Hexes #1
Trait: Knowledge
Hand: Pair
Speed: 1
Duration: Concentration
Range: 10 yards
Cost: d4 wind per round
Description
Hucksters and other arcane types seem to have an obsession with fire, the existence of this hex just adds fuel to that theory
When the hex is cast the huckster holds out both hands and arcane fire shoots forth from his fingertips, much like a flamethrower, but with green flames. The flames may hit several targets stood closely together within a couple of yards of each other and causes various degrees of damage depending on the heat intensity (decided by the hand gained when casting the hex) and possibly setting light to the target's clothes (a roll of 5 or 6 on a d6)
Note - As with a flame thrower, when the damage roll is made each wound is assigned to a seperate random location, so rollinf 37 damage and causing 6 wounds might result in 2 to the left arm, 2 to the guts, 1 to the right leg and one to the head - such is the nature of flame attacks.
If a target is flammable (made of wood, wearing flammable clothes) then there is a 1 in 3 chance they go up in flames, causing 1 dice damage to each affected location per turn. This can be put out on a Foolproof(3)Nimbleness check taking 1 action. If the flame streams are continued for an extra round this goes up to a 2 in 3 chance. More flammable targets (such as people soaked in oil) are more likely to go up in flames and may burn with more vigor - use your judgement
Trait: Spirit
Hand: Ace
Speed: 1
Duration: Instant
Range: Eye-contact (about 20 yards)
Description
Overawing a fellow with your mean looks pales in comparison to scaring the living bejesus out of someone with a single glance, which is exactly what this hex does. The huckster must first make eye contact with the target and then cast the hex, the Manitou draws terrible energy from the Hunting Grounds and fills the huckster's eye-sockets with the stuff, causing the target to inexplicably become terrified. In game terms he must make a Guts check with the huckster being the source of his fear (although he may not actually realise why he is scared).
Submitted by Michael Hunter of Birmingham, UK
Trait: Spirit
Speed: 2
Hand: 2 Pair
Duration: 1 round/hex level
Range: 10 yard radius
Description
The concept of going out in style in a no-win situation and "Maybe just taking a few of them with us..." gave rise to this extremely powerful (and risky) hex.
The huckster casts Blaze O' Glory and raises his hands into the air as the manitou hits him with unholy power which courses through him and is released in a whiring wind af magical flame, covering a circular area of radius 10 yards, with the huckster at the heart of the circling flames. Needless to say anybody caught in this unholy hurricane of fire will be severely hurt, as will, alas, the huckster - although he is afforded slight protection from his own flames courtesy of the Manitous.
The flaming torrent lasts for as many rounds as the huckster has levels in the hex, or he may choose to end it earlier. Either way all within range will take the followung damage at the beginning of each turn that the hex is active, assigning all wounds to random locations. The huckster himself will also suffer damage at the beginning of each turn, but at -1 dice and a dice type less than the other unfortunate victims (ie if 4d10 damage is inflicted on targets then 3d8 is caused to huckster) as the manitou is forced to partially shield him from harm
Damage caused to each target within range depends on the poker Hand gained in casting.
All damage is treated as massive damage, each wound caused is applied to a random location. Don't forget that every round damage is caused all over again to those within range but the huckster himself must remain stationary. If the huckster dies as a result of this hex then he explodes in a ball of flame. Treat this as a dynamite blast causing 3d20 damage to all within 10 yards. Needless to say, the hex ends if this happens
This hex counts as a magical attack, and harms creatures usually only affected by magic
Blaze O' Glory is an extremely powerful hex and most dangerous in the hands of suicidal hucksters. Only the most knowledgable or insane hucksters posess this devastating hex
Trait: Smarts
Hand: Ace
Speed: 1
Duration: Variable
Range: 5 yards/hex level
Description
Mad scientists rule the day when it comes to gizmos and weird contraptions, but it's just like a huckster to put a spanner in the works. This hex reduces the reliability of any contraption invented by a Mad Scientist (someone with the Arcane Backgroud:Mad Scientist edge) making the device unstable and possibly dangerous.
