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259490-Second Sight - Third Eye PDF
259490-Second Sight - Third Eye PDF
259490-Second Sight - Third Eye PDF
Table of Contents 1
Credits
Author: Chris Falco
Developer: Chris Falco
Editor: Chris Falco
Artist: White Wolf Art Packs
Cover from Max Pixel, under CC0
https://www.maxpixel.net
Special Thanks
Alan Alexander, Will Hindmarch, Conrad Hubbard,
Brand Robins, John Snead, Ken Cliffe, Pauline Benney,
Pauline Benney, Sam Araya, James Cole, Jim Pavelec,
Avery Butterworth, Alexander Dunnigen, Nick Stakal,
Mark Poole, Katie McCaskill, and anyone else that
assisted with the development of the original Second
Sight sourcebook.
© 2019 White Wolf Entertainment AB. All rights reserved. Vampire: The
Masquerade®, World of Darkness®, Storytelling System™, and Storytellers
Vault™ are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of White Wolf
Entertainment AB. All rights reserved. For additional information on White
Wolf and the World of Darkness, please, visit: www.white-wolf.com,
www.worldofdarkness.com and www.storytellersvault.com.
Introduction 5
Table of Contents 3
4 Second Sight: Third Eye
Introduction
Introduction
Meet the public defender. Overworked to the point of barely even getting to
talk to each of her clients, and yet she always seems to know exactly what
happened, ready with legal precedents and surprise evidence to help keep the
trodden upon masses from ending up behind bars simply because they couldn’t
afford a proper defense.
Meet the con man. He always seems to be happy to bilk the most gullible,
worst off people out of the last few bills they have in their pocket, leaving them
feeling hopeless. And yet, his victims always seem to hit a stroke of luck soon
after, whether a few hundred bucks from a scratch-off ticket, a forgotten debt
repaid to them, or money they’d thought they’d lost turning up in a hidden
container in their closet.
Meet the blind man. Left alone by the few he used to count on, he comes
across a strange book, seemingly ancient and yet written in braille, speaking of
“People are a way to regain his sight. The strange rite is prepared and performed by him,
supposed to fear and he finds himself miraculously recovering from his ocular defects. But… why
are there suddenly so many local news stories of children disappearing, always
the unknown, but on Fridays, about the same time he first found that book?
ignorance is bliss Second Sight: Third Eye is a self-contained update of the 1st edition
when knowledge Chronicles of Darkness supplement, Second Sight. It newly explores that
supplement’s concept of psychic phenomena, low magic, and dark cults of alien
is so damn creatures using the 2nd edition systems and mechanics. A bevy of new
frightening.” supernatural abilities are provided for mortal characters, alongside new
templates and other options for playing minor talents like Psychics and
- Laurell K. Thaumaturges.
While the 1st edition Second Sight book does contain some additional
Hamilton roleplaying advice, and a potential story option for introducing mortal
characters into the world of the supernatural, this book can be used on its own,
alongside the core Chronicles of Darkness 2nd edition rule book, without
requiring access to the original book. Psychics and Thaumaturges fit well into
the God Machine Chronicle, too.
Chapter One: Mortal Magic contains a large number of Supernatural
Merits, both new and converted from the Psychic and Thaumaturge merits from
the original Second Sight book, as well as new options and rules for mortals
making use of such powers.
Chapter Two: Abnormal Development provides Supernatural Merit
Templates (as introduced in Hurt Locker) for Psychics and Thaumaturges,
providing an alternative system for playing characters that delve more
specifically into parapsychology or low magic.
Chapter Three: What Should Not Be provides advice for Mystery Cults
following unspeakable beings from realms outside our view of reality, and for
Blasphemous heralds that serve them more directly.
Introduction 5
6 Second Sight: Third Eye
Chapter One:
Chapter One:
Mortal Magic
Mortal Magic Vampires warping the minds of others, werewolves channeling the power of
spirits, and mages imprinting the laws of strange upper realms on their
surroundings are far from the only beings capable of wielding supernatural
abilities. As long as there have been mortals, there’s been mortals capable of
wielding supernatural power, whether a psychic awakening of their mind, low
rituals calling upon the world around them, or strange mutations of their
bodies.
Evocation/Invocation (••+)
Prerequisites: Occult •••, Channeling, or
Medium
Effect: Your character has knowledge of “generic”
summoning rituals that are capable of calling a given
type of Ephemeral entity, chosen upon purchase of
the merit, without requiring the normal research time
or need for specialized applications of Conditions. By
purchasing an additional dot per type of entity,
further types can be called.
This works with a single Intelligence + Occult roll
to mystically attune the area to the entity, which takes
approximately 15 minutes; this can be either a
specific, named entity or just a call to the nearest of a
given type of ephemeral being.
If successful, the area becomes Open to the chosen
type of entity, and a call is sent out to them. They
must answer the call unless they succeed on a Rank +
Resistance roll and garner more successes than the
character did on their own roll. If the entity fails, it
Thaumaturgy (• to •••••)
Prerequisite: At least one Supernatural Merit that
requires activation.
