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Callings
When Nobles go through their first transformation (commonly known as "Blossom"), they discover themselves a Calling, representing the way they try to bring hope to the world. Callings define a Princess' vocation, but also the Charms she has affinities for and the way she can recover Wisps. Nobles in General
Tropes applying to all Princesses:
- Allergic to Evil: Thanks to Sensitivity, Princesses can suffer negative effects if they experience emotional turmoil; and because they're naturally empathic, witnessing cruelty always makes Sensitivity worse.
- Always Lawful Good: Averted. A person needs to be a paragon of virtue to become a Princess (or be the reincarnation of a Princess), but there's nothing stopping them from becoming a Fallen Hero later.
- Blessed with Suck: In itself, being an avatar of light and hope is a pretty good thing. Being so in a world where Evil has won and is all-powerful? Less so, especially when you are Allergic to Evil.
- Born-Again Immortality: With the exception of Stormites who die by Tempesta Charms, any Princess who dies will reincarnate later as a Beacon who will eventually Blossom into a new Princess, with vague memories of her past lives.
- The Chains of Commanding: A Princess risks her Karma Meter if another person does something bad while acting under her orders or following her example. Not all Princesses command anyone, but those who do have to take leadership seriously.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Thanks to Sensitivity, Princesses are hurt and revulsed by cruelty and misery, which in turn compels them to act against it and help the helpless.
- Clark Kenting: Enforced; thanks to a side effect of their transformation known as Dual Identity, a Princess' mundane and transformed forms appear to be two different people even if they have exactly the same face, making it nearly impossible to identify them. Even finding actual evidence of a Princess' identity requires a contested roll of Wits+Subterfuge against her to actually figure out the truth. This ability is effective enough that supernatural means of detection (such as a Werewolf's sense of smell) will still register the two forms as separate people. Keep in mind that the only guaranteed method to positively identify someone as a Princess is to witness their transformation with your own eyes.
- Clingy MacGuffin: Played with; it is technically possible for a Princess to lose her Phylactery or Regalia Charms, but should that happen, she can just destroy them from a distance by sheer force of will, then summon them back in her hand. She can also reshape them in a similar manner should they get destroyed in a different manner.
- Deflector Shields: Instead of a Healing Factor like most splats, all Princesses have the "Holy Shield" ability, which allows them to channel Wisps into this to downgrade damages inflicted to them- aggravated become lethal, lethal becomes bashing and bashing is cancelled.
- Dreaming of Things to Come / Dreaming of Times Gone By: All Princesses have the potential to experience prophecies or snatches of a past life in their dreams.
- Elemental Powers: Each Invocation is themed after a specific element, and grants access to Charms allowing to manipulate that element in some way.
- Emotional Powers: One of the primary difference between Princesses and Mages is that Noble magic works through emotions. Wisps are basically their emotions made into fuel, and their Charms are natural abilities they feel in order to use rather than spells they need to picture in their mind.
- Functional Magic: They have three different forms of magic:
- Charms, which essentially are spells granting their Transformed State various abilities, including new powers, magic weapons and equipment, or just enhancement of already existing skills. The Charms are divided into ten families (Appear, Bless, Connect, Fight, Govern, Inspire, Learn, Perfect, Restore and Shape), with each Calling having an affinity for three of them, and the basic Charms can be used by anyone, but higher-level ones require the mastery of specific Invocations to become available. In addition, with the proper ability and practice, Charms can be bound to physical objects in order to create Bequests;
- Invocations, which essentially draw powers from the Queens, and allow Princesses to boost their Charms (or use ones specific to their Queen) as long as they follow the Queens' philosophies. Some Charms also allow to use them to enhance specific mundane actions or attacks;
- Practical Magic, a very subtle form of magic allowing them to use Wisps to temporarily increase some of their skills and attributes (in earlier editions) or use a specific power matching their Queen's philosophy (in more recent versions). Unlike the previous two, this one isn't limited to their transformed state and can be used even in mundane form, but is available only to Princesses with a Court.
- Good Is Not Soft: Make no mistake; while Sensitivity theorically ensures Princesses shouldn't be able to act vicious or cruel (at least not without harming themselves), it has its limits; A Noble won't sympathize with the suffering of a sadist whose victim she just saved, and while many of them will go out of their way to save civilians and cure Darkened rather than kill them, they won't think twice about obliterating Darkspawns or enemies who clearly are irredeemable. They did not survive the Fall of the Kingdom and the setting they are in by acting like Care Bears.
- Henshin Hero: Every Princess has the ability to transform into an idealized, magical version of herself. Their transformed form comes with improved attributes and skills, as well as the ability to use spells known as Charms and boost them with Invocations.
- Heroic Second Wind: Can be Invoked; a Princess who is low on Wisps and in a dangerous situation can use an ability called Inner Strength to draw power from their very determination and regain Wisps on the spot. In term of gameplay, she rolls her Belief and regain a number of Wisps equal to Inner Light+ the number of success, and gain the 9-Again quality if she delivers a speech asserting her Belief in the process.
- Hope Bringer: Any Princess is supposed to be this by default; this literally is how they regain Wisps.
- It Never Gets Any Easier: Thanks to Sensitivity, Princesses can never truly get comfortable with all the horrible things they witness or sometimes have to do themselves. In fact, it tends to get harder as they grow in power.
- Karma Meter: A Princess's Karma Meter is Belief, representing her optimism, will to make the world better, and determination to stick to her principles.
- Light Is Good: Princesses draw their powers from the Light, which is essentially a force made of hope and everything good in the Universe. This doesn't make them Always Lawful Good however, as demonstrated by the Twilight Queens.
- Magical Girl: They are explicitly designed to follow the archetype in every aspect; girls with the ability to transform into a superheroic version of themselves, using magic based on love, friendship and good to fight the forces of evil. There are some twists to adapt it to the setting however; for example, they are not required to be female, and some of them are adults rather than children.
