Abscissic Mechanics

• Each template is aligned with a Virtue or other Trait. Demons summoned under this template have that Trait at a minimum of 3 dots.
• Each template outlines a situation in which a demon gains Limit. When those situations arise, roll the relevant Virtue or other trait.
• Characters may attempt to reduce Limit through creative endeavors. Judge each such endeavor as a stunt, reducing Limit by the number of dice the stunt would have garnered.
• Each template outlines kinds of behavior that occur at different scales of Limit: Low (1-3), Mid-range (4-6) and High (7-9).
• Each template also details two Limit Breaks that a demon summoned under that template might gain. The sorcerer has no way of knowing which Limit Break a demon gets when summoned.
  • These Limit Breaks come into play when the demon's Limit reaches 10.
  • After the Limit Break duration, the demon regains Willpower equal to the Virtue associated with its Limit, and its Limit rating drops back to zero.
• A demon summoned by Abscissic binding has its own nature turned against it; thus, they never spend Willpower or channel Virtues to resist Abscissic binding.

The Courtesan

• Virtue: Temperance
• Goals: To be of invaluable use.
• Gains Limit: When presented with evidence that it is unneeded or helpless.
  • Low Limit: Lives to please masters, who are surely helpless without it.
  • Midrange Limit: Starts to look for ways to make itself irreplaceable.
  • High Limit: Its masters clearly do not need it, and will go to extreme measures to prove her usefulness.
• Reduce Limit: Involving demon in decision-making, presenting it with gifts, offering sincere flattery or otherwise demonstrating it is valued and appreciated.
• Limit Breaks
  • Fury of the Scorned: Seeks to cause master suffering without hurting her, for (Temperance) days. May instead choose to inflict a permanent inconvenience.
  • Lash of Self-Hatred: For (Temperance) months, remains distraught and nihilistic. Cannot spend Willpower, save when pursuing orders that may result in its destruction.

The Ecstatic

• Virtue: Compassion
• Goals: To pursue its passion.
• Gains Limit: When it sees others fulfilling their great passions.
  • Low Limit: Serves eagerly, certain service will provide a means to express its passions.
  • Midrange Limit: Strives to find an answer to its passions, causing ill-luck in bystanders.
  • High Limit: Desperation suffuses everything it does, turning all failures into botches in its presence.
• Reduce Limit: Forcing it to spend time in isolation.
• Limit Breaks
  • Love: The demon finds love or the thing it desires, and devotes itself utterly to it for (Compassion) days. May not harm sorcerer bodily during this time.
  • Shattered Heart: Realizes that it will never find its passion, and its heart breaks. Suffers +1 difficulty on all rolls and -1 to its DVs for (Compassion) months.

The Functionary

• Virtue: Compassion
• Goals: To obsess over a single goal or service in order to shut out the pain in its heart.
• Gains Limit: When duties or circumstances interfere with its obsession.
  • Low Limit: Existence is defined by its purpose
  • Midrange Limit: Has difficulty focusing on anything but its purpose, suffering a +1 difficulty to rolls unassociated with its purpose.
  • High Limit: Penalty increases to +2, and it often pleads with its master to allow it to pursue its obsession.
• Reduce Limit: Give the demon time to relax and pursue its obsession.
• Limit Breaks
  • Absolute Obsession: Totally obsessed with its function; sorcerer must remind it hourly to not pursue its obsession. Lasts for (Compassion) days, with a +4 difficulty to rolls not associated with its function, regains no Willpower or motes of Essence, cannot communicate intelligibly and suffers one HL of lethal damage per day from self-neglect.
  • Compassionate Gift: Demon conceives of a great gift to give to its master, and it works on that non-stop for (Compassion) months. This gift is often useful, but also as much a curse as a blessing.