Trait: Smarts
Speed: 1
Hand: Pair
Duration: Concentration or 1 wind/round
Range: Self
Description
The Harrowed do not have to worry about breathing any more (they've got more important things on their mind!), since their bodies do not need oxygen. With this hex the huckster may also go without oxygen, as the Manitou does all his breathing for him. When Deep Breath is activated the huckster must still go through the motions of exhaling and inhaling but he draws no breath, instead the manitou simply transfers the necessary oxygen into the huckster's body which allows him to breathe underwater, in a poisonous gas cloud (without fear of being harmed), or at high altitudes. This hex will not, however, work if the huckster's lungs cannot function - if his airway is blocked or if buried alive for example. Also oxygen needs to be present, so the huckster cannot breathe in a vacuum and only just manages it underwater.
This hex is also useful if the huckster wishes to Pick up the Pace whilst running, he has no fear of being out of breath! Still, eventually his muscles will tire and he will begin to lose energy dispite not being short of breath. He will lose 1 wind per round when picking up the pace instead of losing 1 point each action
Trait: Knowledge
Speed: 2
Hand: Pair
Duration: Concentration
Range: Self
Cost: 1 wind/hex level rounds
Description
Finding a place to hide from critters in the middle of the desert can be a touch difficult, what with the lack of trees and buildings and such, but with this hex a huckster can find a hiding place almost anywhere by melding with her very surroundings. The huckster lies flat against the place she wishes to meld with (the simpler the material the easier) and casts the hex, at which point the Manitou will use it's power to draw the huckster's body into the material so she can no longer be seen, apart from her eyes, which she may close if she wishes (at the expense of losing her sight as well as her hearing!). A word of warning! Those individuals with the Arcane Background edge, and certain supernatural creatures, may see the huckster as a darker smear inside her melded material and may make a Cognition check (TN = 5 plus the huckster's hex level) to notice them
The poker hand decides what materials the huckster may meld with.
The Huckster is only protected from the eyes of her searchers, not from any damaging attacks - she is still quite vulnerable to any harm and furthermore if harmed the hex will end and the huckster unbonds from her sanctuary (taking a full round to complete).
Trait: Smarts
Speed: 2
Hand: Ace
Duration: Concentration or 1 wind/round
Range: 10 yards radius/hex level
Description
Keeping folks in the dark is a necessity if you're a Pinkerton Detective, but hucksters can literally bring darkness and gloom upon the land courtesy of this hex which can be useful for escape purposes or for cover during a firefight. When cast on a certain light source (such as a flaming torch) within sight and range of the huckster it is rendered useless as the manitou absorbs the energy itself and, although the source can still be seen, sheds no light. Candles still burn but give no light, lanterns still glow but do not illuminate. At higher levels the hex can even target the light given off by the sun over a limited area!
The huckster may affect (or "gloom") one light souce for every Level he has in this hex, and the equivelent intensity of light "gloomed" depends on the poker hand gained as follows.
If the sun is affected by this hex the huckster may ignore the usual range of the hex and the light given off by the sun is Gloomed instead. Everywhere within 10 yards (per hex level) of the huckster is plunged into total darkness - of course lanterns and such which are not "gloomed" still work fine.
If the affected light source(s) move away from the huckster and out of range the hex no longer affects them and the light source works as normal, if they approach back within range of the huckster and the hex is still active the light source is "Gloomed" once more. Notice that candles/flames etc are not extinguished by this hex, the Manitous energy simply smothers the light given off and also prevents flames from igniting other sources (so this hex can effectively be used to control dangerous fires too! If the hex is cast on burning curtains in a house then the light is "smothered" and the fire is prevented from spreading).
Example casting: If a Huckster has 3 levels in this hex he may "gloom" up to 3 different light sources within 30 yards of himself, if he gains 2 Pair on casting he may smother light intensities equivelent to a small campfire or less, lasting as long as he concentrates or as long as he has wind left and stays within range of the light sources!