- Mana: A Princess's powers are fueled by Wisps, fragments of refined emotional strength.
- Mana Shield: In a way similar to a Sin-Eater, a Princess can expend a wisp to degrade incoming damage by one tier of severity, by way of magical Deflector Shields.
- Nature Versus Nurture: Princesses have the same nature every time they reincarnate but naturally have different nurtures. However this doesn't stop them regaining their powers, as it takes far less to make a reincarnated Princess Blossom.
- Not Using the "Z" Word: In-universe, they refer to themselves as "Princesses", "Nobles" or "the Hopeful" rather than Magical Girls.
- Puberty Superpower: Downplayed; most Princesses Blossom when they become teenagers, but this is merely because Blossoming happens in a period of big change, which puberty is a good example of. Technically speaking, it is just as possible for a Princess to Blossom as an adult or a young child, as long as they go through some life-changing event.
- Secret Identity: Since it's all too easy for the Darkness to send its minions after their loved ones, Princesses are careful about hiding their real identity.
- Super Mode: In addition to the two forms (Mundane and Transformed) all Princesses have, each Invocation includes an "Avatar Charm", which allows its user to go through a second transformation where she becomes an incarnation of the matching Queen's philosophy. The exact power this grants varies according to the Invocation, but it's always one of the most powerful Charms.
- Transformation Trinket: Well, this is a Magical Girl game, so this is a given. Each Princess has a "Phylactery", a physical representation of the power sealed inside her that manifests after her Blossoming, and is required in order to transform. It usually takes the form of a small object, but aside from that, it can be pretty much anything (including something embarrassing to the owner, much to their dismay).
- White Magic: Princesses draw their power from the Light, replenish Wisps by making the world a better place or spending time with friends, and have moral codes tied to their powers.
Champions
"Be strong for the weak."
Champions are those who stand up and defend those who are weaker than themselves. They are the heroes, the dragon slayers. As such, they have a natural affinity for charms involved combat, as well as those that strengthen themselves and others and grant abilities. They start with an extra dot of Strength or Resolve while out of mundane form.
- Action Girl: The most likely Calling to fit this trope; Champions are reincarnations of heroes and warriors, so they tend to have the most physical prowess and fighting skills out of all the Nobles.
- As Lethal as It Needs to Be: Most weapons provided by their Fight Charms can switch between inflicting lethal or bashing damages as an instant action, allowing their user to rely on lethal force only if needed.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: The weapons and martial abilities granted by their Fight Charms are explicitly stated to be compatible with any Fighting Style merit; for exemple, it's entirely possible for a Princess who knows Kung Fu to combine it with Empty Hands, for a sniper to put her training to use when manipulating a wand granted by Levinbolt. The rules also say the shape of the weapon doesn't matter, a Princess magical weapon counts as a single chosen mundane weapon for determining what training is useful. A Princess could use knife fighting techniques with an enormous war hammer
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: They are all about helping and protecting people who are weak or otherwise helpless, and their very first oath is to never abandon those who need them. They can in fact literally regain magic from acting like this, even if the help only consisted in doing a chore for a neighbour.
- Combat Medic: An optional rule in Vocation allows a Champion to swap out Bless for any other charm tree, allowing a Champion to more easily purchase Restore charms. In fact one of the rulebooks examples involves someone trying to play like a paladin by doing exactly this.
- Cute Bruiser: All Princesses could technically fit this trope, but Champions in particular tend to enjoy physical accomplishment for its own sake, and frequently include people more likely to be physically strong, like athletes or brawlers.
- The Determinator: They can start with a bonus dot in Resolve, and their Third Oath insist they must never back down from a challenge or accept defeat; if they can't win at something, they are expected to train until they can.
- Dumb Muscle: Subverted; the rulebook mentions that Champions are frequently perceived as simple-minded or naturally violent because of their emphasis on physical strength, but also clarifies this is a misconception, and they just prefer to look for direct solutions first; if they can't find a physical solution to a problem, they will break the situation down until they can.
- The Fettered: Champions are expected to swear loyalty to some cause that tells them when they're allowed to fight. What code isn't as important, and they're free to switch.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: A Champion with the Empty Hands Charms and either a good brawling skill or a fighting style merit (or both) can combine her magic with with her fists against her opponents.
- Loyal Phlebotinum: The weapons summoned by Fight Charms can only be used properly by their owners- anyone else trying to use them will suffer a penalty in Initiative and need a Strength of 3+Inner Light in order to even wield them.
- Magical Girl Warrior: Explicitly inspired by the trope, being the most fight-oriented Princesses.
- Magic Knight: The Kensai Charm allows them to have a melee weapon, allowing them to use a combination of magic and swordmanship to fight.
- The Paladin: They fit a lot of the elements associated with the archetype; aside from the fact they draw their powers from the Light, the Charms they have affinities are focused on both improving their fighting abilities and blessing others to reinforce them. The only part they are missing is the healing powers. (Which they can easily have anyway, they just won't get the experience discount for affinity)
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: The Fight Charms Kensai, Levinbolt, and in Dream, Javelot and in Vocation Palladion all are Charms granting the user a weapon she can summon at any time.
- Super-Strength: They can begin with one dot of Transformed Attribute in Strength, meaning even a starting Champion can have an above-average strength in her Transformed State.
- We Help the Helpless: Champions regain Wisps by helping someone do a task that they cannot do themselves, or by protecting the innocent.
Graces
"Be the light for the world."
Graces are the messengers of Hope. They seek guide others to confront their own fears and doubts so that they may better serve the light. They have a natural affinity for charms which grant special abilities, as well as those which affect personal relationships and allow the princess to recognize counter supernatural influences. More often than not, they tend to be leaders among any group of Nobility. They start with an extra dot of Presence or Composure while out of mundane form.
