• The forest takes those who it touches, hollowing them out, and sending them back to continue its will.
• Some emerge not unchanged…but still themselves.
• Reviled by most of society they are mostly treated as outcasts.
• This change does however grant them power over life and how it flows through a symbiotic relationship with the seed of the wood inside themselves.
• These powers are greatest within the wood.

• Forest Touched have a number of skills which cost them maximum hit points to use.
• The loss of these hit points is temporary.
• Your maximum hit points reset at the end of each encounter.

• You can fall to 0 maximum hit points using this ability.
• In which case, you start to bleed out, and all healing counts as HEAL 0 until your maximum hit points return.

• Forest Touched can induct people into a metaphysically connected group called a 'cluster'.
• Forest Touched have additional powers to heal and harm members of their cluster.

If you are a cluster member:

• Being a member of the cluster is a strong affliction of the body.
• The Forest Touched who inducted you is known as your 'root'.
• If your root is in the party, you gain +2 hits.
• You are metaphysically connected to your root.

• You may halve the time required for all medical roleplay.

• You may perform medical roleplay with only one hand.

• You can perform great feats of surgery.
• Once per adventure you may may cure someone of a chronic affliction of the body or make major modifications to their body.

• You may boost the healing of your own body.
• At the cost of 1 maximum hit point you may call HEAL 2 yourself.

• At the cost of one maximum hit point you may call HEAL 3 on an ally you are touching.
• You may call this healing at range on a member of your cluster.

• Bending the roots beneath the earth to your will you root someone else in place.
• At the cost of 1 maximum hit point you may call WOUND BOTH LEGS, if the foe is prone you may instead call WOUND ALL.
• Against a member of your cluster you can if you wish twist the roots growing within them instead calling WOUND ALL.

• You may tear apart those who belong to your cluster from within.
• This costs one maximum hit point.
• Roleplaying crushing their heart with a free hand.
• After 10 seconds of concentration you may call a TRIPLE THROUGH at range.

• Digging your roots deep into a body you can drain out the life of others revitalising yourself.
• By executing someone you may take a HEAL 2 and increase your maximum body hits by one until the end of the encounter.
• You may execute members of your cluster at range by spending 10 seconds with one hand flat on the floor.

• By expending X maximum body hits you may place a seed inside a dead body forever connecting it to you.
• The body gets up and begins to fight for you on 2X hits.
• You do not regain these hits whilst the body is still active.
• The body counts a member of your cluster.

• You may hide your life deep inside within the thorny briar which now takes the place of your heart.
• This power costs X maximum body hits.
• When on 0 hits, you appear to all intents and purposes to be dead.
• You begin to bleed out, but can at any point revive yourself with x-1 hits remaining.
• If you store all your hits inside the heart you do not begin to bleed out but instead enter a state of hibernation.

• Note that this works as long as your heart remains intact.
• If your original body was hacked to pieces you could simply grow a new one from the heart or infest a new nearby body.
• Once you have this skill you may call IMMUNE to any execute call which is not specifically destroying your heart.

• You tear a shard of Thorn from your body.
• This should be represented by a dagger, which counts as standard quality.
• When you strike with the dagger you may call CURSE.
• If this is not dodged you may count the target as a part of your cluster, as the shard worms its way into their flesh.
• Once you have hit an opponent with the dagger, you must discard it, as the physrep is consumed.

• Whilst within the wood you have limited access to its collective consciousness.
• This allows you to tell information about the general area and if the wood has taken an active interest in you.
• You can also tell whether creatures, plants of people fall under the woods dominion, although the latter is often subtler and can require touching the individual.

• By feeding a small portion of your blood to someone you may bind them more closely to you.
• This requires the individual to be willing, unconscious or otherwise tricked into drinking the liquid.
• This makes the person count as a part of your cluster.

• Initially, they may not realise this has occurred.
• However, it becomes obvious as soon as you use any cluster-based effects upon them that something is wrong.

• Your body explodes into a swarm of flies each carrying a small portion of your vitality.
• You are IMMUNE to STAGGER and WOUND and take all damage as singles.
• You can only use two daggers however and your base damage drops to HALF THROUGH.
• You also become able to execute people in 5 seconds rather than 10.

You recover from pain and wounds quicker than most and take REND and WOUND at half duration.

• The wood answers your call sprouting into existence where you are.
• This requires 60 seconds of concentration at the end of which you should call a TIME FREEZE.
• The encounter will transition into being in the deep woods and will likely have the active attention of the wood itself, making this a bad idea for all involved.
• This is also quite likely to get you swiftly murdered if anyone ever finds out.

• Using this ability will impact your relationship to the wood.

• You are an expert on the ways of the wood and the creatures it contains.
• You gain an additional DODGE whilst within the wood
• You may treat all afflictions gained from this source as one potency lower for the purposes of treating them.

• Whilst within the wood you gain 3 body hits.

• Being a member of your cluster counts as a severe affliction of the body.

• You have a loyal animal companion.
• You are able to communicate with this animal on an instinctual level and even to a limited degree share its senses. This animal can be anything (within reason) but pick one of the benefits below which seems appropriate.
• You may if you wish buy this skill multiple time to take additional benefits.
• The first time you drop to zero hits in an encounter take a HEAL 0.
• Gain 1 use of FEAR per encounter.
• Gain 1 DODGE per encounter which may be used to dodge ranged calls.
• Gain 1 PYSCHE.

• You transfer your Thornheart to another body.
• The body has to be in reasonably good condition, probably having been dead a few hours at most.
• This process takes 60 seconds of concentration during which time you are under the effects of a REND as you transfer your heart.
• If the process succeeds, you awaken in the new body on 1 hit.
• If your concentration is interrupted your maximum body hits drop to 0 and you lose any hits stored in the heart.
• You do not begin to bleed out.

• You implant several parasites within your foe.
• Lose 1 maximum body hit to call LIVING BOMB by melee blow.
• When that foe dies their body detonates with a spectacular explosion and they should call MASS QUAD FEAR.
• If someone is a member of your cluster you may call THROUGH LIVING BOMB at range instead.
• The person starts their deathcount as normal after this.

• Afflictions of the body which affect you count as one potency lower.

• When a member of your cluster dies, you may attempt to bring them back to life.
• Cut off one of your limbs. Take a WOUND PERMANENT to that limb.
• This is a chronic affliction of the body.
• Over the course of an encounter or short rest, the limb sprouts and grows into a facsimile of the dead cluster member.

• When you die, you may inhabit the limb of a cluster member.
• You may communicate with them but do nothing else, until they cut the limb off, at which point your body will regrow over the course of an encounter or short rest.
• If they cut their limb off, this is a chronic affliction of the body. They take a WOUND PERMANENT to that limb.

• If they wish, instead, to purge you, this is a severe affliction of the body - but if they succeed, you die.
• Over the course of a downtime you can choose to withdraw your influence and pass away peacefully, returning the arm to use.

• This costs two maximum hit points.
• You may call PUPPETEER against a cluster member.
• This requires concentration and free hand to direct your puppet.
• You may give mechanical orders to your puppet e.g. attack the bandit leader; jump off that cliff.
• You must call PUPPETEER DOWN if you lose concentration.

Gain the level 1 contacts skills with your order.