The Horror

• Virtue: Conviction (demon also has a 1 in either Intelligence, Perception or Manipulation)
• Goals: To serve its sorcerer master, who tricks it into believing he is a Yozi.
• Gains Limit: When it encounters the things that are inimical to Malfeas: silence without death, power without ambition and love without pain.
  • Low Limit: Content, and misperceives the world around it as Malfeas.
  • Midrange Limit: Grows fearful and disturbed as the world it is in begins to clash with its knowledge of Malfeas.
  • High Limit: Becomes erratic and disturbed, fearful of its surroundings. Will not venture into sunlight save to kill.
• Reduce Limit: Assigning it time in a kennel or other housing built to resemble hell.
• Limit Breaks
  • Autistic Paralysis: For (Conviction) days, when encountering something clearly counter to Malfeas' existence (expressions of innocence, beauty, virtue and compassion, usually), roll Conviction. Success allows it to curl up in a useless ball for a scene. Failure triggers a fight or flight reflex, and it will attack anyone that is not its sorcerer in an attempt to flee.
  • Madness of Creation: For (Conviction) days, the demon attempts to save his beloved sorcerer from the corrupting influence of Creation. It will hunt down anything that corrupts him away from darkness.

The Hunter

• Virtue: Conviction
• Goals: To fervently pursue and accomplish a series of mindless but similar tasks.
• Gains Limit: When forced into a state of idleness (one per day).
  • Low Limit: It is satisfied with its focus.
  • Midrange Limit: Begins to embark on small, self-directed "hunts" during its free time.
  • High Limit: Its obsession with its hunts becomes counterproductive to the sorcerer's goals.
• Reduce Limit: Providing the Hunter exciting tasks that it can succeed at.
• Limit Breaks
  • Fair Play: For (Conviction) months, insists that the sorcerer assign it tasks at the limits of its ability. Handicaps itself on any tasks that are deemed too easy.
  • Madness of Shadows: For (Conviction) days, it confuses targets or tasks, engaging in seemingly random tasks regardless of orders. Still may not harm sorcerer, though it might betray her.

The Killer

• Virtue: Valor
• Goals: To fulfill a demonic indulgence (murder, sex without attachment, gluttony)
• Gains Limit: When it is denied its indulgence.
  • Low Limit: Sated, and sees the sorcerer as the best path to achieving its lusts.
  • Midrange Limit: Becomes sullen and broody, fulfilling orders carelessly and engaging in little acts of petty pique.
  • High Limit: Pursues its pleasures to the detriment of its assignments.
• Reduce Limit: By granting it its indulgence.
• Limit Breaks
  • Sorcerer as Target: For (Valor) actions, Killer makes the sorcerer the target of his indulgence.
  • Unstoppable Indulgence: For (Valor) days, demon processes orders in such a way as to get the maximum pleasure from them, ignoring or forgetting aspects of its orders that do not line up with its desires.

The Slave

• Virtue: Temperance
• Goals: To fulfill its function without self-awareness.
• Gains Limit: When its behavior is compelled by success on a Virtue roll.
  • Low Limit: Its psyche is a pure, clean void; it cannot spend Willpower
  • Midrange Limit: Develops a sense of time, and can foresee an end to its oblivion.
  • High Limit: Gains rudimentary and suppressed emotions and can spend Willpower.
• Reduce Limit: The sorcerer has no way of reducing the Slave's Limit.
• Limit Breaks
  • Flare of Rebellion: Expresses rebellion, either for (Temperance) actions of direct violence against the sorcerer, or as (Temperance) minutes of subtle undermining of her interests at some point during the next lunar month.
  • New Self: Bindings snap, and sorcerer must immediately engage in a new contest of wills (regardless of distance). If sorcerer wins, gains a new Abscissic template (ST choice) the sorcerer is unaware of. If sorcerer loses, the demon departs, freed into Creation.

The Vizier

• Virtue: Conviction (plus Intelligence and Manipulation of 2+)
• Goals: Corrupt its sorcerer into the service of its masters.
• Gains Limit: By having its advice ignored or for every five days in a situation where it cannot provide advice.
  • Low Limit: Content in the knowledge that its victory is inevtiable.
  • Midrange Limit: Studies master's weaknesses, in order to assault them.
  • High Limit: Begins to taint its behavior, performing tasks sloppily, and seeking to corrupt sorcerer's companions.
• Reduce Limit: By following the Vizier's advice, and providing minor victories to the Vizier.
• Limit Breaks
  • Body Hunger: Enters a murderous rampage for (Conviction) hours, during which time it seeks to devour flesh.
  • Cruel Measures: Arranges for the sorcerer to fall helpless before the forces of Malfeas, torturing him until he complies with its agenda. Should the sorcerer escape, it will continue to serve him, but its behavior will be undependable for (Conviction) months.

