Secrets

All perfect villains hold a secret in reserve for the day they desperately need a surprise. So does every hero. Secrets take characters beyond their normal abilities into areas that are often seemingly supernatural.

Where attributes define the physical and mental properties of the character, and skills represent all of the abilities they have learned over the years, Secrets fill the gap and venture into the darker, more mysterious and wonderful aspects of the character.

What Are Secrets?

Secrets are special abilities a character can learn that augment abilities. These are often preternatural, sometimes magical, and always better than normal. In order to use Secrets, Energy Points are spent, meaning that Secrets can be used a limited number of times before the character’s Energy is restored.

Secrets can be better explained with an example:

Secret of the Hidden Pocket - This character is adept at hiding objects on her person. No matter how carefully searched the character has been, she may pull an inexpensive, small (hand-sized) item off her person with a successful Sleight ability check. There is no need for the player to have written this item on the character sheet previously.

Cost: 1 Mental Energy.

Some Secrets will be open for all characters to take. Other Secrets are “closed”—they are only available to certain races or professions.

Secrets Descriptions

Secret of Animal Speech

Your character can speak to an animal and understand its signals. In order to get the animal to cooperate or not try to eat you, you might need a successful Nature skill check. Even if you fail this check, you’ll understand that it wants to eat you loud and clear.

Use Cost: 2 Mental

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Blessing

With a successful Supernatural ability check, your character may bless the actions of a group. You must state a specific goal for them to accomplish. For each point of Spiritual spent, maximum of 3, you get a number of bonus dice equal to the number of Spiritual spent that any member of this group can use in accomplishing this task. This effect lasts until the Episode is over.

Use Cost: 1-3 Spiritual

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Contacts

Your character knows all sorts of people in all sorts of places. You can use this Secret for your character to automatically have a past relationship with any Extra in the adventure. You may describe the relationship in a short phrase, such as “old enemy,” “wartime buddy,” “ex-lover,” but the Director gets to decide the history and current disposition of the relationship.

Use Cost: 2 Social

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Evaluate

Your character’s battle experience has given her the ability to read an opponent well. Evaluate your character’s opponent not in descriptive terms, but in game mechanics, on a successful Combat ability check. You can ask for any of the following information, one bit per success level: current Physical score, current Mental score, combat skill score, or a single, specific skill score.

Use Cost: 1 Mental.

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Flying Leap

Your character can make amazing leaps. Using this Secret, she can jump much further or higher than normal. For each Physical point you spend, up to three, you can jump twice the normal range. Spending 1 point would be 2x normal range, 2 points would be 3x, and 3 points would be 4x.

Use Cost: 1-3 Physical

Purchase Cost: 2 Advances

Secret of Focus Creation

Your character can create Focus items. The character must have the Secret that is being enhanced. For every 5 Spiritual points spent, the focus doubles the effect of the specified Secret. Once an item is turned into a Focus, it cannot be changed to another Secret.

Use Cost: 5+ Spiritual

Purchase Cost: 2 Advances

Secret of Herbal Health

Your character can always find an herb that is an effective healing agent with a successful Nature skill check (Difficulty 1111) in the outdoors. The herb lets you use your Nature skill to heal 1 person, fully restoring 1 Attribute. Herbs can be saved for later use.

Use Cost: 1 Mental

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of the Hidden Pocket

Your character is adept at hiding objects on her person. No matter how carefully searched the character has been, she may pull an inexpensive, small (hand-sized) item off her person with a successful Skullduggery skill check.

Use Cost: 1 Mental.

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Inner Meaning

Your character’s art carries a meaning beyond the surface. Use any Mental- or Spiritual-based skill at a distance via a piece of your character’s art.

Use Cost: 2 Spiritual

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Item Creation

Your character may create Items, either Internally Powered, or Attuned (see Equipment, below). Item creation has a base cost of 3 Spiritual. To create an Internally Powered Item, you must spend +1 Spiritual for every 10 charges (or equivalent).

To create an attuned Item, you must spend an additional +2 Spiritual. These costs can be stacked, allowing you to create an attuned item with multiple charges.

Use Cost: 4+ Spiritual

Purchase Cost: 2 Advances

Secret of Knock-back

Your character’s blows send people flying. Knock back a stricken character out of normal human reach. This immediately ends the physical conflict with no resolution as to intentions.

Use Cost: 2 Physical

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Mighty Blow

Your character can strike with extreme might. Spend as many points of Physical as you like to increase the harm of a successful blow in combat by +2 per point spent.

Use Cost: Any amount of Physical

Purchase Cost: 2 Advances

Secret of Quality Construction

You must specify one specific type of object (weapons, electronics, etc) when you take this Secret. Your character can craft items of excellent quality. Any item your character creates using this Secret gives one bonus die to a particular ability when using the item, permanently.

Use Cost: 5 Mental

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of the Signature Weapon

Your character has one weapon with which she is bonded. You gain a bonus die to any action taken with that weapon and any other character attempting to use the weapon receives a penalty die. (Note: to change this weapon, this Secret must be taken again.)

Use Cost: None

Purchase Cost: 2 Advances

Secret of Specialty (Skill)

You must select a skill when you take this Secret. Choose a specialty your character has within that skill—for example, Tracking for the Nature skill. You always have a +3 bonus when your character attempts an action that falls within that specialty.

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of the Sudden Knife

Your character is a master of the assassin’s art. In a surprise attack, the victim automatically takes 3 Physical damage if your character successfully hits. This damage is in addition to any normal damage.

Use Cost: 2 Physical, plus 1 Mental, and 1 Social.

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of Throwing

Anything is a dangerous missile in your character’s hands. She can throw anything fist-sized to greatsword-sized as an attack, and the object counts as a master quality weapon (providing a +2 bonus).

Use Cost: 1 Physical

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance

Secret of the Unwalked Path

Your character’s footfalls leave little trace for others to follow. You can use your character’s Nature skill in resistance to anyone trying to track her.

Use Cost: 1 Mental

Purchase Cost: 1 Advance