Ignorance is Bliss
For those Nightbane who had loved ones witness their transformations
or innocent bystanders see a bloody battle between
monsters, the value of keeping the average citizen unaware of supernatural
events occurring in front of them is all too well known.
To enable such a veneer of normalcy and/or concealment, a Talent
for tricking mortal beings into seeing and remembering what
they want to see, rather than deal with the truth/reality, has been
developed.
For example, when the Ignorance is Bliss Talent is used, witnesses
do NOT remember seeing a child being rushed to safety
in the arms of a hulking, slobbering ursinoid Nightbane, instead
they remember seeing the child running to safety on her own,
holding an oversized teddy bear as big or bigger than she was.
Meanwhile, the child may remember being carried to safety by a
giant, cuddly teddy bear who cradled her in its strong fluffy arms
and told her not to be afraid as she was carried to safety – not
the 10 foot (3 m) tall, blood spattered, man-eating grizzly bearlooking
Nightbane who really rescued her. Or witnesses might
remember seeing a big, husky bear-of-a-man who rescued the girl
and then must have run off.
Similarly, a nosy Preserver Activist (aka, Preevert) street
patrol could be made to see a scuffle between a group of teenagers
or gang-bangers rather than a brawl between a group of
Nocturnes fighting off some Hounds or Hunters. Or witnesses
cannot remember any faces or details, because “it all happened
so fast,” or “I don’t know, I must have been in shock,” or “I
ran inside and hid, I didn’t see anything,” or, “I remember
shouting and screaming, and gunfire, and then that explosion.
There was smoke and people running everywhere. It was terrible.
Then the police showed up. I’m sorry I can’t be more
helpful.” Being complicit in the Nightlords’ policy of keeping the public
in the dark has several upsides for Nightbane. First, innocent
bystanders are not unduly traumatized. Second, their existence
remains unknown, which reduces the number of monster hunters
stalking the streets. Third, ignorance prevents panic. Using
this Talent can help on all those fronts and keep Nightbane safe
by preventing reports from being made to the authorities about
“weird activity,” “costumed hooligans,” “weird things like magic,”
or “monsters running amok in the streets.” Any of which
could bring unwanted attention from the NSB, Hounds or Hunters,
and other authorities or enemies of the Nightbane. Civilian
involvement in battles between Nightbane and the minions of the
Nightlords can be deadly for Nightbane because most people do
not take the time to sort out the “good guys” from the “bad guys”
before opening fire with their trusty weapon, especially when
what they see is monsters fighting other monsters (or the NSB
and other agents of the Nightlords). So in the end, the use of this
Talent can save a lot of headaches and lives for Nightbane and civilians
alike. If poor Mr. Wilson down the street thinks the neighbor
kids trashed his rose bushes rather than the death throes of the
Ashmedai your group just took down, it is probably for the best.
Limitations: This Talent can only be used in Morphus form
and not until level three. Can only be used to disguise the supernatural
from those who do not believe – or do not want to
believe – such nightmares exists. Which is a surprisingly large
percentage of people. Even this helps to diffuse and conceal the
presence of the Nightbane and the supernatural, because eyewitness
reports contradict each other. “I’m telling you, this ... this
bear-monster rescued the little girl.” “The little girl was rescued
by a large man.” “I think a policeman pulled the little girl from
harm’s way.” “No, it was heavy-set woman.” “You’re all crazy,
she ran off by herself and hid under the stairs. Smart kid.”
This Talent conceals nothing from other supernatural beings,
psychics, magic users, or anyone with a solid belief and/or firsthand
experience with the paranormal, Nightbane or the minions
of the Nightlord; only people who don’t want to believe any of
that is real. Believe it or not, most Preeverts, local police and
firemen not under the thrall of the Nightlords, and the public at
large DO NOT believe in the supernatural (though this is slowly
changing). Anyone with reason to try to see beyond the Ignorance
is Bliss enchantment, or who suspects that something is not
right and wants to know the truth, has to roll a save vs magic of
15 or greater see through Ignorance is Bliss. A failed roll means
they remember the false illusion of what transpired with normal
if implausible or inconsistent events explaining what occurred.
“Monsters? What? I was there. It was a gas explosion like they
said on the news. Killed two people and injured four others. Terrible
accident. Don’t believe that ‘ever since Dark Day’ nonsense
on the Internet. Nothing supernatural happened here.”
Range: All people in a 50 foot (15.2 m) radius per level of the
Nightbane’s experience can be influenced by Ignorance is Bliss.
The enchantment can be cast up to 60 feet (18.3 m) away per
level of experience.
Saving Throw: 15 or greater to save. Those who do not want
to believe their eyes and don’t want to believe in monsters, magic
or scary things, do not roll to save, they automatically succumb to
Ignorance is Bliss and remember events that are explainable and
have nothing to do with monsters or the paranormal.
Duration: This Talent was designed to be used either when
something has just happened that the Nightbane would like to
cover up, or when something is expected to happen in the next
few minutes. Therefore, when first activated, Ignorance is Bliss
instantly affects everyone within range who is susceptible to it
(see above). This is great for when a fight has just happened in
front of witnesses, because Ignorance is Bliss will let those witnesses
convince themselves that what they just saw was really
something else, something ordinary. When used in this way,
events that happened as much as 2 minutes per level of experience
before the Talent was activated can be concealed and
covered up, as long as the witnesses are still within the area of
effect.
Ignorance is Bliss can also be used preemptively, when trouble
is expected and witnesses are likely to be drawn by the noise.
In this case, the Talent stays active for 2 minutes per level of
experience, and anyone who comes within range during that time
is affected, and anything they see while in range can be misremembered
as described above.
In either case, the effects of Ignorance is Bliss are permanent
for those who don’t want to believe what they saw. Their false
memory is real to them.
Cost: Ten P.P.E. to acquire permanently. Ten P.P.E. to let everyone
in the radius of effect believe and remember what they
want to believe.
Leave No Trace
Despite the fact that the Ba’al are not very tech-savvy, modern
investigative techniques such as DNA analysis are used by the
NSB and local law enforcement. In an effort to remain hidden,
some Nightbane have developed supernatural means of thwarting
this kind of technological detection. At the basic level, Leave
No Trace prevents the beneficiary from leaving behind any trace
evidence such as hairs, fingerprints, or blood droplets. It also lets
the affected character move about without creating tracks or footprints.
This Talent can be boosted to achieve even more astounding
effects, though.
If the boosted activation cost is paid the user becomes greatly
obscured to all electronic cameras, sensors, and listening devices.
This means that security cameras will only capture blurry images
with indistinguishable features, wire taps record only garbled
static, and devices like laser trip wires, motion detectors and microwave
fences will only be tripped 01-30% of the time. Several
times since Dark Day, this Talent has caused those who claimed
to have evidence of monsters living among the public to lose face
when photos or video footage turned out way too blurry to prove
anything.
Limitations: Cannot be selected until level 2. Using the boosted
version or bestowing the basic benefits on another person can
only be done in Morphus form. However, the Nightbane, himself,
can use this Talent in both basic or boosted mode in Facade form
as well as in Moprhus, but only on himself. The boosted Leave
No Trace Talent cannot be used on another individual.
Range: Self or other by touch.
Duration: Five minutes per level of the user’s experience.
Cost: Nine P.P.E. to acquire permanently. Six P.P.E. per use
for the basic effects or 10 P.P.E. for boosted effects. Leave No
Trace has double duration in the Nightlands.