower check at Average . On success, you do not gain it. |
| 5 | Still Standing | Reaction | Once per session, when accumulated Wounds or Strain would meet or exceed your Wound Points or Strain Points, you instead remain functional, stopping one short of the threshold on the track that would have incapacitated you. You cannot trigger this talent again until the next session. |
Commanding Presence Tree
Leaders, priests, senior agents, and veteran hunters share one trait: their presence in a crisis changes what the people around them do.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calm the Room | Passive | When using Leadership to redirect panic, fear, or chaos in bystanders or allies, add 1 Boon die to the check. |
| 2 | Clear Directive | Active | When you give an ally a specific, explicit instruction before their next action, they add 1 Boon die to the first check made to follow it. |
| 3 | Assume Command | Active | Once per scene, take command of a scene in active crisis without requiring a roll. Bystanders defer, allies act, chaos pauses for one round or until the situation fundamentally changes. |
| 4 | Weight of Authority | Passive | When exerting authority, federal, clerical, institutional, or personally earned, over a resistant NPC, add 2 Boon dice to the social check. |
| 5 | The Room Listens | Passive | NPCs who have witnessed you operating effectively in crisis or command begin subsequent interactions with a positive initial disposition. Antagonistic NPCs require an extraordinary specific reason to immediately dismiss or defy you. |
Growth Tree
In addition to paying the cost of the talent, the normal XP cost for the characteristic advancement must be paid (see Characteristic Advancement, Chapter Three: 20 XP to raise to 2, 30 XP to raise to 3, 40 XP to raise to 4, 50 XP to raise to 5). The advancement should be grounded in what the campaign has demanded of the character: Willpower grown through sustained spiritual pressure, Might grown through seasons of hard field work.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Ranked | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Growth | Passive | No | 10 XP + Advancement | Raise one characteristic by 1, to a maximum of 4. |
| 2 | Greater Growth | Passive | Yes | 20 XP + Advancement | Raise one characteristic by 1, to a maximum of 4. Each purchase must apply to a different characteristic. |
| 3 | Apex Growth | Passive | No | 30 XP + 50 XP (advancement) | Raise one characteristic from 4 to 5. |
Discipline Talent Trees
Require the listed skill prerequisite. No faction membership or Magical Tier Access required unless a talent's text says otherwise. Some Discipline trees are also faction-aligned (see Talent XP Costs above for the in-profession/out-of-profession rate rule).
Discernment Tree
Reading spiritual truth beneath appearances. Requires Discernment 1+. Aligned: Order of Mercy, Watchfires.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test the Spirit | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Discernment checks to identify possession, false miracles, demonic deception, or profanation. |
| 2 | Still Small Warning | Passive | Once per session, when in proximity to a person, place, or object that is spiritually wrong in a way you have not yet identified, the GM warns you only that something is wrong, without saying what or where. |
| 3 | Inverted Sign | Passive | Identify whether a miracle, vision, holy-seeming event, or spiritual experience has been inverted, mimicked, or counterfeited by a supernatural source. |
| 4 | Name the Influence | Passive | On a successful Discernment check, distinguish between the following categories of influence affecting a person or place: demon, devil, ghost, spirit, Wound, relic effect, or human fraud. |
| 5 | The Lie Breaks | Active | Once per case, on a successful Discernment check, force the GM to state one spiritual truth about the current situation accurately, though not safely or completely. |
Deliverance Tree
External spiritual aid before established possession. Requires Deliverance 1+. Aligned: Watchfires, Order of Mercy.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stand With Them | Active | When helping another character resist demonic influence with Deliverance, add 1 Boon die to their Composure or Deliverance resistance check. |
| 2 | Do Not Answer It | Active | On a successful Deliverance check, prevent a target from speaking to, inviting, bargaining with, or consenting to early demonic pressure for one scene. |
| 3 | Break the Whisper | Active | End one minor demonic influence effect on another person before possession takes hold, without requiring a full exorcism procedure. |
| 4 | Intercessor | Reaction | Deliberately take supernatural pressure that was directed at another character. You suffer the Strain or Bane; they gain 1 Boon die on their next check. |
| 5 | No Further | Reaction | Once per session, prevent early demonic influence from escalating into established possession for one full scene, buying time for proper Exorcism. |
Soul Work Tree
Human-soul possession, dybbuk and ibbur identification, Tzror preparation, and Reconciliation support. Requires Discernment 1+ and either Theology 1+ or Dead Languages 1+. This tree does not replace the Lamed Vav's Weight of Names Charter Trait; it gives non-Lamed Vav characters a hard-earned route into the same problem space.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Human, Not Fallen | Passive | After direct examination, add 1 Boon die to checks made to distinguish demonic possession from human-soul possession. On success, you know whether the presence is fallen, human, or unclear, but not necessarily whether the human soul is dybbuk or ibbur. |
| 2 | Address the Occupant | Passive | During communication with a dybbuk, ibbur, or uncertain human soul in a host, reduce the difficulty of one Willpower + Discernment or Willpower + Theology check by 1 step. The host adds 1 Boon die to resist immediate spiritual pressure during the exchange. |
| 3 | Prepare the Vessel | Active | Given proper materials and at least one scene of preparation, prepare a Tzror for a known or partially identified human soul. If the Tzror would be improvised, ignore the normal +1 Difficulty penalty on the capture check. If the soul's identity is still unknown, the penalty remains. |
| 4 | Weigh the Passage | Passive | When performing the Reconciliation Assessment step, a failed check does not create false confidence unless the roll produces a Calamity. On ordinary failure, the GM tells you the assessment is uncertain and what additional evidence would clarify it. |
| 5 | Open the Narrow Gate | Active | Conduct or lead a purgatory-passage rite for one prepared Tzror, or assist a Lamed Vav mass-passage event with full effectiveness. Requires a full ritual scene, correct names, correct vessel, and a spiritually defensible reason. Failure creates a purgatory distortion as described in Chapter Eight. |
Relic Operations Tree
Artifact handling, trigger discipline, field containment, and Warehouse-style retrieval. Requires Relic Lore 1+ or Containment 1+. Latchkey Archive treats this as a primary tree.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trigger Discipline | Active | Before touching, moving, opening, or activating an object, make a Relic Lore or Containment check. On success, identify one likely trigger condition, handling restriction, or passive danger. |
