"This is what we are, and this is what you are."

There are many things that magic can do in horror, and one of the most salient things for After Sundown is that it allows supernatural creatures to do amazing things. Universal powers are those that owe no special allegiance to any world or cult. They require no magic words or special gestures. They are not "spells" in any meaningful sense and one cannot muster a counterspell against them. Most importantly of all, they can be spontaneously developed. A character who has the requisite points can simply acquire a Universal Power without any access to special training or magical research books.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that again."

Authority is the power to impress one's Will directly upon another. Authority requires eye contact to function, although only cursorily. A character who is closing their eyes or wearing mirror shades cannot be controlled with Authority (unless the user has Will to Power). A character who is actively attempting to avoid seeing a potential dominator's eyes may be able to do so, depending upon the actions in question. Activating Authority is generally an opposed test with the target defending with Willpower. When a character is compelled to do something which is against their ideology (generally including following suicidal orders), they may spend an action dithering. They at this point lose an entire round of actions as they have their internal struggle, making an additional resistance check to attempt to shake off the effects. If they again fail to resist the effects, they carry out the order even if it is something they are ideologically opposed to. Most uses of Authority require instructions to be given to the victim in a manner that they can comprehend. Usually this requires verbal orders to be given in a language they understand; but sign language, written directions, and even silent telepathic commands can suffice. Influences from a character with Basic Authority can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it. The demands of a character with Advanced Authority require killing the user or Purify the Mind to undo, and a character with Elder Authority has their powers persist even after they are dead.

Command The character gives an instantaneous verbal command, which the victim will follow to the best of their ability. The action itself must be essentially instantaneous, using up no more than a single complex action. If it is of an open ended nature such as "lie down," then the victim will spend one complex action doing it, and then they are free to do as they please and wonder why they did that. Using Command is a Complex action, and requires a successful opposed test using either Willpower + Intimidation or Logic + Persuasion against Willpower test.

Mesmerism The character can hypnotize a victim, allowing them to give extended commands that will be obeyed. Commands must be stressed and repeated, with each major instruction taking approximately a minute to convey. During the period of hypnotism, the victim stands there like an obviously hypnotized drone, but behaves seemingly normally when they go off to carry out their instructions. Any sudden sensory stimulation (such as a nearby gunshot or someone shaking the victim) during the Mesmerism breaks the spell. Using Mesmerism is an opposed, extended test pitting the character's Logic + Persuasion or Willpower + Intimidation against the target's Willpower. The expected time to bring someone under Mesmerism so that instructions can begin is one minute.

Suggestion The character can offer a suggestion that the victim will then immediately themselves suggest as if it were their own idea. Whether this idea is followed up upon or discarded as "a bad idea" depends entirely upon how they feel about the idea once they've said it to themselves. The immediate victim does not remember being fed the suggestion in the first place, but the scene may look odd to onlookers. Using a Suggestion is a Simple Action and requires an opposed Logic + Tactics or Willpower + Expression vs. Willpower test.

Cloud Memory Cloud Memory allows the character to erase or alter the memories of a victim. A single use of Cloud Memory can alter about 5 minutes of memory, but net hits increase the time frame. Using Cloud Memory is a Complex action, and requires a successful opposed Willpower + Expression or Logic + Artisan against Willpower test. A Luminary who is presented with proof that their memories are incorrect may spend an Edge to remember. Extras just have to resolve those discrepancies somehow.

Conditioning Using extended mind controlling techniques, a victim's will is broken and they are transformed into a servant of the character's. Breaking someone's mind in this manner is an extended task that has an expected time frame of 1 day per point of the victim's Willpower, with a dicepool of Willpower

• Intimidation or Logic + Tactics. Conditioning is Hard and has a threshold of

3. Conditioning supernatural creatures with higher Potencies than the coditioner is even more difficult, and the difference is added to the threshold in that case. Once a victim has been thralled, they follow all orders their new master gives them as if they had been imparted with the force of a successful Mesmerism. At the time of conditioning, the character may choose to alter the ideologies and demeanor of their victim (this is often done to make the giving of orders that would be against the original nature easier to do). Using Conditioning requires an Edge, and it fails if the process is interrupted long enough that it is not continued between when the sun rises or sets and the next time it sets or rises.

