Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
Lord of the Dance by Sydney Carter
Art by Marrku Peltoniemi and copyrighted by him.
Harlequins are different from normal humans, this is not always a good thing. They have had direct communication with a being of great power. Usualy when Incarna wish to comnmunicate with the lower beings they create an avatar, a limited representation of their unlimited essence, something the creatures they are communicating with will be able to understand. However, when a sleeper becomes a Harlequin, they have a moment of direct communication with the Laughing God. This changes them forever.
Harlequins are much more prone to the extremes of emotion than normal humans, so a great perfomance of Shakespeare, a fine meal, or a beautiful piece of artwork can cause emotions in them that are unimaginable to normal humans.
Unfortunately the darker emotions are amplified too, and a Harlequins must maintain great control or they may frenzy when provoked, or go almost catatonic when sad or afraid. The effect increases in the more powerful Harlequins, so they must have even greater willpower.
Whenever a Harlequin feels strong emotion (as decided by ST) they should roll their Harlequin Rank against a variable diffuculty (Difficulty 9 for meeting someone who picked on you when you where at school, diffuculty 2 for facing your worst enemy when he is standing over the disemboweled bodies of your family, laughing at you.
If one succes is rolled, the Harlequins is partially affected by the emotion. If 2 or more successes are rolled ther they are totally taken over by their feelings. One (and only one) Willpower point may be spent to lower the reation rating by a level (i.e. affected to unaffected, taken over to affected).
If partially affected then the Halrequin feels a strong urge to act on the emotion (to run if scared, to fight if angry), and they get a +2 difficulty penalty to all actions that wouldconfilct with the emotion (e.g. negtioation when angry, fighting when scared, etc.)
If taken over by the feelings then they must act as if purely driven by the emotion felt, e.g. if they feel anger or hate, then they'd frenzy, fear would make them run, sadness might make them curl up into a ball and just lie there sobbing.
A willpower point may be spent to take complete control of your character for a turn, but apart from that you must act as if the emotion is your driving concern. If the charater does not do this well enough the storyteller may decide that the player has spent a point of willpower to control the character.
Because of their special nature Harlequins heal faster than humans do; they are no match for Werewolves, but they are better off than the average human is. Harlequin characters are advised to have lots of Dexterity and Dodge, because apart from using gifts and similar things their healing is still pretty slow compared to the rest of the supernatural inhabitants of the World of Darkness . Here is the table (as usual it is cumulative).
| Health Level | Time |
|---|---|
| Bruised | One Hour |
| Hurt | One Day |
| Injured | Three Days |
| Wounded | One Week |
| Mauled | One Month |
| Crippled | Three Months |
Art by Curtis Craddock and copyrighted by him. Used with permission. Visit his website "The Sparrow flight web page" . This is a possible example for a Harlequins face mask.
Pockets of the Magpie (Level 2 Gnosis 7): This fetish is a small bag with a pair of magpie feathers tied to it. It will become part of the Harlequins suit when they attune to it. It will manifest on the suit as many pockets (number and position chosen by player). They are ‘bottomless pockets’ and can hold a total of 10 cubic feet of material, up to 100 pounds (which would bring the effective weight up to 1 pound). Objects can be added as you please but to remove them requires either a Gnosis roll or a Gnosis point spent, one object may be removed per success on the roll, but only one roll can be done every 10 minutes. However, as many points as you want may be spent though, and if you have excess successes you can use them to get something out, providing you can roll dificulty 2 with 1 die(though botching this roll will shower the contents nearby, as below).
A botch will result in the contents of the pockets showering over the nearby area. Uncovered blades, unbottled acids, etc. will not damage the pockets or the suit, but they may damage other objects in it. Creatures requiring air will quickly suffocate if placed inside. Only the total volume and the size of the pocket mouth limit the maximum size of objects. If sufficient trauma is caused to the suit the objects will shower over the area. Searches (non-magical) by people other than the wearer will indicate empty pockets. This Fetish can be removed from one suit to be put in another, but it will take a while. Only Harlequins can be use this Fetish. This is based on the Magpie bag Fetish by Amy Luther.Hood of the Warlock (Level 4 Gnosis 7): This fetish appears as a Hood on it’s own when not connected to a suit, but when the user attunes to it, it becomes part of their suit, and their suit now has a hood. The appearance of the hood can be changed, but the costume must have a hood. When activated this adds the number of successes rolled on the activation roll to the users countermagic dice pool, and the user can make minor illusions (golden glowing balls, phantom voices etc.) by a Performace+Warlock Rank roll, the complexity of the illusions determines the difficulty and the number of successes determines how real it looks. Only Harlequins who are at least Warlock Rank 1 can use this Fetish.
Mask of the Mime (Level 4 Gnosis 7): This mask just looks like a nasty Halloween mask when unactivated, but when activated it changes into a daemonic visage that causes delirium in sleepers and adds 3 dice to any intimidation attempts against non sleepers. When in this mode it causes all malevolent spirits (especially Banes) to treat the wearer as if he was a kindred soul. The wearer can choose for it to instead give him infrared or nightsight vision (change at will). However when using infrared or nightsight the eyes of the mask will glow red. This mask can be put on and taken off at will, but if taken off it must be activated again before using its powers. The user must be a Harlequin and have at least Rank 1 Mime to use this fetish.
Avatars Blade (Level 4 Gnosis 7): Most of these fetishes are swords, though some are bladed gloves, etc. They can be incorporated into the costume so that they are easily hidden and will be available when the suit is put on (either physically or by a gift). When activated this fetish adds one to the users Harlequin rank for the purposes of working out Deathdance attacks, it also grants that Gift if the Avatar doesn’t have it. It does Strength+2 damage that is aggravated if it is activated. The user must be a Harlequin and have at least Rank 1 Avatar to use this Fetish.