- The Face: Usually their primary function in a Nakama; Grace tend to be social-oriented, and thus the best at talking things out.
- Guile Hero: Obviously their area of expertise, though minus the manipulative aspect as mentioned below. They still nail the "charm, wit political acumen and in-depth knowledge of human nature" part.
- The Leader: Usually end up the ones leading groups of Nobles, since they tend to have the best mindset for leadership. They are more likely to fit the Charismatic type, but there are enough options to make them fit any type.
- Magnetic Hero: They can get a bonus in Presence to represent their charisma, and many of their Connect Charms allow them to appear more likable and sympathetic to other people. This aspect of them is best illustrated by their stereotype toward Werewolves:"I might never know loyalty like you, but your pack has five. In a week I could make fifty friends."
- Manipulative Bastard: Defied; Their oaths clearly prohibit this, with the first one forbidding blackmail, threats or Mind Control (the last one in particular is a big no no) and the third one stating they should be "honest, not manipulative".
- The Paragon: The Graces exist to show other people (mortal and Hopeful) the way to be heroes in their own right.
- The Social Expert: Their signature Charms, Connect, grant them an increased ability to deal with relationships between people.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Graces can restore their magic by fulfilling the duties of a social office, and they have an oath forbidding lies and manipulation. Many of them tend to be politicians, trying to get in positions of authority so they can work to make things better from there.
- Rousing Speech: Judging by some stereotypes from the other Callings, Graces have a reputation of trying to motivate people around them with big speeches. Many of the Charms they specialize into involves inspiring people to act by using the right words.
- Semantic Superpower: Their signature Charms, Connect, are defined as the ability to create and sever connections between things. This ranges from merely developping connection with organizations, people and animals, to connecting two persons' minds telepathically, to connecting events in order to create a chain reaction. A Specchio Charm even allows to connect two mirrors together to use them as portals.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: They have an affinity for the Govern Charms, which grant the ability to sense and influence supernatural forces in general.
- Support Party Member: While they can learn offensive Charms, Graces' affinities primarily are oriented toward supporting their allies, be it by buffing them with Bless Charms, gathering and organizing allies using Connects Charms and social skills, or sensing supernatural forces and building Sanctuaries with Govern.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: Graces are expected to be beacons of honesty.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: One of the ways Graces can recover their magic is by convincing people to act on their positive impulses. This can be anything from Spitting It Out to a crush to kicking a drug habit.
Menders
"Save those who cannot save themselves."
Menders seek to aide others who are suffering physically or spiritually. The posses affinity for charms that can mend and heal living and non-living things, as well as those that can grant abilities and shape materials. They start with an extra dot of Intelligence or Stamina while out of mundane form.
- Actual Pacifist: A Mender's Third Oath binds her to do no harm to anyone other than Darkspawn. Even in cases of defense of self or others, their magic should let them resolve fights without causing harm.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: In a different way than Champions, but a Mender is required by her first Oath to heal anyone who asks for their help. And their third Oath insists they must help even those who don't want their help.
- Combat Medic: While nowhere near as combat-oriented as Champions, Menders do have an affinity for the Perfect Charms, which can grant, among other things, armors, resilience to the elements, superhuman agility, Super-Speed, Size-Shifting (including the Super-Strength that a gigantic size would imply) and the ability to shapeshift into animals. Meanwhile their affinity for Shape Charms gives them powerful shields and the ability to reshape the battlefield to their advantage. If properly built, a Mender can prove a force to be reckoned with. Alternatively, an optional rule in Vocation allows a Mender to swap out Perfect for Fight, reducing their potential tankiness for offence.
- Good Is Not Dumb: As noted above, their first Oath states they have to heal anyone who asks for their help, no matter what. Said oath, however, also clarifies that if the one seeking their help is a potentially dangerous creature, they are allowed to take precautions to protect themselves and their friends should this backfire, and they don't have to provide aid in the exact manner requested.
- Healing Hands: Their signature Charms, Restore, which allows them to heal wounds, cure the sicks and fix objects. Most notably, Balm allows them to literally heal wounds just touching the injured. Regenerate even allows them to cause limbs to regrow.
- Inconvenient Hippocratic Oath: Their first and third oaths obligate them to helping anyone who needs it, regardless of who the person is, if that person want's their help, or rather it would put the mender in danger. It doesn't matter what their original mission was or how inconvenient the oath, they cannot ignore someone's pain!
- They also earn bonus points for their second oath being the in-universe inspiration for the original Hippocratic oath
- The Medic: One of the three roles they are the most likely to fill, since their Signature Charms include a lot of healing spells, and the very first oath of their Calling insists they must heal whoever is in need.
- Mr. Fixit: Another role they lend themselves to; Several Restore Charms allow them to repair non-living objects, and the Shape Charms (see below) allow them to create the materials they need.
- The Power of Creation: They have an affinity for Shape Charms, which allow them to shape materials at will or make things out of nothing.
- Semantic Superpower: The Restore Charm is defined as the ability to fix things. This includes both fixing living beings, thus giving them the ability to heal them, and fixing devices or machines, making them fit to repair broken objects as well.
- The Shrink: A third role they lend themselves to, seeing how they are dedicated to heal both physical and mental wounds. Menders of Heart, in particular, are noted to frequently be counselors and therapists rather than doctors or nurses.
- Team Mom: They are frequently motherly, overprotective and tend to display great maturity.
- White Mage: Menders have an affinity for charms that heal, repair, and protect, and their Third Oath binds them to do no harm to anyone other than Darkspawn.
Seekers
"Remember for those who forget."
Detectives, scientists and scholars, seekers are those driven to discover truth and knowledge. They are skilled in charms that allow them to gain knowledge, recognize and counter supernatural influences, and craft illusions. They start with an extra dot of Wits or Dexterity while out of mundane form.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Archeology is explicitly listed as one of the roles they can have, and given the world they live in, it will definitely be dangerous.
