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Witchcraft: Difference between revisions
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''Witchcraft'' is an urban fantasy game set in a world like our own, but with an extensive [[Masquerade]] to mask the fact that just about every supernatural being and mythological figure exists (or has existed). The players take the part of the Gifted - humans who secretly wield the power of magic, psychic abilities, divine miracles, or other supernatural traits. For all of recorded history, the Gifted have kept their existence a secret, but now the world is threatened by an approaching [[The End of the World
The setting has a dark undertone, but it is far from hopeless. On the one hand, there are many conspiracies and supernatural entities that are trying to exploit or outright prey upon humanity, and most of the ones that don't won't bother getting involved unless it suits them. On the other hand, not only are there beings that genuinely want to help and protect humanity, but human potential is virtually infinite, and there are Gifted who can curbstomp uppity vampires, ghouls, ghosts, demons, angels, gods, freaky things from beyond, etc.
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** [[Angels, Devils, and Squid]] - The Heavenly Host, the Infernal Legion, and the Mad Gods.
* [[Cult]] - The setting has no shortage of these. They can be your garden variety mundane nutjobs, or they might be dedicated to black magic, demons, or the Mad Gods. Even better, the more fanatical Covenants view more than one of their fellow Covenants as dangerous cults.
* [[Cursed
* [[Dark Is Not Evil]] - Not only are there playable monster-heavy Covenants, they're actually ''nicer'' on average than many human ones. The House of Thanatos, for example, are an organization of [[Necromancer|Necromancers]] and [[The Undead|undead]] who want to be truly [[Immortal]]...and go about this by preserving the sanctity of the Death Realms and the living world from each other, busting up [[Eldritch Abomination|Mad God]] cults, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|generally being a social clubhouse]].
* [[Deal
* [[Determinator]] - Plenty of things are difficult to kill in this setting, but the grand prize probably goes to the Relentless Dead. Permanently offing one of ''them'' requires not only massive physical and spiritual damage, but specialized invocations or Necromancy powers on top of that.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]] - There are a bunch of them running around, most notably the [[Mad God|Mad Gods]] and those infected by their [[The Corruption|Taint]].
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* [[Limit Break]] - Magic functions like this in combat situations, as invocations can't be used until the magician has channeled enough Essence for the effect they want.
* [[Lovecraftian Superpower]] - The Disciples of the Flesh are Gifted who had [[Dark and Troubled Past|such a mangled childhood]] that it awoke their Gift in a way that allows them to reshape their bodies into grotesque living weapons. The [[Obviously Evil|expected morality]] of the Pariahs is subverted, however-for the most part, they just want to stop [[Complete Monster|the real monsters of the world]] from causing further suffering.
** An even more blatant example comes from humans who get infected by Taint from contact with the Mad Gods. One Covenant, the Mockers, is centered around humans who survive the experience and choose to fight the Mad Gods with their [[Cursed
* [[Magitek]] - Atlantean Arcana, which runs on Essence and can't be built by mundanes.
* [[Mana]] - Essence. (Or, more darkly, Taint.)
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* [[Point Build System]]
* [[Power Crystal]] - One category of Atlantean super-tech.
* [[Powered
** Ghosts with the Ghostsmith ability can forge permanent items that work in the Death Realms, at the cost of some permanent Essence. The most unfortunate Ghostsmiths get enslaved by more powerful ghosts, who force them to forge items constantly - and keep them in existence by feeding them the Essence of yet other ghost slaves.
** The Sadicas brand of black magic allows its users to hold much higher Essence pools than normal, but it can only be replenished by torturing other humans and stealing ''their'' Essence.
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* [[Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious]] - Any high-essence character not concealing their power with an essence shield looks like a delicious meal to many creatures.
* [[Supernatural Martial Arts]] - The Tao-Chi powers, although they fall more towards the [[Charles Atlas Superpower]] end of the scale than the ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' end. Alternately, you can just use the mundane Martial Arts skill you already have, augmented by bonuses from [[Kung Fu Wizard|Seer Powers, Divine Inspiration, Necromancy possession, and/or the Key of War]]. (No one ever accused this game of having a lack of options...)
* [[Touched
* [[The Undead]] - [[Phantasy Spelling|Vampyres]], Ghosts, Phantasms, the Relentless Dead... all of which are playable character types.
* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]] - Ferals (who aren't accursed) and the Disciples of the Flesh.
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Its [[Spin-Off]], ''Armageddon'', takes place in 2017, where the Reckoning is in full swing, and Germany is spearheading the takeover of the Earth on behalf of the extra-dimensional [[Cosmic Horror]]: Leviathan.
* [[The Alliance]] - [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Always Chaotic Evil]] - Justified: Developing a Mark Of Leviathan requires genuine loyalty to him, which pretty much means that the Marked are utterly evil, existing solely for the destruction of reality and the subjugation of mankind.
* [[America Saves the Day]] - America is the only country that has enough of its shit together to mount an effective counter to the Church of Revelations, with everyone either being conquered, collapsing internally due to ill-defined reasons, supporting the United States, or stuck in an extremely bloody stalemate.
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* [[Eldritch Abomination]] - Leviathan, of course.
* [[Council of Angels]] - It's revealed that the Seraphim of the Heavenly Host tend to fall on the [[Knight Templar]] spectrum, having done all sorts of things of questionable morality over the ages (though they are not all like this). When the Archangel Michelle finds out just how bad things are {{spoiler|(namely: that the Combine was originally the work of Gabriel)}}, she quits in disgust to found the Alliance and takes a non-insignificant number of Seraphim and Kerubim with her.
* [[Deal
* [[Deus Ex Machina]] - Considering the setting, a lot. Leviathan gives his worshippers what they want, but in a disturbing manner. Odin scatters the Church of Revelations' fleet to prevent the conquest of England and the Scandinavian Peninsula. And {{spoiler|Divine Intervention is implied to be why nuclear weapons don't work}}
* [[Divine Parentage]] - An Inheritor is the offspring of a mortal and one of the many deities out there.
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* [[Path of Inspiration]] - The Church of Revelations does not claim it's trying to end the world and corrupt everyone into mindless servants of an extra-dimensional Mad God, or at least it's being done for the benefit of mankind.
** [[Religion of Evil]] - Who are they kidding?
* [[The End of the World
* [[The Unmasqued World]]
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