Mediumship

AX.GHW.08.01 - Mediumship

The Haunt knows what Mediumship is before they have a word for it. They felt it in the hours and days after their return: a permeability to things that others didn't seem to notice. The dead man in the hospital waiting room that the nurses walked through. The specific weight of silence in a room where something violent happened. The way restless things turn toward them like plants toward a light source, with a recognition that the Haunt finds simultaneously intimate and unbearable.

Mediumship is the discipline of that permeability. It doesn't teach Haunts how to perceive the dead, their death-mark already does that. It teaches them how to use that perception deliberately: how to hold a conversation with what they sense rather than simply receiving its noise, how to step into the liminal enough to use it, and when necessary, how to close the door rather than leave it hanging open.

Practitioners call the body of this work Liminal Arts, a term that reflects the tradition's defining geography. The liminal is the threshold, the in-between, the space where the dead linger because something keeps them from continuing. Haunts don't visit the liminal the way a tourist visits a foreign city. They carry it with them. Every Haunt is already standing at the edge. Mediumship is the art of learning what to do from there.

Non-Haunt practitioners exist, typically individuals with significant exposure to Haunts, to spaces of concentrated death, or to entities that exert strong liminal pressure. They can learn the skills. They cannot feel the geography the way a Haunt does. A trained non-Haunt Medium is competent. An experienced Haunt Medium is something else.

System Integration

Mediumship as an Odd Talent

Mediumship functions as an Odd Talent per AX.C.04. Standard rules apply:

The roll is: Governing Attribute + Mediumship (+ Focus if applicable)
Mediumship dice are purchased from the Talent budget at character creation, or improved through Advancement at standard cost (Governing Attribute × 2 XP for a new Tradition at 1D; current value × 2 XP to improve)
Maximum Tradition rating: 5D. Maximum Focus rating: 3D
All three Expressions draw on the same Odd Talent pool

Governing Attribute

The governing Attribute is chosen at character creation and is permanent.

Expression	Common Choice	Reasoning
Liminal Sight	Wit (default)	Reading the dead requires interpretation, not physical effort
Dead Reach	Wit or Body	Wit for conversation; Body for compelling and forceful contact
The Threshold	Wit or Speed	Wit for deliberate navigation; Speed for fast liminal reaction
A practitioner who chooses Body as their governing Attribute applies it to all Expressions. Body-governed Mediumship is more visceral and direct, the tradition feels like physical pressure rather than perceptual nuance.

Access

Haunt Lineage Affinity: Haunts who receive Profession access to Mediumship begin with 2D rather than 1D at no additional cost (per AX.GM.06 affinity note). Lineage alone does not grant access, a Profession or Progression Track Stage is still required.

Profession Access: Any Profession listed as granting Mediumship access provides the Tradition at 1D (or 2D for Haunts) at character creation with no Talent cost.

Independent Study: A character without Lineage or Profession access may pursue Mediumship through extended apprenticeship with a practitioner of at least 3D and one week of Deliberate Training in a liminal space. Cost: Governing Attribute × 2 XP. Not available to characters with no prior contact with restless dead, Haunts, or active liminal spaces.

Mechanics Summary

Feature	Detail
Tradition Category	Resonance, perception of and interaction with consciousness, memory, and liminal space
Default Attribute	Wit
Action Type	Primary Action (most effects); Minor Action (passive sensing extensions)
Signature Feel	The dead are already here. This tradition is about deciding what to do with that fact.
Lineage Affinity	Haunt (2D at access rather than 1D)
Signature Focus	The Anchor Object
Expressions	Liminal Sight, Dead Reach, The Threshold

Threshold Scale:

Threshold	Scale of Effect
1	Minor; brief; passive impressions; a single clear signal from a willing or passive entity
2	Standard; a conversation or direct perception; one aware entity within Near range
3	Significant; multiple entities or a resistant/hostile one; extended duration or deeper reading
4	Major; affecting the liminal structure of a space; compelling an entity against strong resistance
5+	Profound; permanent alteration of a location's liminal character; true liminal transit

Expression: Liminal Sight

The dead are in the room. This is what they look like.

Liminal Sight is the foundation of Mediumship, the capacity to shift perception into the frequency where the dead and the liminal are legible. All Haunts can do a version of this passively (Psychic Sensitivity, AX.GM.06), but Mediumship extends it: precise identification instead of vague awareness, reading the history of a space rather than just its current spiritual weight, and perception at distances the passive sense doesn't reach.

