Glyphs

Glyphs

Glyphs are specific symbols from the the Anunnakku alphabet that can be used to mentally affect any human who sees them. Unless the person who witnesses the glyph knows about the Anunnakku alphabet, or has some reason to suspect or doubt what he's seeing, the person seeing the glyph generally gets no roll to resist. If they do try to resist, they roll Will - the margin of success on the Glyph-drawing roll. A success resists the glyph, but a critical success causes a temporary or permanent change to the resister's mental state. For example, a critical success on resisting the 'Cowardice' glyph will give the resister the On The Edge disadvantage. Critical Failures have a similar effect, causing the effects of the glyph to be more lasting and permanent.

Learning to draw each glyph is a separate Mental/Hard skill, and cannot exceed the Symbol-Drawing(Anunnakku) skill.

Invisibility: The glyph causes the viewer to completely ignore the the bearer, as if they didn't see or hear them at all. This has no affect on machines, such as video cameras or infrared beams, or people who catch a glimpse of the bearer without seeing the glyph.

Authority: This glyph is interpreted as the badge or symbol of whatever authority would be appropriate - police badge, security ID, whatever. Think Dr. Who.

Chameleon: The glyph causes the bearer to appear as if their appearance was completely unremarkable - a business man in an office building, a private on a military base, a Saudi in Mecca. It doesn't give the bearer any special access, and they'll be challenged as normal at any checkpoints. It functions simply as a very effective disguise that prevents somebody from being seen as an obvious outsider. It's commonly used by Irruptors to let them move about human society without causing a panic, revealing themselves, and setting off a reality-quake.

Coward: Anyone who sees this glyph suddenly becomes uncomfortably aware of their own morality. Mechanically, treat it as a temporary affliction of the Cowardice disadvantage. Most effective in combat situations and interrogations that involve the treat of physical violence. Critical successes at resisting this glyph causes the On The Edge disadvantage, and a critical failure causes the cowardice disadvantage. If the resistor already had the Cowardice disadvantage, its self-control roll drops a level (if they critically failed) or replaced completely by the On The Edge disadvantage.

Terror: Anyone who sees this glyph flees from the bearer as an inexplicable by undeniable primal fear grips them. Unless the witness has a rational reason to flee with such fear (for example, a schoolmarm that sees a heavily-armed SWAT team wearing this glyph), they'll realize something very unusual has happened. Mechanically, the bearer gains the Terror advantage, with an extra +1 for every 3 points by which the drawer succeeded on their symbol-drawing roll. When resisting, critical failures cause the Paranoia disadvantage and critical successes cause the Berserk disadvantage.

Forget: Those who encounter the bearer of this glyph remember seeing them, and if they spoke with the bearer, remembers having a conversation. All details beyond that, however, become a blur. At best they'll only remember the most general details of the encounter - ethnicity, hair color, general height and build - but will be completely useless beyond that. The subject of the conversation will be completely forgotten. This glyph is more useful than Invisible when video cameras are involved. When resisting, a critical success has no effect, but a critical failure causes the Absent-Minded disadvantage.

Respect: The bearer is treated as if their Status was 3 levels higher than their actual appearance and mannerism would suggest. Street bums will be treated like well-dressed businessmen, and a businessman will be treated like a Captain of Industry. Useful for social situations when one needs to ingrate themselves quickly.

Attract (Male or Female): Anyone of the correct gender who sees this glyph gains a limited version of the Lecherousness disadvantage towards the bearer only, and perceives the bearer as being one level more attractive than they actually are. This glyph has no effect on a witness of the wrong gender. If the bearer is of a gender that the witness usually isn't sexually attracted to, they may feel confused and react poorly. In certain situations, such as biker bar in the Deep South, this react can be violent! There are two completely separate versions of this glyph.

Obey: As soon as they see this glyph, the witness gains the Slave Mentality disadvantage, with the bearer as their 'Master'. They'll obey any orders they're given until either they've gone 5 minutes without any orders to be completed, or snap out of their trace on their own (Will roll once per hour, with a +1 bonus every extra hour). After the effect ends, they'll become aware thatsomething strange happened, but have no memory what. A critical success causes the Indomitable advantage, and a critical failure has no immediate effect but gives a -4 penalty to breaking out of the trance. However, if a person fails to break out of their trance after 10 hours, the Slave Mentality becomes permanent! A psychologist might be able to reverse this.

Favor: This glyph is interpreted as some sort of reminder of a favored owed by the witness, whatever would be appropriate (wooden nickle, signed IOU, a picture of the bearer and witness 'back in the day', ect). The witness will 'remember' how the bearer had done them some good turn in the past that they're obligated to repay. The witness won't initially question this favor, but if prompted to examine their memory, it'll start to unravel (You met him in 'Nam? But he looks barely 25 years old...) Mechanically, treat it as the Favor advantage in all respects. A critical success causes a Very Bad reaction to the bearer, while a critical failure will cause the witness to believe they still owe the favor even after they're forced to examine their memory.