Book III: The Current — Chapter 7

The Disciplines

Psionic Paths, Mundane Talents, and the Appendix

“You think we’re all the same? That’s like saying a scalpel is the same as a stick of dynamite. Sure, both can open a man up, but one leaves a scar, and the other leaves a crater.”
— Caleb, Dust-Born Psy-Slinger

The Current is a single, chaotic source, but the human mind cannot grasp it in its entirety. To channel it without burning out instantly, a Psionic must filter the energy through a specific framework—a philosophy, a metaphor, a way of understanding power. These frameworks are called Disciplines.

This chapter details the five Psionic Disciplines and their associated Talents, as well as Mundane Talents—special abilities available to characters who survive through skill and grit rather than supernatural power.

Section I: Understanding Talents

What Are Talents?

Talents are special abilities that set characters apart from ordinary folk. They represent either supernatural power channeled through the Current (Psionic Talents) or exceptional training and natural aptitude honed to extraordinary levels (Mundane Talents).

Psionic vs. Mundane Talents

Aspect	Psionic Talents	Mundane Talents
Source	The Current	Training and instinct
Cost	Strain, Erosion, or Memory	Mettle, or limited uses
Roll	ECHO + Channel vs. TN	Varies by talent
Risk	Backlash, Veil Bleed	None (supernatural)
Social	Feared, hunted by Redeemers	Respected

Psionic Talents and the Modifier System

Psionic Talents can provide Pool Bonuses—something normally rare in The Veil & Lead. This is intentional. Supernatural power can enhance your capabilities beyond what preparation and equipment allow.

This creates a meaningful distinction:

Mundane advantages (Aim, equipment, positioning) provide Roll Bonuses and TN modifiers.
Supernatural advantages (Talents, artifacts) can provide Pool Bonuses. A Psionic with psychic enhancement AND good equipment can achieve dice pools and bonuses that mundane characters cannot match—but they pay for it in Strain, Erosion, and their very identity.

Section II: Learning New Talents

Requirements

To purchase a new Talent using XP, you must meet:

ECHO Requirement (Psionic only): Your ECHO must be ≥ the Talent’s Rank
Prerequisite: You must know at least one Talent of the previous Rank in that Discipline (Rank 1 Talents have no prerequisite)
Source (Rank 3+): Access to a Mentor or Grimoire

XP Costs

Talent Type	XP Cost
Mundane Talent	4 XP
Psionic Talent (Rank 1–2)	4 XP
Psionic Talent (Rank 3–4)	6 XP
Psionic Talent (Rank 5)	8 XP

Finding Sources

Mentors are living practitioners who can teach you. They often demand payment: Service (a mission, a favor), Secrets (information they want), Sacrifice (something precious to you), or Scrip (rarely—knowledge this dangerous isn’t usually for sale).

Grimoires are texts containing psionic knowledge. They are found in ruins, hoarded by the Circle of Ash, or taken from the dead. First reading requires SAVVY + Lore (TN 13). Failure inflicts 1 Erosion. Each Grimoire contains 1–3 Talents from a single Discipline.

Section III: Talent Format

Each Talent uses the following format: Talent Name with evocative description, then Tempo (action speed), Effect (what the Talent does), Steps (how Margin improves the effect), Special (additional rules), Requirement (prerequisites), and Resist (how targets oppose the effect).

Standard Costs and TN by Rank

Rank	Name	Cost	TN	Tempo
1	Cantrip	1 Strain	9	4
2	Tactic	2 Strain	11	5
3	Power	1 Erosion	13	6
4	Devastation	2 Erosion	15	7
5	Miracle	1 Memory	16	9

Individual Talents may vary from these defaults.

Section IV: Calling Talents

Each Calling grants access to a unique set of Talents that define its identity. Psionic Callings channel the Current through a specific Discipline, while Mundane Callings hone mortal skill to extraordinary heights.

Psionic Disciplines

Each Psionic Discipline represents a unique way of filtering and shaping the Current. A Psionic character’s Calling determines which Discipline they can learn Talents from.

The Psy-Slinger

The Way of Lead

“I don’t aim with my eye. I aim with my regret.”

To a Psy-Slinger, a gun is not a weapon—it is a wand made of iron and ash. They channel the Current directly into the chamber of their firearm, loading bullets with memory and will. Their shots bend around corners, punch through walls, and strike true when physics says they shouldn’t.

Detail	Value
Role	Striker / Damage Dealer
Focus	A Firearm (revolver, rifle, shotgun)
Key Attribute	QUICK
Signature	Barrel glows with soul-color; shots sound like screams

Rank 1 Talents (Cantrips) — 1 Strain | TN 9

Ghost Bullet

Your bullet phases through the material world.

Tempo: Weapon Base
Effect: Your next shot becomes Ethereal. It passes through non-magical barriers up to 1 ft (30cm) thick to strike a target on the other side. You must suspect a target is there, but do not need Line of Sight. Deals full damage to Ethereal entities (Spirits, Wraiths) which normally resist physical damage.
Steps: +1 ft barrier penetration per Step

Tracer Round

The bullet leaves a glowing trail that marks your prey.

Tempo: Weapon Base
Effect: Your next shot illuminates the target with spectral light. All attacks against them gain −1 TN (easier to hit) until end of scene. Multiple Tracers don’t stack.
Steps: −1 additional TN per Step (maximum −3 total)

Steady Hand

You quiet the tremors in your soul and steel your aim.

Tempo: 2
Effect: Remove the Suppressed condition from yourself. Gain +1 Roll Bonus to your next Ballistics check this scene.
Steps: +1 Roll Bonus per Step (maximum +3)
Special: Can be used as a Reaction (Tempo 0) by spending 1 Mettle in addition to the Strain cost.

Witch-Fire

You ignite the round with cold, consuming psychic flame.

Tempo: Weapon Base
Effect: Your next shot deals normal weapon damage, and the target takes 1 Strain.
Steps: Target takes 1 Strain after 5 Ticks per Step (maximum 3 Strain total)

Rank 2 Talents (Tactics) — 2 Strain | TN 11

Ricochet

You see the angles that physics forgot.

Tempo: Weapon Base + 1
Effect: Your shot bounces off a hard surface to hit a target in Hard Cover or around a corner. The attack ignores Cover penalties to TN.
Steps: Shot may bounce one additional time per Step, allowing second target (separate Ballistics roll) or complex geometry.
Requirement: Must have a hard surface to bounce from (stone, metal).

Thunder-Clap

You compress a bubble of telekinetic force around a bullet.

Tempo: Weapon Base
Effect: Whether the attack hits or misses, the impact creates a sonic boom. Target and all enemies within Close Range must make GRIT Check (TN 11). Failure: Suppressed.
Steps: Targets who fail are also Deafened (−2 Awareness) for 5 Ticks per Step.

Quick-Draw Hex

Your gun clears leather before conscious thought.

Tempo: 3 (total, includes draw)
Effect: Draw weapon and fire in a single fluid motion. Combines Draw (normally Tempo 2) and Attack into one action.
Steps: +1 damage per Step
Special: If used as your first action in combat, add +2 to Initiative score per Step.

Rank 3 Talents (Powers) — 1 Erosion | TN 13

Seeking Round

The bullet finds its mark because you hate them enough.

Tempo: Weapon Base + 2
Effect: Your shot actively hunts the target. Do not roll Ballistics. The attack automatically hits, provided the target is within range. Deals fixed damage equal to the Weapon’s WR.
Steps: +1 damage per Step
Requirement: You must have seen the target within the last minute.

Veil-Sight

You see through the skin of reality.

Tempo: 4
Effect: For the next minute, see through solid objects (up to 1 meter thick), through magical darkness, and through illusions. Hidden and invisible beings become visible.
Steps: +1 minute duration per Step; +1 meter wall penetration per Step

Impact Driver

Your bullet carries the weight of a cannon.

Tempo: Weapon Base + 1
Effect: Next shot gains +2 WR and the Knockdown quality. If target is Knocked Prone, also pushed back 3 meters.
Steps: +1 WR per Step; +2 meters push per Step
Special: Destroys Light Cover entirely on hit.

Rank 4 Talents (Devastations) — 2 Erosion | TN 15

Fan the Spirit

Six souls. Six bullets. One heartbeat.

Tempo: Weapon Base + 2
Effect: Fire up to 6 shots at up to 6 different targets within Near range. Make one Channeling roll; use the result as the attack roll against all targets.
Steps: +1 damage to all hits per Step
Ammo: Consumes 6 rounds instantly. If you have fewer than 6, fire what you have.

The Golden Gun

Your gun exists between worlds.

Tempo: Weapon Base + 1
Effect: Next shot ignores physical Defenses: AR, Cover, and Shields. If the attack deals damage to a target with Armor or Shield, that item is Sundered (permanently loses 2 AR or is destroyed).
Steps: +2 damage per Step

Rank 5 Talent (Miracle) — 1 Memory | TN 16

The Dead-Eye Waltz

Time stops. The world turns gray. Only you and death are dancing.

Tempo: 0 (Interrupt) — may activate at any moment, interrupting any other action
Effect: Time freezes. You may take 3 full Actions immediately. No other character can move, react, or defend. All targets’ Defense drops to base 6. All your shots deal maximum damage (Margin 9+). You may move freely between shots.
Aftermath: Fall Prone and take 1d8 Strain. If Strain exceeds your Cap, excess becomes Erosion.

Psy-Slinger Synergies

The Executioner: Ghost Bullet → Tracer Round → Fan the Spirit — Phase through cover, curve around obstacles, hit everyone.

The Duelist: Quick-Draw Hex → Steady Hand → Thunder-Clap — First to draw, impossible to suppress, devastating impact.

The Phantom: Veil-Sight → The Golden Gun → Dead-Eye Waltz — See everything, shoot through everything, end everything.

Advancement Suggestions

Early Game (Ranks 1–2): Ghost Bullet provides versatility against spirits. Quick-Draw Hex improves action economy. Ricochet offers tactical flexibility against entrenched enemies.

Mid Game (Rank 3): Seeking Round is the workhorse—reliable damage that cannot be dodged. Veil-Sight provides invaluable utility outside combat. Thunder-Clap offers crowd control.

Late Game (Ranks 4–5): Fan the Spirit devastates groups. The Golden Gun offers a devastating blow. Dead-Eye Waltz is your ultimate option—save it for when everything has gone wrong.

The Mindweaver

The Whispering Gallery

“The strongest armor is useless if the man inside it wants to die.”

Mindweavers are the most reviled of the Disciplines. They deal in illusions, compulsions, and the violation of the mind’s sovereignty. No wall can stop them, no armor can protect from them, and worst of all—you might never know they touched you at all.

Detail	Value
Role	Controller / Social Infiltrator
Focus	Crystal prism, mirror, or metronome
Key Attribute	SWAY
Signature	Temperature drops, shadows stretch toward victim, no visible effect

Rank 1 Talents (Cantrips) — 1 Strain | TN 9

The Nudge

A whisper in the back of their mind that feels like their own thought.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Plant a simple, non-suicidal urge in the target’s mind. Examples: “Look left,” “Drop the coin,” “Trust this stranger.”
Resist: Target rolls ECHO + Focus vs. your result. If they win, they hesitate but don’t obey.
Steps: Target suffers −1 die (Pool Penalty) to resist per Step
Limit: Cannot compel self-harm or obviously suicidal actions.

