Shapechanging

Possibly the oldest Working after Divination, Shapechanging comes in two forms: the first allows a Sorcerer to separate his consciousness from his body in spirit form, usually that of an animal; the second produces a complete physical transformation. Although most Sorcerers who learn this Working specialize in one approach or the other, the most prudent ones will study both so as to surprise enemies who underestimate their limits.

Inherent Technique: Flying Soul

Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
Duration: Special
Subject: Self

By falling into a deep trance that takes ten minutes to induce, the Sorcerer can separate a part of his soul from his body and send it into The World. The soul either takes the form of a candleflame-sized ball of light or a small, harmless animal of his choosing. As a ball of light, it can float at walking speed and pass through narrow cracks. As an animal, it has whatever form of locomotion a normal animal of that kind would.

If attacked, the soul can only use defensive stunts and is driven back to the caster’s body after taking any Injury Condition, but gains +2 Defense and 3 Enhancement on stealth rolls due to its small size. If it is successfully grappled and pinned, an enemy can keep hold of it or put it in a suitable container to prevent it from returning to the Sorcerer. If, for any reason, the soul does not return to its body before the next sunrise or sunset, the Sorcerer remains unconscious, suffers an Injury Condition immediately, and another one each day until it returns.

SHAPECHANGING TECHNIQUES

Dueling Forms

Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self

The Sorcerer takes on a series of forms that counter harm against herself or an ally in Close range, no matter what the source of the threat. The only actions that she can take under the effect of the spell are to defend, in which case she increases the Defense of herself or whoever she is protecting by twice the number of successes she rolled, or to move. If defending against sources of damage that don’t involve attack rolls, such as a raging fire or a toxic cloud, the Technique adds double the successes as an Enhancement for the defender or as Difficulty for the source (whichever is most appropriate, favoring the defender). Although the Sorcerer can only focus on one threat in a round, she can take a different shape each round to protect against other ones.

Fierce Projection

Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self

While using Flying Soul, the Sorcerer can turn her soul into the semi-substantial form of a larger and more dangerous beast. In animal form, the Sorcerer can attack using the highest of her Close Combat, Athletics, or Survival skills, but otherwise retains all of her normal attributes and dice pools. The spirit nature of the form gives +2 Defense against injury from non-supernatural sources. Any injuries that the Sorcerer sustains during the transformation carry over to her physical body immediately; if she is Taken Out, the spell ends and the projection disappears.

Lord of Animals

Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: None
Duration: Scene

The Sorcerer can, while in animal form through other Shapechanging Techniques, take control over a group of animals of the same kind. The animals then act as Followers with the Heavy archetype and a number of points of appropriate tags equal to the successes on a Sorcery skill roll (maximum 5). If the animals are not already present in the Sorcerer’s vicinity, the Technique will attract them in (10 - Legend) rounds, but will not work if there are none in the area to begin with. When they arrive, the animals are completely under the Sorcerer’s command and will willingly sacrifice their lives if ordered to.

Secret Paths

Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Special
Subject: Self

In her Flying Soul form, the Sorcerer can locate a tiny entrance to an Underworld and travel there in a trance. Once she has entered the Underworld, she can shift back and forth from animal to human shape as she pleases, but will still be driven back to her body if she sustains any injuries. The Technique is often used to find and speak with spirits of the dead, request audiences with the appropriate Underworld Gods, or negotiate with entities who make a particular Underworld their home.

Transformation

Skill Roll: No
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self

The Sorcerer instantly changes his physical body into that of an animal up to the size of a horse. Although the character keeps his normal skills, attributes, and traits, the animal form gains the following advantages:

• an additional Bruised Health Level, plus an Injured Health Level for the largest forms
• whatever natural means of movement the animal possesses, with +1 Speed Scale for animals known for their speed
• any natural attacks that the animal form possesses.

Vampirism

Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
Duration: Special
Subject: Self

While using Flying Soul, a Sorcerer with this Technique can steal the life-force from a sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise helpless victim within close range. Vampirism can only be used once every day on any given target, and inflicts an Injury Condition as well as an additional +1 Difficulty on all physical actions for the next day due to lingering weakness. The Sorcerer, meanwhile, can heal one Injury Condition on himself each day after successfully using Vampirism on another person. Where feasible, the victim can make a Resilience + Integrity roll to wake up upon taking damage.

Mental Transformation

Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue or Spend 1 Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: Self

You are able to turn yourself into someone else not only physically, but mentally. Your memories and personality are suppressed, replaced by a false mind of your own design, and you may temporarily transfer a number of Ability dots equal to your successes between Abilities. You describe this identity briefly, such as “a stubborn banker,” “a loyal dog,” or “a fanatical zealot of the Cult of Dionysus,” though it cannot be a specific person. You may set a condition that will return you to normal before the end of the scene. If your new personality does anything to get you or your Band in trouble, gain 1 Momentum. While you are transformed this way, nothing of your Tier or below can reveal your thoughts or memories to be false, while anything of higher Tier requires a Clash of Wills. Once you return to normal, you remember everything that happened during the transformation, and all Ability dots return to their normal place. When you use this Technique to assume a human or Denizen identity, you may spend Legend instead of imbuing to physically transform into that identity, gaining the Mindmask Condition.

Reflected Desire

Skill Roll: Difficulty of target’s Composure
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: One character
Range: Close

You may take on the forms feared and desired by those around you. Choose a target. You transform into the appearance of the human or animal they either most desire to see right now or most fear seeing right now, your choice. This grants Enhancement to appropriate Influence actions and similar rolls equal to your successes. As a side benefit, any forensic evidence you leave behind is that of whoever you became, rather than yourself.

Charms: Shapechanging charms do not involve transformations of any kind, but rather to communicate better with animals. They can be used to understand their speech, calm or excite them, or persuade them to do minor favors on the Sorcerer’s behalf. Where applicable, they add 1 Enhancement to rolls to influence animal behavior.