Eldritch
Eldritch are aberrations whose bloodlines have been tainted by entities entirely outside of terrestrial reality. Elder gods, cosmic horrors, extra-dimensional interlopers, deep-space monstrosities, etc. Weird, weird stuff.
The Accords do have provisions that cover this sort of thing, but they are admittedly less comprehensive and specific than more terrestrial matters.
The problem after all with unclassifiable entities when it comes to governmental codicils is the rather obvious difficulty of identification and categorization.
Such a lack of clear guidelines creates a gray area that requires individual adjudication.
Mind-bending Horrors
Eldritch that are inimical to terrestrial life or too problematic to allow to exist are eradicated. Specialists are often required to figure out how to do this.
Big bounties can result all around, but the mental and physical stakes are high. These sorts of Eldritch are opposition, not player characters.
Freaks & Misfits
In practice, Eldritch that cannot blend in with normal people but are not actively hostile are sequestered by organizations such as Section M on one of several remote facilities.
There, such misfits are able to live out their days more or less comfortably. In return they consent to being studied, and in some cases agree to assist in situations where their strange abilities or unusual natures are useful.
This sort of Eldritch can be playable in certain campaigns, but there will be challenges when adventures require interacting with mundanes.
Merely Weird
Eldritch that can blend in with normal people and control their abilities are treated like other supernaturals.
It is made clear to them what they need to know about the Accords, and the consequences of not adhering to them.
If they later slip up and an Accords violation occurs, either field agents get involved or a Bounty is posted and Hunters clean up the mess.
Otherwise, they can go about their business as they please. It is assumed herein that player character Eldritch are of this variety.
Altered State
The "Merely Weird" sort of Eldritch may be a little strange looking, but appear within the range of human possibility on the outside.
However, autopsies or magical scans reveal inhuman and sometimes disturbing physiology.
Those of the same variety might be similar on the inside, but all bets are off when you study a different kind.
Biologically speaking, every different variety of Eldritch is a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to find when you open them up.
They often have unusual dietary preferences or personal habits, which are either merely quirky, or are pursued in private.
This is "really weird roommate" type things. Nothing obviously inhuman or unnatural, but off-putting and cringe-inducing.
While the mechanical impact of their strange physiologies and habits is represented with optional SFX and Limits,
coming up with distinctive quirks and gross biological details is part of the fun of playing such a character.
Making an Eldritch
Eldritch abilities are represented by an Eldritch Ability Set containing various Ability traits, SFX, and Limits.
Eldritch Ability Set
At character creation, an Eldritch character must spend fifteen (15) Advances to take the following Ability Set.
Additional Advances can be spent to add more Ability traits or SFX to this Ability Set, and more Limits can also be applied.
The Ability Set includes three open "Weird" traits at various dice steps, which can be any
Innate,
Psychic,
or
Metamorphic
Ability trait of the player's choice (other than one that is already in the set).
Alternatively, the player can work with the GM to take something more overt such as Teleportation,
or pilfer a
Mystical
Ability trait and put an eldritch spin on it,
or to design a custom Ability trait like Tentacles, etc.
Eldritch
[Weird trait #1]: d8
[Weird trait #2]: d6
[Weird trait #3]: d4
Durability: d6
Fortitude: d6
Stamina: d6
SFX: Tough: When using a trait from this Ability Set as part of a reaction to avoid taking Stress, if Stress is inflicted on you step it down before it is applied.
Limit: Eldritch Aura: You have an unsettling, otherworldly aura that is detectable by those with special senses, and even most mundanes feel uneasy about you. Gain one (1) Plot Point when this becomes a problem for you.
Limit: Graceless: When using this Ability Set's traits and SFX, both 1's and 2's on your dice count as opportunities (but only 1's are excluded from the results).
Additional and Increased Ability Traits
A player can spend Advances to add more Innate, Psychic, and Metamorphic Ability traits to their Eldritch Ability Set.
They can also continue to collaborate with the GM to include other traits, with permission.
A player can spend Advances to increase an existing Ability trait in their Eldritch Ability Set up to the same step as their Tier.
Such Ability traits can be increased higher than the character's Tier (at normal cost), with GM permission.
SFX
Eldritch can choose from among the example
SFX
as appropriate to their theme, but are encouraged to collaborate with the GM to craft bespoke SFX that are particularly niche or work in unusual ways.
The following SFX are examples of that sort of thing.
SFX: Amorphous Displacement: Your body is compressible to a quarter of an inch flat without harm to you. In addition to allowing you to squeeze through cracks or to hide in narrow spaces, it also makes you immune to d8 or less Body Stress or Body Trauma caused by blunt force.