Surface Read

Their thoughts float up like oil on water.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Sense the target’s current emotional state and surface thoughts (what they’re actively thinking about right now).
Steps: +1 specific detail per Step (a name, a fear, an intention)
Special: Target is unaware unless they have ECHO 3+, in which case they feel “watched.”

Whisper

Your voice arrives without traveling.

Tempo: 2
Effect: Send a short telepathic message (up to 10 words) to any target you can see. They hear it in your voice, inside their head.
Steps: +10 words per Step; +1 additional target per Step
Range: Line of sight, or anyone whose name and face you know (within 1 mile).

Rank 2 Talents (Tactics) — 2 Strain | TN 11

Veil of Silence

You wrap yourself in the world’s inattention.

Tempo: 5
Effect: You or one touched ally becomes invisible to casual observation. Gain +4 dice (Pool Bonus) to Stealth checks. Observers forget your face within moments.
Duration: Until the target attacks, makes loud noise, or channels a Rank 2+ power.
Steps: +1 die to Stealth per Step; +1 additional target per 2 Steps

Fearmonger

You find the thing they dread and make it real.

Tempo: 4
Effect: Target perceives their worst fear. Must make ECHO + Resilience vs. your roll or become Frightened (flee 1 round, then Suppressed for scene).
Steps: +1 round of fleeing per Step
Special: Targets immune to Fear are immune to this talent.

Empathic Echo

Their pain becomes your weapon.

Tempo: 4
Effect: When you see a creature take damage, reflect that pain to another target within Near range. Second target takes Strain damage equal to half the original damage (round down).
Steps: +1 Strain damage per Step
Special: Can target the original attacker, making them feel the wound they inflicted.

Rank 3 Talents (Powers) — 1 Erosion | TN 13

Phantom Pain

You convince their brain that they are dying.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Target believes they are burning, drowning, or being eaten alive. Deals Strain damage equal to your Margin. Target is Stunned.
Resist: ECHO + Focus negates the Stun only; Strain damage still applies.
Steps: +1 Strain damage per Step
Note: Armor provides no protection. This is a mental attack.

Implant Sensation

Reality is what I tell you it is.

Tempo: 6
Effect: Create a false sensory experience for one target: sound, smell, taste, or tactile sensation. Indistinguishable from reality without Insight check (TN = your Channeling roll result).
Duration: 1 minute
Steps: +1 minute per Step; +1 sense per Step

Mind Link

Two thoughts, one circuit.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Establish a telepathic link with a willing target for the rest of the scene. Freely communicate mentally, share sensory input, sense emotional state and general location.
Steps: +1 willing target per Step
Special: If linked target is attacked, spend 1 Mettle to grant them +2 Defense (shared awareness).

Rank 4 Talents (Devastations) — 2 Erosion | TN 15

Puppet Strings

Their body obeys me now.

Tempo: 7
Effect: Seize control of an enemy’s motor functions for 10 Ticks. Dictate their movement and actions: attack allies, drop weapon, walk into danger.
Suicide Limit: Forcing direct self-harm breaks control immediately; target takes 1d6 Strain instead.
Steps: +5 Ticks duration per Step
Resist: End of each turn, ECHO + Focus vs. your original roll to break free.

Mass Hysteria

One fear becomes everyone’s fear.

Tempo: 8
Effect: All enemies within Near range must make ECHO + Resilience vs. your roll or become Frightened. Flee 1 round, then Suppressed for scene.
Steps: +1 round of fleeing per Step
Special: On Critical, targets also drop held items as they flee.

Rank 5 Talent (Miracle) — 1 Memory | TN 16

Memory Hole

I reach into your mind and take what I want.

Tempo: 9
Effect: Permanently delete a specific memory, skill, or knowledge from the target’s mind.
Combat: Delete weapon training (skill drops to 0 for scene), ally recognition (sees ally as threat), self-preservation (loses Take Cover).
Narrative: Erase a witness’s memory, make a Sheriff forget a bounty, remove knowledge of a secret passphrase.
The Scar: Target feels a permanent, aching void. They know something is missing but can never remember what.
Resist: ECHO + Focus. If they beat your roll, talent fails—but they still know you tried.

Mindweaver Synergies

The Infiltrator: Whisper → Veil of Silence → Implant Sensation — Coordinate silently, move unseen, create distractions.

The Puppetmaster: The Nudge → Fearmonger → Puppet Strings — Suggest, terrify, control.

The Eraser: Surface Read → Mind Link → Memory Hole — Learn their secrets, then make them forget you ever existed.

Social Stigma

Being a known Mindweaver carries severe consequences: Consortium requires registration with Psi-Division or face arrest. Redeemers kill on sight. Dust Vultures respect but fear them; may press into service. Most Towns respond with suspicion, exile, or lynch mobs if exposed.

The Seer

The Silver Thread

“I don’t guess the cards. I read the ink before it was printed.”

Seers navigate the causal web of the Frontier. They see past, future, and distant present. Their power is subtle but invaluable—they know what’s coming before it arrives, and sometimes they can change it.

Detail	Value
Role	Support / Scout / Utility
Focus	Tarot cards, bone dice, tea leaves, or blindfold
Key Attribute	SAVVY
Signature	Eyes roll back to whites; voice becomes layered chord; clocks stop or run backward

Rank 1 Talents (Cantrips) — 1 Strain | TN 9

Glimpse

You see the blow a split-second before it lands.

Tempo: 0 (Reaction) — after you roll but before GM declares result
Effect: Reroll any number of dice in your pool. You must keep the second result.
Special: Can be used once per scene without paying Strain cost (the first glimpse is free).

Omen Reading

The signs are everywhere, if you know how to look.

Tempo: 1 minute (ritual)
Effect: Ask the GM one yes/no question about the immediate future (next hour). The GM answers truthfully, though the answer may be cryptic.
Steps: +1 follow-up question per Step

Danger Sense

Your spine knows before your eyes do.

Tempo: Passive (always active)
Effect: You cannot be Surprised. Always act in the first round of combat, even if you fail Initiative (start at Tick 6).
Special: When you would trigger a trap, SAVVY + Awareness check (TN 11) to freeze just before triggering it.

Rank 2 Talents (Tactics) — 2 Strain | TN 11

The Fatal Reading

You speak their death, and they believe you.

Tempo: 4
Effect: Target suffers −2 dice (Pool Penalty) to all Actions and Defense for the rest of the scene.
Resist: Fear effect; targets immune to Fear are immune.
Steps: −1 additional die per Step (maximum −4 total)

Probability Spike

You nudge fate in your favor.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Choose an ally within Near range (can be yourself). Their next roll gains +2 dice (Pool Bonus).
Steps: +1 die per Step; +1 additional ally per 2 Steps

Shared Foresight

I’ll show you what I’ve seen.

Tempo: 4
Effect: Touch an ally. For the rest of the scene, they gain the benefits of your Danger Sense (cannot be Surprised, freeze before traps).
Steps: +1 additional ally per Step (must touch each)
Special: If you don’t have Danger Sense, grant a lesser version: +2 Roll Bonus to Initiative checks.

Rank 3 Talents (Powers) — 1 Erosion | TN 13

Object Reading (Psychometry)

Everything remembers. I just ask.

Tempo: 1 minute
Effect: Touch an object and see a vision of the last intense emotion or violence associated with it. Clarity by Margin: 0–2 vague impressions, 3–5 clear images, 6–8 full scenes with audio, 9+ complete understanding.
Steps: Extend further back in time (+1 significant event per Step)

Precognitive Dodge

I’ve already seen this fight. You lose.

Tempo: 0 (Reaction) — when hit by an attack
Effect: Retroactively declare you Dove to cover before the attack. Cover must be within half your Speed. Reduce damage by ECHO rating and gain cover bonus.
Limit: Once per scene.

Thread Sight

I trace the silver threads of causality.

Tempo: 5
Effect: For 1 minute, see the “threads” connecting people, objects, and places: emotional connections, objects of significance, direction of important locations, and lies (targets suffer −4 dice to Deceit against you).
Steps: +1 minute duration per Step

Rank 4 Talents (Devastations) — 2 Erosion | TN 15

Thread-Walker

I step between seconds.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Vanish and reappear instantly at any visible location within Far range. Does not trigger Overwatch or free attacks. Can appear in Flanking position (−2 TN for allies). Ignores all terrain obstacles.
Steps: +1 additional “hop” per 2 Steps
Special: Bring one willing, touched creature with you at +1 Tempo.

Prophecy of Doom

I have seen your end. Let me show you.

Tempo: 6
Effect: Target sees a vision of their own violent death. ECHO + Resilience vs. your roll: Failure = Paralyzed for 5 Ticks, then Suppressed for scene. Success = Suppressed only.
Steps: +3 Ticks of Paralysis per Step
Special: If target actually dies in the manner you described within the scene, GM awards +1 XP.

Rank 5 Talent (Miracle) — 1 Memory | TN 16

The Rewind

No. That’s not how this ends.

Tempo: 0 (Reaction) — any moment, any trigger
Effect: Grab the thread of time and pull. Scene resets to the start of the previous Tick Cycle (~10 seconds ago). All damage undone, ammo returned, positions reset, the dead stand back up, words unspoken.
What Remains: Only you remember. Your Memory is still burned. You take 1d6 Strain immediately. Any Erosion gained remains.
Special: Touch an ally during the Rewind to share the memory. They also remember, and take 1d3 Strain.

Seer Synergies

The Oracle: Omen Reading → Object Reading → Thread Sight — Know the future, know the past, see the connections.

The Untouchable: Danger Sense → Glimpse → Precognitive Dodge — Never surprised, always rerolling, never hit.

The Doomcaller: The Fatal Reading → Prophecy of Doom → The Rewind — Curse them, show them death, and if it goes wrong, try again.

The Burden of Foresight

Seers often struggle with: Cassandra Syndrome (knowing disasters but unable to convince others), Temporal Dysphoria (difficulty distinguishing “now” from “then” or “will be”), Information Addiction (the compulsion to know more, always more), and Survivor’s Guilt (why did you see it coming if you couldn’t stop it?). Many self-medicate with laudanum or alcohol to “quiet the noise.”

The Flesh Shaper

The Red Weave

“Pain is just information. Anatomy is just a suggestion.”

Flesh Shapers manipulate living tissue—knitting wounds, accelerating healing, and reshaping flesh into new configurations. Their power is visceral, intimate, and deeply unsettling to witness. The sounds alone—wet tearing, grinding bone, the pop of resetting joints—are enough to turn strong stomachs.

Detail	Value
Role	Healer / Off-Tank / Body Horror
Focus	Surgical tools, mercury vial, gloves of human skin
Key Attribute	GRIT
Signature	Wet sounds, grinding bones, smell of copper and ozone

Rank 1 Talents (Cantrips) — 1 Strain | TN 9

Knit Flesh

Your touch stitches torn tissue with threads of will.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Touch a living creature. They heal 1d3 HP.
The Caster’s Tax: You take 1 Strain for every HP healed. You are bearing their burden.
Steps: +1 HP healed per Step
Special: Can stabilize a Downed creature automatically (no Medicine check needed).

Pain Suppression

I teach your nerves to lie.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Touch a creature. They ignore Wound penalties (−1 die Pool Penalty for below half HP) for the rest of the scene.
Steps: +1 additional target per Step (must touch each)
Special: Does not heal damage—only masks the pain. If target reaches 0 HP, they collapse immediately with no warning.

