Moon Court
From Gothpoodle
Contract of Fleeting Night
Under the cover of night, the wicked feel free to cavort, the night predators hunt for blood, and the freakish & ugly make their rounds while the eyes of society are closed in sleep. The Contract of Night manipulates disgust, vice, and wicked things. If the contract is invoked in line with the character's Vice, the roll gets a +2 bonus.
Dark Secrets •
The character gains knowledge of the subject's disgusting and sinful urges.
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 1 Glamour
Dice Pool: Wits + Wyrd – subject’s Composure
Action: Instant
Catch: The subject has confessed something they are ashamed of to the character.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character receives an erroneous impression, believing the subject has a sinful impulse they do not.
Failure: The character senses nothing.
Success: The character acquires knowledge of the subject's Vice.
Exceptional Success: The character has a vision of the last time the subject's Vice was fulfilled.
| +1 | The character has a pledge with the subject. |
| -1 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 8. |
| -2 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 9. |
| -3 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 10. |
Object of Disgust ••
The character makes themselves repugnant in the eyes of all who see them, who are uncomfortable with their presence and tend to ignore her or do whatever they can to remove themselves from her presence.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) • or Court Goodwill (Moon) •••
Cost: 1 Glamour
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + Mantle (Moon)
Action: Instant
Catch: The character makes an obvious display of their Vice (show a breast for Lust, drinking from a bottle in a paper bag for Gluttony, etc).
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character suffers from a skewed version of the desired effect, gaining -2 to all Social rolls until the next sunrise from the disgust of those who interact with her.
Failure: The character fails to invoke the clause.
Success: For the rest of the scene, the character gets +2 to all Stealth, Persuasion, or Intimidation rolls involving getting people to ignore her, leave her alone, or do something quickly so she will leave.
Exceptional Success: The same as above, but the bonus is +4.
| +1 | The character smells strongly of garbage, excrement, urine, or booze. |
Dark Urges •••
The character represses the inhibitions and moral impulses of the subject under the cloak of night, making it easier for them to sin.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) •• or Court Goodwill (Moon) ••••
Cost: 2 Glamour
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion + Mantle (Moon) – subject’s Resolve
Action: Instant
Catch: Both the character and the subject are in a darkness or shadows.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The clause turns on the character, who can't regain Willpower from their Virtue until the next sunrise.
Failure: The character fails to invoke the contract.
Success: The character represses the subject's moral drives, making it so that they can't regain Willpower from their Virtue for one day per success gained. Also, if they are forced to make a degeneration roll during pursuit of their Vice, they regain all Willpower from it rather than just one.
Exceptional Success: The effect lasts a full lunar month.
| -1 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 8. |
| -2 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 9. |
| -3 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 10. |
Forbidden Fruit ••••
The character presents an opportunity to indulge the subject's Vice in the safe embrace of the night.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) ••• or Court Goodwill (Moon) •••••
Cost: 2 Glamour; add 1 Willpower to affect a supernatural subject
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy + Mantle (Moon) – subject’s Resolve
Action: Reflexive
Catch: The character shares the Vice of the subject.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character offends the subject and is at -2 to all Social rolls with them for the rest of the scene.
Failure: The character fails to affect the subject.
Success: This clause must be invoked when the character presents an opportunity for the subject to indulge their Vice. Presenting a feast to a glutton or the chance to steal something valuable to the greedy. The subject accepts the proposition and gives into their Vice on a success.
Exceptional Success: The subject binges, pursuing activity in accordance with their Vice until the next sunrise.
| +1 | The character is actively taking part themselves (helping in the robbery, participating in the sex, eating the grand meal). |
| -1 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 8. |
| -2 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 9. |
| -3 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 10. |
Pariah •••••
The character turns someone into a social pariah - an object of disgust, derision, and scorn.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) 4
Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Socialize + Mantle (Moon) vs. Composure + Wyrd
Action: Extended and Contested (one success for every five people present, each roll represents one minute of extolling the subject's flaws and faults)
Catch: The character reveals a previously unknown sin or shameful act by the subject.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The clause backfires, affecting the character for one scene instead of the subject.
Failure: The character fails to invoke the desired effect.
Success: The subject becomes disgusting to all present, who look down at them and are reticent to listen to anything they have to say as well as believe anything bad said of them. For the duration of the scene, all Social rolls made by the subject are reduced to a chance die and any rolls anyone makes to convince the crowd of something bad about them gain the rote quality.
Exceptional Success: The character rolls many more successes than the subject and makes great headway.
| +1 | The character knows the subject’s Vice. |
| +1 | The subject has confessed to some wrongdoing or sin in the current scene. |
| -1 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 8. |
| -2 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 9. |
| -3 | The subject has Morality or Clarity 10. |
Contract of Eternal Night
At dusk, the darkness of night crawls out of the holes & crevices. Shadows grow longer & more abundant. The night encroaches to swallow up the light, and the beasts of night are roused. The Contract of Dusk manipulates darkness, shadows, & nocturnal creatures.
Owl’s Keen Eyes •
The character gains the eyes of a nocturnal creature, able to see with little light even over long distances. This clause enables the character to use low-light vision, just as a nocturnal animal. The character’s visual range remains the same even in darkened conditions, such as dim light or moonlight. The character does not receive penalties for operating in poor lighting conditions or darkness. This clause lasts for one scene.
