Sage Knacks
Mortal Sage Knacks boost your command of academic knowledge, including your ability to learn and teach. Sage Knacks are driven by the concepts of information and observation.
Some Knacks reference the character’s notes and library. Assume characters have access to their libraries unless restrained or imprisoned. They can reconstruct and recollect them within a scene to regain mechanical benefits if their materials suffer destruction, though they may feel the narrative loss more keenly.
Sage Knacks Master
Sage Heroic
• As I Have Foreseen
• As I Have Foreseen
At the beginning of a scene, you may activate this Knack to make a Knack Skill roll. Set this roll aside. You may replace a roll that is made during the scene — either your own, another player’s, or a Storyguide Character’s of equal or lower Tier — with the results of this dice roll.
• Bestiary and Atlas
• Bestiary and Atlas
When you encounter a supernatural creature or magical place for the first time, roll Knack Skill. You may ask a question per success, and may ask questions multiple times as applicable. Questions without answers (i.e., “it’s not dangerous”) do not count against your total. Any successes past 4 may be spent to ask freely chosen questions. The Storyteller must answer these questions honestly.
- What’s its origin?
- What makes it dangerous?
- What power or ability does it possess?
- Who controls it?
• Blockade of Reason
• Blockade of Reason
You readily deflate the arguments of hucksters and con men with a sharp application of reason, or blunt denial (usually calling out the person for what they are trying to do). Targets of lower Tier cannot trick, coerce, swindle, or con you, and any supernatural attempts to do so trigger a Clash of Wills. You add 2 Enhancement to the Clash of Wills roll.
• Flawless Logic
• Flawless Logic
Your wisdom and reasoning are unparalleled. You gain Enhancement equal to half your Sage dots (rounded up) when you verbally explain a subject or use logic to influence someone. You can increase the difficulty for other characters to counter, oppose, or dispute what you’re saying. After the first use of this Knack in a scene, subsequent uses require spending 1 Momentum.
• I’ve Been Everywhere
• I’ve Been Everywhere
When you’re heading to a new location with its own vibe, whether a different town or another neighborhood in a large city, you can ask the Storyteller one of the following questions and get a useful answer.
• How can we best fit in or stand out?
• What’s an opportunity to make a good impression?
• What’s something we should be on the lookout for there?
When you leverage this information, it provides +1 Enhancement to relevant rolls.• Library and Epistle
• Library and Epistle
Once per session when you are unable to answer a question or fail a roll to gain insight into the unknown, you may declare your library possesses a source of knowledge or that you know a scholar who can answer the question upon consultation. If you spend Momentum, they are easily at hand; otherwise, it may take you up to a scene to recover the information from them.
• Master of the World
• Master of the World
While inside a Field, you may define up to three points of Enhancements or Complications (or a combination of each) that are readily apparent to your perceptions (which may be enhanced by other abilities) but not obvious to other observers. They must conform to the Features of the Field, however — it makes sense for a shotgun to be behind the bar, but not a rocket launcher. The hardwood floors of a burning building could be expected to be weak, but the flames can’t be cold. Only three total Enhancements or Complications can be applied to a Field at a time, regardless of how many Scions possess this ability.
• Master Strategist
• Master Strategist
With this Knack activated you are always prepared for a near-infinite array of possibilities. When rolling Initiative, you receive the benefit of 8-again.
• Office Hours
• Office Hours
When someone approaches you with a problem that you can solve, they gain +1 Enhancement to resolve it themselves if you work them through a solution. If you can’t solve it, you gain the same bonus to all rolls to solve it on your own. These bonuses apply before rolls are made. Spend Momentum to impel a Storyguide Character to come to you with a problem in need of solving.
• Omniglot Translation
• Omniglot Translation
When you converse in or read a foreign language, your communication is flawless, without a trace of an accent. You can turn out translations in your native language in a matter of minutes without needing to roll. If you are translating mystical runes or the handwriting of Gods, you still do so swiftly, but must make a Knack Skill roll.
• Palace of Memory
• Palace of Memory
When you recall past events that you have experienced or studied, you are able to recall the details flawlessly, never missing out on any clues or dropping the ball on any details you might remember. This allows the player to bypass the need to roll to remember salient details or facts, and also to declare a narrative advantage she may have remembered without needing to invoke her Path. If you missed a Procedural Clue in a prior scene, you may attempt to rediscover it.
• Presence of Magic
• Presence of Magic
You always know when you are near an object or place of true magical or sacred power. How this manifests is up to you. Ask the Storyguide if an object is magical or sacred, and she must tell you honestly “yes” or “no.” This bypasses the need to make any kind of Occult roll to identify a place or object of magical or sacred power.
• Speed Reading
• Speed Reading
When you read materials for your research, you do so at lightning speed, devouring thick tomes in a matter of minutes and flipping through electronic documents in the blink of an eye. Halve the time you need to do any kind of academicresearch. Once a scene you may establish that you’ve read up on a subject and gain 1 Enhancement to the next applicable roll. This bonus applies before the roll.
• What Manner of Beast
• What Manner of Beast
When exposed to an animal, God, Denizen, or other type of being new to you, you’re driven by a need to understand what it is. You receive one Enhancement to any rolls to determine the nature of the beast. This Enhancement applies before the roll.