| 2 | Bag and Tag | Passive | When using proper containment gear, add 1 Boon die to safely transport, label, isolate, or hand off a Class I-II relic or cursed object. For higher-class objects, this talent identifies what additional containment requirement is missing. |
| 3 | Field Neutralization | Active | Suppress one known passive effect, trigger, or environmental bleed from an active object for one scene with a successful Containment check; this makes the object manageable, not permanently safe. |
| 4 | Breach Playbook | Active | During an active containment breach, ask the GM: What failure mode matters most right now? The GM answers honestly, and the next ally who acts on that answer adds 1 Boon die . |
| 5 | Warehouse It | Active | Once per case, stabilize a Class IV or lower object long enough for extraction, vault transfer, or final containment. A Class V object can be delayed for one scene, not solved. The GM names one long-term complication created by moving something this dangerous. |
Practical Occultism Tree
Occult literacy, counter-ritual work, circle discipline, and knowing how the bad ritual functions without automatically becoming the person who performs it. Requires Occult Lore 1+. Using Forbidden Rites through this tree still follows all Forbidden Rites and Corruption rules.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read the Working | Passive | On a successful Occult Lore check at a ritual site, identify the working's apparent intent, its fuel, its anchor, or its tell. Choose one; spend Boon results to identify additional elements. |
| 2 | Do Not Cross That Line | Passive | When entering or disturbing an occult setup, identify one boundary, circle, inscription, object, or bodily trace that should not be broken. Allies who follow your warning add 1 Boon die to avoid triggering the working. |
| 3 | Break the Pattern | Active | Interrupt an ongoing occult working by targeting its anchor, fuel, or geometry. On a successful Occult Lore or Forbidden Rites check, reduce the working's next effect by one step or add 1 Bane die to the practitioner's next roll. |
| 4 | Counter-Circle | Active | Create a temporary counterworking that contains, redirects, or delays an occult effect for one scene without powering it through sacrifice. If you add blood, death, or infernal leverage as fuel, the action becomes a Forbidden Working and follows Chapter Twelve. |
| 5 | Close the Door | Active | Once per case, collapse a major summoning, binding, or Wound-feeding occult working before it completes, if you have identified its intent, fuel, and anchor. On failure, you become the nearest available route for the backlash. |
Faction Talent Trees
Require faction membership; see Talent Access above for the free Tier 1 rule and non-member story-event access. Each faction's primary, secondary, and aligned Discipline trees are listed below.
Order of Mercy
Primary Trees: Exorcism (magical: see Magical Trees) Aligned Discipline Trees: Discernment Secondary Trees: Consecration (magical: see Magical Trees), Infernal Law
The Discernment tree is a Discipline tree; see Discipline Talent Trees above.
The Watchfires
Primary Trees: Righteous Fire Aligned Discipline Trees: Deliverance, Discernment Secondary Trees: The Long Vigil, Fieldcraft
The Deliverance and Discernment trees are Discipline trees; see Discipline Talent Trees above.
Righteous Fire Tree
The Watchfires-exclusive tree. Requires the Righteous Fire hard-gated authority skill. Modifies and deepens its use.
Tier 3 has two options: Prayer Like a Hammer and Righteous Passion. Choose one; a character may hold only one of the two Tier 3 talents in this tree.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raise Your Voice | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Righteous Fire checks made in direct defense of another person. |
| 2 | Make It Answer | Active | On a successful Righteous Fire check, force a supernatural entity exerting influence in the scene to reveal that it is present and active, without necessarily revealing its location or nature. |
| 3 | Prayer Like a Hammer | Active | When using Righteous Fire in direct service of your Passion, you may spend 2 Strain after assembling the Pool to add 1 additional Boon die before rolling. |
| 3 | Righteous Passion | Passive | When spending Strain in direct service of your Passion, you ignore the escalating cost: every added success costs a flat 3 Strain instead of 3, then 4, then 5, and so on. Applies to all Passion-engaged checks, not only Righteous Fire. The normal limit still applies, you cannot spend past what would incapacitate you. |
| 4 | The Room Turns | Active | On a successful Righteous Fire check, protect all allies in Engaged range from one minor demonic influence effect for the remainder of the scene. |
| 5 | Burning Witness | Active | Once per session, your Righteous Fire confrontation forces a demon or devil to acknowledge one spiritual claim, spiritual lie, or specific vulnerability it holds. The acknowledgment is visible and usable. The entity may then focus its attention on you. |
The Long Vigil Tree
Where Righteous Fire is confrontation, The Long Vigil is presence: endurance, protective positioning, and the refusal to yield ground. The Watchfires-exclusive secondary tree. Requires faction membership.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Warning | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Perception checks made to detect early signs of supernatural presence, approach, or escalation in a space you are actively monitoring. This is trained situational awareness, not spiritual sight. |
| 2 | Covered | Active | Designate one character as your charge for the current scene. While you remain within Engaged range, that character adds 1 Boon die to resistance checks against supernatural pressure, possession attempts, or demonic influence directed at them. The designation ends if you fall incapacitated or leave the scene. |
| 3 | Take the Hit | Reaction | When a supernatural effect, demonic pressure, or spiritual attack targets an ally within Engaged range, you may redirect it to yourself instead. The effect applies to you at full strength. The original target is unaffected. |
| 4 | Don't Let It Go | Active | Once per session, prevent one supernatural entity from disengaging, escalating to a new target, or leaving the current space for the remainder of the scene. Your refusal to yield holds it in place without a formal binding, and it may direct full attention to you as a result. |
| 5 | The Watch Doesn't Break | Reaction | Once per session, when accumulated Strain would render you incapacitated, you remain functional until the end of the current scene. At scene's end, all Strain resolves normally. This does not prevent or delay Wound damage. |
Directorate Vesper
Primary Trees: Tradecraft, Surveillance Secondary Trees: Cover Operations, Asset Handling
Tradecraft Tree
Intelligence operations: cover, concealment, asset reading, field procedure.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clean Cover | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Deception checks made to maintain a prepared false identity under active pressure. |
| 2 | Dead Drop | Active | Once per session, declare that a small prepared item, message, or contact point was placed at a location you could plausibly have accessed before the scene. |
