New BNW Tricks

A Translator cannot normally do much with the language skills of another person, except to share his own knowledge (see Share Translation). However, canny Translators have figured out a way to use their own mastery of languages to good effect.

To use this Trick, the Translator makes a Smarts role as usual against a TN of 5. If an extra success is achieved, the Translator scrambles her own speech centers for a period of up to 24 hours. The Translator may end this effect at any time. While under the effects of this Trick until its expiration, the Translator cannot speak, understand, write or even think any comprehensible language. Although they can be forced to drop the effect, they cannot be forced to speak anything understandable, even inadvertently.

At first this may seem remarkably useless. However, a Translator under the effects of Babble is immune to persuasion: bluff, charm, interrogation, and any verbal form of seduction and taunt (the Guide can apply penalties for non-verbal forms of those two sub-skills). Anyone using the Skimming Trick, or any other Power or Trick that relies on understanding what the Translator is thinking, gains no benefit.

Another Translator may attempt to decipher the babblings of a Babbled Translator. In this case, they make a normal Smarts roll to translate, in an opposed roll against the roll the Babbling Translator made to scramble his speech centers. The Translator, if successful in understanding the "babbled" language, may then for example assist an Interrogator so that persuasion: interrogation could be used normally.

The "language" chosen each time the Translator scrambles his speech centers is totally random. She cannot "resuse" a previously Babbled language, and someone who has Translated a previous random language must start again to translate the new "language".

Share Vision (Watcher)

A Watcher can with great training pass on what they see to someone else. This Trick cannot be used with any other Watcher Trick, but only the base Delta Vision.

To use this Trick, the Watcher makes a Smarts roll as normal when activating the vision, and must be touching a willing participant. With an extra success, the sharing participant sees what the Watcher sees. This overrides whatever it is they would normally see, and this typically causes them to suffer a -3 penalty on all physical actions due to the differing viewpoint. This will not let the participant use a power that requires eye contact (such as Communicator). However, it will let the participant use powers that require line of sight (such as Snuffer).

The Watcher and participant must remain in physical contact. Remaining in physical contact in this manner typically imposes a -3 penalty on any physical actions the Watcher undertakes, due to the effort to remain in contact with the sharee. The penalty to the person sharing the vision is included in the above. If a Watcher has already made a roll to activate Delta Vision and subsequently wishes to "share" his vision with someone else, they must make a new roll.

Shape Ice (Freezer)

(created by Theo McGuckin)

This trick allows the Freezer to control the shape that the ice is formed into. With an extra success on the Spirit roll to freeze something, the ice can be shaped into virtually anything the Freezer wants (given enough water). Common items are bars (or whole cages) and weapons. For most physical objects, use the rules for ice shields when it come to durability. For weapons: they are not as sturdy as real weapons (to be, they would have to be incredily thick or heavy). Every time the weapon is used roll a d6 (open-ended) if you roll a 12 the weapon breaks. For every round after the first, add one to this roll. If the ambient temperature is above freezing, roll 2d6 and take the highest (very hot environments could call for 3 or more d6, Guide's call). Naturally you can't form complicated devices like guns, but swords and clubs are fair game.