Powers

Germs

The Mycos represent vast otherworldly power. That power extends into our world through the Sporelands by way of places where the barrier between our two worlds is thin. The other, far more common way for their power to filter into our world is through Sporebound.

Sporebound have the mycelial tendrils of the Mycos literally growing inside them. While the growth is undetectable to mundane means, they make the Sporebound generally tougher and more capable. As a Sporebound becomes more acclimated to their Mycos’ power, some clusters of these tendrils start to act as direct channels to the Mycos, allowing the Sporebound to draw on their power to affect themselves and the world around them in specific ways. These abilities are colloquially called “Germs” by most Sporebound. Some of the more scientifically minded among Sporebound have attempted to map specifically which cluster of fungal matter provide what ability, but as of yet that hasn’t been cataloged.

Supernatural Coercion and Consent
Several abilities of the Sporebound manipulate people’s emotions, and some even compel behavior. Unless the player of the PC or NPC enthusiastically consents, no supernatural power, by any entity, may force someone to love or lust for something. No supernatural power can coerce someone to display or act affectionately. No power or ability can induce a character into sexual actions, even if the player consents to it. If you attempt to use a power in this way the power automatically fails. You are not refunded any costs. Insistence on such an attempt will be referred for OOC officer action.

During Downtime, characters can spend the Improvements that are earned as the game goes on to learn new Germs. Up to half of a character’s Improvements can go into learning Germs.

Learning General Germs or one of your Clade’s Germs requires that you commune with the Mycos in places where their influence is strong. A Sporebound’s Mycos will freely teach them the Germs favored by their Clade, as well as any General Germs. Treehuggers tend to commune in forests, Dumpster Divers tend to commune in places where rot is prevalent, while Shroomheads commune at events where self expression and empathy are paramount. While your Mycos imparts knowledge of the Germ through fever dreams, there is a physical component as well. Sporebound literally grows different fungal material inside their bodies based on which Germs they know.

Learning the Germs of another Clade is slightly more involved, and requires both a Teacher and an act of service. The Teacher must possess the desired Germ from their own Clade. Once the student has performed an act of service that furthers the ideals or agenda of the Teacher’s Mycos, the Teacher can briefly commune with their Mycos. After introducing you to their Mycos and explaining what you did, the Teacher will share their connection to their Mycos by breathing spores on the student. This gives the student everything they need, and the Teacher can proceed to teach them how to use the Germ. Learning Germs from another Clade costs the normal single Improvement from the Student. Neither the teacher nor the student need to spend a downtime action.

As part of learning a new Germ, assign it to one of your Anchors.

You may never learn a single Germ more than once.

Even with their connection to the Mycos, Sporebound can not bring that power into our world on their own. While Germs always function at full capacity in the Undergrowth, in our world, Germs depend on a Sporebound’s social connection to their Anchors. The exact reason for this is unknown. Some say that it is literally the power of friendship, while others say that the connection to Anchors allows the Germs to pass as “natural” to whatever autoimmune response the world has.

Each Germ (except Signature Germs) is assigned to one of the Sporebound’s Anchors. When a Germ’s associated Anchor is Exhausted, In Crisis, or Removed, that Germ may cost more to use, have a reduced effect, or be completely unavailable in our world. The specific complications are noted with the Germ Types below. Each Anchor can only support one Resource Germ at a time, however an Anchor can support any number of other Passive, Active, or Royal Germs.

You may reassign your uncultured Germs to different Anchors between games, at the same time you submit your Investigation and Downtime Action.

There are five varieties of Germs: Active, Passive, Royal, Signature, and Resource. The two main varieties are Active and Passive. Royal and Signature Germs are special kinds of Active Germs. Resource Germs are a special kind of Passive Germ.

Active Germs always require playing a card to activate their effect. Most Active Germs are associated with a Suit.

  • To use an Active Germ outside of combat, play a card of its suit. If you can’t or don’t want to play a card of the matching Suit, you may play any two cards and use the lowest value to resolve Simple or Opposed Tests.
  • To use an Active Germ inside combat, if you did not initially play a card of the correct suit, you must also discard any additional card of higher value than your initial card.
  • If an Active Germ’s associated Anchor is Exhausted or In Crisis, the player must discard any additional card, or spend 2 HP, to activate the power.

Signature Germs are a special kind of Active Germs that can only be possessed by members of their Clade or Bloom. They cannot be taught. Signature Germs are not associated with a Suit.

  • Signature Germs may be played with any suit.
  • Signature Germs do not have an Anchor, and so are immune to Anchor Exhaustion, Crisis, and Removal.

Royal Germs are a special kind of Active Germ and are associated with one of the Face Cards (Ace, Jack, Queen, or King) instead of a suit.

  • To use a Royal Germ, play its Face Card. If you have multiple Royal Germs with the same Face Card, only one of them is activated by this. The suit of the face card does not matter when using a Royal Germ.
  • If a Royal Germ’s associated Anchor is Exhausted or In Crisis, the player must discard any additional card, or spend 2 HP, to activate the power..

Passive Germs usually have a continuous effect on your Sporebound.

  • If a Passive Germ’s associated Anchor is Exhausted or In Crisis, it must be Activated in order to be used.
    • To Activate a Passive Germ, the player must either discard one card, or spend 2 HP. The power will remain active until the player Refreshes their hand by any means.

Resource Germs are a special kind of Passive Germ, which add additional cards to your hand. Resource Germs are associated with a suit.

  • There is never an Activation cost for Resource Germs.
  • If the associated Anchor is Exhausted, In Crisis, or Removed you are unable to use the Cultured benefit for this Germ.

Some Germs may become Cultured, which will either add an additional effect to a Germ, change the base effect, or grant an entirely new power. Using the Culture’s benefits is always optional. Characters begin with one such Cultured Germ, and can get more through downtime actions.

Cultured Germs become locked into a particular Anchor.

  • You may no longer change which Anchor that Germ is associated with between games.
  • If that Anchor becomes Removed, then you lose access to that Germ’s Culture effect entirely. If you wish to regain the use of that Germ’s Culture effect, you will need to spend Downtime Actions to Culture the Germ again.

Using an Active Germ (including Royal and Signature Germs) in combat takes your Action.

When you use an Active or Royal Germ to affect someone else, including effects that allow you to ask their player questions out of character, they may Resist.

  • Out of combat, they Resist by playing a Card with a higher value than the card that was played. The attacker wins ties.
  • In combat, the Germ is Resisted if the target has any amount of Defense. Some powers work against targets with Defense, and as such may not be Resisted while in combat at all.

Germs either require you to touch your target, work at range, or work on someone you are having a conversation with. Germs that work at range do so by exhaling spores that drift anywhere within line of sight. Germs that work on someone you are having a conversation with work on anyone you are having meaningful, mutual communication with someone who is in your physical presence. Intent matters: shouting at someone is not talking with them, while shaking each other’s hand in greeting is. If the target is in an air tight space or is not visible, they may not be targeted by any Germs.

Germs with a duration either last until the end of the scene, or until you next Refresh. Outside of storyteller run scenes, or in situations where a scene is not immediately obvious, such as most Germs used at gathering, a scene is 15 minutes.

Germs are presented in the following format:
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NAME
Type: Active/Passive/Royal/Resource/Signature (Suit or Facecard, if applicable)
Effect: What the Germ does here.

Cultured: What the Germ does if it is Cultured here. This may modify the normal effect, or supply a new effect. If this section is absent or empty, the Germ may not become Cultured.
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