Possession Using Possession, the character can transfer their mind and spirit into the body of another. While the character is possessing a victim, their original body is inert and vulnerable, but they have full control of the other's body. They use the victim's Strength and Agility, but their own Social, Mental, and Special attributes as well as their own skills. They may use their own Powers in the body of another, and cannot activate any of the victim's Powers (but these disciplines do not necessarily turn off in the case of powers with ongoing effects). Activating Possession is a Complex action, and requires a successful opposed Willpower + Empathy or Logic + Persuasion against Willpower test. The character returns to their own body as soon as the sun rises or sets, the body they are in is knocked unconscious, their Possession power is suppressed by any means, or they spend a Complex Action to return to their own body. The character can only actually be in one body at a time.

Mob Mind A character with Mob Mind may affect a number of characters with their Authority powers simultaneously. The character's dicepool is reduced by 1 for every doubling of the number of victims. Note that while the character can attack more than target, there's still only one of them, so if they try to possess multiple targets they can still only end up in one body. The character does not need to maintain eye contact with every target, but must make eye contact at least transiently with every target during the 12 second round that the power is activated in (unless they have Will To Power).

There she goes again.

Celerity is the power to move with the astonishing speed of the supernatural. Celerity must be consciously activated at a cost of three power points, and its effects last for one scene. Distinct from other Powers, the effects of Celerity are cumulative. The discipline as a whole is activated or not during a scene, and may be activated as a Reflexive Action while rolling initiative. When activated, the character gains a +2 bonus to Initiative tests. With Advanced Celerity this bonus increases to +4, and with Elder Celerity this bonus increases to +8. During the initiative phase, a character with Celerity may choose to reduce the speed that they will move at to a more normal velocity. The degree of speed utilized cannot be changed again until next initiative phase. In general, a character whose Celerity more than doubles their speed in any dimension would constitute a breach of the Vow of Silence.

Quickness While Celerity is active, the character gains an extra initiative pass during any confrontation turn.

Nimble Feet While Celerity is active, the character is able to walk and run at stupendous speeds. The character's personal movement rate is quadrupled. If the character has Advanced Celerity, the speed increase is itself increased to six times. If the character has Elder Celerity the movement increase is eight times. In addition, the character ignores penalties for acting while moving over difficult surfaces (although they may be slowed down by them as normal).

Alacrity While Celerity is active, the character gains an extra initiative pass during any confrontation turn. This is cumulative with Quickness (for a total of 2 extra IPs if both are known).

Quicken Sight While Celerity is active, the character may perceive and derive meaning from fast moving objects. They may follow a specific card in a shuffled deck, read a sign on a fast moving train, or gauge the trajectories of bullets in flight. They gain a +4 bonus to Dodge Tests, and negates any bonuses opponents would glean from multiple attacks during an Initiative Pass. If they have Elder Celerity, the bonus increases to 6 dice.

Blur While Celerity is active, the character gains an extra initiative pass during any confrontation turn. This is cumulative with Alacrity and Quickness (for a total of 3 extra IPs if all are known).

Rapid Thought While Celerity is active, the character is able to consider their situation and their surroundings carefully as if they had little or no time pressures. All penalties for splitting one's attentions between two or more activities (such as wielding two pistols or picking a lock while dangling from a rope) are canceled. The character ignores all penalties for a "rushed job." And finally, the character always wins initiative against enemies, and must roll only if another character also has Rapid Thought.

"I have the power!"

Clout is the power to draw upon the great strength of the supernatural in order to perform feats of literal strength. Those who can draw upon their magical power to augment their physical prowess in this manner find themselves becoming stronger even without drawing directly upon their magical might. A character with Clout gains a +1 bonus to their Strength score. If they have Advanced Clout the bonus increases to +2, and if they have Elder Clout the bonus increases to +3. Clout is an odd case as regards the Vow of Silence because while it is accompanied by no flaming runes or crawling shadows, demonstrations of incredible strength strain credibility and perhaps worse they draw comments from observers.

