Projector

Those with One Foot in the Grave

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Who They Are

For as long as there have been humans, there have been those few whose souls were not built quite the same. These individuals had a strangely weak anchor to their bodies — and could, with training and often a dash of traumatic injury, learn to slip free of their mortal coil for a time and walk the world as what amounts to a living ghost.

In antiquity such people were respected pillars of their communities, able to bridge the worlds of the living and dead. Over time both worlds became increasingly hostile to them. By the 21st century it was clandestine organizations that provided the training and resources these people needed to survive — the modern name that endures into the Third Era, Projector, comes from that tradition.

In the post-Sundering world, the old maps of the underworld are as inaccurate as a pre-industrial map of the earth would be today. Few Projectors ever reach the true Underworld — the path is jealously guarded and the toll is steep. But in Basilica Purgatory, where the Gauntlet is thin and the spiritual world bleeds through in the Undercity's deep levels, a Projector's ability to step between states of being is more relevant than it has ever been.

Starting Attribute Priority

Category	Priority	Starting Points
Mental	Primary	7 points
Social	Secondary	5 points
Physical	Tertiary	3 points

Plasm — The Projector's Resource

Projectors draw on Plasm — the spiritual residue of death and memory that permeates spaces where the boundary between living and dead is thin.

Starting Plasm	5
Replenishment	Spend time in locations with significant death presence — deep Undercity, places of historical violence, near active Gauntlet breaches. 1 Plasm per hour, up to a daily maximum of 3.
Spending Plasm	Activate Projection abilities. Maintain the projected state. Interact with the spirit world.
Zero Plasm	Cannot project. Grounded in the material world until Plasm replenishes. Limitation only, no harm.

Projection — Leaving the Body

The core ability of every Projector is stepping free of their physical form and projecting their consciousness into the Pale Between — the echo-realm between the material world and the true Underworld.

Initiating Projection	Spend 1 Plasm. Roll Willpower (diff 6). Success separates the Projector from their body, which remains breathing but fully vulnerable and unresponsive.
In the Pale Between	Move freely through material objects. Cannot affect the physical world directly without additional Plasm. Perceive both the material world and its spiritual echo simultaneously.
Duration	Willpower rating in hours free; 1 Plasm per additional hour.
Return	Instantaneous and free. Great distance from body costs 1 Plasm to navigate back.
Body Vulnerability	Fully vulnerable with no active defenses while projected.
Forced Return	If the body takes damage while projected, feel it as a disorienting jolt — roll Willpower (diff 7) or be forcibly snapped back.

Projection Abilities

Purchased with experience points during play.

Ability	Effect
Manifest (1 Plasm)	Become visible and audible to mundane perception while projected — translucent, ghost-like. Can speak and be heard, but not touch or be touched.
Influence (1 Plasm)	Reach into the material world to move a small object, no larger than can be lifted with one hand. Slow and deliberate.
Spirit Speech (Passive)	Communicate fully with Ghosts and Wraiths while projected. In the material world, requires 1 Plasm to initiate contact with a non-manifesting spirit.
Dead Reckoning (1 Plasm)	Navigate the Pale Between to any previously visited location regardless of material distance. One minute per mile.
Possession (2 Plasm, diff 8)	Slip into a living being and share control — not dominate, co-inhabit. Host is aware and can resist (Willpower vs. Willpower). One scene maximum.

The Pale Between

The Pale Between is the echo-realm between the living world and the true Underworld. In Basilica Purgatory, it is not a peaceful place. The Undercity's damaged Gauntlet means the Pale Between there is thick with displaced spirits, old memories, and the residue of two centuries of concentrated human death and suffering. Ghosts (psychic echoes) and Wraiths (true souls) both exist there and can perceive Projectors. Most are not hostile. Some are.

Projector Immunities

• While projected, immune to all physical damage — no physical body to harm
• Cannot be Ghouled — the partial death state makes the Blood Bond impossible to form
• Natural resistance to supernatural fear — +1 die to all fear resistance rolls

Strength & Weakness

Strength: Between the Worlds	Weakness: The Body Left Behind
Access places and information no other being in Basilica Purgatory can reach the same way. In a city built on secrets, watching from a position no one can block or detect is extraordinary.	Every moment of projection is a moment of absolute physical vulnerability. Finding secure spaces to project from and establishing trusted watch arrangements is the defining practical challenge of being a Projector.

Quick Reference

Nickname	Pale Walkers
Resource	Plasm (starting 5; replenishes in death-significant locations)
Core Ability	Projection — step free of body, enter Pale Between
Projection Duration	Willpower rating in hours free; 1 Plasm per additional hour
Body While Projected	Fully vulnerable — no defenses
Attribute Priority	Mental / Social / Physical
Key Strength	Between the Worlds — unmatched intelligence gathering
Key Weakness	The Body Left Behind — projection means absolute physical vulnerability

See also: Half-Damned overview · Character Creation Guide