Jester

rulescharacter-creationmagical-traditions

• Races: Mostly human Glassians, but a handful of salamanders & harpies are also Jesters.
• Sex: Stereotyped as female, but approximately 50:50 split.

A clown is a warning. An excess of fear, of curiosity, of sloth, of disregard. Clowns are excessive. They warn through example.

Glass is a forbidden fantasy, a dance of light & color among the falling blade of civil war. Glass as a hidden kaleidoscope of spirits in the woods is the vision that the Jesters reveal. In Glass, the monster is in your house; in your drink; in your mind. In Glass, the monster is smiling, dancing, dressed in rainbow or in general’s ribbons, leading your children away — away to a fairies’ feast, or to the war — as the prize dish in either case!

O, to the Jesters you will walk when your body gives out! They know more than dance & song. Their shrines house graveyards for Man & beast alike. More than warn, they negotiate. A Jester teases the beast who’d eat you away from the thought. Color & light to speak to the spirits who’d never utter a word. Tricks & surprises are what keep you alive when you’re up against the woodlands. They are, at their best, every mythic trickster in a frail mortal shell, plastered with colored paints & covered under a smiling mask.

Tradition Feature

• Jester: You are a spirit-keeping clown, warning & advising the Commons of Glass through trickery & story. You love indirection, insight, trickery, aid, wisdom, & horror. You eschew direct violence, the elements, & the alteration of nature.
  • You are assumed neutral. You are welcome at all non-private social functions where invites are distributed provided that you do not act to harm anyone, up to & including distribution or malicious use of private information. This protection extends to all sacred shrine grounds & general hospitality.
  • If you violate your neutrality, your own internal guilt means exhausted SD cannot be restored until you persuade the victim to accept an offering in apology.
  • Your SD cannot exhaust while at a party, ball, play, funeral, or other social event or rite.

Backgrounds

Spells

To roll on the spell list, choose a number from 0 to 6 & add 1d6 to it. Pick the corresponding spell. If you get a spell you already possess, you may pick from all those on the list — you may select & receive a duplicate if desired.

1. Portable Pocket: Designated touched portal becomes a pitch-black pocket that can hold up to [Dice] × 1# in Weight for [Sum] hours without adding weight or bulk. Items that fit are still limited by the pocket’s lip. All items are abruptly expelled when the effect ends.
2. Candlejack: Place an illuminating light on a line-of-sight point within 30’. The light has a [Dice] × 10’ radius. Hostile entities within a mile who are noticed or mentioned by any illuminated characters (or their Players) are alerted to their presence. The effect lasts [Sum] hours.
3. Insight: See into someone’s spirit within your line of sight. What you learn depends on how high your [Dice] is:
   • 1 SD: Learn what their next course of action will be.
   • 2 SD: Also learn the most immediate reason for their taking that action.
   • 3 SD: Also learn the best way to solve a problem that’d change their mind.
4. Grease: Coat a [Sum] × 5’ square surface (or equivalent area) or [Sum] object(s) within 120’ in an ultra-slippery grease for [Sum] Rounds (or [Sum] × 10 seconds). Victims must Save or fall when moving over affected surfaces.
5. Paralyze Bird: [Sum] Power in target avian(s) within line-of-sight are stunned senseless. Harpies are valid targets. If used for hunting, produces [Sum] × 4 days of food for a human.
6. Laughing Fit: At 1 SD, make a jest funny to all in earshot. At 2+ SD, for [Dice] Rounds, up to [Sum] Power in targets are so busy laughing that they take [Dice] Damage for each Action taken (if any). Alternatively, add a +[Dice] bonus to relevant social Saves.
7. Last Laugh: Tell an extended 10-minute joke to a willing audience. Up to [Sum] Power in characters must Save or die from asphyxiation laughing. Characters of [Dice] Power or less don’t get a save.
8. Ventriloquism: For up to [Sum] minutes, project your voice to any point within line-of-sight. At 2+ SD, change it to any voice of the same species. At 3+ SD, project to any point in earshot & alter the voice to any sound you’ve heard before.
9. Divine Offering: Add a +[Dice] bonus to a Divination Save Save. You take [Dice] Damage.
10. Masquerade: Place a mask on a willing target. For [Sum] hours, the target is perceived as the social identity the mask represents — a specific person, type of official, spirit, etc. Observers treat the target as that identity & rationalize discrepancies unless given direct cause to doubt. At 3+ SD, the masker can perceive through the mask as if wearing it.
11. Rumor Mill: Whisper a single statement into a Settlement. Over [Dice] days, it becomes common knowledge among [Sum] × [Sum] unnamed people (up to the whole Settlement). The rumor’s source is unknown. At 2+ SD, you can target a specific social class or faction. At 3+ SD, the rumor is believed with the same weight as if it came from a trusted authority figure & it creates a Faction.
12. Stagehand: Conjure an invisible hand for [Sum] minutes that can manipulate objects within 30’. The hand can carry up to [Sum] × 1# in Weight, operate simple mechanisms (latches, levers, knobs), & perform any task a single human hand could do … poorly. In combat or while otherwise pressed for time, you must spend Actions on it as if using one of your own hands. At 2+ SD, the hand is dexterous enough to do anything a skilled hand could, including serving as a hand for making Strikes with. At 3+ SD, you can conjure [Dice] hands & gain a free Minor Action that can be spent on any hand(s)’ activities.