- Badass Bookworm: They usually are the kind of people to like libraries and enjoy every bit of knowledge they can find. They also happen to be Princesses.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: Of sorts. Their First Oath prevent lying for your own benefit. It does allow not telling the truth about supernatural to people who aren't ready to hear it, however.
- The Empath: One of the many visions their Learn Charms include is the ability to sense someone's emotions. Passion's Light, in particular, grants them an Aura Vision allowing them to perceive which emotions are the strongest in someone at the moment.
- Guile Hero: Some of them can fill this role, using deception to befuddle their enemies and unearth hidden things.
- Great Detective: Another role they can fill is detective work. Specifically, given that they are magical girls, they fit Occult Detective. A lot of their abilities involve collecting information about objects or people (they can, as an example, find out personal information about people by just touching their skin), giving them an edge when it comes to investigation.
- Master of Illusion: They have a affinity for Appear Charms, which grant them the ability to cast illusions. A frequent use of this ability is to alter or conceal their features.
- Science Hero: Well, they are focused on learning and knowledge, which does include science. Their ranks are mentioned to include a lot of scientists.
- Seeker Archetype: Naturally, they are obsessed with uncovering the mysteries of the world and increasing their understanding of it.
- The Smart Guy: The most likely role they are to fit in a Nobility group; they are focused on knowledge, after all.
- The Spymaster: Another role they are pretty good at, especially in the more military-oriented Courts or Tears and Storms; Between their ability to produce illusions or disguise themselves, their multiple Stat O Visions allowing them to learn almost anything, and their natural inclination toward finding and delivering new information, they make perfect spies and scouts.
- Stat-O-Vision: Thanks to their combined access to Govern and Learn, they have access to almost all the different visions Charms can provide.
- Super-Intelligence: Their signature Charms, Learn, grant them abilities based on this. Said abilities include increased sense of observation, or the ability to assimilate knowledge from an entire library in a matter of minutes.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: They have an affinity for the Reflected Light and A Magical Girl's Eyes Charm, which both grant them the ability to sense the supernatural.
- True Sight: The "A Magical Girl's Eyes" Charm grants them the ability to see magic through their eyes.
Troubadours
"Be inspired by the silent."
Troubadours are artists and performers, seeking to bring joy and enlightenment through their works. They have an affinity for charms of illusion as well as those that arouse emotions and shape materials. They start with an extra dot of Presence or Dexterity while out of mundane form.
- Admiring the Abomination: Their stereotype towards the leviathans.That's just horrible, and maybe just a little bit beautiful. Wait! What am I saying?!
- Art Attacker: All Troubadours are artists of some kind, so the more combat-oriented ones will usually use their creations as a mean to fight opponents. By combining "Living Image" with the right Charm, they can literally create a piece of art that make Darkspawns feel so bad they explode.
- The Bard: Troubadours are artists, which covers storytellers and poets. They are in no way limited to this, though.
- Beginner's Luck: Some of the Inspire Charms (one being actually named after the trope) allow them to grant this to others, either giving bonus or removing penalties to a character for doing something she hasn't even done before.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: The rulebook mentions Troubadours are frequently perceived by most people as "people with their head in the cloud".
- Fun Personified: Above everything, Troubadours like to bring joy and fun to others.To Seekers: Do you remember your teacher's lecture on the states and their capitals? No? Do you remember that song from Animaniacs? Yeah, it's like that.
- Hunter of Monsters: One of their highest-level Inspire charms allows them to turn a vanilla mortal (or an entire group with good rolls) into a Hunter. After 24 hours, the new Hunter may choose to either keep the template or allow it to fade, leaving only pleasant memories and some very good stories to tell down the line.
- Magic Music/Magic Dance: A lot of Inspire charms require that the Princess put on a performance of some kind (sing a song, do a dance, recite poetry, etc) as part of the Charm.
- Magic Idol Singer: Any Princess that fits the trope is probably a Troubadour.
- Master of Illusion/Master of Disguise: Along with the Seekers, they have an affinity for Appear Charms to reflect their skills for acting and disguise.
- Music for Courage: A lot of the Inspire Charms, such as Rousing Song of Heroism, are built around inspiring and encouraging people through music and songs.
- No Social Skills: Frequently their weakness; Troubadours tend to be so lost in their art and symbolism and as a result have a hard time understanding other people's impatience with their "hobbies".
- Plucky Comic Relief: The most likely Calling to fit that role. They are artists with frequently eccentric tendencies trying to uplift people, and some of them like to do that by cracking jokes.
- The Power of Creation: Fittingly considering they usually are artists, they have access to the Shape Charms.
- Quirky Bard: Averted. Troubadours have access to the Appear Charms and the Shape Charms (the latter covering one of the strongest shields in the game), and their Inspire Charms grant them control over emotions. They are far from being useless.
- Saving the World With Art: Quite literally their mission statement.
- Shout-Out: Their signature Inspire charms are usually named after songs.
- The Storyteller: A role they can frequently fit; telling stories is a form of art, and many of them are the reincarnation of bards and storytellers.
Allies of the Hopeful
Nobles are gifted with strong magic, but they cannot make changes for the better by their hands alone. They have friends the Beacons, people who have yet to Blossom, the Sworn who've given fealty to a Queen, and Shikigami who mentor them. Even the Tears and Storms have their own allies: the former has the impossibly made Ghost Princesses and the structure of Alhambra to guide them, and Storms has armies of Stormwracked and Goalenu to aid them. Beacons
Some mortals, referred to as Beacons, are sufficiently optimistic and kind to get the Light radiating inside them, granting them a small amount of magical power. Usually this isn't much, and they are indistinguishable from mortals aside from the fact they are exceptionally nice and pleasant to be around; in fact, many spend their entire life unaware of their supernatural potential. When given the opportunity to learn about it however, they can use them to travel to the Dreamlands and use Bequests. Many of them end up Blossoming and becoming Nobles.