Clinging The character can hold themselves onto vertical surfaces and even ceilings for extended periods of time without special equipment or apparent effort. They can easily move up or down sheer surfaces at the rate of a steady walk, and scuttle across ceilings at the rate of a careful walk without danger or exertion. When such a character attempts to pull Wuxia or Spiderman inspired stunts involving running on walls or brachiating over a crowd they find this much easier, because they can support their weight merely by putting a hand against a wall. For practical purposes, this means that such stunts are much less extreme for them than they appear to outsiders. The thresholds are generally reduced by 2 (a crazy extreme stunt would be merely a professional stunt from their perspective).

Vigor The character may spend a power point as a Free Action to increase their Strength by 1 for the remainder of the scene. This may be activated more than once, and its effects stack. While using Vigor itself has no visible effects, the use of vastly increased strength may be obviously unnatural to onlookers. The maximum number of power points a character can spend in a scene on Vigor is three plus their Potency.

Devastation The character's Strength can emanate from many places at once along an object being touched, allowing them to lift very large, awkward and even fragile things without issue. It also allows them to have a blow from their hand or foot repeated many times across a wall or floor, causing it to shatter (which is where the power gets its name). This kind of contact telekinesis is best represented in super hero comics - where characters routinely lift cars by the ends without parts falling off or the ground underneath them giving way. The source of force can be directed out across a distance of 2 meters per Potency, and the character can effectively lift or smash something that they could accomplish with 5 identical friends. With Elder Clout, the number of identical friends increases to 9. When used as an attack, the character can strike multiple enemies in close combat without penalty or attack a single opponent as if they outnumbered them. A character with Devastation can use any weapon they can use at all in one hand with no penalty.

Giant Size The character can grow extremely large. By spending four power points and a Complex Action, they can expand to a muscular 3.5 meters in height. This is a Protean power. While in Giant Size, the character has an additional 6 points of Strength, they gain a point of armor, and the base damage of any weapon they use increases by 2 (assuming that it is allowed to grow with them). All of the things that a character wants to grow along with them grow along with them while they are being carried by them, and anything they aren't carrying or that they wish to leave normal size stays normal size. Some creatures have Giant Size permanently on, and they don't have to pay power points for it (but they can't turn it off and objects do not resize in their hands).

Earth Quake By spending three power points, the character can do something stupidly powerful (and generally destructive) with their Strength. A blow reverberates across the ground like a meteor strike, shaking and crushing things out to up to a hundred meters per Potency from their person. A creature or object struck with the full force of ground zero of this strike is likely obliterated - the melee attack at the center of this is a formidable (even ludicrous) Damage 12. The character can attempt to restrict the power into doing something useful such as boring out a tunnel, stacking logs, or hurling debris out of a collapsed building. This kind of Popeye-like activity uses an Agility + Athletics or Logic + Rigging test to determine its accuracy.

Force Field The character can project force some distance away from their person. This allows them to stop bullets aimed at compatriots, strangle people from a distance, and even hover by "holding themselves up." Their Strength can be projected reflexively out to 3 meters from their person, and any attacks that target someone or something within or through that area may get blocked by the force field - meaning that they have to contend with being soaked by the character's Strength before being resolved (yes, this means that the character can effectively use their Strength twice when soaking bullets fired at their own person). Their Strength can be used actively as a normal action on things within line of sight. Force Field can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it. The Force Field has an equivalent of 3 hits for this purpose.

"You see what you want to see. You hear what you want to hear."

Discernment is the power to have unusual and enhanced senses. A character with Discernment can perceive what others cannot. A character with Discernment gains a +2 bonus on Perception tests. This bonus increases to +4 if they have Advanced Discernment, and +6 if they have Elder Discernment.

Supernatural Senses A character with supernatural senses can enhance their perceptions well beyond human norms. Vision can become telescopic or even function in total darkness; hearing can become acute enough to hear heart beats; smell can become powerful enough to track at a brisk walk; and so on. Bringing one's senses into the realm of magical badassery also makes one vulnerable to intense sensory input. Bright lights can blind, strong smells can overpower, and loud noises can deafen. While a sense is enhanced, the threshold to resist overstimulation is increased by 2. Activating or deactivating Supernatural Senses is a Free Action.