This is a perception and investigation expression, not a communication or traversal one. Liminal Sight reads; it does not reach.

Liminal Sight- Applications

Extended Perception (Minor Action, Threshold 1)

The practitioner consciously extends their liminal awareness beyond its passive range. Until the end of the scene, they perceive restless dead, spiritual remnants, and liminal markers at Far range (rather than Near). They can identify what they sense, type, approximate state (calm, distressed, hostile), and whether it is aware of them, without a secondary roll.

For non-Haunt practitioners without Psychic Sensitivity, this application provides the base liminal perception entirely.

Scaling: Excess successes extend range to Distant (1 excess), or provide specific location within the range band rather than just presence (1 excess).

Death Echo (Primary Action, Threshold variable)

The practitioner reads the liminal residue of a specific location or object for events that occurred there. Recent deaths register clearly; events with strong emotional weight at the moment of death register clearly regardless of age. Ordinary past events require higher Thresholds.

Recent death (within a week): Threshold 2. Vivid impression of what happened, emotional state, presence, physical circumstance.
Past violence or significant death (within years): Threshold 3. Vaguer; emotions and physical sensation present, specific words or faces require more successes.
Old deaths or long-past events (decades+): Threshold 4. Only the strongest impressions survive, great violence, unfinished business, or repeated pattern leave readable marks.

Scaling: Excess successes sharpen detail, vague impressions become specific events; emotional register becomes identifiable voices; approximate timing becomes precise.

Backlash: - Minor: The echo inverts, the practitioner receives impressions from their own most recent brush with death or serious injury. Disadvantage on all Wit rolls for the remainder of the scene as the intrusive memory competes with present perception. - Moderate: The death echo doesn't stop. The practitioner cannot voluntarily end the perception for the rest of the scene and remains partially overlaid on the event's moment. All Thresholds increase by 1 for the remainder of the scene to account for the split perception. - Severe: Something in the echo looks back. A restless entity associated with the event becomes immediately aware of the practitioner and their location, not a vague attention but a direct lock. The GM determines the entity's nature and intent. It knows where the practitioner is, right now, and it noticed them looking.

Read the Departed (Primary Action, Threshold 2–4, requires physical contact with remains or personal object)

With physical contact with remains or a significant personal object, the practitioner accesses impressions from the consciousness that once inhabited the body or held the object. This is not the same as speaking with a ghost; it reads an echo rather than reaching an active entity. The departed cannot respond, but the reading surfaces memories, emotional context, and facts they knew.

Surface impressions (feelings, relationships, recent events): Threshold 2
Specific memory or knowledge: Threshold 3
Hidden or actively repressed information: Threshold 4

Scaling: Excess successes provide additional clarity or allow the practitioner to ask a follow-up question (one per 2 excess successes).

Backlash: Apply the Death Echo backlash table.

Expression: Dead Reach

They're there. Now what do you say?

Dead Reach is where Mediumship becomes interactive rather than purely perceptive. The practitioner doesn't just sense what is there; they make contact, open a channel, and where necessary compel cooperation from entities that would prefer to be left alone. This is where the tradition becomes difficult: the dead are not obligated to be helpful, some are hostile, and the ones who are useful often have their own agendas.

This expression is also where the two-way detection from the Haunt lineage becomes mechanically central. A Haunt using Dead Reach is visible to every entity in range; they are announcing themselves. That is the trade.

Dead Reach- Applications

Open Channel (Primary Action, Threshold 1–3 depending on entity state)

Establish two-way communication with a liminal entity within Near range. The entity responds, not necessarily in clear language, but in impression, image, or emotional direct transfer.

Threshold scales with the entity's state: - Threshold 1: Passive, inactive remnant. Contact is more like listening to a recording. - Threshold 2: Aware but neutral or passive restless entity. Conversation requires matching its frequency. - Threshold 3: Active, distressed, or hostile entity that has its own reasons to resist contact.

This application does not compel truth; it opens a channel. What the entity communicates may be incomplete, metaphorical, or deliberately misleading. Roll Wit + Attunement vs Threshold 2 to assess reliability.

Scaling: Excess successes improve clarity and allow one additional specific question per 2 excess.

Compel Testimony (Primary Action, Threshold 3, contested)

Force communication from an unwilling entity. The entity must engage, though it resists sharing more than it wants to. This is contested: the practitioner rolls Governing Attribute + Mediumship vs the entity's Wit or equivalent resistance.