- Cheerful Child / Nice Guy: What makes a Beacon. They are essentially people with such a strong sense of hope, morality and idealism that it radiates outwards from them and qualifies as supernatural potential.
- Down the Rabbit Hole: The opening fiction alludes to this plot. Any Beacon who discovers his ability to travel in the Dreamlands is very likely to find himself living this trope, finding himself suddenly in a strange, magic land.
- Hope Bringer: Their sole presence inspires people around them to make the best of themselves.
- I Am Who?: Princesses who reincarnate start their new life as a Beacon without memories of their past, so it's not uncommon for Beacons to suddenly Blossom at some point in their life and discover they are Nobles.
- Magical Accessory: Since Beacons don't transform and lack Practical Magic or the ability to use Charms naturally, the sources of power they are the most likely to use are "Bequest", magical artifacts created by Princesses or originating from the Dreamlands which grant the ability to cast a Charm to their owner.
- Magnetic Hero: Because of their nice and caring nature, they tend to be well-liked by people and make a lot of friends. Gameplay-wise, they get additional dots of Social Merits to reflect this.
Sworn
Experienced Princesses learn that they cannot save the world on their own, but powerful Princesses can grant a small amount of magical power to regular people. While lacking the ability to use Charms or transform, they do have Wisps and access to Invocations, allowing them to use Practical Magic and Bequests.
- The Atoner: Invoked by some Princesses, who willingly turn a bad or misguided person into a Sworn. Since Sworns are affected by Sensitivity the same way Princesses are, this can cause them to realize the truth of their actions, and as such redeem them. It rarely happens however, since one cannot be made a Sworn without giving full and informed consent. It can work on a Knight Templar or Well-Intentioned Extremist since these people want to do good. The notes on one of the sample Darkened, a twisted vigilante who wants to be a superhero, suggests offering them Sworn status instead so that they can have superpowers that will not eat their soul.
- Badass Army: Both the Courts of Storms and Tears mass-produce Sworn as foot soldiers, leading to armies of Superpowered Mooks.
- Bargain with Heaven: Turning a mortal into a Sworn is one for the mortal in question; the would-be Sworn must be made fully aware of the consequences and give his consent. And aside from acquiring Sensitivity and the Oathbound Power aspect, there isn't any real drawback.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Defied; it's common for Princesses to turn a friend who's jealous of their powers into a Sworn as a mean to prevent the envy from damaging the friendship.
- Living Emotional Crutch: The Sworn in the fiction for the Sworn segment acts as an emotional crutch for her Noble big sister rather than working more directly with her.
- Magical Accessory: Like Beacons, Sworns usually make up for their lack of Charms by using Bequests. Unlike them however, they can use Invocations to empower them, and do have access to Wisp and Practical Magic, so they aren't exactly powerless without them.
- Oathbound Power: A variant. Unlike Princesses, Sworn don't have an Inner Light, so they instead draw power from the Queen they have sworn allegiance to. As a result, their powers grow stronger when they act according to their Queen's philosophy, and weaken when they act against it. To reflect this, they have access to Invocations and a Wisp pool equal to their integrity and follow the usual rules regarding Invocations.
- Sidekick: The most common role Sworn play; usually, a Princess will make a friend or family member her Sworn either as a way to make them capable of assisting in a fight, to avoid them being jealous or to give them the ability to defend themselves should the forces of Darkness target them.
- Super-Empowering: How they are created; Princesses powerful enough can witness a mortal swearing loyalty to their Queen and grant him a small portion of their powers in exchange.
Shikigami
Princesses have the ability to bind beings from the Dreamlands into dolls, plushies, or small animals. They mostly do this to recruit advisors from the inhabitants of the old Kingdom still hanging around the dreamlands.
- Bargain with Heaven: A different kind than Sworns in that the Princess takes the role of the mortal while the Shikigami serves as the otherworldly entity. Through becoming Shikigami, the Dreamlanders get access to a body and thus allowing them to act in the physical world, and can draw power from Princesses to use Charms and Practical Magic; meanwhile, Princesses can benefit of their guidance as Dreamlands experts, their magic abilities, and, in the case of more combat-oriented Dreamlanders, their fighting skills.
- Fingerless Hands: Shikigami are able to manipulate objects appropriate to their size as though they had hands regardless of the lack thereof.
- Mentor Mascot: Explicitly designed to fulfill this trope. They are Dreamlanders whose soul is bound to a doll or a plushy, allowing them to interact with the real world in exchange for serving as allies to the Princess and assisting them with their experience.
- Mythology Gag: The first Shikigami were animals but newer ones are more likely to be living dolls or plushies. In universe the reason is that possessing an animal and stealing it's body was considered unethical but a necessary evil until there were enough Princesses to bind Shikigami to an unliving body. Out of universe it reflects the progression of the Mentor Mascot trope from the ordinary cats in Sailor Moon to the weirder creatures in later works.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Rare, but technically possible; Shikigami can pack human strength in their doll-sized body, but they need to pay extra for it.
- Seers: to a lesser extent. Thanks to their connection to the Dreamlands, they automatically start with the White Rabbit Merit, which allows them to get vision in their dreams to guide them.
- Super Mode: Like Princesses, Shikigami have the ability to transform, which in their case represents manifesting in the form they would have in the Dreamlands. What their transformation does is up to the player, but it's entirely possible to have them transform into a taller, more combat-oriented form.
- Sweet Tooth: As a side effect of their arrival to the real world, Dreamlanders who become Shikigami tend to develop small harmless vices, with a taste for sweet and candies being among the most common.