| 3 | Read the Handler | Passive | Add 1 Boon die when identifying who is actually directing a cultist, compromised official, apparent civilian, or apparent ally. |
| 4 | Burn the Room | Active | When exiting a compromised scene with 5+ minutes available, erase or confuse one trail of mundane evidence without a check. |
| 5 | Compartmentalized Truth | Active | Once per session, reveal that you withheld a plausible operational detail from the party until this moment. The detail must fit the established fiction and cannot resolve the current scene by itself. |
Surveillance Tree
Observation, counter-observation, signal interception, pattern-of-life analysis.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eyes on Target | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Technology or Tradecraft checks when using surveillance equipment that has been in place for more than one hour. |
| 2 | Counter-Surveillance Sweep | Active | Once per scene, detect whether the party is under mundane observation without a roll, unless the opposition is exceptionally trained or equipped. |
| 3 | Pattern of Life | Passive | After observing a specific target for one full scene, add 1 Boon die to any subsequent Inquiry, Tradecraft, or Deception check directly involving that individual. |
| 4 | Signal Intercept | Active | On a successful Technology check, intercept and interpret one communication between NPCs without revealing your presence or access method. |
| 5 | Ghost Protocol | Active | Once per session, you and up to two allies move through a surveilled location without triggering detection, provided you have advance knowledge of the surveillance layout. |
Cover Operations Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legend Building | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to checks establishing a cover identity that has existed in records for more than 24 hours. |
| 2 | Support Request | Active | Once per session, request one piece of logistical support, transport, documents, a safe location, without revealing the source. |
| 3 | Cutout Protocol | Reaction | When compromised, introduce one layer of separation that delays attribution for one scene. |
| 4 | Burned Asset Protocol | Active | Officially remove one NPC from accessible records for 48 in-game hours. This has later consequences. |
| 4 | The Program | Active | Invoke Directorate Vesper's full operational infrastructure to establish a complete cover scenario in place. The GM introduces one consequence of the program's direct involvement. |
Asset Handling Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cold Read | Passive | On first meeting an NPC, add 1 Boon die to assess whether they are who they claim to be. |
| 2 | Cultivate the Source | Passive | After one successful social interaction with a cooperative NPC, they may be treated as a long-term asset who answers one question per session without a check. |
| 3 | Manage the Relationship | Passive | When an asset is under pressure from a third party, add 1 Boon die to Tradecraft or Charm checks to stabilize the relationship. |
| 4 | Exfil Window | Active | Declare one planned extraction route for an asset. If the route becomes necessary, it functions without a check unless actively blocked. |
| 5 | Deep Cover Loyalty | Passive | One asset you have cultivated over multiple sessions will not break under mundane interrogation, surveillance, or pressure, and will not reveal your relationship without extraordinary supernatural compulsion. |
The Lyncean Office
Primary Trees: Investigation, Forensics Secondary Trees: Field Authority, Witness Work
Field Authority Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badge Weight | Active | Once per scene, use federal credentials to compel NPC cooperation for one exchange without a social check, unless the NPC has active specific reason to resist federal authority. |
| 2 | Scene Control | Active | At an active scene, establish federal authority over all other personnel without a roll, unless another federal authority is present with a competing mandate. |
| 3 | Witness Protection | Active | Officially protect one witness from external interference, relocation, or pressure for 48 in-game hours without requiring a check. |
| 4 | Chain Command | Active | Once per session, accelerate one bureaucratic, legal, or institutional process from days to hours by invoking federal authority. |
| 5 | The Case Is Mine | Active | Claim federal jurisdiction over a case so completely that no other agency, faction, or official can remove it without extraordinary political force. |
Witness Work Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read the Room Before Speaking | Passive | Before beginning an interview, add 1 Boon die to Perception checks to assess a witness's emotional state, reliability, and likely pressure points. |
| 2 | Open the Door | Passive | Reduce the difficulty of Inquiry checks with initially uncooperative witnesses by 1 step. |
| 3 | Follow the Inconsistency | Passive | When a witness statement contains a contradiction, identify it automatically. You may then ask one clarifying question the witness must answer more honestly than they intended. |
| 4 | Second Statement | Active | After a witness has given a statement, revisit it once with 2 Boon dice on the Inquiry check, they have had time to reconsider and you know how to use that. |
| 5 | What They Actually Saw | Active | Once per case, a successful Inquiry check with a key witness allows you to ask: What did you see that you have not been able to make yourself say out loud? The GM gives the witness's honest answer. |
The Latchkey Archive
Primary Trees: Containment, Relic Operations (see Discipline Talent Trees) Secondary Trees: Scholar Protocols, Quarantine Response
Containment Tree
Operational containment without supernatural talent: protocols, gear, field procedure.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tag and Bag | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Containment checks when using standard Archive containment gear, proper gloves, sealed cases, treated materials. |
| 2 | Known Failure Mode | Reaction | When an object activates unexpectedly, ask one question: What did the previous handler do that triggered this? The GM answers based on available evidence or Archive records. |
| 3 | Emergency Seal | Active | As an action, make a Containment check to suppress one active relic effect for one scene. Success suppresses it; failure may escalate it. |
| 4 | Protocol Override | Active | Invoke Archive authority to requisition restricted containment gear or access a sealed area without the standard delay or bureaucratic process. |
| 5 | Quarantine the Impossible | Active | Once per case, stabilize an active object, site, or room long enough for the team to evacuate, conduct research, or complete a major rite. The stabilization holds for one scene unless actively disrupted. |
Scholar Protocols Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File First | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Relic Lore checks when you have consulted available Archive records on the object before handling it. |
| 2 | Update the Record | Active | After any incident involving a relic or object, create or update its Archive entry. Future handlers who access this record add 1 Boon die to their first Relic Lore check on the same item. |