Diagnose

Your body tells me everything.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Touch a creature. Learn: current HP and Grievous Wounds, diseases/poisons/parasites, Psionic effects, and general health.
Steps: +1 piece of hidden information per Step (secret injuries, pregnancies, old wounds)

Rank 2 Talents (Tactics) — 2 Strain | TN 11

Adrenal Spike

I flood your system with the chemistry of survival.

Tempo: 4
Effect: Target gains +2 IRON and +2 QUICK (Attribute bonuses). Immune to Fear and ignores Wound penalties.
The Crash: When scene ends, target takes 1d3 Strain and is Exhausted (−2 dice Pool Penalty to all physical actions until rest).
Steps: +1 to either IRON or QUICK per Step (choose each time)

Purge

What doesn’t belong, I remove.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Touch a creature. Remove one: Poison, Disease, Bleed condition, or one Rank 1–2 Psionic effect.
Steps: +1 additional effect removed per Step

Iron Skin

I convince your cells to remember what armor feels like.

Tempo: 4
Effect: Touch a creature. They gain +1 AR for the rest of the scene. Stacks with worn armor.
Steps: +1 AR per 2 Steps (maximum +3 AR total)
Special: Target’s skin visibly thickens and darkens. Obviously unnatural.

Rank 3 Talents (Powers) — 1 Erosion | TN 13

Boil Blood

I excite the fluids in your veins until they cook you from within.

Tempo: 6 • Range: Near
Effect: Target makes GRIT + Resilience vs. your roll. Failure: 4 damage (ignores armor), Blinded. Success: 2 damage.
Steps: +1 damage per Step
Note: Creatures without blood (constructs, some Veil-born) are immune.

Fleshcraft

I reshape living tissue like clay.

Tempo: 1 minute
Effect: Reshape flesh (yours or willing target’s): alter facial features (+4 dice Pool Bonus to Disguise), seal a Grievous Wound, create/remove scars, adjust physical features (height ±6 inches, weight ±30 lbs).
Duration: Permanent until reshaped again.
Steps: More dramatic alterations per Step (voice change, apparent age, sex characteristics).
Limit: Cannot create functional new organs or extra limbs (that’s Chimera Form).

Paralytic Touch

Your muscles forget how to move.

Tempo: 5 • Requirement: Touch (melee attack roll if unwilling)
Effect: GRIT + Resilience vs. your roll or Paralyzed (no physical actions) for 5 Ticks.
Steps: +3 Ticks per Step
Special: Target can still speak, see, and use purely mental abilities.

Rank 4 Talents (Devastations) — 2 Erosion | TN 15

Chimera Form

I stop pretending to be human.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Transform yourself for the rest of the scene. Choose 2 Mutations:

Mutation	Effect
Bone Blades	Unarmed: WR 4, Bleed quality
Chitin Skin	Gain AR 3 (doesn’t stack with worn armor)
Elongated Limbs	Melee reach extends to 4 meters
Gills	Breathe underwater
Nightvision	See in complete darkness
Venom Glands	Unarmed injects poison (GRIT TN 11 or 2 damage/turn, 3 turns)
Wall-Crawler	Climb any surface at normal Speed
Regeneration	Heal 1 HP at start of each of your turns

Steps: +1 additional Mutation per Step
Social Cost: Visibly monstrous. Social interaction with non-allies impossible. Redeemers attack on sight.
Aftermath: 1d3 Strain as your body snaps back.

Life Leech

What you have, I take. What I need, I claim.

Tempo: 5 • Range: Touch (melee attack roll if unwilling)
Effect: Deal 2d6 damage (ignores armor). Heal HP equal to half damage dealt (round down).
Steps: +1d6 damage per Step
Special: If this kills the target, heal full damage dealt instead. Only works on living creatures.

Rank 5 Talent (Miracle) — 1 Memory | TN 16

Resurrection

Death is just a door. I have the key.

Tempo: Ritual (1 hour) • Target must have died within the last hour; body mostly intact.
Effect: Target returns to life at 1 HP.
The Price: Permanently loses 1 ECHO. Gains a permanent Derangement or physical mutation (GM’s choice). Forever “Cold” to the touch. Cannot be resurrected again.
The Caster’s Price: Burn a Memory and take 2d6 Strain (may convert to Erosion if it exceeds your cap).
What Comes Back: The target returns with all their memories—but something else may have noticed the door opening…

Flesh Shaper Synergies

The Battlefield Medic: Knit Flesh → Purge → Adrenal Spike — Heal, cleanse, enhance—keep your allies in the fight.

The Monster: Iron Skin → Chimera Form → Life Leech — Become unkillable, deal massive damage, sustain through combat.

The Biosculptor: Diagnose → Fleshcraft → Resurrection — See what’s wrong, reshape the living, bring back the dead.

Ethical Questions

Flesh Shapers face unique moral dilemmas: Consent (can you reshape someone without asking? Should you heal someone who wants to die?), Enhancement (if you can make someone stronger, better—should you?), Monsters (you can create loyal beasts from human tissue—is that different from slavery?), and Death (you can bring people back—but should you? And what do you tell them about what they experienced?).

The Bastion Soul

The Anchor

“I am the rock in the river. The Current breaks on me.”

Bastion Souls are living voids in the magical field. Where others channel the Current, Bastion Souls absorb and negate it. They are the shield against the supernatural—the one person in the room that the Mindweaver cannot touch, the wall that the Psy-Slinger cannot shoot through.

Detail	Value
Role	Tank / Anti-Magic / Protector
Focus	Iron shield, shackles, stone monolith
Key Attribute	IRON
Signature	Sound muffles; colors desaturate; magic fizzles to gray smoke

Rank 1 Talents (Cantrips) — 1 Strain | TN 9

Kinetic Dampener

I catch the bullet with my will.

Tempo: 0 (Reaction) — you or adjacent ally hit by physical attack
Effect: Reduce incoming damage by your ECHO rating. Can reduce damage to 0.
Steps: +1 damage reduction per Step
Special: Physical attacks only, not psionic effects.

Null Touch

The Current recoils from my hand.

Tempo: 3
Effect: Touch a creature or object. Any Rank 1 psionic effect ends immediately. Target immune to Rank 1 effects for 1 minute.
Steps: +1 minute duration per Step
Special: Unwilling targets require melee attack roll to touch.

Iron Will

My mind is a fortress with no doors.

Tempo: Passive (always active)
Effect: +2 Roll Bonus to all checks to resist psionic effects, fear, and mental intrusion. Includes Focus checks against Disruption.
Special: Mindweavers sense a “wall” when they touch your mind—they know you’re protected.

Rank 2 Talents (Tactics) — 2 Strain | TN 11

Grounding

What was built can be unbuilt.

Tempo: 4
Effect: End an ongoing psionic effect or destroy a magical construct within Near range.
Opposed: ECHO + Channel vs. their original result. Success ends the effect.
Steps: +1 additional effect per Step
Special: Automatically succeeds against effects with no living caster.

Shield of the Anchor

Stand behind me.

Tempo: 4
Effect: For the rest of the scene, allies within Close range (5m) gain +2 Roll Bonus to resist psionic effects.
Steps: +1 Roll Bonus per Step (max +4); +5m radius per Step
Special: Must remain conscious for effect to persist.

Weight of Reality

The Current cannot lift what I hold down.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Target within Near range cannot use psionic movement (teleportation, phasing, psionic flight) for 1 minute.
Resist: ECHO + Focus vs. your roll
Steps: +1 minute per Step; +1 additional target per 2 Steps
Special: Also grounds Ethereal creatures, forcing them to remain material.

Rank 3 Talents (Powers) — 1 Erosion | TN 13

The Null Zone

In this place, the Veil holds.

Tempo: 6
Effect: Create a Near range (10m) aura centered on yourself. No Rank 1–4 Talents can be activated. Active effects are suppressed. Veil-born suffer −2 dice to all actions.
Duration: Scene, or until ended. Cannot use other Psionic Talents while maintaining. Speed halved.
Steps: +5m radius per Step

Gravity Well

You will not move until I allow it.

Tempo: 5
Effect: Target makes IRON + Force vs. your roll. Failure: Immobilized (Speed 0), takes 1d3 crushing damage per turn. Success: Speed halved for 1 minute.
Duration: Concentration (spend action each turn to maintain)
Steps: +1d3 damage per Step; 5m zone instead of single target at +2 Steps
Special: Area version affects allies as well as enemies.

Siphon Power

Your strength becomes my shield.

Tempo: 5 • Trigger: creature within Near range successfully casts a Talent
Effect: Caster takes 1d6 Strain. You heal Strain equal to half the amount they took (round down).
Steps: +1d6 Strain inflicted per Step
Special: If this causes caster to exceed Strain cap, excess becomes damage.

Rank 4 Talents (Devastations) — 2 Erosion | TN 15

Reflect

Return to sender.

Tempo: 0 (Reaction) — targeted by psionic attack
Effect: Roll ECHO + Channel vs. attacker’s original result. If you win, attack affects the original caster instead, using their own Margin.
Steps: Protect adjacent ally at +1 Step; reflect Rank 5 effects at +2 Steps
Limit: Cannot reflect Rank 5 Talents without Steps invested.

Collapse the Weave

Everything you built, I tear down.

Tempo: 7
Effect: All psionic effects within Near range end immediately. All Psionics must make ECHO + Focus vs. your roll or be Stunned.
Steps: +5m radius per Step; Stunned creatures also take 1d6 Strain per Step
Special: Affects allies as well as enemies. Your own ongoing effects also end.

Rank 5 Talent (Miracle) — 1 Memory | TN 16

The Unmoving Mountain

I am the last line. I do not break.

Tempo: 3
Effect: For 30 Ticks (~3 rounds), you become Invulnerable: 0 damage from all sources, cannot be moved/knocked prone/transformed, immune to all conditions and psionic effects, cannot be targeted by Mindweaver talents.
Limitation: Cannot Move or Attack. Can only: Speak, use Kinetic Dampener on adjacent allies, end effect early (free action).
The Mountain’s Shadow: Allies within 2m behind you gain Hard Cover (+4 TN to be hit).
Aftermath: Exhausted (−2 dice to all physical actions) until you rest.

Bastion Soul Synergies

The Bodyguard: Kinetic Dampener → Shield of the Anchor → The Unmoving Mountain — Protect yourself, protect your allies, become untouchable.

The Hunter: Null Touch → Grounding → Collapse the Weave — Shut down enemy psionics, tear down their defenses, leave them helpless.

The Fortress: Iron Will → The Null Zone → Reflect — Immune to mental attack, suppress all magic nearby, turn their power against them.

The Burden of Negation

Bastion Souls are valued but isolated: other Psionics feel uncomfortable around them—the silence where the Current should be. They cannot fully participate in psionic society; they’re always slightly outside. The Redeemers view them with suspicion (still touched by the Veil) or as potential weapons. Many become bodyguards, witch-hunters, or hermits.

Section V: General Talents

Not all exceptional abilities come from the Current or a specific Calling. Some come from years of training, natural aptitude, or sheer bloody-minded determination. The following Talents are available to any character who meets the listed prerequisites.

How General Mundane Talents Work

Unlike Psionic Talents, General Mundane Talents: do not require ECHO or the Channel skill; do not cause Strain, Erosion, or risk Backlash; are powered by Mettle or have limited uses (per scene or per rest); cannot be Disrupted by salt or damage; and do not trigger the Tension Pool.

Learning Cost: 4 XP per talent. Requirements: Meet any listed prerequisites (usually a Skill at Rank 2+).