Factions and Groups associated with the Twilight Courts
Alhambra
In the age of the Kingdom, Alhambra was the sea-side capital of the province of Calat, ruled by the noble Queen of Cups. When darkness rose to devour the kingdom, the Queen saw the tide turn against the forces of the Radiant, and chose to abandon her allies to save what little she could. Drawing upon her vast powers, the Queen of Cups sealed her capital inside a bubble and cast it, herself and all of her remaining followers into the dark realm, where they would hide under the noses of the Kingdom's victorious enemies for millennia.
Today, Alhambra is a cold and solemn place. Convinced that they are all that truly remains of the Kingdom, the people of the Last City have become deeply obsessed with the history, traditions and norms of their lost homeland, to the point of becoming insular and wretchedly stagnant. Many of the city's inhabitants are themselves part of that ancient history - whether by choice or inability, a great many Alhambrans do not pass on after death, lingering in the city as ghosts venerated by their descendants.
To hold the ever-encroaching darkness at bay and prevent deadly incursions from darkspawn, Alhambra relies upon special lanterns fueled by solidified, smelted wisps to illuminate its maze-like streets. The Court of Tears mounts regular forays into the realm of light to harvest wisps, siphoning away the hopes and dreams of humanity to sustain the half-forgotten past for just a little while longer.
- Alien Geometries: Alhambra is contained entirely within a solid bubble, nearly six miles in diameter, somewhere within the Dark World. The interior surface of the bubble is coated with an apparently-bottomless lake of water, and a multitude of overlapping buildings constructed upon what little dry land is available.
- Alternative Calendar: Alhambra uses an ancient calendar system that was supposedly invented in the later days of the Kingdom. It is basically lunisolar, with twelve months of alternating thirty and twenty-nine days in a normal year; 123 years out of 334, a thirteenth month of thirty days is added to keep the start of the year on the first new moon after the spring equinox. This calendar would be quite accurate, if Alhambra counted the months in Earth’s days; unfortunately the "day" of the calendar is based on the cycle of the rains, so the calendar drifts out of sync with the real world by more than two days each year.
- Big Anime Eyes: After generations living in a City Noir Alhambrans have developed larger eyes (along with smaller noses to help with the damp). The author has said the live action Alita (if she were pailer) would be a good example of an Alhambran.
- City of Hats: Alhambra's hat is depression. Not every charachter is actually depressed, but most aspects of Alhambra from its cultural stagnation to its weather are metaphors for depression.
- City Noir: The interior of the bubble consists of a large island upon a lake, but you'd never be able to tell because every exposed inch of rock has been built over, creating a maze of shadowy streets and alleys. This combines with the natural darkness of the bubble, the fact that it rains near-constantly, and the institutional depression of its ruler and her subjects.
- Darkness Equals Death: The reason the wisp-lamps were created, and why the Court of Tears is so desperate to maintain them - Any sufficient level of darkness in Alhambra corrodes things within it like an acid (which includes both architecture and people), and eventually manifests darkspawn if left unchecked. Alhambra is constantly patrolled by lamp-lighters who make damn sure the streets stay well-lit.
- Excessive Mourning: It's a staple of Alhambra's culture. They constantly mourn the loss of the Kingdom. It starts to go into neglect in that their society has become so static that they refuse to change their ways even if better options come forth.
- The Gadfly: The Order of the Ghost Owl has several of these; their job is to jab and provoke members of the Court of Tears, assessing their composure and making note of anyone who seems too impulsive or irrational. Those who fail this Secret Test of Character are quickly stripped of their status or demoted, as anyone deemed too easily-swayed by their emotions is considered easy prey for the temptations of the All-Consuming Darkness or the luxuries of the outside world.
- Gilded Cage: While Alhambrans have a rather unflattering opinion of the Radiant Queens' philosophies, they still see individual Princesses as people to flatter and potentially recruit, so Radiant Nobles who visit Alhambra are likely to be respected and treated better than the average citizen as long as they obey the law. However, they also have a policy of not permitting them to leave the city until they have demonstrated loyalty, which they justify as being "for their own safety", so getting out might be a bit troublesome. Though since they're also big on honoring deals, it is possible to get around that issue by agreeing to visit the city only if you are permitted to leave at the time of your choosing.
- Grey Rain of Depression: Alhambra has this so often, and on such a punctual schedule, that it's actually replaced the locals' perception of a day-night cycle. According to them, the rain is the result of the Queen of Tears' endless depression and grief, and it even has the same taste and consistency of human tears.
- Hidden Elf Village: Alhambra is the only physical remainder of the ancient Kingdom, its ruler is the only living Queen left, its people still speak a decayed form of the Royal Tongue and studiously maintain the old culture... and its all hidden away in the Dark World, where few people will ever be able to find it without help.
- Unwinnable by Design: In Dream, Alhambra's foundations are enchanted by the Queen of Tears to resist any magical intrusion. Anyone attempting to use non-Lacrima or non-Darkness magic to infiltrate the city from outside has to surpass the successes the Queen rolled when she first created Alhambra. The number of successes she got, and the relevant skills/attributes, are not described - the book simply says "do not bother rolling, just assume the Queen wins". The defenses are also immune to Loophole Abuse. For example, while it is possible in theory to trick them into thinking a non-Lacrima charm is of Lacrima, doing so has the same requirements as overcoming the defenses completely, thus defeating the purpose.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Ghost Princesses separated from the cycle of reincarnation can be found in Alhambra, and many natives who die within the city do not bother to pass on to the afterlife, remaining constant fixtures in their homes and families. The living are a minority within Alhambra, and in fact the entire city possesses the "Necropolis" condition.
- Pocket Dimension: Dream mentions a theory that the Pocket Realm royal charm, a charm queens can use to build private realities, was one of the charms used to construct Alhambra.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: The lanterns of Alhambra that keep the darkness away are fueled by solidified wisps, which must be taken from the real world in harvest expeditions. Draining wisps (and therefore Light) from an environment causes an upshoot of taint in the region, which means Alhambra's maintenance is actively making the World of Darkness a worse place than normal. Wisps are also collected from captured bequests, which are broken down and drained of their powers.
