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Banshee

Banshee

AX.GHW.13.05.05

Type: Fae, Elite

Power Package: Elite (9D)

Size: Medium (appears as elderly or ageless woman)
Attributes: Body 2D · Speed 3D · Wit 4D
Talents: Athletics 2D · Lore 2D · Resolve 2D · Resonance 1D
Health: 37 (20 + 2 + 15)
Defense: 2 (1 + (3+0)÷3)
Saves: Body 4D · Speed 5D · Wit 6D

Attacks

  • Keening (The Wail) (Primary Action, 1×/scene): Wit + Resonance vs Wit Save, all characters in Near range; see below
  • Death Touch (Primary Action): Wit + Lore vs Defense, 5 damage; target gains the Marked condition (see below)
  • Shriek (Free Action, 1×/round): Wit + Resonance vs Speed Save, 2 damage; target is Deafened for 1 round

Category Traits

  • Cold Iron Vulnerability: +2 damage from cold iron; suppressed for 1 round on hit
  • Rowan Aversion: Must spend Primary Action to cross rowan barriers
  • True Name: Knows own true name; compellable with it

Special Abilities

  • The Wail (Keening): The Banshee unleashes a supernatural cry that carries death-resonance. All targets who fail the Wit Save take 4 damage and gain the Dread condition. They have Disadvantage on all rolls and cannot willingly approach the Banshee until the condition is cleared (Short Rest or end of scene). Faeborn characters take +1D to the Save. Characters who succeed on the Save take no damage but hear a name, always the name of someone they love.
  • Marked: A target struck by Death Touch carries a death-mark for the remainder of the session. The mark is visible to any character with Faeborn True Seeing or active Mediumship ability as a dark smear. The marked target has -1D to all Body Saves until the mark is removed. A Glamourist practitioner (Wit + Glamourist vs Threshold 3) or salt-and-rowan cleansing ritual can remove the mark.
  • Death Omen Sense: The Banshee knows when a living being within Far range is fated to die within the next 24 hours (natural, violent, or otherwise). This is why Banshees cry; they are not causing death, they are mourning it. GMs may use this ability to foreshadow PC risk or to create moral complexity in encounters (the Banshee is crying because someone else is about to die).
  • Incorporeal Drift: The Banshee can become translucent and pass through physical barriers (not iron). In this state she cannot attack or be attacked by non-iron weapons, but she cannot use The Wail or Death Touch either.

Tactics

Banshees do not hunt in the conventional sense. They appear where death is near. In combat, they are defending themselves or fulfilling some obligation; they are not predators. A Banshee who feels threatened will use Incorporeal Drift to disengage, The Wail to scatter opponents, and flee rather than fight to the death. Banshees who have been provoked or who are bound to a specific location or family are more persistent.

Lore & Ecology

The Banshee is among the most misunderstood fae. The popular image is an attacker. In reality, the Banshee is a death herald. She cries for the dying, not at them. She appears to specific bloodlines (old family ties to fae, families with deep grief-history) and to places of concentrated death. Her presence signals imminent death, which makes her extremely useful as intelligence if hunters can communicate with her rather than immediately combat her.

Banshees are solitary. They do not cooperate with other fae and are not part of any fae court structure. They are old enough that their origins predate the courts.

Destruction/Banishment

A Banshee cannot be destroyed by conventional means; she must be banished. Her true name plus a command to depart (Wit + Resonance vs Threshold 3) works. Alternatively, releasing her from whatever obligation binds her to a location or bloodline allows her to depart voluntarily. Understanding what she is mourning and resolving it (completing unfinished business, similar to a ghost mechanic) is the cleanest solution and avoids combat entirely. Cold iron weapons can injure but not destroy her.

Scene Materials

Investigation: death omens, wailing heard before an unexpected death, appearance at family events. Encounter: the Banshee may not be hostile. Initial contact as an information source before (or instead of) combat is strongly encouraged. If combat: Near range to use The Wail effectively, then Incorporeal Drift to disengage.