Effect: Thaumaturgy is the practice of ritual magic,
whether through the lens of one of the Traditions or
through the improvised magic of a self-taught
practitioner. It has several scaling effects:
• Thaumaturges can utilize instantaneous powers
as rituals, extending the time taken in order to
lower the impact it has on their minds. When Coven (• or •••••)
activating a Supernatural Merit of a level equal to
or lower than their Thaumaturgy rating that Prerequisite: Thaumaturgy
usually requires only an instant action and no Effect: With this merit, the Thaumaturge is capable
more than a turn of preparation, the of performing rituals (per the description in the
Thaumaturge may meditate (or perform a similar Thaumaturgy merit) using the teamwork rules,
sort of ritual) beforehand in order to remove any allowing covens of ritualists to assist each other in
Willpower point cost from the activation (if it casting magical effects they all know. This process
would normally cost more than one point, doubles the time required of the ritual (either per roll
multiply the time per roll accordingly; two points or of any flat period required) but affects each
mean the meditation takes twice as long, for member of the coven participating in the case of
instance). This can be used even if there’s no powers that normally only affect oneself.
Willpower cost, in order to allow these merits to With the one-dot version of this Merit, every coven
benefit from other abilities that affect rituals. member must be a Thaumaturge that has both this
• When performing rituals (defined as either any merit and the one being cast. With the five dot
activation using the above system, or any version, only the leading Thaumaturge needs to have
Supernatural Merit that naturally requires more this merit, other Thaumaturges don’t need to have
than an instant action or turn of preparation the Supernatural Merit, and non-Thaumaturges can
beforehand), if they double the time required be included if they have the Supernatural Merit being
(whether per roll or of a flat period required), used.
they may ignore penalties equal to their Drawback: Differing methods of magic can
Thaumaturgy rating on the activation. This can interfere with each other. For each member of the
even remove penalties from Resistance. coven assisting in the ritual that relies on a different
• This merit acts as a prerequisite for any other tradition from the leader (those lacking one may
Thaumaturgy merits. Other Thaumaturgy merits count), the leader suffers a -1 penalty to their roll.
require a rating in Thaumaturgy equal to or Skilled Thaumaturges still often are better off with
greater than their own rating, unless the “clashing” help, but there’s always the chance of a
prerequisite lists a specific rating otherwise. participant doing more harm than good.
Dream (• to •••••)
Prerequisites: Thaumaturgy, Composure •••,
Wits •••
Numina
Others gain Dread Powers instead of Numina
(though may still choose the “Numen” power),
receiving the same number of them as other
Ephemera would receive Numina at the same Rank,
and they have a few unique Dread Powers they can
choose from (see below). The dice pool they use is
always Power + Finesse, and they may spend Essence
in place of Willpower. They may still trade these
Dread Powers for dots of Influences and
Manifestations.
Research
As mentioned, research rolls treat Others as if their
rank was one higher (needing 25 successes if their
effective Rank becomes 6), due to the obscurity of
most of their weaknesses. As well, “new” creatures are
all too common, making research an impossibility.
Stranger Things
Sometimes, Others aren’t anything truly
quantifiable, and existing game systems might not
seem appropriate for them. Flaws in Reality,
especially, may simply work akin to a system of Tilts
imposed on reality and a “Ban” that will cause it to
cease to exist. The Storyteller shouldn’t feel confined
to using Ephemeral or Horror systems, nor to relying
wholly on the Core or this supplement for where they
gain their Dread Powers and other abilities. Things
That Should Not Be are rarely confronted directly,
and if they are, they should shock and confuse the
characters and players alike, rather than following
predictable patterns.
Zhuidhro’s Cult
Calling themselves “The Empty Hand,” the cult of
Zhuidro are numerous, but scattered. They may go
about their normal lives for years at a time before
their patron provides guidance to them. Once that
guidance is given, though, they’ll do whatever is
needed to bring the world a bit closer to its ultimate
demise.
It’s because of this that it’s so difficult to
undermine them and take them head-on. No single
gathering of them provides access to the whole, and
the ones that pass on the entity’s will are rarely found
with those enacting it. If they’re not actively working
towards its goals at the time, it’s almost impossible to
find them out, given how normal they otherwise tend
to appear. Those seeking to undermine The Empty
Hand need to be prepared to play the long game too.
Purpose: The Empty Hand’s sole purpose is to
enact their patron’s will, and because of this, they
rarely meet and have no need to remain together.
Little “pockets” of the cult are scattered throughout
the country (perhaps the world), and come together
only when Zhuidhro’s will is made known to those at
the highest levels of the cult. Those members pass this
information down to whomever needs to know it, any
mission is enacted, and then they can go back to their
lives once again (if the mission’s result doesn’t
prevent that).
Ultimately, it’s said that these acts will build on
each other, until after years, decades, or even Asmodayan
centuries, they’ll reach the point of bringing about
the end of all things. Type: Demon of the Outer Realm
Doctrine: At the highest levels of the Cult (dots Background: Asmodayan only very recently found
four and five) are the Interpreters. They receive the its way into this world, and thus far, nobody’s entirely
will of Zhuidhro in whatever form it comes, and those sure of exactly where in the outer void it came from,
beneath, the Empty Hands themselves, enact that or for that matter, how it got here. No record can be
will. There is no questioning of these orders, there’s found of any summoning, no rites invoking him, and
Third Eye contains a look at the inscrutable, the flow of magic and thrum of psychic
energy. The power held by mortal minds and channeled by those that can't truly
contain it, but make use of it nonetheless.
It features:
•2nd edition rules for many of the psychic powers and thaumaturgical rituals found
in the original Second Sight, including more than 25 revised Supernatural Merits.
•New Merit Templates for playing Psychics and Thaumaturges.
•An updated look at Things That Should Not Be and the foul abilities they grant to
their followers.
•Optional Rules and updated systems for characters wielding low magic of any kind.