- That's No Moon: Alhambra is heavily hinted by
Word of God to be the Dark World's equivalent to the Moon. Whether Alhambra was actually built inside a hollowed-out satellite, or somehow replaced the real moon (both assuming the dark world even had a natural moon to begin with), is unknown.
Ghost Princesses
She sits in an empty palace, the tapestries are moth eaten and threadbare. The floor is covered in dust, no one has been this way in years. In a ghostly whisper she answers petitions from courtiers and subjects long departed from their mortal coil. And yet she carries a presence about her, she still radiates with the power of her magic. The Princess is dead but her subjects still need her. Long live the Princess.
Princesses do not naturally form ghosts; the cycle of reincarnations draws the royal soul onwards with a gentle call that cuts the threads of anchors. To the followers of Tears this presents a problem, as ghosts are useful and the ghost of a princess more so. Ghost Princesses are deceased members of the Nobility who have been separated from the cycle of reincarnation by the Lacrima charm Long May She Reign. They are kept safe and secure deep within the palaces of Alhambra by the Protectorate of Amethyst, until their ancient knowledge is required by the Queen of Tears or her other subjects.
- Allergic to Evil: Ghost Princesses still experience Sensitivity and Hauntings. In Vocation this function as their Ban while in Dream they share Lacrima's Ban.
- Cute Ghost Girl: At first. If they gain too many shadows, they can decay to the point of more closely resembling a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: In this case, they differ even from traditional ghosts in the setting, in that they are created artificially, suffer from Sensitivity and Shadows, and use Charms rather than Numina.
- Sanity Slippage: If a Ghost Princess gains shadows, their mind is said to decay along with their body.
- Uncertain Doom: When a Ghost Princess hits Belief 0 or gains shadows equal to her Belief, the ghost's corpus collapses and disintegrates into nothing. While in Dream the Ghost Princess is stated to return to the cycle of reincarnation, in Vocation it's left ambiguous if dissolution allows them to reincarnate or is an outright Cessation of Existence.
- Wrong Context Magic: Their very existence is one; due to their Born-Again Immortality, Princesses are not supposed to form ghosts, forcing Alhambrans to use Lacrima Charms to this end.
Stormwracked
Because of her unusual status, the Queen of Storms is capable of displaying abilities the other Queens have never shown. One of them is that she can create a connection with anyone who has a strong enough hate for the Darkness, allowing her to turn regular mortals into Sworns on a large scale. These Sworns, called Stormwracked, usually regroup in military cells and take arms against the Darkness, fighting under her bannner.
- Badass Army: Stormwracked typically form paramilitary groups to hunt down the Darkness, and are often led by Princesses or Goalenu. However, they rarely end up big enough to qualify as more than small militias, since that would make them too easy to spot.
- Create Your Own Villain: They usually are born from mortals who were victimized by the Darkness and have a strong desire of vengeance. Dark Cults have a strong tendency to encounter a premature end thanks to the people they abused becoming Stormwracked.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: The Queen of Storms has the ability to induce dreams in some of them to guide them toward Creatures of the Darkness to kill.
- Hunter of Monsters: For all intents and purposes, the Stormwracked are a Hunter Conspiracy that specifically focuses on fighting the All-Consuming Darkness. They typically organize into cells, though theirs tend to be more aggressive and savage than other groups of Hunters. Individuals are also known to infiltrate other hunter cells, much to the Radiant's dismay.
- Superpowered Mooks: Stormwracked are Sworn armed with mundane equipment, making them mook tier compared to a Princess, but they do have some power.
- Wrong Context Magic: Stormwracked display a lot of abilities regular Sworn aren't capable of, such as being created directly by the Queen of Storms, recovering Wisps independently from Nobles, and having the Queen of Storms manifesting her Charms directly through them. Nobody is sure how exactly they can do all of this.
Goalenu
The lieutenants of the Queen of Storms. Said to be the very incarnation of Tempesta, Goalenu are powerful spirit-like entities with a particularly strong connection to the invocation, who frequently takes the lead of Stormwracked Cells. Being immaterial, Goalenu have no physical form of their own, but they can either possess people or craft themselves a "vessel" from flesh and clay, creating a weird golem-like body.
- Cast from Hit Points: While in a vessel, a Goalenu can use various powerful abilities called Reprisals. However, using one of these abilities gradually damage the vessel, which makes it progressively easier to spot as non-human and will eventually results in it blowing up. Notably, this is only damaging the vessel; the Goalenu itself will survive the destruction and can build a new one later.
- Elite Mooks: For the Court of Storms, described as the Queen's "lieutenants". Individual Goalenu are often found commanding Stormwracked cells.
- Eye Beams: One of the abilities they can display while in a Vessel is to shoot green fire out of their eyes to injure the opponent.
- Flesh Golem: Disturbingly enough, their vessels are both this and a regular golem, as Goalenu use a combination of clay and human flesh to create them.
- Glamour Failure: The more a Goalenu's vessel takes damage, the easier it becomes to spot it as not human, forcing them to wear baggy clothes to hide their true nature. Goalenu who use too much clay to build their vessels also tend to end up looking... off.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Goalenu whose vessel has been damaged usually start displaying green glowing eyes.
- Hive Mind: Goalenu have been known to occasionally argue with themselves. When asked about it, they explain they are "many by birth, one by the General's will".
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Spirit-like creatures made from Tempesta's energy and the Queen's champions, who craft themselves what amounts to a magic version of a cyborg body made of flesh and clay.
- Possession Burnout: While Golaneau can possess Stormwracked in a pinch, doing so causes injury to their host. This is one of several reasons they prefer to use their Vessels when possible.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: These vessels they craft themselves require clay and flesh as the two major component, and at least the heart must be made of human flesh. Worse, they can acquire new skills from the organs used to craft the vessels, meaning Goalenu will sometimes hunt down experts in various fields to harvest their organs.
