Judge

Mortal Judge Knacks give you power over the truth and analysis, and enhance your ability to be just. Judge Knacks are driven by the concepts of judgment and scrutiny.

Someone has to enforce the rules. Cultures all over the World have stories of divine Judges, Gods, Demigods, and Scions who weigh mortal lives. Sometimes, the Judge herself creates the laws she imposes. Others are dispassionate enforcers of cosmic (or pantheon) law, or serve another character of the Leader Calling. Either way, a Judge is Legendary for finding transgressors against her rules and what she does to them, which doesn’t have to be horrific punishment. Some religions praise their Judges for their mercy, or for dutiful neutrality

Knacks

• Eye for an Eye: When you suffer an Injury, spend Momentum and inflict the same Injury on the target that attacked you. The target must have attacked you directly; you cannot reflect attacks that targeted someone else. If the target does not have the ability to take a similar Injury (having your arm bitten by a giant snake, for example), inflict an Injury of similar severity instead, such as a festering, envenomed bite mark. This also applies to Critical Hits inflicted.



• Indisputable Analysis: You spend a moment observing the scene you wish to analyze and the player makes a Knack Skill roll. You then apply the successes on this roll as Enhancement to all rolls made to analyze and investigate the incident for the rest of the scene. These successes apply before you roll.



• Lie Detector: Anyone of a Tier lower than you suffers +2 Complication to lie to you. If you are currently casing and they are somehow involved, they simply cannot lie to you at all. The Storyguide should also notify you when a lie has been told, though it does not automatically reveal the truth, and also reveals nebulous truth, such as “he has been convinced this is true” — which should always be a means for characters to pursue the person who manipulated the target in the first place.



• Objection!: You mark a target, and anyone targeting them with an action gains +1 Enhancement to all rolls. This bonus applies before you roll. Gain access to the following Stunt, which you may apply to any of your attack actions:
  • Terrify (any successes above Defense): After applying this Stunt, the target must make a Clash of Wills roll. On a failure, they must flee the fight or suffer +2 Difficulty to attack rolls until the fight is over.



• On the Case: When you investigate an event or scene, you are casing. While casing, gain +1 Enhancement to rolls to discern motives and search for clues, which applies before you roll. Casing lasts until the end of the session.



• Quick Study: You sweep your eyes over a crime scene and collects clue almost immediately. Halve the time you would need to perform an investigation. Quarter it if you are also casing.



• The Truth Arises: When you engage in conversation (or other such interaction) with an alleged perpetrator of a crime, make a Knack Skill roll. On a success, if the target is guilty, he will leak a piece of information that connects him to his crime. Before expending effort on using this Knack, let the Storyguide know, and she should tell you if the target does not have any valuable information to leak — which in itself can be helpful in an investigation.

Immortal Knacks

• Bound by Oath: When someone swears an oath to you to perform a task of your choosing, you bind it with your choice of swearing ceremony. As long as they work towards the sworn oath, they gain +1 Enhancement to all rolls until the task is complete. This bonus applies before the roll. If the target breaks your oath, the next roll they would make botches automatically.



• I Am the Law: When you reshape laws or challenge the structure of society on a wide Scale (rewriting a country’s constitution, smashing the patriarchy), imbue a point of Legend, rather than spending, to invoke your legendary Title as a Feat of Scale.



• The Pain of Dishonesty: Spend Momentum and anyone who lies directly to you suffers 1 Health damage or a −1 Injury Condition of your choosing. You choose whether or not to inflict the damage, automatically alerting you of the lie (though it does not automatically reveal the truth). You also know the severity of the lie, and therefore can choose not to harm someone who is lying to preserve someone’s feelings as opposed to lying to obstruct a criminal investigation.



• Terror of the Guilty: Anyone guilty of a wrongdoing of your choosing who is of lower Tier than you cannot bear to be in your presence and will flee in panic and terror or break down weeping and confessing. To apply this to anyone of the same Tier or higher, spend Momentum and win a Clash of Wills.

Skills: Academics, Culture, Persuasion

Keywords: Mercy, punishment, weigher, assessor, adjudicator, advocate, test, ordeal, legal, law, commandment, oath, fair, even-handed

Example Gods: Anpu, Wesir, Re, Lakshmi, Varuna, Yamaraja, Ìbejì, Obàtálá, Òrìshà-Oko, Òrúnmìlà, Oshóssí, Confucius, Amaterasu, Tsukiyomo, Dian Cécht, Ériu, Apollo, Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Persephone, KitchiManitou, Cheeby-aub-oozoo, Hel, Tyr, Skaði

Fatebinding Roles: Balm, Worshipper, Traitor

Failure Deeds: Pronounce a deliberate injustice, break the rules you uphold, abandon your beliefs

Adoption Deeds: See to the heart of corruption, swear to a code of behavior, define commandments for others to follow