Mundane Callings

The following Talents are exclusive to their respective Mundane Calling. They represent specialized training and hard-won expertise that sets each profession apart.

Gunhand Talents

Available only to characters with the Gunhand Calling.

The Law’s Weight

Force 2

Your authority is written in iron.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When you make a Force (Intimidation) check, invoke the authority of your badge or warrant. Targets who respect that authority suffer −2 dice (Pool Penalty) to resist.
Special: No effect on Dust Vultures, outlaws with nothing to lose, or anyone who doesn’t recognize your authority.

Bounty Hunter’s Eye

Awareness 2

You never forget a face on a wanted poster.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Perfect recall for faces, names, and bounties. You automatically recognize a target regardless of mundane disguise (magical disguises may require an Insight check). Gain +2 Roll Bonus to track a specific bounty target.

Gun Kata

Ballistics 3, QUICK 3

You move like the bullet wants you to.

Cost: 2 Mettle
Effect: For the rest of the scene, you may use QUICK + Ballistics for Defense instead of the normal formula when wielding a firearm.

The Draw

Ballistics 2, QUICK 3

They saw the flash. They never saw the hand.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Combine Draw Weapon (Tempo 2) and Steady Shot (Weapon Base Tempo) into a single action at Tempo = Weapon Base (no added Draw cost). This does not trigger the Exposed condition.
Special: If used as your first action in combat, gain +1 Roll Bonus to the attack.

Marked Man

Force 2, Ballistics 2

You’ve called your target. The Frontier will remember if you miss.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: 0 (Instant, declared on your turn)
Effect: Publicly declare a single enemy as your target. For the rest of the scene, gain +1 Roll Bonus to all attacks against that target and +1 damage on hits. However, suffer −1 Roll Penalty to attacks against any other target.
Special: If you kill or incapacitate the Marked target, all enemies who witnessed it must make GRIT + Resilience (TN 11) or become Suppressed.

Posse Leader

Force 2 or Persuasion 1, Ride 1

You don’t ride alone. And the people who ride with you fight harder for it.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Hired NPCs (deputies, escorts, mercenaries) traveling with you gain +1 to all Morale checks and +1 Roll Bonus to Initiative. You can command up to SWAY + 2 NPCs as a coherent unit during combat—they act on your Initiative Tick and follow simple tactical orders without individual rolls.
Limit: Only applies to NPCs who recognize your authority or are under your employ.

The Stare

Force 3, IRON 3 or SWAY 3

You don’t need to draw. Sometimes the look is enough.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: 4
Effect: Lock eyes with a single target within Near range. Make an opposed Force check vs. the target’s GRIT + Resilience. If you win, choose one: the target drops their weapon; the target backs down and withdraws; or the target freezes (Stunned for 3 Ticks). This is not supernatural—it’s the weight of a killer’s gaze.
Resist: Targets with Mettle remaining may spend 1 Mettle to negate the effect entirely.

Horseback Fury

Ride 2, Brawl 2 or Melee 2

You fight better from the saddle than most men fight with both feet on the ground.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When mounted, your Charge damage bonus increases from +2 to +4, and you may make a melee attack as part of a Charge without using a separate action (the attack resolves at the Charge’s Tempo).
Special: When your mount is killed or panics, you dismount cleanly—no QUICK + Ride check required, no falling damage.

Veteran’s Sense

Awareness 3

You’ve survived enough ambushes to smell one coming.

Cost: Passive
Effect: You cannot be Surprised. Even if you fail your Initiative roll, you act at Tick 6 without the Surprised condition (you can spend Mettle on Reactions, you are not Flat-Footed). The first time per session an NPC lies to you in conversation, the GM tells you they’re lying—you don’t know what the lie is, only that it was one.

No Surrender

GRIT 2, Ballistics 2 or Melee 2

You don’t holster your iron until the job is done.

Cost: Passive
Effect: While you have a Marked target (via Marked Man) or an active bounty target (via Bounty Hunter’s Eye), you are immune to the Suppressed condition caused by that target or their allies. Fear effects from Veil-Born creatures cause you to become Suppressed instead of Frightened (you don’t flee).
Special: Suppressed immunity requires Marked Man or Bounty Hunter’s Eye to be active. The Fear downgrade is always active.

Two-Barrel Justice

Ballistics 3

One for the body. One for the soul.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: Weapon Base
Effect: When you fire a shotgun at Close or Point-Blank range, fire both barrels simultaneously. A single roll deals double WR damage on hit. The weapon is empty afterward.
Limit: Only works with double-barreled weapons (Coach Gun, Sawed-Off). Must have 2 loaded barrels.

Executioner’s Calm

GRIT 3, Ballistics 3 or Melee 3

The killing gets easier. That should worry you, but it doesn’t anymore.

Cost: Passive
Effect: After you kill or incapacitate an enemy in combat, recover 1 Mettle. The cold clarity of violence settles over you.
Limit: Maximum 2 Mettle recovered per scene. Does not trigger from Coup de Grace against helpless targets.

Muck-Raker Talents

Available only to characters with the Muck-Raker Calling.

Unbreakable

GRIT 3

They’ve tried to grind you down. They failed.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Ignore the first level of any environmental penalty. What would impose −1 die imposes nothing; what would impose −2 dice imposes −1. You can work twice as long as normal before requiring rest.

Prospector’s Luck

Scrounge 2

You have a nose for value.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When scavenging, find items one Cost Rating higher than normal. Automatically detect ghost-rock, silver, and valuable minerals within 10m.

Saboteur

Any Technical Skill 2

What’s built can be unbuilt.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When breaking, disabling, or sabotaging a mechanical device, reduce TN by 2 and halve the time required. You know the most structurally vulnerable point of any building or machine you examine.

Breaker’s Swing

Melee 2, IRON 3

You’ve been swinging a hammer since before you could read. The hammer remembers, even when you don’t.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When you hit with a Two-Handed melee weapon (Sledgehammer, Pickaxe), the target’s AR is reduced by 1 for the rest of the scene (stacks; AR cannot drop below 0).
Special: Against objects and structures (doors, barricades, walls), your attacks deal double damage.

Mule’s Back

IRON 2, GRIT 2

You carry what would break other men.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Carry twice the normal load before becoming Encumbered. When carrying a Downed ally, move at full Speed instead of half. You can drag heavy objects (mine carts, barricades) that would normally require two people.
Special: You never take Strain from heavy labor. Digging, hauling, and construction are as natural as breathing.

Dig In

Athletics 2 or Labor 2

You’ve spent your life behind a wall of dirt. Might as well fight from behind one.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: 6 (out of combat: 10 minutes)
Effect: Using available materials (earth, rubble, furniture, crates), create an improvised fortification providing Hard Cover (+4 TN) for the rest of the scene. The fortification is stationary and can absorb 10 HP of damage before being destroyed.
Special: If you have a shovel or pickaxe, reduce Tempo to 5 in combat (5 minutes out of combat).

Rock Sense

SAVVY 2, Frontier 1 or Labor 2

You feel the mountain’s mood in your boots.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Detect structural instability in buildings, mines, bridges, and natural formations without a check—the GM tells you whether a structure is safe, questionable, or about to collapse. In underground environments, you cannot become lost and you automatically detect gas pockets, flooded passages, and unstable ceilings before the party encounters them.

Workhorse

GRIT 3, Resilience 2

You’ve been beaten down, starved, frozen, and burned. You just keep swinging.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you take your first Wound in a scene (drop to ½ HP or below), immediately take one free action (any action at Weapon Base Tempo or lower) before the Wounded penalty takes effect.
Limit: Once per scene.

Dynamite Arm

Ballistics 1, Demolitions 2

You’ve been throwing sticks since the mines. The range isn’t the hard part—it’s the timing.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Throw explosives at Far range instead of Near. You may delay detonation by up to 3 Ticks after landing, allowing bounces around corners or timed coordination with allies. You take half damage from your own explosives.

Iron Constitution

GRIT 3, Resilience 3

Poison? I drink worse than that every morning.

Cost: Passive
Effect: +3 Roll Bonus to resist Poison, Disease, and Toxin effects. If you successfully resist a poison, you are immune to that specific poison for the rest of the session. You can consume contaminated water and spoiled food without ill effect.

Improvised Weaponry

Melee 2 or Brawl 2

Everything’s a weapon if you’re angry enough.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Improvised weapons (chairs, bottles, chains, shovels, rocks) you wield gain +1 WR and do not suffer the Unfamiliar Equipment penalty (−2 Roll Penalty). You can pick up and wield an environmental object as part of an attack action—no separate Interact action required.

Union Man

Force 2 or Athletics 2

You’ve worked alongside others your whole life. You know how to pull together when it counts.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When you and at least one ally attack the same target in the same Tick Cycle, the second attacker gains +2 Roll Bonus. If three or more allies attack the same target, the third and subsequent attackers gain +3 Roll Bonus. You must be one of the participating attackers.
Limit: Once per scene. Bonus only applies during a single Tick Cycle.

High-Roller Talents

Available only to characters with the High-Roller Calling.

Read the Room

Insight 2

You know what everyone wants before they do.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Spend 1 minute observing. The GM tells you each significant NPC’s primary motivation and emotional state. Against concealed intentions: Insight vs. their Deceit.

Silver Tongue

Persuasion 3

You could sell sand in the Scorchveil.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: On a successful Persuasion or Deceit check, shift the target’s Disposition one step (Hostile → Unfriendly → Neutral → Friendly → Allied).
Limit: Once per target per scene.

Lucky Break

Gamble 2

Fortune favors the bold—or at least the charming.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Once per scene, after seeing any roll result (yours or another’s), reroll it entirely. The new result stands.

Card Sharp

Finesse 2, Gamble 2

The deck does what you tell it.

Cost: Passive
Effect: +3 Roll Bonus to Gamble checks involving cards. Cheat undetected unless someone is specifically watching (opposed Finesse vs. Awareness).

The Tell

Insight 3

Everyone has one. You find it in the first thirty seconds.

Cost: Passive
Effect: After observing a character in any social interaction or combat for one full round, the GM reveals their “tell”—a behavioral cue signaling their next major intention (bluffing, about to attack, planning to flee, concealing fear). For the rest of the scene, gain +2 Roll Bonus to Insight, Force, and Persuasion checks against that character.
Special: In combat, identifying a tell requires observing the target for 1 full Tick Cycle without attacking them.

Ace in the Hole

Finesse 2

You always save one card. The one they never see coming.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Once per session, reveal a concealed weapon (Derringer, knife, palm pistol—Concealable quality only) and make an immediate attack as a Reaction, even outside your turn. This attack gains +2 Roll Bonus and resolves at Tempo 0.
Limit: Once per session. The weapon must have been established (or plausible) in your inventory.

False Face

Deceit 3

You become whoever they need you to be.

Cost: 1 Mettle + appropriate clothing/props
Effect: Adopt a false identity for a scene. Gain +3 Roll Bonus to all Deceit checks to maintain the persona and +2 Roll Bonus to Persuasion while in character. NPCs with no reason for suspicion accept the identity without a check. Suspicious NPCs must beat your SWAY + Deceit in an opposed Insight check.
Special: The disguise collapses instantly if someone who knows the real person you’re impersonating is present, or if you use any skill the persona wouldn’t possess.

Loaded Dice

Gamble 3, SAVVY 3

The universe has a gambling problem. You’re the house.

