Ethereal, incorporeal, bodiless. There is very little known of spirits--what they are (are they actually the souls of the dead or something else?), where they come from, how they came to be. Not even the spirits themselves are completely aware. What they all come to understand is that their beliefs make or break them.
As might be expected, a spirit's magic tends towards the incorporeal, towards bending reality and the mind, although they can always find ways to affect physical objects.
Spirits are are subject to Thresholds, Oaths, Thrice Asked, and Favors in the Codes of Conduct.
For a spirit, a true death is a rare thing. They are not affected by physical injury or illness and they do not age. Sunlight merely banishes them and if their chosen haunt is destroyed, they will simply wander until they find a new place to inhabit.
However, being magic, they can be killed by magical means and when they manifest, they become vulnerable to physical damage. Necromancy is always a threat and exposing a spirit to sunlight when they have no means to retreat will destroy them.
The spirits of the world possess bodies made of a substance called ectoplasm, an extra-dimensional form of matter that does not follow the laws of reality. Should you attempt to touch it, it would feel like a jellyfish made out of cold smoke, incorporeal and hard to grasp. This ectoplasmic material is essentially a new body for the departed soul, but as is the nature of the supernatural, it is not a normal form. All incorporeal undead are immune to poisons, illness, and physical damage.
As beings of pure magic, spirits often find it challenging to interact with the mundane world. However, magic items are a different story. Spirits are able to hold these things without difficulty, although it's theorized that they are actually holding the item more by the magic inherent than its physical container.
Spirits have a different view of the world than mortals; they can see what the mortals cannot. The echoes of magic and those who remain are clear to a spirit. They might see a bustling street where a human sees an abandoned one, a busy construction site when night falls and the workers go home, or find their way into places formed only by collective thoughts and fears.
Create a minor ability from one of your chosen keywords. This is something you can do with little to no effort.
A spirit doesn't follow the rules of the physical world anymore. You can hear your true name being spoken from anywhere in the world and travel to that location to manifest.
With this ability, you can forcibly take possession of another, but when there's another soul in a body, this is a temporary measure. Both parties will feel the physical and mental toll, until the spirit is forcibly ejected. Roll Cinder in order to maintain control, while the victim is able to roll Cinder to resist. The two souls are able to communicate during this ordeal.
With this ability, you are able to pull a willing being’s soul out of their body. They are not made of ectoplasm and as a result are more vulnerable and do not have the same abilities. However, they can now interact with the spirit realm and other spirits.
They say you are what you eat. For spirits, you are what you think. Your thoughts and beliefs shape you and your abilities. Select one additional magic keyword.
You no longer have a body, but someone else can become a willing vessel. Assuming the body of another takes time and effort and as a result, this is a semi-permanent arrangement. Unlike possession, Inhabiting is natural and takes no physical toll on the vessel beyond what naturally happens. After leaving the body, you cannot inhabit it again. This can be a PC or an NPC, but if it is a PC, then the spirit player assumes control of target character. If the Spirit uses Inhabit on a brain-dead or empty body, half-blood or human, they can choose to permanently inhabit this body and start their life again at the Untrained rank of their new Path.
You've ventured far into the spirit realm, far enough to believe you've found the edge. There's more to the world than just this realm and maybe you will go explore it. Note: This is the option to move on and is now permanently available.
Direct sunlight does not destroy a spirit but weakens and banishes them if they linger for more than a few seconds. A limb in direct sunlight will disappear. They go back to their favored haunt, wherever that may be and remain dormant until the next sunset.
Salt interferes with the ectoplasmic structure that forms a spirit's incorporeal body. A blast of salt can harm them or prevent them from manifesting and using their powers, while a line or circle creates a physical invisible wall that they cannot cross. They can be trapped within a circle of salt in all three dimensions.
Manifest a spirit's key ability. It is the way by which they are able to access their magic and generally interact with the living, physical world. Without exerting themselves, they tend to remain incorporeal, maybe even invisible, although they can communicate through a variety of other means. Think writing on a foggy mirror, dropping things, tapping on objects, and other minor spiritual activity.
A spirit can harness their magic keywords using a Manifest roll up to half the number of dice in their Cinder dice pool, rounded up. For example, an Echo can use their magic three times per thread. After they move past their limit, they begin to have trouble keeping themselves together. Each time they use their Manifest abilities, they begin to lose something: their voice, their memories, one sense at a time--it is up to you. They simply begin to lose functions that allow them to interact with the physical world. When they have nothing left to lose, they are banished.
If a Spirit pushes past their limit and continues using magic, each use of a Magic or Path Keyword reduces their Luck by one (1). This is the mechanical representation of pushing past their limits. Both successes and failed rolls with a Magic Keyword counts towards the limit.
The methods by which a spirit can return to the world of the living are as varied as the spirits themselves.
Spirits have a tailor-made selection of keywords that have their own functions and flavour interpretations. This means that Spirits cannot take the general Magic Keywords named in the Keyword document, but must select keywords from their Path Keywords listed below.
As a Spirit you can choose to stay at the Echo rank and select one (1) Mundane Keyword, instead of starting at Shadow.
You are able to transform into a small to medium-size animal. You are the average size of that animal and although you may retain some innate magical abilities, you are otherwise unremarkable. Unlike the shifters, who are given the complete package of instinct when it comes to assuming their other forms, you must manually learn how to function in whatever form you assume.
As a spirit, you are able to possess small household objects.