| 3 | Prior Breach | Passive | On a successful Research check, identify whether a similar containment failure has occurred in Archive history and what resolution was effective. |
| 4 | Protocol Deviation | Passive | Identify precisely when and how someone has bypassed standard containment protocol with an active object, and what the likely consequences of the deviation are. |
| 5 | Archive Authority | Passive | Your Archive credentials carry institutional weight sufficient to commandeer civilian resources, emergency services, or government cooperation in an active containment situation. |
Quarantine Response Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Assessment | Passive | When entering a site with an active containment problem, immediately assess its scope and priority without a check. |
| 2 | Perimeter Hold | Active | Establish a physical perimeter around a hazardous site that mundane authorities treat as official quarantine. No credentials check required if Archive protocols are followed. |
| 3 | Contamination Triage | Active | Assess whether persons exposed to a relic event have been affected, and if so, how seriously and what category of effect. |
| 4 | Field Decontamination | Active | Reduce active supernatural contamination on a person or small area using proper materials and a Containment check. |
| 5 | Contain and Close | Active | Complete a full field quarantine of an active hazard site without external support, establish perimeter, suppress active effects, document, seal, and report, within one scene. |
The Black Road
Primary Trees: Hunter, Fieldcraft Secondary Trees: Monster Weakness, Road Skills
Hunter Tree
Kill methods, field assessment, execution under pressure.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Know When It's Playing Dead | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to checks to confirm whether a supernatural creature is incapacitated, regenerating, baiting, or waiting for the right moment. |
| 2 | Marked Shells | Active | With 30 minutes and available materials, prepare one weapon, trap, or ammunition type against a known weakness. This preparation adds 1 Boon die to the first attack that uses it. |
| 3 | Lair Sense | Passive | On a successful Tracking or Monster Lore check, identify one of the following: most likely escape route, location of a secondary den, or pattern of the creature's feeding ground. |
| 4 | Kill Box | Passive | When the party has prepared terrain against a known creature type before engagement begins, the first ally to attack adds 1 Boon die . |
| 5 | End the Thing | Active | Once per session, when exploiting a confirmed weakness against a creature you have Kill Ledger knowledge on, convert one successful attack into a decisive disabling effect: the creature cannot regenerate this scene, cannot flee, cannot shift form, or loses one specific ability. The specific effect is determined by creature type in Chapter Eleven. |
Fieldcraft Tree
Practical hidden-world preparation and field survival. Available to Watchfires as a secondary tree.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salt the Door | Active | With a few minutes and common materials, create a basic precaution at one entry point or perimeter. Add 1 Boon die to the first check made to detect or resist intrusion, ambush, or night attack at that point. |
| 2 | Three Exits | Passive | When entering any new location, immediately identify three viable escape routes without a check. You may communicate this to allies. |
| 3 | Cache Discipline | Active | Once per session, declare that you have a small cache of necessary field supplies within reasonable travel distance: silver-tipped rounds, salt, iron, first aid, a burner phone. |
| 4 | Improvise the Right Tool | Passive | When you lack specific equipment but have materials to work with, reduce the difficulty of Fieldcraft, Survival, or Containment checks by 1 step. |
| 5 | Read the Road | Passive | In any environment, rural or urban, you navigate without technology, identify supernatural activity by terrain and sign, and locate shelter, supply, or extraction without a roll unless the situation is actively hostile. |
Monster Weakness Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weak Point | Passive | On a successful Monster Lore check, identify one specific physical vulnerability: a joint, an organ, a spot where the creature's natural defenses are thinner than elsewhere. |
| 2 | Preparation Matters | Passive | When you have researched the target before engagement, all allies add 1 Boon die to their first attack against that creature type in this encounter. |
| 3 | Weakness Confirmation | Passive | After dealing any damage to a supernatural creature, confirm without a check whether you struck a known weakness or not. |
| 4 | Exploit the Gap | Active | When striking a confirmed weakness, spend 1 Boon result to force the creature to react defensively rather than offensively on its next action. |
| 5 | Killing Blow | Active | Once per session, one attack that exploits a confirmed creature weakness and succeeds becomes automatically decisive at maximum effect with no partial result. |
Road Skills Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safe Haven | Passive | Identify one safe location, a quiet motel, a sympathetic church, a hunter cache, in any area within 50 miles without a check. |
| 2 | Trade in Kind | Passive | When offering skills, information, or aid to another hidden-world operator, add 1 Boon die to the social check to build trust or call in a favor. |
| 3 | Road Memory | Active | Once per session, recall one piece of information about the current location left by hunters who came before: a prior incident, a known danger, a useful contact. |
| 4 | Mutual Defense | Active | Invoke the Road's informal obligation to help. Another hunter-network NPC cannot refuse assistance without a cost to their standing, even if they dislike you personally. |
| 5 | The Road Remembers | Passive | Your reputation on the Black Road precedes you. Hunters who have never met you know your name and your kills. You begin encounters with Black Road-adjacent NPCs at significant positive standing. |
The Lantern Index
Primary Trees: Scholar, Dead Languages Secondary Trees: True Name (also available as magical: see Magical Trees), Relic History
Scholar Tree
Research depth, cross-discipline synthesis, the room full of books made operational.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citation Trail | Passive | When a topic has any written record, reduce the time required for one Research check, from hours to minutes, or from days to hours. |
| 2 | Marginalia Matters | Passive | On a successful Dead Languages or Research check, identify one note, correction, or scribal oddity that changes the interpretation of a text in a way the main text does not reveal. |
| 3 | Cross-Discipline Chain | Active | Use Research to assist another character's Occult Lore, Theology, Relic Lore, or Monster Lore check. They add 2 Boon dice instead of the standard 1 for assistance. |
| 4 | Prior Correspondence | Active | Once per case, identify that a relevant expert, colleague, or institutional contact has already done work on this specific topic. The GM provides one research result as if a successful check had already been completed. |
