Fleeting Autumn (Contract)

These Contracts provide the changelings who wield them power over aspects of fear.

Witches’ Intuition (•)
The character dredges knowledge of one fear from the subject’s mind or subconscious.
 * Prerequisites: None
 * Cost: 1 Glamour
 * Dice Pool: Wits + Wyrd - subject's Composure
 * Action: Instant
 * Catch: The Contract’s subject does not know the character’s name.

Roll Results
 * Dramatic Failure: The character fails to discern one of the subject’s fears. Worse, the next time the character speaks to the subject, the character will accidentally let the subject know one of theirs.
 * Failure: The character learns no fears.
 * Success: The character acquires knowledge of one of the subject’s fears. See the list of suggested modifiers below for guidelines on what fear the character learns.
 * Exceptional Success: The character learns two fears of the targeted level, if there are two such fears to be had.

Suggested Modifiers

Tale of the Baba Yaga (••)
Through the course of conversation or oratory, the character makes a concept as supernaturally frightening as they can, instilling individuals or entire crowds with an unnatural fear of that thing.
 * Prerequisites: Mantle(Autumn) • or Court Goodwill(Autumn) •••
 * Cost: 1 Glamour
 * Dice Pool: Manipulation + Intimidation Skill + Mantle – subjects’ highest Composure
 * Action: Extended (one success per person to scare; each roll represents five minutes of fright-mongering)
 * Catch: The unnatural fear the character evokes is based upon a myth, urban legend or actual threat with which all subjects of the Contract are familiar.

Roll Results
 * Dramatic Failure: The character does not influence their subjects as desired. Instead, they find her silly, and the character suffers a –1 die penalty to all Social rolls to influence them for the rest of the scene or night (whichever is longer).
 * Failure: The character fails to induce supernatural fear.
 * Success: The subjects develop a temporary fear of the intended topic. Without further stimulus, this only manifests as some jittery conversation, on-edge whispers and a few people getting a thrill from the story. Should they be faced with a believable manifestation of that fear, this Contract evokes a supernaturally strong fear in all affected individuals. They are afflicted with mind-numbing terror, fleeing from the built-up monster for one turn per success. If they cannot flee, they cower (but are not denied Defense).
 * Exceptional Success: The character’s seed bears a rich harvest. Add the character’s Wyrd rating to the number of turns the subjects must flee or cower.

Suggested Modifiers

Heart of the Antlion (•••)
The character uses their Contract with Autumn to steel themself against all manner of fear, natural or supernatural.
 * Prerequisites: Mantle(Autumn) •• or Court Goodwill(Autumn) ••••
 * Cost: 1 Glamour
 * Dice Pool: Resolve + Investigation Skill + Mantle(Autumn)
 * Action: Instant
 * Catch: The character consumes a spider or other vermin that has literally been scared to death.

Roll Results
 * Dramatic Failure: The character becomes more susceptible to fear. Add two dice to any external attempts to scare her until the next sunrise.
 * Failure: The character gains no special fortitude.
 * Success: The character becomes strong against fear. Mundane attempts to frighten, scare or intimidate her automatically fail. Supernatural attempts to frighten her suffer a penalty equal to the number of successes scored on her roll. This lasts the rest of the scene.
 * Exceptional Success: The protection lasts until the next sunrise.

Suggested Modifiers

Scent of the Harvest (••••)
The character reassures friends and allies, protecting them against fear just as she protects herself.
 * Prerequisites: Mantle(Autumn) ••• or Court Goodwill (Autumn) •••••
 * Cost: 2 Glamour
 * Dice Pool: Presence + Expression Skill + Mantle(Autumn) (– subject’s Resolve for any who resist)
 * Action: Extended (one success per subject; each roll represents one minute of support)
 * Catch: Two of the subjects’ greatest fears are each other.

Roll Results
 * Dramatic Failure: The attempt to bolster the character’s allies fails. The character cannot try again until the next sunrise.
 * Failure: The character makes no progress.
 * Success: The character makes progress. If she reaches the required number of successes, she completes the effort. Affected allies are completely immune to mundane efforts to scare them, and supernatural efforts suffer a dice penalty equal to the dice penalty the character took invoking the Contract. This lasts the rest of the scene.
 * Exceptional Success: The protection lasts until the next sunrise.

Suggested Modifiers

Mien of the Baba Yaga (•••••)
The character takes on the aspect of one of her subject’s great fears.
 * Prerequisites: Mantle(Autumn) ••••
 * Cost: 3 Glamour + 1 Willpower
 * Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy Skill + Mantle(Autumn)
 * Action: Instant
 * Catch: One of the subject’s great fears is actually the character.

Roll Results
 * Dramatic Failure: The character temporarily sees the subject as one of the character’s greatest fears. She suffers one point of bashing damage.
 * Failure: The character fails to become her subject’s nightmare.
 * Success: The changeling, to all observers, takes on the aspect of one of the subject’s great fears. The character cannot see what this is without a reflective surface. The subject of the Contract suffers points of bashing damage out of fear equal to the successes rolled, and may only flee or cower in fear for a like number of turns. He is not denied his Defense. This visage may frighten others as well, but holds no special power over them. (Except that it might, if used with Tale of the Baba Yaga, above.)
 * Exceptional Success: The subject of this Contract loses a point of Willpower and loses access to his Defense until the end of the next turn.

Suggested Modifiers

Resources

 * Changeling: The Lost Rulebook (p. 156 - 158)

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