Magical light sources are not affected by this hex
Trait: Spirit
Speed: 2
Duration: Instant
Hand: Pair
Cost: d4 wind
Range: 5 yards/hex level
Description
This is a nasty hex which requires a lot of effort on the part of the huckster to perform, hence the wind cost. The huckster chooses a target within range and performs the hex, the victim then makes a Vigor(8) roll as he feels invisible hands squeezing his inards in a cold grip. The TN of this roll is increased by a value equal to the hucksters hex level. If a huckster has 3 in Heartgrip then the target would make a Vigor(11) check. This effectively causes the target to take wind damage if they fail the Vigor roll. Passing the Vigor check indicates they lose no wind but still feel a chill in their heart.
Wind lost in this way may be negated by spending fate chips as usual, and the hex will only affect living creatures and not those usually unconcerned by pain (such as Harrowed).
If wind is reduced to 0 the target takes a wound to their guts. Treat negative wind as bleeding damage, so if wind goes to it's negative value another wound is caused to the guts and so on.Trait: Spirit
Speed: 2
Hand: 2 Pair
Duration: 1 minute/hex level
Range: Touch
Description
Ever needed to hide something in a hurry? Ever needed to escape from a desparate situation? Well, with this grand hex a huckster can use an ordinary mirror (or any other totally reflective surface) to hide his secrets in. If the huckster casts this hex on a mirror he infuses it with the Manitous power and effectively opens a tiny portal into a "safe" part of the Hunting Grounds, the huckster will now be able to reach through the mirror (even passing though it totally if it's big enough) and may leave things on the other side. A Peacemaker dropped through a small hand-held mirror will be safe and hidden until the huckster re-casts his hex and may reach through and retrieve his gun. No matter where the huckster goes he needs only to re-open the same mirror and his hiiden item will be there waiting within arms reach. Of course going bust can mean the item is left in a rather more dangerous area of the hunting grounds and a huckster reaching his arm through to here is probably going to have it ripped off and thrown back at him!
If a mirror is smashed then anything that was hiding behind the reflective surface will obviously be irretrievable now, unless the object was small enough to pass through one of the broken shards of course
Trait: Spirit
Hand: Ace
Speed: 2
Duration: Variable
Range: Touch
Description
Well, not entirely invisible. The huckster casts this hex whilst touching a door frame or other portal. That doorway/portal is then sealed, assuming the hex works, by a transparent barrier, visible only where it touches the doorframe as a glowing red perimeter line. Nothing physical may pass through the wall, only magical energy spells (like Soulblast and certain insubstantial creatures - the wall is a physical manifestation of the Manitou's energy and cannot be destroyed unless a second Invisible Wall hex is cast on top of it.
The duration of the hex depends upon the hand gained.
The huckster may drop the wall by touching it but must recast the hex again to put it back up. Anybody with an Arcane Background may see the wall as a transparent red barrier, if anybody touches the wall other than the huckster then it will glow red slightly. Another huckster casting the same hex on top of the wall will also dispel it, as will the Disrupt hex and similar spells
Trait: Knowledge
Speed: 1
Duration: Concentration or 1 wind per round
Hand: Pair
Range: Self
Description
When cast, the hex gives the huckster iron-hard skin (turning it a slightly darker shade of it's original colour and gaining a metallic hue) and in effect protects him from physical harm and grants him an all over Armour value as follows:
Unfortunately the hex also slows the Huckster down slightly due to the weight of his new hide, reducing his Nimbleness by one step (which also decreases pace by 2) for the duration of the hex. The hucksters weight also increases by 50%. The hex is very effective at preventing damage to the huckster, hence the high casting cost and the penalties, but he is not protected against heat/chill attacks and other non-physical damage. Anyone passing a Cognition(5) check will notice that the Hucksters' skin has taken on a darker colouration and an odd texture.
The hex only affects the Hucksters skin. Equipment and clothes remain as normal.