| 5 | The Lost Version | Active | Once per case, reveal a suppressed, older, or contradictory version of a key piece of supernatural knowledge, one that changes the available solution, approach, or understanding of the threat. |
Dead Languages Tree
Translation, script identification, ritual text interpretation.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Working Translation | Passive | On a successful Dead Languages check, produce a functional translation of a document with known risks flagged, even from partial or damaged text. |
| 2 | Script Identification | Passive | Identify a language, script, or cipher on sight, even one you cannot yet fully translate, and determine whether it is occult, liturgical, mundane, or intentionally obfuscated. |
| 3 | The Pronunciation Matters | Passive | When a ritual, ward, rite, or invocation is in a dead language, a successful Dead Languages check reveals whether the pronunciation or inscription is correct, reversed, corrupt, or deliberately weaponized. |
| 4 | Name Weight | Passive | When a supernatural name, title, epithet, or invocation is in a dead language, a successful check reveals whether it holds power, what category of power, and whether it has been invoked before. |
| 5 | Read the Inscription | Passive | No written text in any known historical language is beyond your ability to interpret given sufficient time. Wholly synthetic or demonic scripts still require checks but never at the maximum difficulty. |
Relic History Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Provenance Read | Passive | On a successful Relic Lore check, determine one prior owner or one prior incident in an object's history. |
| 2 | Incident Pattern | Passive | After examining an object and its documented history, identify whether its prior incidents share a pattern, same trigger, same victim type, same location type. |
| 3 | The Object Remembers | Active | A sustained examination of a significant object reveals one complete prior incident in detail: who, what happened, and whether the outcome was resolved or unresolved. |
| 4 | False Relic Identification | Passive | Identify whether an object claiming to be a holy relic is authentic, partially authentic, fraudulent, or something else entirely pretending to be a relic. |
| 5 | Complete Provenance | Active | Once per case, a thorough examination of an object reveals its complete known history, every owner, every incident, every recorded effect. The GM provides the full file, noting gaps in available documentation. |
The Candleless
Primary Trees: Forbidden Rites, Infernal Law Secondary Trees: Dirty Miracles, Black Market Arts
Forbidden Rites Tree
The working knowledge of what is forbidden and how it functions.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read the Filth Correctly | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Forbidden Rites checks made to assess whether a forbidden procedure is functional, a trap, bait, or fraud before attempting it. |
| 2 | Draw the Wrong Circle Right | Passive | Reduce the penalty Bane dice from improvised ritual conditions by 1 (minimum 0). The Corruption risk from using the rite is not reduced. |
| 3 | A Small Price | Reaction | Once per session, when a Forbidden Rites check would cause Strain, take 1 Corruption instead to reduce the Strain cost by 2. |
| 4 | Borrowed Authority | Active | Use stolen, inverted, or counterfeit spiritual authority in a rite. Reduce the check difficulty by 1 step, then the GM introduces one complication that manifests within the session. |
| 5 | The Door That Should Stay Shut | Active | Attempt a rite that no sanctioned institution can perform in the available time. The immediate problem may be addressed. The GM adds one major long-term cost. |
Infernal Law Tree
The procedural rules of infernal bargaining, claim, and counter-claim.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read the Terms | Passive | When examining a bargain, curse, or infernal agreement, identify one explicit condition: what was promised, what was given, what triggers collection. |
| 2 | Find the Omission | Passive | On a successful Occult Lore or Forbidden Rites check, identify one specific thing the agreement does not cover, the procedural gap the bound party might exploit. |
| 3 | Delay Collection | Active | Temporarily delay a devil's claim by citing one valid procedural defect, contradicted condition, or unfulfilled term. The delay buys one scene or one session. |
| 4 | Counterclaim | Active | Use a victim's repentance, restitution, confession, or sacrifice to formally weaken an infernal claim. Reduce the devil's leverage by one tier for the purposes of negotiation or exorcism. |
| 5 | Break the Instrument | Active | Attempt to void a devil's bargain entirely, if the team can demonstrate fraud, invalid consent, impossible terms, or the existence of a prior higher claim. Requires correct authority, correct evidence, and the right moment. |
Dirty Miracles Tree (Secondary)
Producing effects that resemble holy power through corrupted means. Requires Corruption 2+.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Counterfeit Holiness | Active | On a successful Deception check, produce an effect resembling minor holy power, calming a room, suppressing a minor manifestation, at the cost of 1 Corruption. |
| 2 | False Blessing | Active | Produce a blessing that functions for one scene: a person, object, or space gains one benefit of consecrated status. The effect expires; repeated use accumulates Corruption risk. |
| 3 | Borrowed Name | Active | Invoke a holy name or clerical authority that is not yours in a rite. The rite may succeed. The entity addressed will eventually notice the deception. |
| 4 | The Thing That Passes for Light | Active | Create an effect indistinguishable from genuine holy power for one scene. Costs 2 Corruption. Entities with supernatural perception will eventually detect the fraud. |
| 5 | Dark Miracle | Active | Once per session, produce one effect equivalent to a Tier 3 Consecration magical talent, using infernal means. Costs 3 Corruption. |
Black Market Arts Tree (Secondary)
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Know the Supplier | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to Streetwise checks to locate an occult black-market contact in any city within 24 hours. |
| 2 | Price Assessment | Passive | When examining black-market occult goods, identify one risk, deception, or hidden condition the seller has not disclosed. |
| 3 | Hidden Inventory | Active | Once per session, declare that you have sourced one specific piece of restricted equipment, forbidden text, or unusual ritual material that arrived before the scene. Cost is narrative, someone knows you have it. |
| 4 | Broker's Reputation | Passive | When negotiating for restricted items or services on the occult black market, reduce difficulty by 1 step and treat the contact's initial disposition as cooperative rather than suspicious. |
| 5 | The Shelf Nobody Mentions | Active | Once per case, access an item, text, or contact that is not supposed to exist in any available inventory. The GM determines what specifically exists; the character finds it. |
Magical Talent Trees
Require Magical Tier Access; see Talent Access above for the Wound Point cost and unlock rule. Talent tier must match Magical Access tier. Three trees carry an added skill prerequisite, noted in the unlock table below.