Aura Perception A character using Aura perception can bleed their perceptions into other worlds and see magical forces and beings in other worlds. Activating or deactivating Aura Perception is a Simple Action. While active, a character can perceive creatures in the Shallows of one otherworld (chosen when the power is activated) if they are currently in the Mortal World. If they are in the Deeps or Shallows of another world, activating Aura Perception will allow the character to detect creatures in the other version of that same world. A character with active Aura Perception can also see clear halos around active Sorceries, supernatural creatures, magic items, and Luminaries (this property may even be why Luminaries are called that). A character can attempt to identify the type of a supernatural creature, magic item, or sorcery with an Intuition + Empathy or Logic + Research test, with a threshold of 5 minus the Potency of the target (or the creator of the target). Soul Mask changes what is seen with Aura Perception.

Sensory Damper A character with sensory damper is protected from harmful stimuli such as glare, pepper spray, and loud noises. They are able to dial down their sensations to the point of unobtrusiveness. This can be effectively instantaneous in the case of bright flashes, and highly selective in the case of filtering out noise while listening to a conversation across the room. Such a character can stay conscious regardless of wound level (ignoring pain sufficient to knock them out), but it does not affect wound penalties at all.

Psychometry Psychometry allows a character to view past events by touching and concentrating upon items or people that were involved in those events. The event in question must be described (although that description may well be entirely conversational such as "What happened here?" - in the case of a brutal crime scene, the context makes that description sufficient), and must have taken place within the last month. Dicepool for Psychometry is Logic + Research or Intuition + Empathy. Using Psychometry requires one power point, and the expected amount of time is one minute. Seeing farther back into time can be done by increasing the expected amount of time by one step and increasing the cost by 1 power point for each time increment the viewing window is increased.

Telepathy A character with Telepathy can communicate mentally with people within line of sight. Voluntary telepathic messages can also be sent and received between people the character knows the name of and who they have touched (regardless of line of sight) so long as they are within a number of kilometers equal to the character's Potency. The contents of an unwilling mind can be read, but only with physical contact and difficulty. Telepathy is always on, but mind reading is a Resisted Extended Action. Mind reading uses either Willpower + Intimidation or Intuition + Empathy versus Willpower. If the target understands telepathy and takes effort to obscure details and engages in counter thought, they can use Willpower + Intimidation or Intuition + a relevant Background for resistance. Telepathy is covert except to someone receiving a telepathic communication.

Divination Divination allows a character to ask questions about reality and the future and get actual (if often vague and cryptic) answers. Using Divination takes an hour and costs one Edge. The Dicepool is either Logic + Research or Charisma + Bureaucracy. Divination can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it.

Dimensional Translocation Activating Dimensional Translocation sends a character and everything they are carrying into the Shallows of another world of their choice (Limbo, Maya, or Mictlan). The character can also return to the material world using this ability, but only from the point they last entered the other world. Crossing either way requires a Complex Action and a power point. Dimensional Translocation can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it. It requires 3 hits to counter.

Endure. And in enduring, grow strong.

Fortitude is the power to resist destruction. Some powers of Fortitude are continuously in operation, while others must be activated with power points. What makes Fortitude special is that it does not require the active choice to activate it. A character may activate their Fortitude powers passively while unconscious, or in some cases even while dead. A character with Fortitude is generally resilient even when their powers are not being activated, gaining a bonus on physical Resistance rolls of +2 dice. If they have Advanced Fortitude this bonus increases to +4, and if they have Elder Fortitude it increases to +6.

Patience of the Mountains The character does not need to eat, drink, or breathe. They persist night after night as the mountains and valleys do. Never aging or decaying. Such a character can hold any position no matter how awkward without cramping or moving. They are immune to poison. This ability is continuous. The character is still able to learn and change, and indeed Leviathan classically become substantially less human as time moves on.

