Channels the Ancients

Description

You are descended, or at least believe you are, from the ancient beings of the past whose powers were vast and magnificent, creating the world and it’s many wonders. Perhaps you are descended from beings from beyond the stars or even past the edges of reality itself. Whatever your lineage, the blood of ancient powers flows in your veins and after much studying and experimentation, you have learned how to unlock the power of your blood through ritual blood-letting and artifacts.

Typically, a channeler of the ancients is covered in scars, usually upon their forearms which they often keep uncovered to facilitate easy blood-letting. They carry themselves with a confidence and pride that only those who know they have the blood of gods and kings can muster, and many are in fact the offspring of noble families who all trace their lineage to ancient powers for prestige and respect.

Anyone can be a channeler, though often jacks find the range of abilities fits well into their mix of esoteries and fighting moves.

Details

Connection:

Pick another PC. You have shared blood with them, either by accident, through battle or through ritual bonding. Whenever you use your channeling abilities, they can sense your actions, location and/or intended targets.

Additional Equipment:

A razor sharp, sacrificial knife and 12 bandages.

Esotery Effects:

Blood Magic
All your esoteries take on a bloody-red quality, thick and viscous and bubbling with energy. Those effected by your esoteries find themselves stained with traces of blood not of their own.

Minor Effect Suggestions:

Your intimidating presence due to your confidence and scars makes your task one step easier

Major Effect Suggestions:

You cut deeply, and you tap into a hidden reserve of ancient power which heals your wounds, restoring 2 Might

Tier 1:

Blood Enrichment (1+ Might)
Slashing open your veins, you channel the ancient powers that be into achieving your goals. When you need to spend a point from any pool, you can choose to instead spend from your might pool at an additional cost of 1 Might. Enabler.

Tier 2:

Blood of the Ancients
Tapping into the ancient power that flows in your veins, you can activate numenera by smearing them with your blood and concentrating, regardless of their normal mode of operation. Enabler.

Burning Blood (2 Might)
Your divine blood is not for mortal bodies. When you cut yourself and press your blood against an opponent, it’s burns them, inflicting 4 damage. Action.

Tier 3:

Blood of Kings (3 Might)
Through a sacrifice of blood and complex ritual, you can channel the authority of ancients past and command a numenera to answer a question or perform a simple action. The target must obey if able, but intelligent targets will often resent being dominated in such a way. Action.

Tier 4:

Scab (4 Might)
Through the covering of yourself with your own blood, you can invoke the ancient spirits in the air to craft it into an armour of tough, chitinous scabs that grant +2 armour in addition to any you are already wearing, that lasts for 10 minutes. Action.

Blood Music
As you attune more to the call of the ancients in your blood, you learn secret knowledge sung silently into your mind. You become trained in identifying and using Numenera, or specialised if already trained. If already specialised, you find yourself aware of the location of a powerful artifact from the past you could seek out and acquire. Enabler.

Tier 5:

Blood Blessing (6 Might)
In an act of profound generosity, you grant a blessing of blood upon an ally, feeding them your life essence and healing them of even the gravest wounds as the ancient powers within your blood restore their ailing flesh. You restore their Might pool to it’s maximum value. A recipient can only benefit from this ability once per day. Action.

Tier 6:

Blood Wraith (8 Might)
You unleash a tide of red upon the earth, splitting your veins wide and summoning the ancient spirits to inhabit your blood, turning it into a walking being of blood and fury. At a cost of 1 Might per round (not subject the edge reduction) you can command and control the blood wraith to attack your enemies or perform tasks of great strength. The wraith hits with huge, bladed fists dealing 6 damage and acts as a level 5 creature with 15 health. When you stop paying the cost or the wraiths health is dropped to zero, the wraith dissipates into a red mist. Action.