Magical Talent Unlock Table
| Access Tier | Permanent WP Cost | Talents Available for XP Purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 1 WP | Supernatural Perception; Threshold Mark; Name and Nail; Opening Rite (Deliverance 1+); Hear the Dead (Discernment 1+); Call the Small Thing (Forbidden Rites 1+); Name Fragment; Blessed Implements; Listen to the Object; Cold Breath |
| Tier 2 | 2 WP total | Read the Room; Salt and Seal; Hold the Manifestation; Compel Manifestation (Deliverance 1+); Quiet the Room (Discernment 1+); Circle and Question (Forbidden Rites 1+); Name Against Lie; Cleanse the Mark; Safe Contact; Ask the Dead |
| Tier 3 | 3 WP total | True Nature; Circle of Refusal; Terms of Binding; Litany of Pressure (Deliverance 1+); Unfinished Thread (Discernment 1+); Named Invitation (Forbidden Rites 1+); Compel by Office; Sanctify Ground; Borrowed Function; Borrowed Memory |
| Tier 4 | 4 WP total | See Through the Work; Consecrated Boundary; Anchor the Unclean; Sever the Anchor (Deliverance 1+); Release the Bound (Discernment 1+); Compelled Audience (Forbidden Rites 1+); Unmask the Borrowed Face; Relic Alignment; Turn the Key; Stand Between |
| Tier 5 | 5 WP total | The Hollow Speaks; Hold the Breach; Seal Under Name; Cast Out (Deliverance 1+); Return the Escaped (Discernment 1+); Open the Door Carefully (Forbidden Rites 1+); Speak the Name Entire; Reclaim the Wound; Awaken the Reliquary Power; Carry the Last Words |
Occult Sight Tree
Supernatural perception. The most broadly useful magical tree. No skill prerequisite.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Supernatural Perception | Passive | Perceive supernatural entities, active Wound sites, and ongoing rites without a roll. Perceive spiritual residue on objects and persons with a Willpower check. |
| 2 | Read the Room | Active | After one scene of focused observation in a location, perceive its spiritual history: what was done here supernaturally, what kind of power was used, and roughly when. |
| 3 | True Nature | Active | Through sustained contact or focused observation of a supernatural entity, begin to perceive its true nature beneath its presented form. Requires a Willpower + Discernment check. |
| 4 | See Through the Work | Passive | Automatically detect when holy power, magical effects, infernal glamour, or supernatural working has been recently active in a location, and roughly what kind. |
| 5 | The Hollow Speaks | Passive | Perceive the Wound escalation stage of any site within line of sight without examination. Sense active Shards within a mile of your position. Feel when a Wound site shifts stage. |
Warding Tree
Protective barriers, thresholds, and consecrated lines. No skill prerequisite.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Threshold Mark | Active | Ward one door, window, mirror, or vehicle entry point against a specific supernatural threat type for one scene. Requires materials: salt, iron, blessed oil, or equivalent. |
| 2 | Salt and Seal | Active | Create a ward that adds 1 Bane die to any supernatural entity attempting to cross or manifest through the warded boundary. |
| 3 | Circle of Refusal | Active | Establish a protective circle preventing direct supernatural intrusion while your concentration holds. Requires 10 minutes and proper materials. Broken by removing materials or losing concentration under direct attack. |
| 4 | Consecrated Boundary | Passive | A ward established with proper holy materials or valid sacred authority bypasses one supernatural defensive property or countermeasure. |
| 5 | Hold the Breach | Active | At a Wound site in active crisis, prevent the Wound from escalating or bleeding through one defined boundary for one scene. Gain 3 strain and you cannot perform any other magic action this scene. |
Binding Tree
Restraining supernatural entities: physical, conditional, or formal. No skill prerequisite.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name and Nail | Active | Bind a minor supernatural effect, residual manifestation, or presence to a symbol, object, or marked location for a brief duration, one scene or until disrupted. |
| 2 | Hold the Manifestation | Active | On a successful Willpower + Theology or Forbidden Rites check, prevent a manifested entity from leaving a defined area for one scene. |
| 3 | Terms of Binding | Active | Bind an entity under one specific observable condition it must follow: cannot speak deception, cannot cross a line, cannot touch the host. Requires knowing its name or category. |
| 4 | Anchor the Unclean | Active | Bind an entity to its current vessel or location long enough for exorcism, banishment, or proper containment. Failure risks the entity gaining commensurate leverage against the binder. |
| 5 | Seal Under Name | Active | Permanently bind a significant entity if the team holds its true name, valid authority, and sufficient leveraged position. Requires an extended ritual and the entity's true name. Failure is catastrophic. |
Exorcism Tree
Leading the formal rite against established possession. Requires Deliverance rank 1+.
The Exorcism tree is a Magical tree: leading the rite requires Magical Tier Access in addition to the Deliverance skill prerequisite.
Reading the Exorcism Tree
The full five-stage Exorcism procedure, Diagnosis, Preparation, Binding, Confrontation, and Expulsion, is in Chapter Eight: Faith, Rites, and Magic. The talents in this tree grant access to lead it and enhance its specific stages. Read Chapter Eight before building an exorcist character; the procedure shapes how each tier is used.
What you need to lead an exorcism:
- Deliverance rank 1 or higher (career or faction profession access)
- Magical Tier 1 Access (1 permanent Wound Point)
- Opening Rite (this tree's Tier 1 talent)
Talent-to-stage quick reference:
- Tier 1 — Opening Rite: Permits leading; identifies possession type. Active at Stage 1 (Diagnosis) and throughout.
- Tier 2 — Compel Manifestation: Stage 3 (Binding) and Stage 4 (Confrontation).
- Tier 3 — Litany of Pressure: Stage 4 (Confrontation) extended check.
- Tier 4 — Sever the Anchor: Special step within Stage 4 when an external anchor is identified.
- Tier 5 — Cast Out: Stage 5 (Expulsion), final command.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opening Rite | Active | You may lead a formal exorcism procedure against an established possession (see Chapter Eight for the full five-stage procedure); without this talent you may assist but not lead. During Stage 1 (Diagnosis), you may also identify whether a possession is partial, full, feigned, or externally anchored. |
| 2 | Compel Manifestation | Active | During Stage 3 (Binding) or Stage 4 (Confrontation), force a possessing entity to produce a sign, react audibly, or reveal leverage information. The entity cannot fully conceal itself from you once rite contact is established. |
| 3 | Litany of Pressure | Active | During Stage 4 (Confrontation), spend Boon results from rite checks to reduce the entity's next resistance roll, add Bane dice to its next action, or recover one step of procedural progress. |
| 4 | Sever the Anchor | Active | If the possession is tied to an external anchor, a relic, devil's bargain, Wound site, or bound object, you may target the anchor as a procedural step during Stage 4 (Confrontation). Destroying or neutralizing the anchor reduces the entity's final resistance at Stage 5 by 1 difficulty step. |
| 5 | Cast Out | Active | Complete Stage 5 (Expulsion) against a major possessing entity. Requires correct procedure, sufficient accumulated leverage, and a host who can physically survive expulsion. The expelled entity does not return to this host. Costs 4 Strain; you cannot perform any rite for 24 hours afterward. |
Spirit Banishment Tree
Addressing human ghosts and displaced spirits. Deliberately separate from Exorcism. Requires Discernment rank 1+.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hear the Dead | Active | Perceive and establish minimal communication with a ghost, enough to identify what general category of unfinished business holds it. |
| 2 | Quiet the Room | Active | Suppress poltergeist effects, haunting pressure, or death echoes in a location for one scene. |
| 3 | Unfinished Thread | Passive | On a successful Discernment check, identify the specific thing that holds a ghost: a murder, an oath, an object, a lie, a location, a family member, an unspoken truth. |
| 4 | Release the Bound | Active | Perform a complete banishment or release if the ghost's unfinished business has been resolved, addressed, or symbolically satisfied in a way the ghost can accept. |
| 5 | Return the Escaped | Active | Attempt to return a spirit that has escaped the afterlife back to its proper destination, addressing a theologically serious breach beyond an ordinary release. Costs 5 Strain and one dedicated ritual scene. |
Summoning Tree
Calling entities. Dangerous at every tier. Requires Forbidden Rites rank 1+.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Call the Small Thing | Active | Summon a minor spirit, shade, messenger, or local presence under controlled circle conditions. The summoned entity may answer questions; it is not compelled to be truthful. |
| 2 | Circle and Question | Passive | A successfully summoned entity must answer one narrow factual question before it may attempt to evade, bargain, or twist the interaction. One question only. |
| 3 | Named Invitation | Active | Summon a specific entity if you hold its name, an anchor object, a blood connection, or a valid invitation form. The entity appears, but does not cooperate. |
| 4 | Compelled Audience | Active | Force a specific dangerous entity to appear or send a manifest representation, even without an explicit invitation. If the containment circle is flawed, the entity gains leverage commensurate with the flaw. |
| 5 | Open the Door Carefully | Active | Summon a major entity without immediately triggering Wound escalation, if preparation is perfect, the circle is flawless, and you hold valid authority and a defensible reason. Costs 5 Strain. |
True Name Tree
The power of true names over supernatural entities. No skill prerequisite, but requires access to name information through play.
