Gryffindor: Clan Black

  Black

"all nights must end"

It was either this or Aragorn

Sigil: the dog and stars, black on orange

Skills: Fighting (advanced) | Transfiguration (advanced) | Creatures (basic) | Curses (basic) | Stealth (basic)

Wild-haired, dangerous, and well-liked, the Blacks bear a secret shame - many of their ancestors sided with the Enemy. These traitors were erased from the Black family tree and their names are not spoken save in a secret and solemn ceremony when a Black comes of age, where they are told the truth about their clan and swear to hunt down their fallen kin.

Inspired Action – A Grim Omen

Glooms and misfortunes haunt the enemies of the most ancient and noble house of Black. You can spend Inspiration to cause an enemy to suffer a fearful vision or stroke of bad luck that makes one of your rolls against them Safe.

Flaw – Impetuous

The Blacks are implacable foes and will take great risks to see that their enemies are caught and killed. They prefer action to caution and laugh at danger.  When you successfully roll to avoid an attack you may instead choose to take damage. If you do, you gain Inspiration and damage your enemy in return.

 

Starting Equipment –pick two–

1. Silver-filigree sword (M)
2. Raven-winged helmet (Armor 1) and black bear-skin cloak (Armor 1, Heavy)
3. Sinister music box – all who listen must test Cunning or fall into a troubled sleep
4. Brace of pistols with crushed doxy egg mixed into the gunpowder – (M, Poison, Reload) +1 damage due to toxic pistol balls, -1 to attack due to greasy black smoke
5. Pair of two-way hand mirrors
6. Ancestor's portrait, wise but cruel (Heavy)

 

Names

1. Arcturus

2. Canopus

3. Cygnus

4. Andromeda

5. Ariadne

6. Vespers

Design Notes: some might say "but Tom (for that is my name), how can there be a Clan Black when Sirius Black (famously the last of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black) was (spoilers) killed in Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix, a whole two books prior to the point at which you say your goofy-ass alternate history setting diverts from canon?? And the point at which your timeline diverges is in fact when his only named heir, one Harold Potter, dies childless in the Forbidden Forest at age 17???" to which I must say "I think it is very funny to put the Dark Angels from Warhammer 40k into a Harry Potter game". Sirius had a distant cousin or something, weirder things have happened in English inheritance law. Conceptually and mechanically the Blacks are here to fulfill the heroic version of the dark knight archetype. A Grim Omen is a powerful combat tool but gambling with HP is risky in this system, where even at full health you can take an injury from a single blow.

Names: constellation-themed, naturally. I did briefly consider dog breeds as a nod to a particularly strange naming convention in an old manga called Rave Master, but really there was only one answer.