Where the Veil is thin, there will always be those that can see through it. Maybe they see the light. Maybe they see the shadow. But they see, and that's what matters.
It's different for everyone. For some people, it's a whisper in their mind, the reaching out of another consciousness touching them. It's the thing that moves across the room while they stare at it, the candle that comes on with no light. Or the certainty... the unfailing, unwinking, terrible certainty that there is something else in the room.
"What you got, son, I call it shinin' on..." - Stephen King, The Shining
Everyone that Glimmers can sense someone else that Glimmers, at least a little bit. It's a little glimmer - a wink. They're drawn to each other naturally. Not always in a positive way - Glimmer can bring together those that are destined to hate each other. But they always find each other.
It's the person you notice across the room for no reason. It's a face that you saw on the bus that comes back to you a month later, clear as glass. The one voice you can't seem to stop hearing in a crowded room. The homeless person that you always give a buck to, even though you know he's gonna spend it on booze.
The appearance or "feel" of someone with Glimmer is subjective: the observer sees what they see or feels what they feel. Most people "see" Glimmer as a visible glow around the person, something like an aura that those without Glimmer are oblivious to. Others, though, simply feel the presence of another who Glimmers, without being able to identify which sense is triggered. However a person observers Glimmer, it's consistent across the board: however they see or feel or notice it for one person is how they will notice it for another.
The terms used on this page are generally OOC. Most characters don't call their abilities "Glimmer," or use terms like Aspects, Mental/Physical/Spirit, etc. The language a character uses to describe their abilities should generally come from their experiences - e.g., characters may call it a gift, a curse, their mutant power, etc.
Glimmer represents your ability to meaningfully interact with the world beyond the Veil. Not everyone in Gray Harbor Glimmers, but those who do are imbued with certain abilities that often initially manifest during a period of extreme stress or intense emotion. More often than not, a person's first experience with the Glimmer is accidental rather than purposeful. However, it always leaves an impression and cracks open the door to the unknown.
Some people are basically born with their abilities already manifest. Others may come into them during childhood, adolescence, or even into adulthood and late in life. There's no cut-off point.
Many people report that their first usage of Glimmer accompanies a time of high emotions, which often makes it seem like Glimmer manifestation is clustered around adolescence, but there's never been an in-depth study. Additionally, since some people may have been able to use abilities and just never had a need, it's hard to really draw a scientific conclusion.
Some people will never use their Glimmer again after that initial experience, whether out of fear or simply choosing to stay ignorant. However, all of those who Glimmer innately understand that they can do something strange after that initial experience, as though it has always been a part of them.
All characters must take Glimmer in chargen, and either:
If you're creating a character who already has Glimmer and knows it, the character's background should include their first experience with Glimmer, and their general philosophy/take on how and why they use it.
Alternatively, it's fine to have your character's first experience with Glimmer be on-camera. To do so:
+request or job to do so. Note that you cannot shift your default 3 Aspect points into other Action Skills, only into another Aspect. So you can change from Physical 1 Spirit 1 Mental 1 to Spirit 3, but you can't change to Spirit 2 and place the other point into Melee.Glimmer has three aspects: Physical, Mental and Spirit. The individual aspects are not mutually exclusive, though most who Glimmer eventually find that they're more efficient in one aspect over the other two, and those with a single Aspect can learn to push it beyond the limits of those with multiple Aspects (see below, Specialization Bonus). There is no formal method of learning how to use each of the aspects; what can be done is simply known to you and that knowledge increases as you use your abilities.
Some people never really lean toward a particular Aspect, but instead dabble in them all.
Those who have had access to their abilities for long enough may have noticed, over even just the length of their lives, that the details of what they can and can't do shift at times.
The aspect of matter and motion, which includes manipulation of kinetic energy and Veil-connected space.
The aspect of energy transition, especially biomolecular energy, giving rise to healing and destruction.
It is possible for a person to have Glimmer but no ability to interact with it. This is represented in-game by having the Glimmer attribute but no ability points in Aspects.
Individuals with Glimmer but no Aspects will be resistant to the Veil's memory alteration properties the same way those with Aspects would be. This is sometimes the cause of random individuals from various state and federal agencies taking an interest in what goes in Gray Harbor. Such people are often ignored or written off by their coworkers and most of society, but they can make life Interesting<tm> for Gray Harborites when they roll in and attempt to Get To The Bottom Of Things. (Fox Mulder from X-Files is a classic example of someone with Glimmer but no Aspects.)
Characters who only have a single Aspect have a specialization bonus in that Aspect. If your character only has dots in one Aspect, they can roll that Aspect at a +2 bonus for all rolls. We encourage discovery of this capability through RP--either with someone who knows how to do it, or just sorting it out on your own.
OOCly, this is basically your character being able to use the "freebie" dots that you get in the other two Aspects. ICly, this is your character's brain being able to focus their single Aspect more powerfully, since they don't use the other two.
NOTE: This is not giving your character two more levels in that Aspect. It's just giving you two more dice when you roll it. E.g., if you have Mental 2 / Spirit 0 / Physical 0, you don't have access to the Mental 4 abilities; you just have two more dice when you roll Mental.
The way someone uses their Glimmer is always unique. There is no specific way to manifest your powers; some people may use hand gestures, elaborate incantations or a single focal point, while others need only give internal consideration to what they want done. Sometimes, powers manifest accidentally. Other times, there is intent and purpose to the action.
Regardless of desire or intention, everyone who Glimmers can sense others who Glimmer.
Some people may take an active interest in learning how to harness their Glimmer abilities. They may seek out others who are already adept in a particular Aspect, or they may just sit at home, trying to figure out how to improve on their own.