• Where Power Rests
• Where Power Rests
You’re adept at finding sources of power in The World, particularly those that have long been undisturbed. When seeking something of mystic might — including anything with a Legend Score — you receive 1 Enhancement before the roll. You then receive an additional Enhancement after the roll for each century the person or object has been undisturbed.
Sage Immortal
•• A Consult
•• A Consult
Even if you don’t know the answer, you know who does. When trying to find information, you gain an innate sense of who can help you, and you may Imbue for Scale to reach them and/or implore their aid.
•• Cipher
•• Cipher
You are never stumped by any codes or encryptions set in place by a character of a lower Tier. When you converse in or read a foreign language, your communication is flawless, without a trace of an accent. You can turn out translations in your native language in a matter of minutes without needing to roll. If you are translating mystical runes or the handwriting of gods, you still do so swiftly, but must make a Knack Skill roll. When you create your own encryption, it also cannot be resolved by anyone of a lower Tier. You add your half your Legend, round up, in Enhancement to rolls to prevent decryption by your peers and those of higher Tiers. This bonus applies before you roll.
•• Don’t You Know Who This Is
•• Don’t You Know Who This Is
You word is trusted, and when you extol someone’s accomplishments, people listen. Once per session, you many Imbue for Scale to enhance a social roll made by an ally. This requires you to briefly glorify them by praising one of their past Deeds. This does not stack with any other supernatural sources of Scale.
•• Eternal Genius
•• Eternal Genius
When you unravel a mystery or tackle a complex, scholarly problem on a massive Scale (untangling the secrets of quantum physics, solving a trickster God’s cipher), imbue a point of Legend, rather than spending, to invoke your Legendary Title as a Feat of Scale.
•• Eternal Lectern
•• Eternal Lectern
The spaces you teach others in cannot help but convey knowledge to the curious. Imbue Legend to consecrate a classroom or other place of learning. Attempts to teach epically complex concepts or across impossibly distant conceptual gulfs there benefit from additional appropriate Scale. This may create a Realm Condition that reduces the cost for Fire, Order, or Stars Divine Rule actions taken through it by 1.
•• False
•• False
Imbue for Scale when stamping out a wide-spread falsehood, a common misconception, or a massive illusion.
•• I Know Your Bane
•• I Know Your Bane
You wield knowledge like a weapon. Once per session, this knowledge can give you a lead (Scion: Origin, p. 73) to begin a complex investigation action to find a creature’s supernatural bane. Whenever they take an injury condition from that source, they also take an additional condition of the same severity. This can apply to a specific opponent or an entire race of denizens. In the case of the latter, the bane should be significantly harder to come by (and require more Milestones to uncover): a rare plant that is poisonous to satyrs, or a unique sword that burns away an oni’s flesh.
•• Immortal Mastermind
•• Immortal Mastermind
When you make a plan of action and direct others to follow, it grants them 1 Enhancement to all actions. Anyone who doesn’t follow your plan gains +1 Difficulty to all actions. Bandmates are not under any obligation to follow your every word, but do gain the benefit if they opt to participate. When dealing with an enemy, you are free to create a plan in order to bait your opposition into suffering the Difficulty — just as planned.
•• Invisible Kingdoms
•• Invisible Kingdoms
Once per session, you may reveal a place of power and mystery within the World, whether a marvel of nature or a place touching a specific Otherworld, working with the Storyguide to define it. A number of characters equal to your Sage rating may regain one Legend by resting there for a scene.
•• Maps Beyond The World
•• Maps Beyond The World
Worlds beyond the World are known to you, and you may ruminate deeply on the secrets therein. Once you’ve stayed in an Otherworldly location for at least a session of play or a day of narrative time, you may make a Knack skill roll to ask questions about its nature or events transpiring there — such as “why do the fire giants hate the Theoi visitors?” or “what has polluted the river of heaven?” — and get true, useful answers for each success. In Divine Rule play, you may spend these successes to learn information about Realm Conditions, including who created them and what their ongoing effects on the realm might be.
•• Overworld Knowledge
•• Overworld Knowledge
Once per scene, make a Knack Skill roll. For each success, ask a question of the Storyguide relevant to the events transpiring — something you would know or have studied — and receive a truthful and applicable answer. For example, “What stratagem is the enemy general using?” or “What are Kane Taoka’s true motives?” If you have remaining unasked questions, spend Momentum to roll over the remaining questions into the following scene.
•• Personal Alexandria
•• Personal Alexandria
When able to consult your collection of books and personal notes, you gain Enhancement 2 for attempts to answer questions, engage in Investigation, or further knowledge of the World. Once per session, access to your collection may count as a Milestone for a Procedural action.
•• Psychic Attack
•• Psychic Attack
You impart your vast stores of knowledge to someone else, overwhelming them. Spend a Momentum to roll your Knack Skill. Success an increased Difficulty equal to successes rolled on your victim’s actions that require mental capacity, such as studying, researching, or even communicating.
•• Scent of Sorcery
•• Scent of Sorcery
When exposed to or made aware of a supernatural effect, spend Momentum to know its origin and purpose. Equal or higher-tier characters may attempt to hide their identities through a Clash of Wills; regain your Momentum if you fail.
•• Transcendent Mastery of Works
•• Transcendent Mastery of Works
Your understanding of all things under the sun and many things above it allows you to guide long term projects with unmatched ability. You may automatically complete one Milestone per Procedural scene, even if you lack any requisite Skills or equipment.
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