Overview
Mediumship
AX.GHW.08.02
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 Access: Haunts that receive Profession access to Mediumship begin with 1D at no additional cost. The Lineage provides Access, a complimentary Profession is required to receive the 1D.
Profession Access: Any Profession listed as granting Mediumship access provides the option to spend Talent dice to learn and improve the Power.
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 (start with 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 |
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.