Jesters Bones (Level 4 Gnosis 7): When dormant this fetish appears to actually be a skeleton, however when a Death Jester attunes to it, it becomes part of his suit, his suit now has a skeleton being part of the design, unless the fetish is removed from the suit the suit must incorporate the skeleton design. The details of the design are up to the user. When activated the user gains the Gift Dead Talk (Level 3 Corax, WW:PG) and an additional 2 dice when doing any activity involving spirits of the dead. The user must be a Harlequin and have at least Rank 1 Death Jester to use this Fetish.
I have not come up with any Rites, except the rite of initiation and
the Rite of changing roles, the Harlequins can use most of the other rites
that are around, as long as they aren’t specific to one set of people for
whatever reason. Send me you suggestions for more.
Rite of initiation: During this rite the Harlequin is presented with their Dathedi costume. It comes from the place at the center of the Caern where the suits of dead Harlequins are placed. It first appears as a white, almost ectoplasmic substance, but it quickly gains color and form when put on by the new Harlequin. Since all characters will have gone through this rite to be characters I am not putting down level or difficulty.
Rite of Changing Roles: (Level 3 Harlequin): Charisma+Rituals, difficulty 7. In this rite the rite master first ask the Harlequin what he has learned and what he has taught in his old role. Then he asks what the Harlequin believes he will learn and teach in his new role. The Harlequins suit then morphs to the white overall it was in his initiation, and if the rite is successful it becomes a costume suitable for his new Role, if not it changes back to it’s old appearance, showing that the Great Harlequin believes that he should not leave his current role at the moment. Particularly good statements what is/will be learned/taught can make this easier or automatic, at the storytellers discretion. Unimaginative ones can have the opposite effect.
Endobai was the Eagle companion of the Great Harlequin who saved the Laughing God’s life when the Wyrm was about to destroy him. He stopped the Wyrm by flying down its throat, and he pecks at the Wyrms gizzard to this day. He epitomizes loyalty beyond all else.
Traits: Endobai’s children gain wings when in the Umbra and they have -1 difficulty for pursuit of any creature. Any mind control attempts (or similar) that will force them to betray something/someone they are loyal to are at +3 difficulty. He sometimes sends his Benathi spirit eagles to aid his children, and many of them have a Benathi as their spirit familiar.
Bans: Endobai demands his children be loyal to those who matter
to them; they must be prepared to give up all, even their life, to protect
their comrades.
The Laughing God is patron to all Harlequins, but some choose to follow him even more closely. They are well respected by their fellows for their ability at teaching.
Traits: Cegorach’s Children get –1 to all teaching rolls, they also gain the ability to always be able call their suits to them automatically, no matter where they are.
Bans: Cegorach’s children must never turn down the chance to teach (within reason , not "All right Mr Methuselah Vampire, I’ll put down my weapon and help you with that crossword...AAAAARGGGH" [slurp]...[thud] ).
It should be fairly obvious what is appropriate to harlequins and what isn’t. So far only one new flaw listed here:
Emotional Isolation: (1 pt Flaw) You have seen too many friends disappear because of the curse, and now wish to spare yourself the pain by avoiding becoming close to anyone. You often seem cold and without feeling, but you are now safe from pain. You have a +1 modifier to all Social rolls involving emotions, and cannot spend experience points on the Empathy Talent.
Vampire: Harlequins cannot be embraced, nope, sorry, no way. They all just die peacefully.
Mage/Changeling/Werewolf: Harlequin souls are Harlequin souls, Garou souls are Garou souls, and never the twain shall meet. Harlequins can be Kinfolk but not Garou. Ditto Changeling and Mage, though some Harlequins learn Hedge magic and similar things.
Wraith: Usually Harlequin souls reincarnate, but a very few that have some Wyrm taint on them and unfinished business may become wraiths (as described for werewolves in the players handbook). I leave it up to the Storyteller to determine what happens next, because I know little about Wraith
Adoption: NB All of this part is very much the Storytellers choice, if he doesn’t want adoption, then no adoption.
Other awakened beings sometimes befriend Harlequins, some of them express the desire to learn the Harlequins ways, a tiny fraction of these are deemed worthy and are taken through the Umbra to the Great Harlequin. Those who return with their sanity intact then learn more about the Harlequins ways and the undergo the Rite of Initiation, and become Harlequins.
Systemwise: It is entirely up to any Storyteller foolish enough to allow this as to how it works, and which powers they gain and lose.
Avatars: Be charismatic and energetic. Your character has so
much energy he’ll explode if he doesn’t use it. [BOOM]
Too late....
Warlocks: Be all knowing, even when you’re not. Nod wisely and go "Hmmm, interesting" rather than answer any questions put to you
Death Jesters: Be morbid. Make (bad) jokes. Grin all the time. Combine these, and soon you’ll be scaring people more than the Mime. Never ever do anything with custard pies. No.
Mime: Say nothing unless you have to. Move quietly. Let the Jester be the scary one; that way people aren’t watching you. Avoid scorpion pits and people called Vetinari.
To David Hemming and Martin Wilkerson for both providing ideas and being people who would tell me if a rule was silly.
To Ben Melenyzer for suggesting I made this website.
To Alexandre Abdoulaev for allowing me to use his magnificent artwork on my site (visit his website or send him an email
My great thanks to Markku Peltoniemi for not only letting letting me use his great artwork, but actually creating some art spefically to go on this page (his email adress is morphine@students.oamk.fi My thanks to Curtis Craddock for allowing me to use his artwork on my site (visit his website or send him an email
My thanks to Elfwood an online art and story site, where I found all of the artists who have done the artwork for this website.
To my brother Matthew for telling me it couldn’t be done. So I did it.