Cost: 2 Mettle
Effect: Once per session, before any roll is made (yours or another character’s, PC or NPC, within earshot), declare “the fix is in.” The roll automatically succeeds with a Margin of 3 (1 Step). This is not supernatural—it represents having rigged the situation in advance.
Special: The GM may veto uses that have no plausible setup. You must be able to explain how you rigged it, even retroactively.

Pocket Aces

Finesse 2, Streetwise 2

You never bet everything. You always have a way out.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you enter a new building, town, or enclosed area, the GM tells you the nearest exit (other than the one you entered) and whether it is locked, guarded, or trapped. When fleeing a social encounter gone wrong, you may leave the scene without a check, provided no one has drawn a weapon.
Special: Once per session, declare that you stashed a small item (Cost Rating 1—a knife, a lockpick, a bribe-sized purse) somewhere in the current building during a previous visit. The GM determines if a previous visit is plausible.

Debt Ledger

Insight 2, Persuasion 2

You don’t just remember debts. You create them.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When you do a significant favor for an NPC, formally invoke the Debt. The NPC gains “Indebted” status. At any future point, call in the Debt for one favor of equivalent value. The NPC may refuse—but everyone in town will know they broke their word.
Limit: Maximum 3 active Debts at a time. Calling in a Debt clears it.

Snake Oil

Deceit 2, Persuasion 2

You could convince a dying man his cough is a feature, not a bug.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Sell worthless or low-quality items at up to 2 Cost Ratings higher than their actual value. The buyer won’t realize the deception for 1d6 hours (or until they use the item, whichever comes first). When they do, their Disposition toward you drops by two steps.
Special: If you sell counterfeit Salt, fake ammunition, or placebo medicine, the GM tracks when the buyer discovers the fraud. This will come back to haunt you.

The Long Game

Gamble 3, Insight 2

You don’t play one hand. You play the whole evening.

Cost: Passive
Effect: During any Extended Check involving social manipulation, negotiation, or gambling, gain a cumulative +1 Roll Bonus for each successful check in the sequence (maximum +3). This represents building an advantage—reading the pattern, steering the conversation, controlling the pace.
Special: If you fail a check in the sequence, the cumulative bonus resets to 0.

Shepherd Talents

Available only to characters with the Shepherd Calling.

Field Surgeon

Medicine 3

You’ve operated in conditions that would make a city doctor faint.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Successful Medicine checks heal +2 additional HP. You can treat Grievous Wounds in the field without penalty.

Battlefield Triage

Medicine 2

You know who can be saved and who can’t.

Cost: Passive
Effect: As a free action, assess the HP and condition of any creature within Near range. Gain +2 Roll Bonus to Initiative when entering combat to protect wounded allies.

Sermon of Steel

Persuasion 2 or Lore 2

Your words carry the weight of conviction.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: 6 (or 1 minute out of combat)
Effect: All allies who hear you gain +2 Roll Bonus to resist Fear for the rest of the scene. +4 with genuine religious conviction (GM adjudicates).

Mercy’s Edge

Medicine 2

You know exactly how to hurt—and how not to.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you deal damage, you may choose to deal Strain instead of HP damage to living creatures. Targets reduced to 0 HP this way are Unconscious rather than Dying.

Triage Protocol

Medicine 2, SAVVY 3

Three wounded. One kit. You know who gets it.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you perform First Aid in combat (Tempo 6, Medicine TN 11), you may treat two adjacent characters simultaneously with a single action and a single roll. Both receive the full healing benefit. Your First Aid is not limited to once per character per scene—you can treat the same character multiple times.

Poison Doctor

Medicine 3, Lore 2

You’ve catalogued every venom the Frontier can spit at you.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Identify any poison, disease, or toxin by symptoms within 1 round (no check required). +3 Roll Bonus to treat or cure poisons and diseases. Given 1 hour and basic materials, distill a single dose of Knockout Poison (GRIT + Resilience TN 13 or Unconscious for 1 hour) or Emetic (purge an ingested poison before full effect).
Special: You can apply poison to a blade or food without an additional check.

Wound Reader

Medicine 2, Insight 2

The scars tell the story. You speak their language.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Examine a corpse (10 minutes) or a living person’s wounds (1 minute) to determine: the weapon type that caused the injury, approximate time of the wound, the physical strength of the attacker (IRON rank, roughly), and whether Psionic effects were involved.
Special: On a corpse, determine cause and time of death within an hour’s accuracy. If the death was caused by a Veil-Born creature, you identify the creature type.

Plague Ward

Medicine 3, Frontier 2

Sickness stops at your threshold.

Cost: 1 hour + materials (Cost Rating 1)
Effect: Establish a quarantine zone (one building or campsite). Within the zone: disease cannot spread between occupants, existing infections stabilize (do not worsen), and recovery checks gain +2 Roll Bonus. The ward lasts 24 hours.
Special: In the Fen or Ash Belt, a Plague Ward negates the daily exposure checks for all occupants.

The Vigil

Resilience 2, ECHO 2

You sit with the dying. You hold their hand through the dark.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: 5
Effect: When an ally is Downed (0 HP, Bleeding Out), declare a Vigil. For as long as you maintain it (you cannot move, attack, or take other actions), the Downed ally does not lose HP from Bleeding Out. If you are hit, damaged, or forced to move, the Vigil ends.
Special: If the Downed ally dies while under your Vigil (from a new attack, not from bleeding), you may Spark any one of your Memories as a free action.

Confessor

Insight 2, Persuasion 2

They tell you things they’d never say to anyone else. And you carry it.

Cost: 1 hour of private conversation
Effect: After a genuine one-on-one conversation with a willing character (PC or NPC), that character may “confess”—share a secret, a fear, or a burden. If they do, they recover 1 Strain and gain +1 Roll Bonus to all checks for the rest of the session.
Special: You learn the confession’s contents. For PCs, this is voluntary and player-controlled. For NPCs, the GM determines what they reveal—it’s always something true and significant.
Limit: Each character can only benefit from one Confession per session.

Sanctified Ground

Lore 2, Resilience 2, ECHO 2

Where you pray, the darkness hesitates.

Cost: 1 Salt Pouch use + 10 minutes of ritual
Effect: Consecrate a small area (one room, one campsite, one crossroads) for 24 hours. Veil-Born creatures in the area suffer −2 dice (Pool Penalty) to all actions. The Tension Pool cannot increase from events inside the area. Characters inside gain +1 to all Fear resistance checks.
Special: The consecration is visible in the supernatural spectrum—Psionics and Veil-Born can see the ward as a faint luminescence. Destroying the salt circle breaks the consecration.

Last Rites

Lore 2, Medicine 1

You send them off properly. The ones you don’t send off don’t stay down.

Cost: 1 Salt use + 5 minutes per corpse
Effect: Perform proper funeral rites on a corpse. A body that receives Last Rites cannot rise as undead under any circumstances. The soul of the deceased is “settled”—Seers and Mindweavers cannot contact or read the dead person’s psychic imprint.
Special: If you perform Last Rites on a PC who died, all surviving party members recover 1 Strain.
Limit: Must be performed within 24 hours of death.

Rail-Jack Talents

Available only to characters with the Rail-Jack Calling.

Ghost Fingers

Finesse 3

The lock doesn’t know you’re there until it’s open.

Cost: Passive
Effect: +2 Roll Bonus to all Finesse checks for lockpicking, pickpocketing, and disarming mechanical traps. You can pick locks silently—no Stealth check required to avoid noise while working. If you fail a lockpicking check, you may retry once without triggering a Fumble consequence.

Trapsmith

Finesse 2, Demolitions 2

You’ve disarmed enough traps to build better ones.

Cost: 1 Mettle + materials
Effect: Given 10 minutes and basic materials, construct one trap: Tripwire Alarm—alerts you when someone enters; grants automatic Initiative (Tick 2) against the intruder; Nail Bomb—WR 3 (Scatter) to all in Close range, QUICK + Athletics TN 13 to avoid; Snare—target is Grappled (IRON + Athletics TN 13 to escape), no damage.
Special: You disarm any mundane trap automatically (no check) and identify trap type and trigger mechanism on sight.

Grease Monkey

Engineering 2 or Scrounge 2

If it has gears, you can talk to it. If it has a boiler, you can sweet-talk it.

Cost: Passive
Effect: +2 Roll Bonus to all Engineering checks involving machines, engines, and mechanical devices. Diagnose a machine’s problem by listening to it for 1 minute (no check—the GM tells you what’s wrong). Jury-Rigged repairs (if you also have that talent) last for 1 full session instead of 1 scene.
Special: You can operate any vehicle or mechanical device (trains, winches, pumps, Consortium machinery) without training. Complex maneuvers still require checks.

Sapper

Demolitions 3

The blast goes where I tell it, not where physics wants it.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Place a shaped charge that deals full damage in one direction and zero behind it. Your explosives never accidentally chain-detonate—you control which charges blow and in what sequence. You calculate exactly how much explosive is needed to breach a specific barrier, meaning you never waste charges.
Special: When using explosives against structures, choose between “breach” (make a hole) and “collapse” (bring it down). The distinction matters.

Rat Run

Athletics 2, QUICK 2

You fit through spaces that shouldn’t be possible.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Squeeze through any opening large enough to fit your head. Movement through tight spaces (vents, crawlspaces, between bars) does not reduce your Speed. +2 Roll Bonus to all checks to escape Grapples, bindings, or restraints.
Special: You automatically identify alternate routes through buildings—vents, maintenance tunnels, crawlspaces, sewers. The GM tells you if such a route exists when you enter a structure.

Dead Drop

Streetwise 2

You always have a way to get a message out.

Cost: Passive
Effect: In any settlement you’ve visited before, you have a dead drop location—a place to leave messages, small items, or payment. Establish a new dead drop by spending 1 hour and §5. You know the locations of Consortium, Vulture, and criminal dead drops in any settlement where those factions operate—you can read them (SAVVY + Streetwise TN 11) even if the messages aren’t meant for you.

Wire Dancer

Athletics 3, QUICK 3

You walk the rail-line, the rooftop, the ledge. Heights don’t scare you—the ground does.

Cost: Passive
Effect: You cannot fall from a surface wider than 6 inches (no balance check). When climbing, move at full Speed instead of half. Falls you do take deal half damage. You can move across rooftops, scaffolding, and rail infrastructure at full Speed without Stealth penalties.

Shadow Work

Stealth 3

You’re not invisible. You’re just forgettable.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When hidden (successful Stealth check), you may move at full Speed without breaking Stealth. In a crowd or social setting, spend 1 Mettle to “vanish”—you slip away unnoticed, requiring observers to make an Awareness check (TN = your QUICK + Stealth) to realize you’ve left.
Limit: Combat Stealth still follows normal rules (you break Stealth when you attack).

Quick Fuse

Demolitions 2, QUICK 2

They think they have time. They don’t.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Arm or throw an explosive as a Fast action (Tempo 3) instead of Standard (Tempo 4+). Light and throw a stick of dynamite in a single action—no separate Interact to light the fuse.
Special: When disarming explosives, the TN is reduced by 2, and a Fumble results in “dud” (the charge fails safely) rather than detonation.

Consortium Codes

Streetwise 2, SAVVY 2

You worked their systems. You know their language.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Read Consortium coded communications (telegraph cipher, rail schedules, internal memos) without a check. You know standard patrol schedules, security protocols, and shift changes for Consortium facilities—the GM provides this after 30 minutes of observation. You can forge Consortium documents (writs of passage, work orders, transfer papers) with a SAVVY + Finesse check (TN 13).

