Sphinx

Few modern sphinx like discussing it, but there’s still something that calls to them from their deep past, urging them to stand in guardianship over something precious and stop anything that would assail or steal it. It’s possible for a sphinx to follow these urges and gain Legend once more, building themselves into the divine terrors they once were. Many sphinx approach such a path only with trepidation, for it represents leaving behind the lives they have built amongst humanity.

PERSISTENT CONDITION: IN TRIPARTITE IMAGE

Your face and mind are that of a human; your body, the mighty trunk of a lion, bull, or other great animal, pulled aloft by divinely crafted wings. While your might is unquestionable, the modern World is not made for your convenience, and the lack of ready thumbs is often a problem. Gain Momentum when your lack of hands or impressive size causes you or your Band problems, or when your inhuman nature elicits a hostile response. You are Scale 1 for purpose of unarmed combat and natural speed.

HEROIC KNACKS

• A Face Without Hatred or Mercy: All attempts to ascertain your secrets, hidden motives, or other information you actively conceal suffers two additional Difficulty, as do attempts to sneak into a building or other structure you guard.
• Strangler of Kings: Your kind has gone for the throat and snapped the spines of their foes since before humanity had words for what you are. When you are in control of a Grapple, your grappled enemies do not benefit from Light Armor, and you may apply the pin or takedown Stunts for 0s every time you succeed at the Inflict Damage.
• Skybound: You have cultivated abilities of flight so fine as to challenge the Mediterranean-crossing ancestors of old. When you use your natural flight in Chase scenes, whenever you successfully gain a lap, you immediately gain another lap. In other Action Scenes, you may move an additional range band when making the Move or Disengage action.

IMMORTAL KNACKS

• Behold the Plain Without Shelter: Your reach is long and your grip firm. Characters of lower tier automatically fail Disengage actions against you and Chase attempts to escape. Other characters suffer your legend in Complication: Hunted. For each point of the Complication targets fail to overcome, you gain +1 Enhancement for all rolls related to hunting or grappling them for the rest of the scene.
• Behold the Icon of Stone: Time is not a weapon that may be wielded against you. You can stay perfectly attentive and alert indefinitely, and you require no sleep or sustenance as long as you remain stationary. Nonmagical attempts to surprise or ambush you always fail, and magical attempts must succeed in a Clash of Wills against you.
• Behold the Sandstorm and Weep: Ancient size and might have begun to return to you. You gain +1 Scale for all purposes, explicitly stacking with In Tripartite Image. However, you are now large enough that many human buildings are difficult to fit into, and impossible to enter if you want to avoid discomfort or property damage; gain Momentum when this causes you a serious problem.

LAMASSU

PERSISTENT CONDITION: FORM OF SHINING SERVICE

Your face is that of a human; your body, the mighty trunk of a bull, a strangely ambulatory leviathan, or some other great animal; divine wings adorn your back. The modern World is not made for your convenience, and the lack of ready thumbs is often a problem, but somehow, this never causes issues for your involvement in civic or legal matters. Gain Momentum when your lack of hands or size causes you or your Band problems, or when your inhuman nature elicits a hostile response; problems will somehow never occur. You are Scale 1 for purpose of unarmed combat and gain +2 Enhancement for all interactions with members of government, the justice system, or related services.

HEROIC KNACKS

• The Pillar at the Entrance: Attempts to injure people under your care or protection within your range band suffer 2 Complication: Warded. For every point of Warded not resolved on an attack or other potentially harmful action, the difficulty of Inflict Damage and Critical stunts for that action increase by one. Characters in a zone indicating a building or other structure you have sworn to protect may also benefit from your protection.
• Tireless Justice: Take a Guardian or Judge Heroic Knack.
• Unblinking Eyes: During Information Gathering play, you automatically benefit from the extra clue Stunt if it would reveal a crime or deliberate deception has taken place. Other attempts to deliberate deceive you in person suffer two additional Difficulty.

IMMORTAL KNACKS

• Eternal Justice: Take a Guardian or Judge Immortal Knack.
• Behold the Icon of Stone: As Sphinx Knack.
• Bearing the Weight of Nations: When you protect the safety and well-being of characters of a lower Tier than you in your presence or in an edifice you guard, they may ignore the first injury, other Condition, or Intrigue roll that would affect them in a scene. Characters of your tier or higher benefit from +2 Enhancement to opposed rolls or +2 Defense as applicable, instead.

KOMAINU, SHISA, SHISHI

Guardian lions who lose their partners or places they guard to the machinations of Fate or tides of change in the mortal World often find themselves at loose ends. The divine bureaucracy of the Shén often fails to reassign them quickly enough before a bereft shishi wanders away, and the Kami are unlikely to demand a bereaved komainu take up a new duty after losing its partners to mischance or foul play. Such wandering guardian beasts often search for new purposes in the World, often at the side of Scions or in communities who welcome their reliable presence and refusal to suffer evil.

PERSISTENT CONDITION:STEADFAST BODY OF STONE

You have a dense and compact body, the might of a great beast condensed into the size of a large dog. However, you have the weight to match, and occasionally crack floor tiles, break stairs, and cause damage to mortal interiors despite your best efforts. Gain Momentum when your lack of hands or unusual density causes you or your band problems. You have Scale 1 for purposes of unarmed combat, durability, and toughness.

HEROIC KNACKS

• Behold the Icon of Stone: You may take this as a Heroic Knack.
• Loyal Guardian: You may take a Heroic Guardian Knack.
• Still a Partner: Whenever you make a Bond with another character, you contribute an extra point to it. Whenever you benefit from a Bond, you gain +1 Enhancement to the affected roll.

IMMORTAL KNACKS

• Endlessly Loyal Guardian: You may take an Immortal Guardian Knack.
• Still a Lion: Your natural weapons gain your Legend as Enhancement, and they gain one of the following tags on each attack: Brutal, Grappling, Piercing, or Shockwave (Close).
• Voice of Warning: You let out a terrifying roar or bark that stuns your enemies. Spend Momentum to make a Knack skill roll as a shockwave (medium) effect; enemies that fail an opposed Integrity (or applicable antagonist action pool roll) lose their next action.