If you are using the spiritualist legacy for a LARP character, reference the merits on this page instead of the core spiritualist page. Though some merits are untouched, others are adjusted to better facilitate live-action play.
Player Assisted Spirits
Spiritualists rely on the interaction and negotiation with multiple, summoned characters. Unlike a companion creature, the spirits are fully separate entities from the player’s character. Spirits of Ranks 1 and 2 are easy enough to bribe or manipulate – animalistic with simple enough wants and desires that the spiritualist’s player can be trusted with interactions with them without the assistance from other players or a GM.
However, spirits of Ranks 3 and 4 are intelligent to negotiate back, and when a GM is unavailable another player may briefly roleplay as a summoned spirit. In these cases, the spiritualist’s player should tell the other player what type of spirit they are summoning (what the knack is), but the other player gets to decide the appearance and personality of that spirit within that knack’s purview. That all said, the following bullet points are here to guide player-spirit interactions and keep things simple:
- Summoned spirits appear only in the ephemeral realm and only rank 4 spirits can create a material form, though they generally won’t unless asked or provoked.
- Spirits only understand the world from the perspective of their knack, or resonance.
- Example: A tree spirit can see nature and fires, but can’t see or event talk about computers
- A spirit doesn’t have to barter – they can simply like or dislike a character – and they are not magically bound to their word automatically.
- Rank 3 Spirits preferred wants/needs for bartering:
- Medium Value: large sources of resonance, or regenerating sources of resonance
- High Value: Favors, actions that will explicitly expand resonance within the material realm for a decent duration (weeks or longer).
- Rank 4 Spirits preferred wants/needs for bartering:
- Medium Value: Favors
- High Value: An explicit long-lasting deal
- Rank 3 Spirits preferred wants/needs for bartering:
- The spiritualist should track any deals they make. If they don’t follow through on the deal, then their reputation will take a hit and other spirits may be less willing to deal with them
Fading Body Randomization
Whenever a spiritualist summons a spirit, part of the spiritualist’s body fades into the ethereal realm, losing tangibility until they rest (requires a lengthy task). To randomize which part fades, the player should pull two stones from their bag and consult this chart:
- Red Red: Leg
- Green Red: Arm
- Blue Red: Hand
- Blue Blue: Ear
- Green Blue: Finger
- Green Green: Toe
Merits
Merits represent the core characteristics, traits, gear, and companions that a character has at their disposal. Merits Tracks represent a form of character health, merits help make actions easier to perform, and many merits provide unique powers and abilities for a character to take advantage of.
Each legacy has 1 signature merit (underlined below), a powerful and complex merit that provides the core ability characters within that legacy are known for. Signature merits can be further enhanced with the meta merits of the same legacy, up to the number of Meta Slots the signature merit has (see the following list after regular Merits).
| Signature Merit | Effect | Track | Meta Slots |
| Third Eye | Spirit Vision: You can see any spirits or ephemeral landscape related to one of your spirit knacks. Spirit Communication: You can vocally talk to and be understood by spirits which you can see, should their concept allow them to understand your words. Spirit Summoning: You can take an action to summon a spirit by name or a rank 1, 2, 3, or 4 spirit related to one of your knacks. Rank 1 spirits do not cause the Fading Body disadvantage. |
2 | 1 |
| The invisible aura of a spiritualist’s third eye hovers over their forehead. | |||
| Spiritualist Merits | Effect | Track |
| Ephemeral Cloak | Spend an esoteric to merge a willing spirit into your body for the remainder of the scene, giving you direct control of the spirit’s influence. | 3 |
| A teal and transparent cloak that lightly drapes over your body, fluttering to an intangible wind. | ||
| Ectoplasmic Stabilizer | Mark to force a spirit or ephemeral object in the ephemeral realm to materialize in the physical realm for the remainder of the scene. | 4 |
| Iron rods with salted chains and glacial crystals | ||
| Awakening Salts | Create a rank 1 spirit within an object. The spirit gains resonance related to that object and becomes bound to it. Mark to increase the spirit’s rank by 1. | 3 |
| A jar of blackened, burned, once opalescent crystals. | ||
| Dampening Talismans | Your resonance and aura is hidden from spiritual senses. Under scrutiny, it may appear suspiciously absent. | 3 |
| A collection of metallic and paper talismans from multiple cultures which do nothing when separated, | ||
| Stepping Sideways | Turn ephemeral for up to a few seconds, existing within the ephemeral realm instead of the material one. While ephemeral, you can see everything within the ephemeral realm, regardless of your knacks. Spend an esoteric to make the duration indefinite until you release the effect. | 3 |
| A shabby pair of old, once ornately adorned boots. The tongue of the shoe contains a small compartment to siphon power from esoteric. | ||
| Spirit Bindings | Spend an esoteric to bind a spirit to a new location, item, or creature. The spirit may now feed off of the essence created from what they are bound to. Higher rank spirits may be able to change their own bindings. | 4 |
| A collection of cloth ribbons carefully crafted and haphazardly bundled together. | ||
| Ghost Gloves | You can touch spirits and ephemeral objects which you can see. Mark to manifest an ephemeral object for as long as you stay touching it. | 3 |
| A pair of hard leather gloves | ||
| Spectral Spectacles | You can see all spirits in the ephemeral plane, regardless of their resonance and your knacks. | 3 |
| A pair of copper glasses millimeters from being called goggles. | ||
META Merits
Meta Merits alter or enhance a legacy’s signature merit and automatically extend that merit’s track with their own. Meta merits are unique to their legacy and cannot enhance any merit other than the signature merit of the same legacy.
| Meta Spiritualist Merits | Effect | Track |
| Spiritual Connection | Spirits that you summoned and made a deal with can directly communicate with you, and vice versa, regardless of distance and for as long as the deal is not complete. | – |
| Fading Manifestation | You can help a willing spirit to manifest into the material realm by purposefully invoking your Fading Body disadvantage – fading a random part of your body. | – |
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Alternative Concepts
TBD