Revive the Flesh The character can heal their wounds by drawing upon their magical power. By spending a power point, the character's wounds suture themselves, restoring their body to its original condition without mark or scar. Each power point heals one box of Lethal or two boxes of Normal damage. Wounds healed in this manner are gone in one round. Any wounds short of death can be healed in this manner. Aggravated damage is harder to heal, and takes two power points and an hour per box.

Restoration Death is no longer an insurmountable obstacle. While the character is dead, they may spend 2 power points plus an additional power point per point of Potency they possess and four hours to reduce the amount of damage on themselves to one less than Lethal. Restoration cannot be performed when the character's body has been impaled with something that inflicts aggravated damage or there is gross separation of the head and heart until it is removed and someone else invests power into the reassembled corpse. If the character stays dead for a whole month, any remaining power points they have are lost and they do not gain power points with their normal power schedule (even if that schedule is continuous). If the character lacks the power points to use this discipline, they may yet get a chance if the vast majority of their body is placed together and invested with sufficient Power by others (for example: with Gift of Health). Restoration can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it. For purposes of being countered, Restoration has the equivalent of 3 hits.

Indomitability Wounds do not hamper the character. The character suffers no wound penalties, does not go unconscious from injury before they die, and is not affected by the Incapacitated status at all. If you have a Terminal wound you'll still bleed out, and you can still be killed outright by Death Threshold overflow, but you'll be conscious and able to act while that's all happening. The character is also capable of straining themselves severely without noticeable effect: they can carry home anything they can lift. This discipline is passive and usually covert.

Endless Persistence By spending an Edge, the character becomes literally invulnerable for a brief period of time. For one round per Potency, the character ignores all damage, whether aggravated or not. This discipline can be activated reactively when damage would be sustained.

Skin of Night This passive discipline converts all aggravated damage to lethal damage and damage that would normally be lethal to normal damage.

Alright everyone! Let's hear it... for me!

Magnetism is the power to affect others with the otherworldly charisma of the supernatural, either to attract or repel. Characters with Magnetism are especially adept at making an impression and getting people to like or fear them, and gain a +1 bonus on all Socialization tests based on Charisma or Willpower. At Advanced, this bonus increases to +2, and at Elder it increases to +3. A character using Magnetism makes a large impression, and anyone asking about them later will get a similar bonus to any Socialization tests to find out information about them.

Attract The character can "turn on the charm" and grab someone's undivided attention. The character makes a Willpower + Expression or Charisma + Tactics test, and the number of hits determine how many peoples' attention can be so grabbed. Activating Attract takes a Complex Action and lasts for an entire scene. Attract does not guaranty that someone will agree with you, nor does it guaranty that they will sleep with you. But it does guaranty that the target will not ignore you or discount the importance of what you say. Attracted onlookers do not actively resist the next Adjacent attack if it comes from anyone else (meaning th threshold to hit them is zero).

Repel The character can become extremely frightening and intimidating, inspiring fear and shame in onlookers. Using the Repel is a Simple Action and requires a Willpower + Intimidation or Strength + Tactics check opposed by the victim's Willpower or Strength. An affected victim runs away or cowers in terror for at least a number of rounds equal to the net hits. Thereafter, an affected victim is shaken up for the remainder of the scene and suffers a -2 die morale penalty on actions. Repel can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it.

Dismissal The character can wrap themselves in the air of unapproachability, making aggression against them or even refusal of their demands almost unthinkable. By spending three power points, the character's dismissive demeanor takes hold until the end of the scene. The character makes a Charisma + Tactics or Willpower + Intimidation check, and anyone who wishes to summon the nerve to act against them must generate an equal number of hits on a Willpower + Intimidation or Willpower + Survival test. Failure to do so results in a round lost to dithering. The character's orders are also extremely likely to be obeyed (especially if they involve moving away from the issuer), and the hits are added as a bonus dicepool on any Intimidation or Tactics tests to command or demand.