True Name Tree: Two Access Routes
Lantern Index members access the True Name tree as a secondary faction tree. No Magical Tier Access required, no permanent Wound Point cost. The tree is scholarly in their hands: the power of names operates through institutional knowledge, archive access, and the Index's accumulated record of supernatural nomenclature.
All other characters who wish to access this tree must do so as a Magical talent tree, paying the standard Magical Tier Access cost per tier (see the Magical Talent Unlock Table above). In their hands, the power of names is direct and supernatural rather than scholarly.
The talent effects are identical in both cases. What differs is the cost and what that cost means for the character.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name Fragment | Passive | Hold partial leverage over an entity through a title, epithet, office, or historical name. Add 1 Boon die to resistance checks against that entity and prevent it from completely lying to you while you hold the fragment. |
| 2 | Name Against Lie | Passive | When resisting deception from an entity whose name fragment you hold, add 2 Boon dice and the entity must answer one direct question truthfully before attempting deception again. |
| 3 | Compel by Office | Active | Force a demon, devil, or spirit to acknowledge one binding limitation tied to its infernal nature or office. It must comply once, though it will seek another interpretation. |
| 4 | Unmask the Borrowed Face | Active | Strip away one false identity, glamour, possessed persona, or supernatural disguise from an entity. The revelation is complete and cannot be re-applied this scene. |
| 5 | Speak the Name Entire | Active | Use a known true name as decisive leverage in exorcism, binding, banishment, or formal negotiation. The entity cannot ignore the invocation, cannot fully resist its force, and cannot leave without answering it. Requires a known true name. Misusing a true name, invoking it carelessly, selfishly, or without proper authority, invites catastrophic response. |
Consecration Tree
Sanctification, holy implements, cleansing, and reclaiming corrupted ground. No skill prerequisite.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blessed Implements | Active | Prepare one weapon, vial, tool, or object to count as Holy for one scene, allowing it to affect supernatural targets that require holy items. |
| 2 | Cleanse the Mark | Active | Remove minor profanation, Hollow residue, or infernal trace from a person, small object, or area through a successful Willpower + Theology check. |
| 3 | Sanctify Ground | Active | Establish a temporary holy zone in a defined area that adds 1 Bane die to demonic entry, manifestation, or influence for one scene. |
| 4 | Relic Alignment | Active | Properly align a misaligned, damaged, or internally corrupted holy relic so it functions without backlash or reduced effect. |
| 5 | Reclaim the Wound | Active | As part of an extended ritual, a full scene, correct materials, valid authority, attempt to reduce a Wound site by one escalation stage. Requires the site to have received no active feeding within 24 hours. |
Relic Communion Tree (Magical)
Direct supernatural interface with holy and cursed objects. The non-magical operational version is the Latchkey Containment tree.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Listen to the Object | Active | Through contact and a Willpower check, sense whether a relic is dormant, active, cursed, holy, false, hungry, or waiting. |
| 2 | Safe Contact | Passive | Carry or touch an active relic for one scene without triggering one specific known passive danger. You choose which danger is suppressed. |
| 3 | Borrowed Function | Active | If you know an object's triggering condition, intentionally activate a minor relic effect with a Containment + Willpower check. Controlled success activates it safely; failure triggers the effect normally. |
| 4 | Turn the Key | Active | Fully activate a relic against the specific threat type it was made to oppose. Its primary function is available for one scene. Inappropriate activation carries backlash risk. |
| 5 | Awaken the Reliquary Power | Active | Trigger a true relic's full primary power at scale. Risk, cost, and effect are object-specific and determined by the GM based on the relic's history and nature. This is the option of last resort. |
Mediumship Tree
Communication with and resolution of the human dead. No skill prerequisite.
| Tier | Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cold Breath | Passive | Sense the presence, rough emotional state, and general category of ghosts, death echoes, or recent spiritual disturbance in a location without a roll. |
| 2 | Ask the Dead | Active | Establish communication with a present ghost and ask one question it can answer, if it is willing or can be addressed correctly. |
| 3 | Borrowed Memory | Active | With consent or on a successful Willpower check against resistance, experience one memory fragment from a ghost's life or death. Costs 2 Strain. |
| 4 | Stand Between | Reaction | Prevent a ghost or spirit from overwhelming, possessing, or driving a living person from a location for one scene. You absorb the directed spiritual pressure. |
| 5 | Carry the Last Words | Active | Resolve a ghost's unfinished message, claim, or action in a way that provides one mechanical benefit toward its release: a Boon die on the banishment check, a difficulty reduction, or the specific information required for resolution. |
Corruption Talents
Available to any character who has reached the specified Corruption threshold, regardless of faction or magical access. Purchasing one is a scene-level event: the GM and table acknowledge it in the fiction as a visible story statement about who the character is becoming.
