They know what you’ve done and They’re coming for you. Who are They? It doesn’t matter…

I’ll be surprised if no-one has done this before, but this idea could not stop scratching around in my brain! I hope you like it

Attributes: Paranoia is one of humanity’s most prevalent fears. Everyone has a skeleton in the closet, from a cheated math test, a whirlwind affair, or a body hidden in the woods. But the true fear is that someone knows. Someone, somewhere, recorded this secret indiscretion and will one day use it against you. This shadow man is who Avatars of the Stranger embody.
In essence, the Stranger is there to confirm this fear. He brings down the retribution that every guilty party knows, in their heart of hearts, they deserve. They uncover the truth, expose it to the flawed mortal and let them know that They know as well.

Taboos: The Stranger must, at the start of his mission (Before he become an Avatar), choose an organisation to represent. Any organisation, real or imagined, regardless of whether or not he actually has any or not. He could claim to be working for the CIA, the Vatican, the New Inquisition, the local Post Office, the Illuminati or the Secret And Immortal Cult of Elvis the Saviour. It doesn’t really matter. It’s just the symbolic power and purpose that having a master brings. This is known, in Avatar circles, as his Patron. If a random bozo in a cheap suit and shades comes along and asking personal questions, he’s likely to get the police on his ass or worse, beaten or shot. But when he says that he works for someone, suddenly he’s a Somebody, with resources and probably a black helicopter to bring friends if his target is un-cooperative. It is Taboo for the Stranger to deny his affiliation, real or fake as it may be. He can claim it’s “need-to-know” info, or turn the question back around (“The better question would be, why am I here?”) but if someone asks him point blank if he is working for his Patron, yes or no, he must say yes. To deny your Patron is to deny your power and authority.

You may also never give your full, true name to anyone other than fellow Strangers of your Patron. You can give aliases , titles (Agent Smith is perfectly fine, even if your real last name with Smith) or ID numbers. Your mystery must be upheld.

Symbols: The black suit and tie, the ID booklet, sunglasses, black cars, satellite phones, black helicopters, the symbol of your Patron.

Channels:
1%-50%: At this level, the Stranger may roll against his Avatar skill to secret information about his target. This requires a day of investigation of the target, which can take the form of recording phone conversations, watching through security cameras, recording his movements on a tracking device etc. At the end of the day you must organise your findings in some sort of readable report before sending it to your Patron in some fashion and rolling against your Avatar skill. If successful, you receive one secret (this can be via a replying email, a folder left on a park bench or written on the bottom of your morning coffee cup) that the target wishes to keep hidden, in the form of 7 words or less. If you sent your report in code, you receive the reply in the same code. You can also use this ability to gain evidence of this secret, at a negative shift. For 7 word instructions of where to find such evidence (which can be as vague as the GM likes), take no shift. For written evidence (it might be a literal transcript of a conversation, or a description of a hit and run), take a -10% shift. For an official report (a police report, or a tax form thought to have been shredded), take a -20% shift. For cold-hard evidence, like a video recording or a series of photographs (seemingly taken via hidden cameras), take a -30% shift. You receive this information the following day after 7am.
If you fail your roll, your report does not actually reach your Patron if they exist, unless you roll a matched failure or a 00. But, if you failed and someone is actively looking for it, they do a final roll against their Soul stat to find it (this is after however many successful rolls they needed to find the letter or email normally). Fellow Strangers take a +10% shift, and a +20% shift if they share your Patron.

51%-70%: Now the Stranger can summon up the power of his Patron and impose its authority on other people. He can use his Avatar skill when attempting to intimidate someone, or instead of his Charm skill on authority figures (cops, judges, priests, restaurant managers etc). While he doesn’t have to mention his Patron by name, even if he invokes the name of The Secret and Immortal Cult of Elvis the Saviour, the average Joe feels like that they could bring some serious hurt on them and a cop will feel like these guys are on his side. This only lasts for a few minutes once the Stranger has left their presence. Then the cop might start wondering why he threw this guy in jail at the orders of the local coffee shop franchise.

71-90%: At this level, the Stranger can make good on his threats to expose the truth. He can choose a group of people, or just stand in the middle of a crowd and roll against his Avatar skill. If he succeeds, he can then spread any secret he’s gained (either through his Avatar skill or his own snooping) through this group of people. They all vaguely remember that they read it somewhere, or got told by a co-worker. What’s important is they will feel the urge to spread it. The more incriminating the secret, the faster it spreads. This also works for any evidence you’ve gathered. Someone uploads a video or document onto the internet. If you target a police station or newspaper outlet, the evidence sudden comes through anonymous tips, or mysterious emails or just pops into existence on their desktop.

91%+: Finally, at this level, the Stranger can begin to call in boons from his Patron. When attempting to accomplish a task, he simply sends a request and rolls his Avatar skill, as if he was sending a report. But if he succeeds, he’ll suddenly receive an service to help him within 7 minutes depending on how difficult the task is (GM’s discretion). If he wants to gets somewhere, a black helicopter appears. If he wants to own something, the deed is handed to him by a agent whose face he can’t quite remember. If he wants to kill someone, that person’s brains are splattered by a unknown gunman. If he wants to incapacitate a cabal, a hit squad of balaclava wearing badasses arrive in a unmarked van, armed with silenced SMGS, tear gas, a battering ram and tasers. If he wants someone to warm his bed that night, he comes home to find a partner of his preference lying in wait for him. Once the task is completed, they immediately leave. This can only be done once per day, with one task per day. The hitsquad will raid the house and taser every member of the cabal they come across, maybe even blow out a few knee caps if they prove tough enough to fight back, they will ignore any non-member there, even if said non-member is blowing them open with a shotgun. And when it requires actual people to materialise, they are required to make skill checks. The helicopter, deed and shooting will work perfectly, since they can perform the task without any intervention (the gunman doesn’t actually exist. The bullet just had to come from somewhere). But the hitsquad will probably get shot at and need to shoot at some point during the raid. All skills and stats are rated at 77 for all of these summoned agents, when the arrive. If they are killed, they will vanish within 7 minutes, as if stolen away by some mysterious Cleaner. The Stranger also will lose some of his Avatar skill, if the task was not completed. Patrons do not like wasted resources.