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 1 Glamour
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Catch: The character tucks a feather plucked from the head of an owl behind each ear.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
Failure:
Success:
Exceptional Success:
Fear the Dark ••
The character can command the darkness to hinder his enemies, as if they were walking through a nightmare.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) • or Court Goodwill (Moon) •••
Cost: 2 Glamour
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Intimidation + Mantle (Moon)
Action: Instant
Catch: A child screams in terror at the sight of the character.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The darkness turns against the character, applying a -4 Speed penalty for the scene.
Failure: The character fails to command the dark.
Success: For each success rolled, the subject of the clause suffers a -1 penalty to all rolls involving movement (running, jumping, climbing, etc.). The subject’s Speed is also decreased by -1 per success. The subject’s speed can be reduced no lower than 1. Shadows & darkness becomes substantial & viscous around the subject. The character feels as though he is moving underwater in darkness. This clause is only effective under moonlight or in total darkness. If the subject is standing in sunlight or within bright artificial light (street lamp, ceiling light, spotlight, etc.), the clause has no effect. The light must be a strong ambient light to dispel the effects of darkness. A candle is not bright enough, and a flashlight is too narrowly focused to be effective. This clause lasts for one scene.
Exceptional Success: The same as above, increased successes result in increased results.
Nocturnal Swarm •••
The character can summon a living cloud of darkness to descend upon his enemies, obscuring their senses and assaulting them like a plague of nocturnal insects.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) •• or Court Goodwill (Moon) ••••
Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Wits + Animal Ken + Mantle (Moon)
Action: Instant
Catch: The character consumes a live nocturnal insect harvested from the Hedge.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character absorbs the darkness. The character feels a thousand crawling critters underneath his skin for the rest of the scene, imposing a -2 penalty to all action rolls.
Failure: The character fails to invoke the contract.
Success: A cloud of darkness emerges around the character, filling the air like a swarm of insects. The cloud extends in a roughly circular fashion, a 1 yard radius plus an additional number of yards equal to the character’s Wyrd. The cloud blots out the ambient light, applying a -2 concealment penalty to all characters inside the cloud or characters outside directing attacks into the cloud. In addition, subjects also feel a creepy tingling sensation all over their body, as though they were covered in cockroaches or other creepy crawlers. There are no tangible bugs in the cloud, but the sensation is certainly there. Subjects within the cloud must make a successful Composure check reflexively each turn before taking actions. Otherwise, they are too distracted by the bugs to do anything else. This clause lasts a number of turns equal to the number of successes rolled.
Exceptional Success: The intensity of the cloud is strengthened, actually scraping & stinging the subject’s skin. A subject suffers 1 point of bashing damage per turn exposed to the cloud.
| -2 | In a sunlit area |
| -1 | In a well lit area |
Child of the Night ••••
The character becomes an embodiment of the night, transforming into a swarm of small bats. This ability is typically used to inspire fear or as a means of escape.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) ••• or Court Goodwill (Moon) •••••
Cost: 3 Glamour
Dice Pool: Composure + Occult + Mantle (Moon)
Action: Instant
Catch: The character swallows the blood of a bat.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The mishap occurs during the transformation. The character feels a sharp pain in his joints, and suffers two point of bashing damage.
Failure: The transformation does not take place.
Success: The character’s breaks apart, transforming into dozens of rat-size bats. Though in a fragmented form, the swarm of bats is considered a single entity with a shared Health score equal to the character’s Health. The swarm moves together with a collective consciousness and cannot break off in many different directions. The character can still be damaged normally by attacks to the swarm. In this form, the character flies at his Speed +5 and can change formation to move as needed. The character can also see normally in the dark, applying no penalties for operating in dim lighting or darkness. However, because of the limitations of the bats’ size, the character cannot manipulate physical objects or cause any damage.
Exceptional Success: The character can fly at his Speed +10 and applies a +2 defense bonus. This defense bonus does not apply attacks that could conceivably damage many of the bats at once, such as an explosion.
| -1 | Day time |
| +1 | Night time |
Boogeyman’s Sidestep •••••
The character uses the connections of the Wyrd to reach through the darkness, stepping through a shadow in one location then instantly reappearing from a shadow in another location.
Prerequisites: Mantle (Moon) ••••
Cost: 3 or 6 Glamour
Dice Pool: Wits + Stealth + Mantle (Moon)
Action: Instant or Reflexive
Catch: The character holds the eyes of a teddy bear, taken forcibly from a child.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character finds himself transported into a scary & dangerous part of the Hedge. The character cannot use the contract again until a day has passed.
Failure: The character fails to invoke the contract.
Success: The character teleports from one location to another within a number of yards equal to the character’s Wyrd x 10. The shadows used must be large enough for the character to step into or fall through. The character cannot use his shadow. The character does not have to know where exactly he is going: only needing to decide on the approximate distance & direction he intends to go. Since the exact destination is somewhat random (at the Storyteller’s discretion), the character must accept the circumstances of where he appears.
Exceptional Success: The character appears at the most advantageous position in the direction chosen. The character must still appear from a shadow of sufficient size.