The Getaway

Stealth 2, Athletics 2

Entry is the easy part. Exit is what separates the living from the caught.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When you need to flee a location (alarm raised, cover blown, building collapsing), gain +3 Roll Bonus to all Athletics and Stealth checks for the next 5 minutes. Retrace your entry route from memory perfectly—no Navigation check required, even in complex structures. Locked doors you already picked remain open.
Special: If you planned an escape route before entry (declared to the GM), you and up to 3 allies who follow you gain the +3 Roll Bonus.

Dead Man’s Switch

Demolitions 3, GRIT 2

If I go down, everything goes with me.

Cost: Passive (setup requires 10 minutes)
Effect: Rig a dead man’s switch to any explosive device. If you are Downed, killed, or release the trigger voluntarily, the charge detonates. The switch can also be set to a specific condition: “If that door opens,” “If the rope is cut,” “If I say the word.” The setup is visible to observers—which is the point.
Special: When you hold a Dead Man’s Switch in a social encounter, any NPC who recognizes what it is suffers −2 dice to resist your Force (Intimidation) checks. This is the Rail-Jack’s nuclear option.

Mundane Talents

General Combat Talents

Available to any character who meets the prerequisites.

Dead Eye

Ballistics 2

You’ve learned to make every shot count.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Before a Ballistics attack, spend 1 Mettle. If hit, add +2 damage (flat bonus). Can combine with Aim bonuses.

Quick Reload

Ballistics 2

Your hands move without thought.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Reduce Tempo of all Reload actions by 2 (minimum Tempo 2). Speed Reload becomes Tempo 2; Manual Reload becomes Tempo 4.

Fan the Hammer

Ballistics 3, Revolver

Empty the cylinder. Sort it out later.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: Weapon + 2
Effect: Fire multiple rounds with your revolver at a single target as one action with a −2 Roll Penalty. Roll once; for each 3 points of Margin, one additional bullet hits. Each hit deals normal weapon damage.

Duelist’s Instinct

Awareness 2

You’ve faced enough guns to know when one’s about to be drawn.

Cost: Passive
Effect: +2 Roll Bonus to Initiative checks. Can never be Surprised by a human opponent drawing a weapon.

Hard to Kill

GRIT 3

You’ve survived things that should have ended you.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you would die, spend all remaining Mettle (minimum 1) to stabilize at exactly −(IRON−1) HP. Downed but not dead.
Limit: Once per session.

Second Wind

GRIT 2

You find reserves you didn’t know you had.

Cost: 2 Mettle • Tempo: 4
Effect: Recover HP equal to your GRIT. Once per scene.

Brutal Strike

Melee 2 or Brawl 2

When you connect, they feel it.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Before melee attack, spend 1 Mettle. If hit, +3 damage. Target makes GRIT + Resilience (TN 11) or is Staggered (−2 dice to next action).

Iron Guard

IRON 3

You’ve learned to take a hit without flinching.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When hit by melee attack, reduce damage by 2 (in addition to armor). Replaces Parry.

Tactical Repositioning

SAVVY 3

You see the battlefield three moves ahead.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Once per round, when an ally within Near range acts, you may immediately Shift (2m) as a free action, even outside your turn.

Covering Fire

Ballistics 2

You keep their heads down.

Cost: 1 Mettle + ammunition • Tempo: 5
Effect: Designate an area (10m radius) within weapon range. Until your next turn, any enemy who moves or attacks from within provokes an immediate attack from you.

Signature Weapon

Any Combat Skill 2 + 1 week bonding

This iron has a name. It earned it.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Bond with a specific weapon (firearm, melee, or thrown). While wielding your Signature Weapon: +1 Roll Bonus to all attack rolls; you instinctively know its exact location within Far range (50m) if dropped, knocked away, or taken.
Special: If your Signature Weapon is destroyed, you suffer 1 Strain. You may bond with a new weapon after 1 full week.
Limit: One Signature Weapon at a time.

Steady Nerve

Ballistics 2, GRIT 2

The world could be ending. Your hands don’t care.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Ignore Pool Penalties from the Suppressed condition when making Ballistics attacks. The Wounded penalty (−1 die) does not apply to your ranged attack rolls (it still applies to all other rolls).

Trick Shot

Ballistics 3

Shoot the rope, not the man.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: Weapon Base + 1
Effect: Declare a narrative target before rolling (a held object, a rope, a lantern, a belt buckle, a specific limb). If the attack hits, the GM determines a consequence beyond damage: disarming, severing, shattering, igniting, etc. The attack deals half WR damage (round down, minimum 1), but the secondary effect is guaranteed on hit.

Hip Shot

Ride 2, Ballistics 2

You shoot from the saddle like you were born there.

Cost: Passive
Effect: You do not suffer the −2 dice Pool Penalty for Mounted Combat (ranged). When your mount moves during your turn, you may make a Quick Shot at any point during the movement without stopping.

Powder and Iron

Ballistics 3, QUICK 3

Two guns means two problems for the other man.

Cost: 1 Mettle • Tempo: Highest weapon’s Base Tempo + 1
Effect: When dual-wielding pistols, attack two different targets as a single action. Make one attack roll with a −1 Roll Penalty. Apply the result against both targets’ Defense separately. Each hit deals its respective weapon’s normal damage (WR + Steps − target’s AR, calculated individually).

Knife Fighter

Melee 2, QUICK 3

In close, a knife is faster than a thought.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When wielding a weapon with Tempo 3 or less (Bowie Knife, Brass Knuckles), you may use QUICK instead of IRON for melee attack and damage rolls. Your standard Strikes with these weapons no longer trigger the Exposed condition.

Dirty Fighter

Brawl 2

Eyes, throat, groin. The Frontier doesn’t have referees.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: When you hit with an unarmed or improvised weapon attack, choose one: Blind (target gains Blinded, −4 dice, until end of their next action); Stagger (target’s next action has +2 Tempo); or Disarm (target drops one held item at their feet, Interact Tempo 4 to retrieve).
Resist: Target may resist with GRIT + Resilience vs. TN 11. On success, the rider effect is negated (damage still applies).

Grappler’s Dominance

Brawl 3, IRON 3

Once I’ve got you, you’re not going anywhere.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you have a target Grappled, you gain +2 Roll Bonus to all opposed Brawl checks to maintain the grapple. At the start of each of your turns while grappling, the target takes 1 damage (crushing pressure, ignores AR). You may choose to deal this as Strain instead of HP damage.

Whirlwind

Melee 3, IRON 3

When they surround you, the weapon doesn’t stop moving.

Cost: 2 Mettle • Tempo: Weapon Base + 2
Effect: Make a single melee attack roll. Apply the result against every enemy within Close range (2m), up to 4 targets. Each target’s Defense is checked individually. Damage is calculated separately per target.
Limit: Once per scene.

Vulture’s Patience

Awareness 2, any Combat Skill 2

Let them rush. Let them stumble. Then take what’s yours.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you attack a target that is currently Exposed, your attack deals +2 damage on hit.

Born Survivor

GRIT 3, Resilience 2

They left you for dead once. It didn’t take.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When Downed, you do not begin Bleeding Out for 3 additional Ticks beyond the normal window. Any Medicine check to stabilize you has its TN reduced by 2.

Stonewall

IRON 4, Resilience 2

They can hit me all day. I’m not moving.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Declare at the start of your turn. Until your next turn: you cannot be moved against your will (immune to Knockdown, push effects, grapple repositioning) and you gain +1 AR for the duration. You cannot voluntarily move while Stonewalling.

Shield Brother

IRON 3, any Combat Skill 2

You step in front of the bullet. You always have.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you use the Intercept Reaction, reduce the damage taken by your IRON rank (applied after AR). This damage reduction stacks with your Armor Rating.

Breakaway Artist

Athletics 2, QUICK 3

You were never here. You were already gone.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Your Disengage action is reduced to Tempo 3. When you Disengage, the Engaged enemy does not get a free melee attack against you—you can simply move away from Engagement without penalty.

The Flinch

SAVVY 2, any Combat Skill 2

You’ve been hurt enough times to know when the next one is coming.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Once per scene, when you are hit by an attack, reduce the incoming damage by your SAVVY rank. Declare after damage is calculated but before it is applied to your HP.
Limit: Once per scene.

Bloodied Fury

IRON 2, GRIT 2

The closer to death, the harder you bite.

Cost: Passive
Effect: While Wounded, you gain +1 Roll Bonus to all attack rolls and +1 damage on successful hits.

Ambush Specialist

Stealth 2, Awareness 2

The fight is won before the first shot is fired.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you attack from a hidden position (successful Stealth check), your first attack gains +2 Roll Bonus and the target cannot use Reactions (Dive, Dodge, Parry, Intercept) against it. You also gain +2 Roll Bonus to Initiative in encounters where you had time to prepare the ambush.

Field Commander

SAVVY 3, Force 2 or Persuasion 2

You see the pattern in the chaos.

Cost: 2 Mettle • Tempo: 5
Effect: Issue a Command. Choose up to 3 allies who can hear you. Each gains one of the following (your choice, individually assigned): Advance — move up to 3m immediately (no Exposed trigger); Focus — +1 Roll Bonus to their next attack this scene; Rally — clear the Suppressed condition immediately.
Limit: Once per scene.

Demolition Expert

Demolitions 2

I don’t fight buildings. I remove them.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Explosives you place or throw deal +2 damage, and their area of effect increases by one range band (Close → Near, Near → Far). You can set a precise detonation delay (1 Tick to 24 hours) and shape the blast to reduce damage to one adjacent area by half.

Last Stand

GRIT 3, any Combat Skill 2

They’ve got you surrounded. Poor bastards.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Activate when you are Engaged by 2+ enemies simultaneously, or when no conscious allies are within Near range (10m). For the rest of the scene: your Defense increases by +1 (TN modifier) and you may use one additional Reaction between your turns.

General Non-Combat Talents

Available to any character who meets the prerequisites. These talents reward exploration, social play, downtime, economy, and survival.

Survival & Exploration

Wayfinder

Frontier 2

You read the land like a book written in dust and bone.

Cost: Passive
Effect: You cannot become lost in wilderness terrain. Navigation checks in dangerous territory have their TN reduced by 2. When the party makes camp, you identify the safest campsite within a mile—the GM tells you the direction of the nearest water source, natural shelter, and any large creature or settlement.
Special (Water-Finding): In arid regions (Scorchveil, Ash Belt), you can locate subsurface water with a SAVVY + Frontier check (TN 13). Success means you find enough water for the party for one day.

Trailblazer

Frontier 2, Athletics 2

You don’t follow roads. Roads follow you.

Cost: Passive
Effect: The party’s overland travel speed increases by 25% when you lead the march. You can identify natural shortcuts that reduce travel time by 1 day per week of travel (GM determines if shortcuts exist based on terrain).
Special: You automatically detect natural hazards (quicksand, unstable ground, flash flood channels, thin ice) before the party enters them. No roll required.

Salt Warden

Lore 2 or Frontier 2

You know the old wards. The ones that work.

Cost: 1 Salt Pouch use (consumed)
Effect: When you lay a salt circle during camp, it provides enhanced protection: the Tension Pool is reduced by 1 die at the start of the rest; all ECHO + Resilience checks against Fear within the circle gain +1 Roll Bonus until dawn; and the circle allows 1 point of Erosion recovery during a Long Rest (normally Erosion does not recover from rest).

