he art of Intimation is a subtle one, relating as it does to desires and obsessions. It allows the wraith to discover the wants and desires of another, either Quick or dead, and to squelch, modify, or replace those wants. Eventually, the Solicitor can so completely overwhelm the will of his target that only the implanted desire remains, grown to a monstrous obsession.

Use the Subterfuge Ability for retests with the Intimation Arcanos.

***WARNING: This Arcanoi is illegal in the Shadowlands and knowledge of it can get your character killed. You may learn it, just be aware of the dangers this knowledge brings. Some of the higher uses of this Arcanos (especially Cupitatis) can completely change a character's motivations and desires. Re-writing characters that don't belong to you are a sure way of getting other PLAYERS mad at you.***

Innate Abilities

Twinge:

By gazing at another wraith, a Solicitor may discover what desire is topmost in that wraith's mind at the moment. Often this yields inconclusive results ("Gee, I could really go for a pizza…"), but in situations of tense negotiation or imminent combat, it can occasionally be a useful guide to what the viewed wraith may do.

System: To activate Twinge, the wraith must win a Mental Challenge against her target Twinge is useful only for garnering surface wants. It cannot be used to detect deep-seated longings, nor is it a shortcut to psychoanalysis of the targeted character. On a successful Twinge, the target tells the Solicitor his current want. If the Solicitor loses the Challenge, false information may be given.

Self-Intimation:

Exercise of Self-Intimation enables a Solicitor to resist another's attempt to control her using this Arcanos.

System: A successful contest renders the target immune to whatever effects were intended. Failure has no effect on the wraith's defense, although a tie also counts as a successful resistance. When an attempt to use Intimation is made, any character with Self-Intimation has the option of making a Social Challenge against whoever is attempting to Intimate them.

Basic Abilities

The Gleaming:

Worked on a solid object, the Gleaming makes the item more desirable than it would otherwise be. It can make a pile of rock seem to contain precious gems, or a rust-pitted sword seem to glisten as brightly as Excalibur. This is an unsubtle use of the Arcanos, and as such is the first taught to aspiring Solicitors.

System: A successful Static Mental Challenge and spending one Pathos point infuses the target object with a luster that it does not in truth possess. Any wraith or living being near the ensorcelled object must make a successful Static Mental Challenge or they feel a desire to possess it. If the Gleaming is being used against someone in the Skinlands, the wraith needs to use it on something physically in the Skinlands, not against a relic. (Solicitors usually recommend enhancing such items as grenades with the pins pulled, stolen goods which the Hierarchy is searching for, etc.) If the wraith wants to imbue the object with the Gleaming for more than five minutes, then he can enter an Extended Static Mental Challenge instead of the normal challenge in order to extend the Gleaming's duration. Objects marked with the Gleaming must be identified as such.

Deep Desiring:

By using Deep Desiring, a wraith is able to map the wants and needs of the target wraith in detail and, if so desired, remove a want from the target's mind. A wraith who decides to use Deep Desiring to quash a want or desire from her target can use it to remove the desire for a certain relic CD or even something as complex as the lust for power. This use of Deep Desiring can be either extraordinarily therapeutic or incredibly destructive. If used to quash a desire from the target, its use is unsubtle; it excises the targeted need completely and does not bother to heal the gap in the victim's psyche this act creates.

System: For either use of Deep Desiring, the wraith must spend two points of Pathos and entire into a pair of Challenges against her target - an Extended Mental Challenge in order to read the target, and an Extended Social Challenge to crush his wants. The more successes, the more accurate the reading. With enough successes, even the deepest, most primal wants of the target are revealed. If the wraith wants to use Deep Desiring to squelch a desire, the number of successes reflects how deep-seated a want or desire is removed. If the wraith gets one success in her challenge, she could remove the desire for a ghostly lollipop, but it would take many more in order to eliminate a lifelong desire to kill a wraith's father's murderer. NOTE: The target of Deep Desiring may be called upon to explain what his character actually wants during the course of the art's use.

Intermediate Abilities

The Craving:

The Craving implants a complex desire for anything, ranging from really good Chinese food to seeing the Great Wall in person. All of the victim's actions and wants are warped around this, which becomes the central thread of the target's existence. A successfully done Craving can cause the victim to actually obsess on the created desire to the exclusion of all other wants and needs. Like Deep Desiring's use to quash wants, the Craving is unsubtle. The new desire is plastered onto the target's psychological landscape, with no effort made to smooth the rough edges. As such, the effects of this use of Intimation can be easily detected, and a victim can often be identified quickly.

System: To implant a Craving, the wraith must first elucidate precisely what that want is. The Narrator assesses the amount of successes needed based upon the complexity of the desire to be implanted, and the Solicitor then enters into an Extended Social Challenge against the target. The number of successes indicates how successfully the Craving is implanted. A Craving is not a natural Passion, and the subject cannot gain Pathos by following the Craving's call. This art costs either four Pathos points or two Pathos points and two Willpower Traits. In addition, one Temporary Angst point is gained for every two successful tests.

Advanced Abilities

Cupitatis:

Cupitatis is the culmination of all the other aspects of Intimation. It enables the user to duplicate the effects of the Craving or Deep Desiring's use of removing wants from the target, but to do so subtly, so that the effects of the Arcanos are not obvious. While Deep Desiring's use to quash a desire for power will leave nothing in its place, Cupitatis excises the desire and heals the psychic wound, so that to observers the victim of the Solicitor would appear to merely have found other interests. In the same way, a desire implanted with Cupitatis appears to be a natural outgrowth of other interests or an eminently sensible, if new, enthusiasm. Detecting the effects of Cupitatis is extraordinarily difficult, and is rarely done. It is done for this reason, and because of this power, that the Solicitors are truly feared.

System: Depending upon whether a desire is to be removed or implanted, an Extended Challenge is made according to the guidelines of the Craving or Deep Desiring. The number of successes against the target indicates how seamlessly the modification of the victim's consciousness is made. The use of this art gives the wraith four Pathos and two Willpower Traits to exercise, and gives the wielder three Temporary Angst points.



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