SFX: Eldritch Strands: As part of an action or reaction, you can spend one (1) Plot Point to surround yourself with tentacular ribbons of extradimensional energy that are only visible to supernatural senses. They writhe and squirm around you in a spatially disorienting way until the start of your next Panel. While these strands exist, you gain the benefits of Mindbar: d8 and Warding: d8.
SFX: Non-Euclidean Trajectory: When you roll a reaction against an attack made against you from outside your current zone, if you succeed you can select an effect die from your roll and apply it as Body Stress to a target in any zone the attack passed through.
SFX: Nth-Dimensional Storage: You can store Assets that represent small objects (no bigger than a paperback book) in an extradimensional space that is always accessible to you, and can retrieve them from the same space. Storing or retrieving an Asset does not require a roll, but takes your entire Panel. You can store a total of five (5) steps worth of Assets at a time.
SFX: Synaptic Disorientation: When you succeed on a reaction to avoid taking Ego Stress or Ego Trauma from a mental attack, you can select an effect die from your roll and apply it as Ego Stress to your attacker.
Limits
As noted, Eldritch are unusual, and most have odd quirks that hint at their not-quite-right nature.
The following are examples of such mostly harmless but sometimes inconvenient quirks, but players are encouraged to be creative and come up with their own.
Limit: Deleterious Existence: Mundane objects you interact with tend to wear down and break faster than they should, and things in your vicinity rust, rot, and spoil about twice as fast as normal. Gain one (1) Plot Point when this becomes a problem for you or your allies.
Limit: Dimensional Dreaming: When you sleep, an endless kaleidoscope of fractals and hyper-spatial phenomena streams through your mind's eye. You are difficult to wake up, and often oversleep. Gain one (1) Plot Point when this becomes a problem for you.
Limit: Geometric Irregularity: You become semi-catatonic when you see elaborate geometric shapes, mesmerized by them until distracted. Gain one (1) Plot Point when this becomes a problem for you.
Limit: Impossible Metabolism: Your diet must include at least one bizarre, non-organic, or chemically volatile substance (like rust, battery acid, specialized mineral salts, or raw charcoal). Gain one (1) Plot Point when acquiring or consuming such items becomes a problem for you.
Limit: Inconsistent Mass: Your size and appearance doesn't change, but your actual weight fluctuates. Sometimes you weigh half again more or less than you should, whichever is more inconvenient. Gain one (1) Plot Point when this becomes a problem for you or your allies.
Vocations
An Eldritch is something you are born as, not a profession.
However, most Merely Weird have to make a living like anyone else, and can have Vocations as befits their background.
Because they are intrinsically odd, they tend to pursue their Vocations in odd and unorthodox ways.
Thus, Signature Exploits that focus on doing a vocationally relevant task in a strange way are on theme for them.
The following are just examples. However, players are strongly encouraged to collaborate with the GM to make bespoke options for their character.
Athlete - Signature Exploit: You can use a Transition Scene to do a bizarre personal warm up routine and drink a disgusting 'protein' shake of your own devising, to step up your Athlete die until the end of the next Scene.
Connected - Signature Exploit: You can mention you've been thinking about a specific contact, and before the end of the session they will reach out or show up with helpful information or assistance (GM's discretion).
Skulker - Signature Exploit: If you are not directly observed, you can pass through the corner of a room and emerge from a different corner within the scene that is also unobserved (GM's discretion).
Techie - Signature Exploit: You can rewire anything with multiple wires or connectors into an alternate configuration that shouldn't work but does, clearing a d8 or less Complication or granting a d8 Asset related to that system's usage.
Milestones
Eldritch are encouraged to have one of their Milestones be something that only makes sense to them.
Pursuit of a bizarre obsession is a very common option.
For instance, a quest to find a mint condition #1 copy of a comic book no one has ever heard of or cares about.
Or a determination to return a diary from the 1800's they found in a used bookstore to the author's last living descendant (whoever they may turn out to be).
Or a driving need to play a perfect game of Ms. Pac-Man on a specific table console from a Pizza Hut that closed in 1987.
Things like that.
The other Milestone can be about whatever, but a common option is to focus more on various ways in which reality kicks back against the Eldritch.
With goals such as "The first time in a session one or more of your faux pas results in a social failure.", and so forth.
By cataloguing a few ways the Eldritch's existence complicates the narrative, the Eldritch's strangeness becomes story fodder and drives the narrative forward in a mutually beneficial way.