Net successes determine scope: - Net 1: The entity acknowledges the practitioner and answers one direct question, minimally. - Net 2–3: The entity answers up to three questions without being able to actively mislead (omission remains possible). - Net 4+: The entity answers fully and cannot omit, the channel overrides its resistance.

This application is visible to all entities in Near range. Using it in a space with multiple liminal presences means all of them notice.

Scaling: Additional net successes past 4 allow follow-up questions or surface detail the entity didn't intend to share.

Quiet the Unquiet (Primary Action or Extended Work, Threshold 2–5)

Resolve the condition keeping a restless entity in place, allowing it to move on. This is not destruction or banishment; it is addressing the actual reason the entity hasn't continued. The Threshold reflects the complexity of what's unresolved:

Simple unfinished business (pass a message, acknowledge what happened): Threshold 2
Significant emotional wound (betrayal, grief, unanswered question): Threshold 3. Requires understanding what the entity needs and either providing it directly or facilitating it.
Deeply rooted or willfully refused continuation: Threshold 4. The entity doesn't want to go. Compelled continuation carries Backlash risk.
Ancient, massive, or structurally embedded haunting: Threshold 5+. May not be a single scene's work.

This application requires actually resolving the issue, not just rolling well. The roll reflects the practitioner's capacity to perceive what's needed and facilitate it.

Scaling: Excess successes surface additional clarity about what the entity needs, reducing the required Threshold for follow-up interactions.

Backlash: - Minor: The channel doesn't close cleanly. The entity or one of its connections leaves an impression in the practitioner's sensory field. Until Strain clears, they occasionally perceive the entity's specific emotional register overlaid on normal perception. - Moderate: The practitioner becomes a temporary anchor. The entity cannot move on, instead it attaches to the practitioner, follows them, and manifests when the practitioner is Strained. It will not depart until the underlying condition is addressed or the practitioner severs the connection through a Long Rest ritual. - Severe: Present tense collapses. The practitioner cannot reliably distinguish whether they are perceiving now or a death echo for 1D3 scenes. Each scene in this state, they must pass a Wit + Resolve Save vs Threshold 3 to take complex deliberate action (simple reactive actions, defense, and instinct are unaffected). Clears only with a Long Rest and a successful Mediumship roll at Threshold 3.

Expression: The Threshold

Step sideways. Not far. Just far enough.

The Threshold is the most dangerous and most powerful expression of Mediumship, and the one that most clearly marks the tradition as something Haunts carry in their bodies rather than learn from a book. A Haunt practitioner accessing The Threshold is not metaphorically standing at the edge between living and dead. They are physically stepping into the liminal layer, the space that overlaps physical reality but is not identical to it.

This expression has combat applications, but it is not primarily a combat tool. Its primary function is access: to spaces that are physically blocked, to vantage points that physical presence prevents, to the capacity to briefly not be where something dangerous is looking.

Non-Haunt practitioners who develop this expression are notable enough in the hidden world that other Mediums tend to know them by reputation.

The Threshold- Applications

Liminal Step (Primary Action, Threshold 3)

The practitioner steps partially into the liminal for one scene or until they choose to step back.

While Liminal-Stepped: - All physical attacks against them are made at Disadvantage (the attacker is striking at something not quite there) - They can pass through physical barriers that are not spiritually significant, standard walls, doors, locked vehicles. They cannot pass through consecrated ground, warded thresholds, or objects specifically designed to block liminal traversal. - They are visible to all entities with liminal perception. In a space with restless dead, they are immediately and obviously present to all of them. - They cannot physically affect the mundane world while Liminal-Stepped, no physical attacks, no picking up objects. Communication with other practitioners or liminal entities is available; communication with non-practitioners is muffled but possible for simple statements.

The practitioner may return to full physical presence as a Free Action.

Scaling: Excess successes allow the practitioner to maintain one physical interaction ability while Liminal-Stepped: either attacks or object manipulation (choose one).

Liminal Transit (Primary Action, Threshold 4)

A brief transit through the liminal layer, vanishing from the current position and reappearing at a confirmed point within Near range without crossing intervening physical space. This counts as movement for the Turn; the practitioner may still act.

Physical barriers between start and end point do not impede transit (unless spiritually significant). The practitioner cannot transit to a warded or consecrated point, or to a location occupied by an entity that is anchoring the liminal there.

Scaling: Each excess success extends transit range by one Band (Near → Far → Distant).