Scavenger King

Scrounge 3

Where you see wreckage, I see a hardware store.

Cost: Passive
Effect: After any combat encounter or when exploring ruins/wreckage, make a SAVVY + Scrounge check (TN 11). On success, find one useful item the GM would not have otherwise included (ammo, water, medical kit, map fragment). Item’s Cost Rating cannot exceed the location’s danger tier (safe = Cost 1, dangerous ruins = Cost 2, Veil-touched = Cost 3).
Special (Ruin Reader): Spend 10 minutes assessing a site. The GM tells you whether it’s been picked clean, what type of goods remain, and whether anything dangerous is hidden among the salvage.

Beast Whisperer

Handling 2

The animals know things the land won’t tell you.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Spend 10 minutes with an animal. Make a SWAY + Handling check: TN 11 (domesticated) — learn if humans passed recently, direction of water, area “mood”; TN 13 (wild) — as above, plus nearby predators or Veil-Born activity; TN 15 (predator) — as above, plus hunting territory and recent kills.
Special: Animals you’ve spent a full day bonding with no longer bolt during Veil events. They hold steady, though visibly distressed.

Social & Influence

Reputation: The Name

Any Social Skill 3

They’ve heard of you. That’s either very good or very bad.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Choose a Reputation type: Feared (Force +2 Roll Bonus); Respected (Persuasion +2 Roll Bonus); or Notorious (Deceit +2 Roll Bonus). Bonus applies against those who have heard of you.
Special (Spreading): After any significant public action, the GM determines whether witnesses carry your name to nearby settlements. Enemies may also recognize you and come looking.

Devil’s Bargain

Persuasion 2 or Deceit 2

You always find the deal. Even when there isn’t one.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Once per scene during a social encounter, propose a direct exchange to an NPC: something they want for something you need. If what you offer is genuinely valuable to them (GM adjudicates), gain +3 Roll Bonus to the Persuasion or Deceit check. If the offer is exactly what they want most, the GM may rule no check is required.

Poker Face

GRIT 2, Deceit 2 or Resilience 2

Nobody reads you. Not even a Mindweaver.

Cost: Passive
Effect: +3 Roll Bonus to resist any attempt to read your emotions, intentions, or truthfulness—including Insight checks and the Surface Read psionic Talent. When you lie, the TN for others to detect it with Insight increases by +2.
Limit: Only blocks Rank 1–2 Psionic effects. Rank 3+ Psionic intrusions bypass this talent entirely.

Frontier Hospitality

Persuasion 2, Frontier 2 or Medicine 1

A warm fire and a shared meal buys more loyalty than gold.

Cost: 1 ration + 1 hour of time
Effect: Share a meal and genuine conversation with an NPC or group during Downtime. Their Disposition toward your party improves by one step: Hostile → Unfriendly → Neutral → Friendly → Allied. The shift lasts until you or your allies worsen it.
Limit: Cannot affect the same NPC more than once per session. The NPC must share the meal willingly.

Debt Collector

Streetwise 2 or Insight 2

Everyone owes someone. You keep track.

Cost: Passive (requires roll)
Effect: When you arrive in a new settlement, declare that someone here owes you. Make a SAVVY + Streetwise check (TN 11 large settlement, TN 13 small, TN 15 isolated outpost). On success, the GM determines who the debtor is—the debt grants one favor: a place to sleep, information, an introduction, safe passage, or a small item (Cost Rating 1–2). The favor is freely given, but the debtor resents it.
Limit: Once per settlement. Cannot be used in the same settlement twice.

Knowledge & Lore

Veil Scholar

Lore 3

You’ve read the forbidden texts. You wish you hadn’t.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When you encounter a Veil-Born creature for the first time in a session, the GM tells you one of its Traits—your choice of category: a vulnerability, an immunity, or a behavioral pattern. You also gain +2 Roll Bonus when reading Grimoires (SAVVY + Lore, TN 13), and on failure you suffer Strain rather than Erosion.

Old Tongue

Lore 2, ECHO 2

The words that were spoken before the Rupture. The words the Veil still understands.

Cost: 1 Strain per use
Effect: Read Pre-Rupture inscriptions, understand fragments of Veil-Born speech, and identify the purpose of Pre-Rupture artifacts without an Engineering check. Once per session, ask the GM one question about a Veil phenomenon, ruin, or artifact and receive a truthful (if cryptic) answer.
Special: Speaking the Old Tongue aloud adds +1 die to the Tension Pool. The Veil listens when its language is spoken.

Mapmaker

SAVVY 2, Frontier 1 or Lore 1

You draw what you see. What you draw, others can follow.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Create detailed maps of explored areas (1 hour per significant area). Characters following your map gain +2 Roll Bonus to Navigation checks in that area and cannot become lost. Completed maps of unmapped dangerous regions are trade goods (Cost Rating 2–3).
Special: Your maps are immune to the “shifting terrain” effect that some Veil-touched areas exhibit. The act of documenting reality helps anchor it.

Folk Remedy

Medicine 1, Frontier 2

Grandmother’s cure isn’t in any medical text. It still works.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Each day of travel through non-desert terrain, gather enough materials for one of: Poison Antidote (reduces Poison resistance TN by 2); Fever Reducer (target recovers 1 additional Strain during next Short Rest); or Wound Salve (next Medicine check on target heals +1 additional HP).
Limit: Carry a maximum of 3 remedies at a time (they spoil). Cannot gather in desert terrain (Scorchveil) or the Ash Belt.

Craft & Trade

Jury-Rigger

Engineering 2 or Scrounge 2

It’ll hold. Probably. Don’t look at it too hard.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Repair a broken or damaged item to functional status using scavenged materials in 10 minutes. The repair is temporary—the item works for 1 scene or 1 hour (whichever comes first) before breaking again permanently unless properly repaired. Jury-Rigged items suffer a −1 Roll Penalty when used.
Special (Improvised Ammo): Convert scrap metal and gunpowder into 1d6 rounds of Improvised Ammunition (−1 WR, minimum 1). Requires a fire source and basic tools.

Gunsmith

Engineering 2, Ballistics 1

A clean gun is a living gun.

Cost: 1 hour + materials (Cost Rating 2)
Effect: During Downtime, perform one modification to a firearm: Tune — weapon gains +1 Roll Bonus for its next 3 uses, then the bonus fades; Reinforce — weapon cannot Jam from Fumble effects for the next session; Customize — fit the weapon to a specific user, granting the +1 Signature Weapon Roll Bonus (does not stack with the Signature Weapon talent—still +1 total).
Limit: A weapon can only have one active modification at a time.

Haggler

Persuasion 2 or Streetwise 2

The posted price is a suggestion. My counteroffer is a threat.

Cost: Passive
Effect: When buying or trading, pay one Cost Rating less than listed (minimum Cost Rating 1). When selling, receive one Cost Rating more than normal. You can also assess any item’s true value by examining it for 1 minute—the GM tells you its actual Cost Rating and whether it has hidden properties (modified, counterfeit, cursed).

Provisioner

Frontier 2, SAVVY 2

You pack light, but you pack right.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Carry 50% more supplies before being Encumbered. Rations, water, ammunition, and consumables you carry last 25% longer (round up—4 rations become 5 effective uses). When the party pools supplies, your contribution is always worth more than face value—the GM adds 1 extra unit to whatever you contribute.

Grit & Willpower

Hollow-Touched

ECHO 2, Resilience 2

You’ve stared into the Veil. It blinked first.

Cost: Passive
Effect: Immune to Fear Aura of Minion- and Soldier-tier Veil-Born creatures. Against Elite and Boss Fear effects, gain +2 Roll Bonus to your ECHO + Resilience check to resist. You can also sense when a Veil Breach is imminent—the GM warns you approximately 10 Ticks before a Tension Pool Rupture occurs.

Stubborn Bastard

GRIT 3

You’ve been told “no” by better than the Frontier.

Cost: 1 Mettle
Effect: Once per session, when you fail any non-combat check, immediately retry the same check at the same TN with no additional penalty. The second result stands regardless.
Special: If the retry also fails, take 1 Strain from frustration and physical exertion.
Limit: Once per session. Cannot be used on combat rolls.

Appendix: Talent Quick Reference

Psionic Talents by Rank

Rank	Cost	TN	Tempo	Risk Level
1	1 Strain	9	4	Low
2	2 Strain	11	5	Moderate
3	1 Erosion	13	6	High
4	2 Erosion	15	7	Severe
5	1 Memory	16	9	Catastrophic

XP Costs

Talent Type	Cost
Mundane Talent	4 XP
Psionic Rank 1–2	4 XP
Psionic Rank 3–4	6 XP
Psionic Rank 5	8 XP

Discipline Role Summary

Discipline	Focus	Key Stat	Primary Role	Secondary Role
Psy-Slinger	Firearm	QUICK	Damage (Ranged)	Anti-Armor
Mindweaver	Prism/Mirror	SWAY	Control / Social	Stealth
Seer	Cards/Dice	SAVVY	Scout / Support	Initiative
Flesh Shaper	Surgical Tools	GRIT	Healer	Tank (Self-Buff)
Bastion Soul	Iron/Stone	IRON	Tank (Protection)	Anti-Magic

All Psionic Talents by Discipline

Rank	Psy-Slinger	Mindweaver	Seer	Flesh Shaper	Bastion Soul
1	Ghost Bullet, Tracer Round, Steady Hand, Witch-Fire	The Nudge, Surface Read, Whisper	Glimpse, Omen Reading, Danger Sense	Knit Flesh, Pain Suppression, Diagnose	Kinetic Dampener, Null Touch, Iron Will
2	Ricochet, Thunder-Clap, Quick-Draw Hex	Veil of Silence, Fearmonger, Empathic Echo	Fatal Reading, Probability Spike, Shared Foresight	Adrenal Spike, Purge, Iron Skin	Grounding, Shield of the Anchor, Weight of Reality
3	Seeking Round, Veil-Sight, Impact Driver	Phantom Pain, Implant Sensation, Mind Link	Object Reading, Precognitive Dodge, Thread Sight	Boil Blood, Fleshcraft, Paralytic Touch	The Null Zone, Gravity Well, Siphon Power
4	Fan the Spirit, The Golden Gun	Puppet Strings, Mass Hysteria	Thread-Walker, Prophecy of Doom	Chimera Form, Life Leech	Reflect, Collapse the Weave
5	The Dead-Eye Waltz	Memory Hole	The Rewind	Resurrection	The Unmoving Mountain

Gunhand Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
The Law’s Weight	Force 2	1 Mettle	−2 dice to resist Intimidation
Bounty Hunter’s Eye	Awareness 2	Passive	Perfect recall; +2 tracking bounty
Gun Kata	Ballistics 3, QUICK 3	2 Mettle	QUICK + Ballistics as Defense
The Draw	Ballistics 2, QUICK 3	1 Mettle	Draw + Shoot in one action
Marked Man	Force 2, Ballistics 2	1 Mettle	+1 bonus & +1 dmg vs. declared target
Posse Leader	Force 2 or Persuasion 1, Ride 1	Passive	Hired NPCs +1 Morale & Initiative
The Stare	Force 3, IRON/SWAY 3	1 Mettle	Opposed Force: disarm, withdraw, or stun
Horseback Fury	Ride 2, Brawl/Melee 2	Passive	+4 Charge damage; attack during Charge
Veteran’s Sense	Awareness 3	Passive	Never Surprised; detect first lie/session
No Surrender	GRIT 2, Ballistics/Melee 2	Passive	Immune to Suppressed vs. target; Fear → Suppressed
Two-Barrel Justice	Ballistics 3	1 Mettle	Double WR shotgun blast at close range
Executioner’s Calm	GRIT 3, Ballistics/Melee 3	Passive	Recover 1 Mettle per kill (max 2/scene)

