Jean takes a moment to look over the person before him, assessing their posture and mannerisms. He remembers how they talked and what they talked about, what topics they avoided. Then, he begins verbally pushing their buttons.
You can learn a lot about a person by simply talking to them long enough, or even giving them a good look-over. Even subconsciously you can learn what they don't want you to talk about, what they are avoiding and what emotion is associated with it. If you push them at the right moment on the right spot all the while exerting an aura of confidence, power, and authority - you can make them do practically anything.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Human target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless you have had an active conversation with the target(s) for atleast a minute today. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Alertness at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. Commands may force a target to violate one of their Limits, and they will need to make a Trauma roll once the suggestion wears off.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
The fibres at the end of Vein's primary Tendril fold into themselves, and a small aperture opens on the palm. Identical apertures open on the target's body. Words spoken into the aperture will be heard only in the minds of others under this effect. Every hole will close into itself and disappear if neither the user nor any target is maintaining concentration.
The aperture opens at a point chosen either consciously or subconsciously by each target, with the default being their left palm.
When sending a physical object with the message, Vein's Tendrils instead move to cover the desired object, swallowing it into the aperture. After about a minute, the object is expelled from the desired target's aperture, which can widen considerably to accommodate even a large payload.
This effect explicitly involves opening a series of minor portals to the Arterial Hive, the living pocket dimension that Vein originates from.
Spend an Action. Select a number of targets up to your Mind rating any distance away from you. You must have specific targets in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location.
You open up a line of communication to your targets, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
You may Exert your Mind to send any physical Object that would fit into a backpack with your message. Takes 1 minute to arrive. Any active traps on the objects are triggered when you attempt to send them, and wards and marks are likewise removed.
Verso’s cracked rounded glasses are made of smoked quartz lenses set in brass frames etched with infinitesimal gear teeth.
When activated The fractures in the lenses glow neon-cobalt, projecting holographic stress diagrams, heat signatures, and pressure points onto surfaces like augmented reality overlays.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 1 mile At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Crafts at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see The air rippling faintly, as if reality itself were a pond disturbed by invisible gears. Semi-transparent clockwork sigils materialize before transforming into a screaming human bodies before dissolving into static..
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
Pramant's been Cross-Examination for so long that he's picked up the ability to subconciously pick apart someone's guilt: He can tell their motive, crimes, history, motivations, you can't hide from the law and that law is he.
Uses Charisma + Law
Spend one minute to activate. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must continuously interact with the individual in question in order to gather any information. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6. The target resists by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
In Salem’s streets, Benjamin holds his worn Bible, its pages glowing with golden light as he recites prayers. Healing energy radiates outward, mending the sick and wounded, offering solace and hope to the troubled townspeople.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use a Bible to activate this Effect. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, the Injury is reduced in Severity by your Outcome. If you reduce its Severity to 0, the Injury is fully healed. Otherwise, it is partially healed and will heal the rest of the way at its natural rate.
This counts as a successful Makeshift Stabilization if the Injury was not already Stabilized; any Battle Scars caused by the Injury will remain.
Brody heats up the area around him, his arms crackling into burnt cinders, and he fires off a wave of heat at his target, trying to cook them from the inside out, as his arms cool down back to regular skin.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 50 feet. Roll Dexterity + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 2.
You may use this Effect to Defend against any melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks within range or Clash against any Attack targeted at you. Using it to Defend deals no Damage but does not cost Exertion.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see his arm crackling into burnt cinders before reforming into skin.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
While transformed, the Werewolf can leap great distances, climbing structures and closing the gap to their prey.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location which is at most 60 feet away horizontally or 15 feet away vertically. This Effect cannot be used unless you are in werewolf form.
You jump to the chosen location. If jumping blind or landing precariously, must roll Dexterity + Athletics to land safely. You will never take fall Damage from successfully landing a jump made with this Effect.
You may opt to trade your free movement for a Super Leap if you are jumping less than 50 feet or if you are closing a gap to an opponent and spend your Action on an attack.
The Necromancer spits into the mouth of a recently deceased corpse. For the few minutes, the corpse's head comes back to life and speaks to the Necromancer.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Dead target within 50 feet. Dead targets must have died within the past week, and you must have their remains in your possession.
The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.
The Vampire is able to turn one of their victims into a lesser vampire, a pale shadow of a full creature of the night but useful nonetheless. Having drained and killed their target, the Vampire performs a brief ritualistic bloodletting, wherein they spill their own blood into the target's mouth, forcing them to drink, and bonding them together as child and sire.
Shortly afterwards, the fledgling vampire will rise from death, hungry for blood and eager to serve.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
The spy can twist the urban environment to their whims, erecting fences, walls, and barriers as needed. They whistle and gesture to where the wall should be, and the surrounding materials fly into place.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet. You must be in an area abundant with man-made structures and materials.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of standard building materials originating at the target:
The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.
This alteration lasts one minute but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
The Scepter of Ang-Kapal is a gruesome device fashioned to look like a skeletal arm clutching a glass eye. When used, blood from the person holding is drawn into the eye where it swirls with dark energy. The eye turns to a nearby corpse and shudders, reviving the creature. The creature does not retain any of its memories or personality, but it is absolutely loyal to whoever is holding the scepter.
The Scepter of Ang Kepal has the unfortunate side effect of driving its owner mad.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts for eight hours or until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Destroying one of your zombies requires a called shot to the head or heart. All other Injuries zombies suffer result in Battle Scars only, limiting their mobility and effectiveness in other ways.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.