Others may start out at a particular strength and stay there indefinitely, whether because they don't know how or don't desire to improve, or because that's simply as far as they'll ever go. In fact, giving a character a hard stop or block that they can either eventually overcome or never manage to bypass can be a great character-building tool - but that's entirely up to you, as a player, to decide.
As far as staff is concerned, your PC can choose or not choose to pursue different aspects as much as they like as long as they don't exceed our post-Chargen stat limitations. Please keep in mind that no character will be allowed to take an 8/full power in more than one Aspect.)
Additionally, as you read through the abilities for each aspect, please keep in mind that the world is constantly changing. We OOCly change abilities from time to time, and this is thematic for the world: Glimmer isn't static, and this is reflected in how its usage shifts over time.
The human body isn't intended to be a conduit for Glimmer, and They are attracted to its use. As a result, there are significant drawbacks to using Glimmer, especially regularly or at high intensity.
Small manipulation and rare use (level 1-2 abilities, marginal successes, etc.) may fly below radar or have only a minimal effect on the user, but drawing on deeper reservoirs of power (5+ level abilities, Amazing successes, crushing victories, etc.) or use with regular frequency is guaranteed to generate a significant response. The bigger the rock, the bigger the ripple in reality's pond, and big ripples don't go unanswered. Thus, Glimmer drawbacks exist on a gradient: some characters won't Glimmer very much, or can't do so with much strength, so might not experience these drawbacks very often; others who Glimmer a great deal or find themselves over-performing will encounter them more often, and/or more intensely.
The emotional and physical impacts from experiencing drawbacks - even smaller ones - will add up over time, leading to the question: is Glimmer use worth it? This is a question only you the player can answer for yourself and your character, within the scope of your own narrative.
Because of the drawbacks to using Glimmer, most characters learn to control their abilities to some extent, if only to evade Their scrutiny and avoid the repercussions that come with accidental overuse.
Glimmer drawbacks typically take the form of either a channeling 'backlash' from being a conduit for Glimmer (often mistaken for 'bad luck', random health downturns, and accidents), or Dreams.
Glimmer backlash is a real world effect (or several effects), either to the character or the world around them. That time the brakes wore out the day after they were put in, the fever they can't seem to shake, the sense they're being stared at by everyone--these are all examples of possible Glimmer backlash.
Glimmer backlash is used to creatively tailor your character's narrative and add depth to your experience. There's no one way to do that correctly; some players like a grittier story and some don't, so always be sure to scale Glimmer backlash to what is right for you. Glimmer backlash isn't intended as a ‘punishment’ for having your character use Glimmer, simply as a tool for enhancing your RP as you integrate with the theme and story.
Each Aspect has a list of possible/suggested effects on its Aspect page to use in highlighting each character’s unique struggle enduring Glimmer use. These lists are by no means exhaustive; they're intended as a guide to use in deciding what will happen to your character when they use Glimmer.
NOTE: If you have a situation where you have an Amazing Success or an incredible run of doing a lot of high level uses of Glimmer in abundance, you are welcome to put in a job/+request to the Storytellers to create (through a mail which you can use in a vignette, or sometimes a brief scene) a ‘Glimmer backlash’ tailored for you! Storytellers won't monitor for this, but you may request one at your comfort level.
Dreams are discussed in depth on Dreams their own theme page. Unlike backlash, which happens in the Real and only to the one using Glimmer, and tends to be immediate, Dreams can happen at any time, might include innocent bystanders, and occur in the Veil.
The background skill Glimmer Lore indicates how much knowledge a character has about Glimmer abilities, and the history of any changes it's undergone throughout history.
Glimmer Lore background.For those who don't Glimmer, they will only know anything at all if someone has told them; what they choose to believe is entirely up to the PC.
As long as they stay near Gray Harbor, most people are able to retain their memories of Glimmer events, but they rationalize these events one way or another, with their mind making up logical, mundane reasons for events. Their memories will slip if they leave for very long, allowing them to live perfectly normal lives with only the vague inkling that Gray Harbor is weird.
Everyone can roll to detect the use of Glimmer in their vicinity or specifically targeting them. To detect it, you can use:
detect Enactor vs Target - Rolls Enactor's Glimmer+Alertness vs Target's Glimmer+Stealth (where "Enactor" is the person trying to detect Glimmer usage and "Target" is the person using it).If you succeed, you will know whether or not someone is using Glimmer around you or specifically targeting you for the duration of the scene (or combat). If your PC is mundane (does not Glimmer), you will have a sort of sense of something being off - the hair raising on the back of your neck.
It's much harder for those who don't Glimmer to realize it's being used, but they have the ability to know someone is doing something. A successful roll would be like feeling the hairs raise or goosebumps out of nowhere - the general sense that something was off, and usually they would know who was causing this sense of off-ness.
For those who Glimmer, it's simply a matter of whether or not they're better at noticing Glimmer usage than someone else is at hiding it. People can practice hiding their abilities, and other people can try to fine-tune detection; it's simply a matter of how people choose to specialize.
There's no physical manifestation of Glimmer usage - other than the results of it. For example, if someone uses telekinesis to move an object, people can see that happen. But there's no general "tell" in terms of something a character can see, taste, touch, smell, etc.
For quick reference, to target a PC with different aspects of the Glimmer, you can roll:
spirit Enactor vs Target - Rolls Enactor's Glimmer+Spirit vs the higher of Target's Grit+Composure OR Spirit+Glimmermental Enactor vs Target - Rolls Enactor's Glimmer+Mental vs the higher of Target's Perception+Alertness OR Mental+Glimmerphysical Enactor vs Target - Rolls Enactor's Glimmer+Physical vs the higher of Target's Brawn+Athletics OR Physical+Glimmer