Muck-Raker Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
Unbreakable	GRIT 3	Passive	Ignore 1st environmental penalty level
Prospector’s Luck	Scrounge 2	Passive	+1 Cost Rating finds; detect minerals
Saboteur	Technical Skill 2	1 Mettle	−2 TN sabotage; find weak points
Breaker’s Swing	Melee 2, IRON 3	1 Mettle	−1 AR on hit (stacks); ×2 vs. objects
Mule’s Back	IRON 2, GRIT 2	Passive	×2 carry capacity; full Speed w/ Downed ally
Dig In	Athletics 2 or Labor 2	1 Mettle	Build Hard Cover (+4 TN, 10 HP)
Rock Sense	SAVVY 2, Frontier/Labor 1–2	Passive	Auto-detect structural instability & hazards
Workhorse	GRIT 3, Resilience 2	Passive	Free action on first Wound (1/scene)
Dynamite Arm	Ballistics 1, Demolitions 2	Passive	Far range throws; delayed fuse; ½ self-damage
Iron Constitution	GRIT 3, Resilience 3	Passive	+3 vs. Poison; immunity on resist; eat anything
Improvised Weaponry	Melee 2 or Brawl 2	Passive	+1 WR improvised; no penalty; free pickup
Union Man	Force 2 or Athletics 2	1 Mettle	+2/+3 Roll Bonus for coordinated attacks

High-Roller Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
Read the Room	Insight 2	1 Mettle	GM reveals NPC motivations & emotions
Silver Tongue	Persuasion 3	1 Mettle	Shift Disposition one step (1/target/scene)
Lucky Break	Gamble 2	1 Mettle	Reroll any roll after seeing result (1/scene)
Card Sharp	Finesse 2, Gamble 2	Passive	+3 card Gamble; undetected cheating
The Tell	Insight 3	Passive	Read intent after 1 round; +2 vs. target
Ace in the Hole	Finesse 2	1 Mettle	Concealed weapon Reaction attack (1/session)
False Face	Deceit 3	1 Mettle + props	+3 Deceit & +2 Persuasion in disguise
Loaded Dice	Gamble 3, SAVVY 3	2 Mettle	Auto-success Margin 3 on any roll (1/session)
Pocket Aces	Finesse 2, Streetwise 2	Passive	Know nearest exit; stash items; free escape
Debt Ledger	Insight 2, Persuasion 2	1 Mettle	Create & call in NPC debts (max 3 active)
Snake Oil	Deceit 2, Persuasion 2	1 Mettle	Sell junk at +2 Cost Rating; delayed discovery
The Long Game	Gamble 3, Insight 2	Passive	Cumulative +1 per success in Extended Checks (max +3)

Shepherd Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
Field Surgeon	Medicine 3	1 Mettle	+2 HP healed; field Grievous Wounds
Battlefield Triage	Medicine 2	Passive	Free HP assessment; +2 Initiative protecting wounded
Sermon of Steel	Persuasion 2 or Lore 2	1 Mettle	Allies +2 (+4 devout) vs. Fear for scene
Mercy’s Edge	Medicine 2	Passive	Deal Strain instead of HP; nonlethal KO
Triage Protocol	Medicine 2, SAVVY 3	Passive	Heal 2 adjacent targets; unlimited First Aid
Poison Doctor	Medicine 3, Lore 2	Passive	Auto-ID toxins; +3 treatment; brew poisons
Wound Reader	Medicine 2, Insight 2	1 Mettle	Forensic wound/corpse analysis
Plague Ward	Medicine 3, Frontier 2	Time + materials	Quarantine zone: no spread, +2 recovery (24h)
The Vigil	Resilience 2, ECHO 2	1 Mettle	Halt Bleed Out while maintained
Confessor	Insight 2, Persuasion 2	Time	Target recovers 1 Strain & +1 bonus (1/session)
Sanctified Ground	Lore 2, Resilience 2, ECHO 2	Salt + ritual	Anti-Veil zone: −2 dice Veil-Born; freeze Tension
Last Rites	Lore 2, Medicine 1	Salt + time	Prevent undead rising; settle soul; party −1 Strain

Rail-Jack Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
Ghost Fingers	Finesse 3	Passive	+2 lockpick/trap; silent; retry on fail
Trapsmith	Finesse 2, Demolitions 2	1 Mettle + mat.	Build alarm, nail bomb, or snare traps
Grease Monkey	Engineering 2 or Scrounge 2	Passive	+2 machines; auto-diagnose; extended Jury-Rig
Sapper	Demolitions 3	Passive	Shaped charges; no chain-detonate; breach vs. collapse
Rat Run	Athletics 2, QUICK 2	Passive	Fit through head-sized gaps; +2 escape; find alt routes
Dead Drop	Streetwise 2	Passive	Maintain dead drops; read faction messages
Wire Dancer	Athletics 3, QUICK 3	Passive	No fall on 6″+ surfaces; full climb Speed; ½ fall dmg
Shadow Work	Stealth 3	1 Mettle	Move at full Speed while hidden; vanish in crowds
Quick Fuse	Demolitions 2, QUICK 2	Passive	Tempo 3 explosives; safe Fumble on disarm
Consortium Codes	Streetwise 2, SAVVY 2	Passive	Read ciphers; know patrols; forge documents
The Getaway	Stealth 2, Athletics 2	1 Mettle	+3 Athletics/Stealth for 5 min; retrace route
Dead Man’s Switch	Demolitions 3, GRIT 2	Passive (setup)	Conditional detonation; −2 dice vs. Intimidation

General Combat Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
Dead Eye	Ballistics 2	1 Mettle	+2 damage on hit
Quick Reload	Ballistics 2	Passive	−2 Tempo to Reload
Fan the Hammer	Ballistics 3, Revolver	1 Mettle	Empty cylinder at one target
Duelist’s Instinct	Awareness 2	Passive	+2 Initiative; never Surprised
Hard to Kill	GRIT 3	Passive	Stabilize on death (1/session)
Second Wind	GRIT 2	2 Mettle	Heal GRIT HP (1/scene)
Brutal Strike	Melee/Brawl 2	1 Mettle	+3 damage + Stagger
Iron Guard	IRON 3	1 Mettle	−2 melee damage taken
Tactical Repositioning	SAVVY 3	1 Mettle	Free Shift when ally acts
Covering Fire	Ballistics 2	1 Mettle + ammo	Suppress an area
Signature Weapon	Combat Skill 2 + 1 week	Passive	+1 Roll Bonus; location sense
Steady Nerve	Ballistics 2, GRIT 2	Passive	Ignore Suppressed/Wounded on ranged
Trick Shot	Ballistics 3	1 Mettle	Half damage + guaranteed rider
Hip Shot	Ride 2, Ballistics 2	Passive	No mounted ranged penalty
Knife Fighter	Melee 2, QUICK 3	Passive	QUICK for light melee; no Exposed
Dirty Fighter	Brawl 2	1 Mettle	Blind, Stagger, or Disarm on hit
Grappler’s Dominance	Brawl 3, IRON 3	Passive	+2 grapple bonus; 1 dmg/turn
Whirlwind	Melee 3, IRON 3	2 Mettle	AoE melee, up to 4 targets (1/scene)
Vulture’s Patience	Awareness 2, Combat 2	Passive	+2 damage vs. Exposed targets
Born Survivor	GRIT 3, Resilience 2	Passive	+3 Ticks before Bleed Out; −2 TN stabilize
Stonewall	IRON 4, Resilience 2	1 Mettle	Immovable + 1 AR (no movement)
Shield Brother	IRON 3, Combat Skill 2	Passive	Reduce Intercept damage by IRON
Breakaway Artist	Athletics 2, QUICK 3	Passive	Tempo 3 Disengage; no free attack
Ambush Specialist	Stealth 2, Awareness 2	Passive	+2 from hidden; no Reactions allowed
Field Commander	SAVVY 3, Force/Persuasion 2	2 Mettle	Command 3 allies (1/scene)
Demolition Expert	Demolitions 2	Passive	+2 explosive damage; shaped blast
The Flinch	SAVVY 2, Combat Skill 2	Passive	Reduce damage by SAVVY (1/scene)
Powder and Iron	Ballistics 3, QUICK 3	1 Mettle	Dual-wield: 2 targets, 1 roll
Bloodied Fury	IRON 2, GRIT 2	Passive	+1 Roll Bonus & +1 damage while Wounded
Last Stand	GRIT 3, Combat Skill 2	1 Mettle	+1 Defense & extra Reaction when outnumbered

General Non-Combat Talents

Talent	Prerequisite	Cost	Key Effect
Wayfinder	Frontier 2	Passive	Can’t get lost; −2 TN navigation; find water
Trailblazer	Frontier 2, Athletics 2	Passive	+25% travel speed; auto-detect hazards
Salt Warden	Lore 2 or Frontier 2	1 Salt Pouch	Enhanced ward; −1 Tension; 1 Erosion recovery
Scavenger King	Scrounge 3	Passive	Find bonus loot; assess ruins
Beast Whisperer	Handling 2	1 Mettle	Read animals for intel; calm mounts
Reputation: The Name	Social Skill 3	Passive	+2 social bonus (Feared/Respected/Notorious)
Devil’s Bargain	Persuasion 2 or Deceit 2	1 Mettle	+3 bonus when offering a trade (1/scene)
Poker Face	GRIT 2, Deceit/Resilience 2	Passive	+3 vs. reads; +2 TN to detect lies
Frontier Hospitality	Persuasion 2, Frontier 2/Med 1	1 ration + time	Improve NPC Disposition one step
Debt Collector	Streetwise 2 or Insight 2	Passive (roll)	Call in a favor in new settlements
Veil Scholar	Lore 3	Passive	Learn 1 creature Trait; safe Grimoire reading
Old Tongue	Lore 2, ECHO 2	1 Strain	Read Pre-Rupture texts; 1 question/session
Mapmaker	SAVVY 2, Frontier/Lore 1	Passive	Create maps (+2 navigation); anti-shift
Folk Remedy	Medicine 1, Frontier 2	Passive	Daily gathering: antidote, salve, or reducer
Jury-Rigger	Engineering 2 or Scrounge 2	1 Mettle	Temp repair (1 scene); improvised ammo
Gunsmith	Engineering 2, Ballistics 1	Time + materials	Tune, Reinforce, or Customize firearms
Haggler	Persuasion 2 or Streetwise 2	Passive	±1 Cost Rating; assess true value
Provisioner	Frontier 2, SAVVY 2	Passive	+50% carry; supplies last 25% longer
Hollow-Touched	ECHO 2, Resilience 2	Passive	Immune to minor Fear; sense Ruptures
Stubborn Bastard	GRIT 3	1 Mettle	Retry failed non-combat check (1/session)

The Current Is Mastered. Now Face the Nightmare.

You’ve learned the Disciplines and honed your Talents. Now step behind the screen—the Marshal’s Almanac awaits.

Chapter 8: Managing the Nightmare →

← Previous Ch 6: Tearing the Veil Next → Ch 8: Managing the Nightmare