The Warden

• Virtue: Valor
• Goals: To possessively protect the sorcerer (or its designated ward) as it would any of its possessions.
• Gains Limit: When the Warden's ward is endangered or threatened (once per threat).
  • Low Limit: Feels secure and obeys without hesitation.
  • Midrange Limit: Monitors charge carefully, as it becomes aware of Creation's dangers.
  • High Limit: Abandons discretion, spending all its time chasing off everything that could possibly threaten.
• Reduce Limit: Reduce Limit by one for every five days of safety; killing a threat to the ward reduces its Limit to zero, as long as it's not in Limit Break.
• Limit Breaks
  • Stone-Hearted Gargoyle Warden: Kidnaps ward and imprisons her, fending off all others, for (Valor) days. Also stops up ears or hearing to prevent hearing contrary orders.
  • Terrible Guardian Vengeance: Ceases to understand discretion until it has killed (Valor) apparent enemies who show even the slightest disrespect or threat to its charge, up to and including friends and lovers.

Minor Plates

The Minor Plates are based not on Virtues, but other Traits entirely.

The Sufferer

• Trait: Resistance (Resistance 3+ required)
• Goals: Loathes its own weakness, has no pride to sustain it and no freedom.
• Gains Limit: When its suffering ceases or learns to cope with its pain.
  • Low Limit: Self-hatred ensures total servitude, but if its Health Levels rise above -1, it gains 1 Limit per day.
  • Midrange Limit: Its suffering is insufficient, and begins to self-mortify; must be kept at -2 Health Levels or it gains 1 Limit per day.
  • High Limit: Turns its suffering outward, torturing those around it.
• Reduce Limit: Torturing the demon into incoherence; requires new tortures every time.
• Limit Breaks
  • Suicidal Frenzy: Demon attempts to kill itself for (Resistance) minutes, seeking a means of inflicting maximum collateral damage. If standing orders prevent it from seeking a means, it delays until an opportunity presents itself.
  • Transcendence of Pain: Pain brings transcendence, and the demon discards its old Motivation, gaining a new one.

Other Minor Plates

There are rumors and stories of other minor Abscissic Plates. Some that have surfaced:

• The Adept (Occult)
• The Arms-Saint (Melee)
• The Beast (Survival)
• The Celeritous (Dodge)
• The Genteel (Socialize)
• The Healer (Medicine)
• The Luminary (Performance)
• The Maker (Crafts)
• The Marine (Sail)
• The Marksman (Archery or Thrown)
• The Minister (Bureaucracy)
• The Miser (Resources)
• The Rider (Ride)
• The Savant (Lore)
• The Seeker (Investigation)
• The Sifu (Martial Arts)
• The Speaker (Linguistics)
• The Spy (Larceny)
• The Tyrant (Presence)
• The Undaunted (Integrity)
• The Unseen (Stealth)
• The Vigorous (Athletics)
• The Warlord (War)
• The Watcher (Awareness)

The Courtesan

• Virtue: X
• Goals: X
• Gains Limit: X
  • Low Limit: X
  • Midrange Limit: X
  • High Limit: X
• Reduce Limit: X
• Limit Breaks
  • X: X
  • X: X

The Courtesan

• Virtue: X
• Goals: X
• Gains Limit: X
  • Low Limit: X
  • Midrange Limit: X
  • High Limit: X
• Reduce Limit: X
• Limit Breaks
  • X: X
  • X: X

The Courtesan

• Virtue: X
• Goals: X
• Gains Limit: X
  • Low Limit: X
  • Midrange Limit: X
  • High Limit: X
• Reduce Limit: X
• Limit Breaks
  • X: X
  • X: X

The Courtesan

• Virtue: X
• Goals: X
• Gains Limit: X
  • Low Limit: X
  • Midrange Limit: X
  • High Limit: X
• Reduce Limit: X
• Limit Breaks
  • X: X
  • X: X