Backlash: - Minor: The transit doesn't complete cleanly. The practitioner arrives Staggered (−1D to all actions until end of next Turn) and is briefly visible from both sides, perceptible to all liminal entities within Far range for one round. - Moderate: The practitioner arrives displaced, not at the intended destination but at the nearest liminal anchor in the vicinity (a space where someone died, a haunted object, a ghost's attachment point). Within Far range, but not where they wanted to be. A hostile entity present in the space is immediately drawn to the arrival. - Severe: The practitioner is caught in the liminal. They do not arrive. They are Removed from the scene until the end of their next Turn, physically absent, unable to act or be targeted. On their Turn, they return at their point of departure (not destination), Strained if not already, and with one Major Condition from the incomplete transit (GM selects: Staggered, Bleeding, or Stunned).

The Anchor Object (Mediumship Focus)

Something personal to a person who died, not just any death, but a death with weight, a death that left a mark on the world, ideally one the practitioner has some relationship to. A photograph. A ring. A child's shoe. A piece of a burned letter. Whatever it is, the item carries a concentration of liminal presence that the practitioner uses to sharpen their focus when the signals get too noisy.

Anchor Object | Focus | Mediumship
Mechanical Effect:
  +2D to all Dead Reach Expression rolls (the anchor object
  provides a specific liminal signal to tune against,
  rather than working through general noise, the practitioner
  has a known frequency to orient from).
  When using Quiet the Unquiet, the Threshold for simple
  unfinished business is reduced by 1 (minimum 1). The
  anchor object's history makes the practitioner credible
  to the recently dead.
  The object is perceptibly wrong to non-practitioners
  with any liminal sensitivity, animals avoid it; Haunts
  recognize it on sight. The practitioner cannot fully
  conceal that they carry something significant about death.
  This is not always a disadvantage.
Acquisition: Found rather than purchased. The item must
  carry genuine personal death history. A practitioner
  cannot manufacture an Anchor Object; they find it through
  their work, are given it by someone who understands what it
  is, or carry something from their own death event (for
  Haunts, frequently something from the circumstances of
  their return).

Improvised Foci: A general memento mori (not personally significant), a ritual object associated with liminal work, or a fresh object from a current investigation's death site provides +1D to one Expression (chosen at the start of the scene) rather than +2D, without the Anchor Object's Threshold reduction.

Access and Cross-Lineage Notes

Haunt practitioners: Mediumship formalizes what their death-mark already does. The access pathway is most natural; the affinity bonus reflects this. A Haunt who develops this tradition to 3D+ is operating at a level that other practitioners in the hidden world notice and remember.

Non-Haunt practitioners: The tradition is learnable but requires sustained exposure to the liminal layer. Most non-Haunt Mediums have a specific biographical reason, extended work in spaces of concentrated death, a near-death experience that stopped short of full return, sustained contact with Haunt practitioners.

Faeborn practitioners: The Faeborn's liminal character is different from the Haunt's, they are in-between living and fae rather than living and dead, but there is overlap in the perceptual frequency. A Faeborn developing Mediumship through Independent Study occasionally finds unexpected fluency in Liminal Sight. GM's discretion on whether this creates any mechanical cross-benefit.

Dhampir practitioners: The bloodline's predatory awareness is oriented toward the living rather than the dead. A Dhampir pursuing Mediumship is accessing a different channel than Blood Sense. Holding both Traditions requires the multi-Tradition access rules from a Progression Track or extraordinary circumstance; the combination is unusual enough to be significant in-fiction.

Example Rolls

Tessara is a Haunt: Wit 3D, Mediumship 2D (Haunt affinity access), Anchor Object Focus +2D. She is investigating a warehouse where three people died. Governing Attribute: Wit.

Roll 1, Death Echo (Liminal Sight, Threshold 3): Pool: Wit 3D + Mediumship 2D + Anchor Object 2D = 7D. Status: Clear. Result: 4 successes. Exceeds by 1, the GM provides a specific detail: she knows the direction the violence came from, not just that it happened. Status after: Strained.

Roll 2, Open Channel (Dead Reach, Threshold 2): Pool: 7D at Disadvantage (only 6s count). Status: Strained. Result: 2 successes. Meets Threshold, communication opens with the distressed entity. It knows who killed them.

Tessara doesn't push for Compel Testimony this scene. She attempts Strain recovery: Primary Action, Wit 3D + Resolve vs Threshold 3. Result: 3 successes. Strain clears. Back to Clear for the remainder of the scene.