Summons The character can send a brief telepathic message (no longer than a twitter post) to someone whose name they know so long as that person is in the same world and no more than 10 kilometers away per point of the character's Potency. The target can then send back a brief reply. If the character so chooses, they may also demand the presence of the target by making an opposed Charisma + Bureaucracy or Charisma + Empathy vs. the target's Logic. If successful, the target becomes aware of where the character basically is, and must attempt to figure out how to get there themselves. This compulsion lasts until the next time the sun rises or sets. Issuing a Summons (whether or not the compulsion for a personal appearance is added) costs two power points and requires a Complex Action. A Summons can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it. The disruption can be leveled at the summoning character or the target.

Depolarize The character can reduce those who hear their words to frothing lunacy. The character spends four power points and begins speaking. With an expected time of 10 minutes and a Threshold equal to each potential target's Willpower, a listening victim becomes a raving fanatic, their Willpower reduced to zero until the sun next rises or sets. Depolarize carries as far as the character's voice does, even over telephones or television broadcasts. Depolarize uses Charisma + Persuasion or Charisma + Bureaucracy. Additional hits reduce the required timeframe to format minds.

Siren Song The weak willed are drawn to the character like moths to flame. By spending seven power points, the character can let out a song that instills a compulsion in everyone within a radius up to one kilometer per Potency to come to where the character is. Dangers are ignored, and tasks previously engaged in are abandoned. The character makes a Willpower + Expression or Charisma + Persuasion test, and the threshold to affect any target is its Willpower. The Siren Song can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it, but a handful of salt (or whatever) frees just one victim.

...Now you don't.

Veil is the ability to draw upon one's magical nature to hide things from view. Veil does not affect cameras or other objective traces of a creature's passing, merely prevents observers (even indirect observers) from noticing what is there. Normally, Veil can only take effect while the target is not being observed. If observation is continuous, the observers will not see any change. Onlookers do not normally have any say in what they see as presented to them by Veil any more than they have any choice to not see things that are actually there. Characters who have Discernment powers active or who carefully search the area that the character is in have a chance to perceive through it by making an Intuition + Perception test against the number of hits made to activate the power. Anything a character covered by Veil carries is likewise covered by Veil and anything that the character stops carrying will cease being covered by Veil. An onlooker who notices an object pass into or out of Veil pierces the Veil altogether. Veil is inherently multisensory, onlookers are just as fooled if they close their eyes and listen or try to smell the character as they are relying entirely on their eyes.

Hide From Notice While active, the character is not noticed so long as they don't do anything incredibly obvious to give themselves away. Activating Hide From Notice is a Simple Action and requires an Agility + Stealth or Intuition + Survival test. Hide From Notice can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it.

Mask of a Thousand Faces While active, those who meet the character will treat them as if they were a different person. The character may choose the appearance (including clothing and carried items) freely, but taking any action that would be impossible for the facade allows onlookers to see through the illusion. For example, if a character uses the Mask to appear as a person who had no gun and then fires their gun, people would see them as they really are. Activating Mask of a Thousand Faces is a Simple Action and requires an Agility + Stealth or Charisma + Larceny test. Mask of a Thousand Faces can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it.

Lost and Found By spending a power point, a carried object can continue being covered by Veil after it leaves physical contact with the character. The character makes an Agility + Stealth or Intuition + Larceny test and the Veil remains affecting the object for an hour (time frame increases with additional hits). Lost and Found can be disrupted as if it were a Sorcery with a power source identical to the character using it.

Hide in Plain Sight By spending a power point, the character may activate other powers of Veil while being observed. All onlookers are entitled to a resistance check as if they had been carefully searching the area, but if they fail to notice the discrepancy, their mind will fill in vague details that excuse the character's disappearance.

Host the Masquerade A character with Host the Masquerade can allow their Veil powers to be used by others, so long as they stay within 20 meters per point of Potency of the character. Characters so veiled and veiling can still perceive each other in the same way that a self-veiled character can see themselves.

Fictional Self A character with Fictional Self can fool even magical detection. Making a successful Charisma + Stealth or Intuition + Medicine test, Fictional Self character can appear to feel, think, or be whatever they want others to perceive under mechanical or magical investigation (such as a lie detector or aura reading) unless the investigator gets more hits activating their power or device. Changing one's Fictional Self is a Complex action that costs a power point, but continuing to have fake thoughts and emotions pass that are consistent with one's false existence requires no action at all.