- Throat Light: Goalenu whose vessels gets damaged enough start to have their own mouth glowing green in addition to the eyes.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Because a Goalenu's vessel partially is made of clay and as such isn't really alive, any damage suffered by it will not heal unless repaired through magic. This both mean that it becomes easier to spot them and that it will eventually be destroyed, forcing the Goalenu to create a new one.
Dreamlanders
In the Dreamlands lie curious inhabitants that blur the line between ally and enemy. As Princesses can interact with them, they can be allies as well. Of note, there are normal Dreamlanders who Princesses can interact with, the Wardens who seek to keep Princesses under the veil of the Gales forever, and the body stealing Amanojaku who, while seen as a threat by most Princesses are curiously tolerated by the Court of Mirrors. Dreamlanders in general
The inhabitants of the Dreamlands. Dreamlanders cover a wide variety of beings, from creatures actually native from the place and born from various concepts, to members of the Radiant Queens' courts and armies who were trapped with them, to humans who died but chose to stick here rather than move to the true afterlife. Overall, they are divided into three categories: chorus, who appear as people capable of talking and speaking, but actually are little less than an extension of the Dreamlands; actors, who are real people with memories, desires and aspirations, but unaware of the real world's existence, and for the majority will refuse to believe it if told about the truth. And stars, who actually know about the real world.
Tropes applying to all Dreamlanders
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Some Dreamlanders are dream manifestations of concepts, ideas and places from the physical world.
- Functional Magic: Many actors and stars can wield strange powers, which are either represented by Numina or, in the case of those who started out as Princesses, Charms.
- Good Counterpart: Dreamlanders with Harmonious Merge to Amanojaku and spirits with Claim. Unlike Amanojaku, they willingly hitch a ride with someone who is willingly giving them their body, and unlike spirits it's a conscious decision in full knowledge that eventually Dreamlander and host will become a single entity.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Actors are this by default; they are unaware of the Dreamlands being just a former Lotus-Eater Machine and a real world existing beyond it. Not only that, but most of them aren't even capable of realizing it.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Some Dreamlanders technically fit this definition, seeing how they are the souls of deceased people who chose to stick in the Dreamlands rather than move to the afterlife.
- Our Spirits Are Different: While not exactly spirits, Dreamlanders are a form of Ephemeral Beings, and as such mostly follow the same rules than Ghosts and Spirits in the New World of Darkness when it comes to character creation and mechanics. They only are intangible beings while in the real world, however; in the Dreamlands, where everything is made of Ephemera, they can be physically touched as if they were made of flesh.
- Resurrective Immortality: Averted; unlike Spirits, a Dreamlander who somehow ends up in the physical world and loses all his Essence will actually die rather than just returning to the Dreamlands. This is pretty rare however, as aside from Amanojaku and Shikigami, they have little reason to leave the Dreamlands.
- Sharing a Body: Dreamlanders who end up in the physical world can use a Manifestation known as Harmonious Merge, which allows them to share the body of someone whose personality is similar enough to theirs, with the two trading control regularly. Over time, the two personalities tend to become more and more similar until the two become a single entity.
- Was Once a Man: Some Dreamlanders started out as humans, but ended up in the Dreamlands either because they had their bodies stolen by the Amanojaku, died and had their soul arrive here or just found their way to the Dreamlands and couldn't escape.
Amanojaku
Dreamlanders who for various reasons chose to possess the bodies of living human beings rather than getting a physical form through reincarnation or becoming a Shikigami. Most of their peers see them as criminals who dabble in profane magic, and as such it's a frequent job for Princesses to find them and force them to give the bodies they stole back.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The Grand Theft Me ability sounds quite threatening and useful on paper, but is actually quite problematic compared to other cases of Demonic Possession in the Chronicles of Darkness; unlike, say, Spirits or Ghosts, Amanojaku do not retain their Dreamlands abilities when possessing a mortal, instead basically just becoming the mortal with no special ability whatsoever. Moreover, they are completely unprepared for what having a physical body involves, which means they become reckless and can easily put themselves in dangerous situations, failing to understand the risks.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: While regular mortals usually can't do anything to defend themselves against an Amanojaku's assault other than run away until they wake up, those with the Lucid Dreamer merit or some kind of Psychic Powers can actually try to fight back, resulting the two of them struggling inside the dream.
- The Dark Arts: Most Dreamlanders consider the magic they use to possess people as a forbidden and profane.
- Demonic Possession: They are Dreamlanders who use profane magic to steal bodies from mortals. In a variant, they don't keep the mortals' souls prisoners, instead throwing them in the Dreamlands while they replace them. This is somewhat problematic, since because of this, banishing one from his host will just leave the body as an Empty Shell in a coma rather than free the victim, unless you arrange for the actual soul to get back to the body.
- Driven by Envy: Most Amanojaku are motivated into relying on such a magic because they envy humans' bodies enough to forget their ethic.
- Grand Theft Me: How their ability works; they push their victim's soul out of their body and into the Dreamlands while they take its place.
- Nightmare Weaver: They possess people using doors inside the Dreamlands; they get inside a human's dream, then proceed to twist said dream into a nightmare where they are an alien entity pursuing the unfortunate victim. If they manage to catch the mortal before he wakes up, they throw his soul in the Dreamlands and take its place inside the body.
- Puppeteer Parasite: Nobles used to believe they were weird Dreamlands parasites before discovering the Awful Truth behind their origins.
- Sense Freak: Amanojaku who first got a body don't understand the notion of physical injuries, since in the Dreamlands, injury and loss of will are equivalent. Because of this, they tend to be reckless with their new bodies, and suffering a wound penalty for the first time is quite a shock for them, to the point it causes them to lose a dot of willpower.
