Lineage Mechanics

AX.GHW.06.04.01

Health Modifier: 0

(Applied at character creation and each time Fortitude is increased through XP advancement.)

Cultural Talent: Lore 1D

This die is free; it does not come from the Talent generation budget. Humans in the hidden world survive through information. The free die reflects a life spent accumulating knowledge about things most people don't know exist: what the symbols on that wall mean, which folklore has the details right, what this kind of evidence indicates about what kind of night this is going to be. The knowledge wasn't optional. It was the alternative to being unprepared.

Inherited Perks

Unremarkable | Passive Concealment

Humans don't register. The machinery of supernatural detection, the predatory awareness that tracks power signatures, the spiritual attunement that senses death-marks and contract obligations, the blood-sense that identifies non-human presences: all of it was calibrated for a world that treats humans as background. It still does. A human moving through the hidden world triggers none of the passive senses that alert supernatural entities to something worth noticing.

Effect: The human is immune to detection by supernatural presence-sensing,
        abilities, traditions, or entity instincts that identify targets by
        power signature, spiritual mark, lineage indicator, or non-human
        presence. This does not protect against standard sensory perception
        (sight, hearing, scent) or active investigative abilities directed
        at the human specifically.

        Creatures or entities that already know the human is a threat are
        not affected by this perk. Unremarkable prevents initial detection,
        not ongoing awareness. Once a supernatural entity has identified the
        human as relevant through any means, the perk provides no further
        concealment from that entity.

Activation: Passive
Scope: Self
Recovery: N/A
Genre Note: This perk does the most work in scenes where the party is
            moving through supernatural territory and the human is the
            one who can do it without being noticed. GMs should apply it
            consistently, the vampire at the bar should not feel the human
            across the room the way they feel the dhampir. The perk is
            passive concealment, not active stealth; if the human does
            something that draws attention through ordinary means, they
            draw attention.

Applied Research | Operational Advantage

The human's relationship to the hidden world is built on study. What they know, they have worked to know, which means the knowledge is operational, not academic. When they identify what they're facing, they already know the next step. The gap between understanding a threat and responding to it correctly is shorter for a human professional than most entities expect, and shorter than it looks from the outside.

Effect: Once per scene, when the human succeeds on a Lore roll to identify
        a threat, creature type, entity, or situation, they may immediately
        apply that knowledge as +1D to one subsequent roll in the same scene
        that directly uses that information. The bonus die must be declared
        and used before the scene ends. The subsequent roll does not need to
        be made immediately, the human may carry the bonus until the moment
        it applies.

        The Lore roll must genuinely succeed (meet the Threshold) and the
        subsequent roll must have a clear connection to the identified
        information, the GM confirms the connection before the bonus is
        applied. "I know what this is" leading to "I know exactly where to
        hit it" is a valid connection. "I know what this is" leading to "I
        drive the getaway car better" is not.

Activation: Free Action (declare when applying the bonus die)
Scope: Self
Recovery: Per scene
Genre Note: This perk is the mechanical expression of the human's core
            advantage: turning preparation into performance. It rewards
            investing in Lore and following the research thread, the human
            who does their homework gets a tangible benefit at the moment
            it matters. GMs should read the connection requirement
            generously; the goal is to make the bonus feel earned, not to
            gatekeep it. If the player can articulate the connection in
            one sentence, it's probably valid.

Power Access

Humans have no lineage-based affinity for any specific tradition. The capacity for power exists, it always has, but there is no built-in architecture that points toward Force, Resonance or Form. A human with Power Access arrived there through a Profession or a Progression and the tradition they access reflects those choices rather than anything in their being.

The absence of lineage affinity is a feature, not a gap. Humans who access power traditions are not working with something the bloodline already prepared for them. They are practitioners who built that access from the outside in. This means the tradition may feel different for a human than for a lineage with natural affinity, something the Genre Catalog's tradition files should address where relevant.

See the Necromancer or Witch Threats for how humans might access and interact with a power.

Attribute and Talent Caps

Humans use standard maximums with one exception:

Context	Maximum Value
Attribute (standard)	5D
One chosen Attribute (Human)	6D
Talents	5D
Foci	3D

Extended cap (any one Attribute): At character creation, the player designates one Attribute, Body, Speed or Wit, that may be raised to a maximum of 6D through XP advancement. This choice is permanent. It represents the human capacity to push one dimension of themselves further than the standard ceiling through sustained, deliberate investment. The cost remains Current Value × 3 XP for the 5D → 6D raise.