Corruption Talent Costs
A Corruption Talent costs XP like any other talent. Its Corruption threshold sets both its access and its price: the threshold ladder maps onto the talent tier ladder, and every Corruption Talent is available to every character, so in-profession rates always apply.
| Threshold | Tier | XP |
|---|---|---|
| 2+ | 1 | 10 XP |
| 3+ | 2 | 20 XP |
| 5+ | 3 | 30 XP |
| 7+ | 4 | 40 XP |
| 9+ | 5 | 50 XP |
Accessing a Corruption Talent for the first time also costs +1 Corruption, once per talent (Chapter Eight), on top of the XP. Corruption Talents are not bought in tier order and have no prerequisites within the group: the threshold is the only gate.
Corruption Talents are not the only way Corruption changes a character. Chapter Eight includes corrupt body manifestations: physical, sensory, and spiritual alterations that can appear at Corruption thresholds, after devil deals, after occult grafts, or after Forbidden Working backlash. Those manifestations are not normal talent purchases unless the GM explicitly promotes one into a Corruption Talent.
Corruption Threshold 2+ (Tier 1 · 10 XP)
| Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Expedient Evil | Active | Once per session, use a morally bankrupt method that would normally carry the Restricted Discipline penalty for a first offense. Make the check without penalty this once. Gain 1 Corruption on success, the method worked, which is its own kind of damage. |
| Familiar With the Dark | Passive | Supernatural oppression, low-level demonic pressure, and haunting presence no longer cost Strain on the first incident per scene. This reflects habituation, not immunity: anything beyond the first incident still costs Strain normally. |
Corruption Threshold 3+ (Tier 2 · 20 XP)
| Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Infernal Ear | Passive | You can hear when a devil is actively making an offer in your vicinity, even if the offer is not directed at you. Once per session, the GM tells you what the nearest active offer is. You don't have to take it. You can't stop hearing it. |
| Corrupted Sight | Passive | You perceive supernatural entities and their true hungers as though you had Tier 1 Occult Sight, without paying its Wound Point cost; your Corruption does the work instead of sanctioned access. What you perceive is filtered through your corruption and may not be accurate. |
Corruption Threshold 5+ (Tier 3 · 30 XP)
| Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Devil's Tongue | Passive | Add 1 Boon die to all Negotiation and Deception checks when the deal or lie you are offering is materially harmful to the other party. |
| Useful to the Wrong Things | Passive | Infernal entities treat your Corruption score as 2 lower than it actually is when assessing offers to make you. You have become predictable enough that they approach you more confidently. |
Corruption Threshold 7+ (Tier 4 · 40 XP)
| Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Standing Offer | Passive | A specific devil or infernal faction has assessed your Corruption, capability, and utility, and extended a standing offer. The GM defines the offer: specific, real, and permanent; it does not expire. |
| Speak the Language | Active | You may address a devil directly, without a mediating rite, infernal contract structure, or third-party intermediary. Once per session, a devil who can perceive you must answer one direct question, truthfully though not completely. Devils answer because you have become fluent enough in what they are that ignoring you would be impolite. Something has changed in you that made this possible. You do not fully know what. |
Corruption Threshold 9+ (Tier 5 · 50 XP)
| Talent | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| The Price Was Worth It | Active | Once per campaign, spend 5 Corruption, permanently reducing your track by 5, to achieve one supernatural effect of your choice equivalent to a Tier 4 magical talent you do not possess. The story cost of what was exchanged is determined between you and the GM and is permanent. |
| Infernal Patron | Active | A devil of significant standing has formally claimed patronage over you. This is not a contract; you did not sign. It is recognition: you have become interesting enough to maintain. Once per campaign arc, invoke this patronage to receive one specific piece of infernal assistance: information, access, a resource, or a favor the patron can arrange. The devil provides it because doing so serves its purposes. Its purposes are not yours. After invoking, the GM introduces one long-term consequence tied to what the patron arranged. You do not choose the consequence. |
Talent Tree Index
Universal: Investigation, Forensics, Combat Proficiency, Iron Will, Commanding Presence, Growth (includes Greater Growth and Apex Growth)
Discipline: Discernment (Discernment 1+; Order of Mercy and Watchfires aligned), Deliverance (Deliverance 1+; Watchfires and Order of Mercy aligned), Soul Work (Discernment 1+ and Theology or Dead Languages 1+), Relic Operations (Relic Lore 1+ or Containment 1+; Latchkey primary), Practical Occultism (Occult Lore 1+)
Order of Mercy: Exorcism (primary: magical), Discernment (aligned Discipline: in-profession; starting talent eligible), Consecration (secondary, magical), Infernal Law (secondary)
Watchfires: Righteous Fire (primary), Deliverance (aligned Discipline: in-profession; starting talent eligible), Discernment (aligned Discipline: in-profession; starting talent eligible), The Long Vigil (secondary), Fieldcraft (secondary)
Directorate Vesper: Tradecraft (primary), Surveillance (primary), Cover Operations (secondary), Asset Handling (secondary)
Lyncean Office: Investigation (primary), Forensics (primary), Field Authority (secondary), Witness Work (secondary)
Latchkey Archive: Containment (primary), Relic Operations (primary, Discipline), Scholar Protocols (secondary), Quarantine Response (secondary)
Black Road: Hunter (primary), Fieldcraft (primary), Monster Weakness (secondary), Road Skills (secondary)
Lantern Index: Scholar (primary), Dead Languages (primary), True Name (secondary), Relic History (secondary)
Candleless: Forbidden Rites (primary), Infernal Law (primary), Dirty Miracles (secondary, requires Corruption 2+), Black Market Arts (secondary)
Magical: Occult Sight, Warding, Binding, Exorcism (Deliverance 1+ required), Spirit Banishment (Discernment 1+ required), Summoning (Forbidden Rites 1+ required), True Name, Consecration, Relic Communion, Mediumship
Corruption: Expedient Evil (2+), Familiar With the Dark (2+), Infernal Ear (3+), Corrupted Sight (3+), Devil's Tongue (5+), Useful to the Wrong Things (5+), Standing Offer (7+), Speak the Language (7+), The Price Was Worth It (9+), Infernal Patron (9+)