Heroic Knack - Kali's Embrace, contributed by
Pete Sears
"I shouldn't be alive at all. I was without food and water for days and it
was freezing of course...but i wasn't without cards to play."
You have learned the secret of suspending the body's natural processes and appearing
to almost all tests to be nothing more than a corpse. You even appear dead to
mental probes and only certain types of super scientific devices might be able
to discern that you are still alive. this knack is most often used to play possum
but also has some use in order to survive inclement conditions until you can
be rescued (like locked in a sarcophagus underwater or trapped in an avalanche
or mine cave in).
System: This Knack come from assiduous study of one of three fields;
Martial Arts,Legerdemain,or Survival. The Daredevil puts himself into a cataleptic
trance which requires a certain amount of time to do. 5 Minutes requires a basic
skill roll, 5 turns requires 2 successes, 1 turn requires 4.
The daredevil appears to all current medical tests to be completely deceased.
His mind appears to be blank to Brain Skimming and his body appears to be cooling
to Aetheric Vision. While breathing is not completely ceased it is so shallow
as to be imperceptible. The Daredevil remains aware of everything that goes
on around him with the perceptual apparatus he has available to him. (If someone
throws a sheet over him or shuts his eyes, he's out of luck for sight.) The
body is effectively in a state of suspended animation and can only heal during
this time. (a positive boon to anyone who also possesses the knack Resilient.)
The time that a Daredevil can maintain this state is determined by his Reflective
Inspiration:
1) = 1 Scene
2) = 1 Hour
3) = Stamina x Hours
4) = 1 Day
5) = Stamina x Days
The Daredevil may return to full animation by rolling on his skill which takes
the same amount of time as entering the trance as above.
Example: The Amazing Bandini manages to cheat death by asphyxiation by
putting himself into a trance and making his roll. Since he's in a hurry before
the poison gas fills the chamber, he elects to move the process along and thus
requires 2 successes to go speedily down into that good night. Later when he's
unobserved, he restarts his heart and respiration and wakes up feeling refreshed.
Since he's in no hurry he only requires a basic skill roll. If however he heard
the sound of a coroner's bone saw, he might elect to go for 4 successes. (time
to spend some willpower.)
Botches on the roll usually mean that the Daredevil is trapped in the suspended
state for a time that would be four times as long as his Reflective inspiration
indicates. If Bandini botches his roll, it's just barely possible he could wake
up at his own funeral or even trapped in his coffin.
Prerequisite: The daredevil must have a 3 or better in Martial Arts,
Survival, or Legerdemain in order to perform this hard to learn and arcane knack.
