Soulgazing

The first time (and first time only) someone with the Soulgaze **ability** meets the gaze of someone else with a mortal soul for more than a few moments, they enter a state called soulgazing. Generally, this can’t happen unless both parties want to make eye contact. However, one might trick the other into holding the gaze (see “And Then Our Eyes Met,”). All soulgazing must be done in person. When it comes right down to it, a soulgaze is a narrow, focused, specific application of the Sight—using the Sight to See one person, with the dials turned up to eleven. This is a once-in a- lifetime chance to look past the outer surface and into the very heart of who a person is, what’s going on with him, and who he might become. Unfortunately, the target of a soulgaze also gains this sort of insight into the gazer—even if that target is a vanilla mortal.

 Of course, it’s not as simple as all that. Because soulgazes are a facet of the Sight, metaphor jumbles up the results for each party. You’re barking up the wrong tree if you think a soulgaze is “asking a question” about another person. The “answer” is going to make as much nonsense as it makes sense.

 Beyond that, a soulgaze is tough on both parties. It’s a lot like opening up your third eye without the filters in place to keep you from getting knocked flat. Because a soulgaze is so focused, and because it goes deep into the core of who each person is, it’s very potent. It’s not uncommon for untrained people to pass out when they’re hit with a glimpse of someone else’s soul—even trained wizards can walk away with a hell of a headache and a disquieted mind.

###  **Who and What Can You Soulgaze?**

It’s not as clear-cut as “human” or “not human.” Wizards should be able to enter into a soulgaze with a White Court vampire. But other vampires seem not to trigger a soulgaze, and faeries—never having been human to begin with—aren’t any kind of a problem.

The question here might simply be how close to human the target is, or how far from humanity the target of the soulgaze has turned. Beyond even this—since we’re talking about eye contact here—there are plenty of bad things that could happen even if a soulgaze isn’t on the table. Lock eyes with a Black Court vampire and you might find yourself under sudden psychic assault (and if you’re particularly unlucky, that’s merely a prelude to your new job description as a Renfield). Plenty of Nevernever nasties are happy to crawl right into your head through the open windows of your eyes—a fact that most of the knowledgeable folks in the supernatural community keep in mind at all times. Sure, it might mean they look like a bunch of antisocial, shifty-eyed skulkers, but they had that image going for them already. At least not making eye contact has the advantage of being a survival skill.

### **And Then Our Eyes Met**

Accidental eye contact is the stuff of good soulgazes. So how do you make it happen in your game? Do you, both the GM and players, want it to be a “story-driven” event or a “this could be fun, let’s see what happens” event? In either case, accidental eye contact should be dirt-simple. For story-driven soulgazes—where it just seems like it’s the right moment for one to happen—GMs should consider compelling a wizard’s wizardly aspects; if the PC in question isn’t the wizard, compel an aspect that might drive the character to hesitate in looking away. If the player accepts the compel—bam! The soulgaze happens, and the player gets some extra fate points.

It’s also possible that eye contact may not being entirely accidental, at least for one party. If someone’s trying to trick a wizard (or vice-versa) into a soulgaze, that’s a straight-up contest of skills—the tricker’s **Deceit** against the trickee’s **Empathy**, perhaps—with the trick working on a tie or better (it’s a **maneuver)** . This method works best when the PC is the one doing the trickery, but particularly sneaky NPCs (like the city’s big mafia boss) may try it on occasion, too.

### **Soulgazing and You**

**In**an effort to ensure that everything runs smoothly, as well as to help everyone understand their character better, all characters must have a prewritten soulgaze that has been approved by the Storyteller. This soulgaze should be about a paragraph or two long, and should reveal who your character is at their core. It should also somehow reveal one of your aspects (It can, but does not have to, be your High Concept or Trouble).