The darkness around you flickers as it solidifies into an aegis. Obviously, something that doesn't have mass makes a poor defense, but you luckily have magic (and some sort of primal shadow entity) on your side. Here's hoping that favour holds.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
Any Injury received from Damage that was reduced by this Armor is considered makeshift stabilized and will not degrade further. Any Battle Scar received from such an Injury is reduced by 1 level to a minimum of a Minor Battle Scar.
Any time your Armor prevents Damage, your Armor rating is temporarily decreased by 2. Whenever it goes five Rounds without preventing any Damage, it is restored back to its full value.
Valentine prepares a wonderful pitch that has been crafted over years of dedication to the craft.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with thrown weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls utilizing thrown weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
A young man sits down on top of a Marshall 112 combo at Jake's Pawn Shop in a destitute part of Los Angeles. He fishes about on the stained carpet for the quarter inch input of the cable coiled in front of the dirty 1980s-era amp. He plugs it into the jack of the pristine pearl-white Ibanez Iceman. It reminds the kid of something a rockstar from the old days would play. Back when they were still made in Japan and not some lesser shithole. He strums the opening refrain from Stairway to Heaven as any good pawnshop guitarist should. His hand comes down to strum the next chord when he feels a presence swoop down on his mind. Like a Kingfisher slamming into the surface of his mind, he feels another with him. And then he feels nothing.
Nikki strums the second chord of Stairway to Heaven, his long brown hair hanging over his bare chest. He sings quietly, "and the piper's calling you to join him". He unplugs and stands up, Ibanez Iceman hanging around his slim body as if it never belonged anywhere else and walks out. His return to the skinlands announced by the jangle of bells tied around a pawn shop door.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living or Sapient target within 20 feet. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you Intended Target attacks guitar. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you possess your target for a number of days equal to the Contested Outcome. The target has no control over their body or actions, though they retain consciousness and will remember anything that occurs during the possession. While the possession is active, the host body will Take the appearance of Nikki, making it very obvious to anyone who sees them that something is not right.
Your original body will be left behind, unconscious, in its same location. You may perceive through your original body's senses by Concentrating. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: During the possession, you use the host body’s Body rating, but your own Mind rating. Any rolls you make use the host body’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception but your own Charisma and Intellect. You may use either your own or the host’s Ability ratings, whichever is higher. You gain the effects of any physical Assets and Liabilities they have. You cannot read the target’s mind or memories.
Gifts: You have access to and can use any of your own Powers which are not intrinsic to your biology or physical body. You cannot access any Powers or other supernatural effects which the target has, unless they are intrinsic to the target’s biology or physical body.
Death: If the host body is killed or destroyed while you are still possessing it, you are evicted to your original body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed, you die.
Eviction: If the host body is ever not within 20 feet of your original body, you will be forced out. If you attempt to force your host to take actions which would violate one of their Limits or their instinct for self-preservation, they may resist by rolling Mind. If their Outcome is higher than or equal to the contested Outcome, the possession ends and you are evicted from their body. If they fail, you remain in control.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is a soft sound of vibrating strings. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
Nikki concentrates to pull himself away from his fetter. It takes a moment like a man trying to pull his boots out of deep mud. A cold vapor about the size of an elongated basketball manifests where he stretches his mind out to, listening and watching all that transpires.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. Select a target Location within 1 mile.
You may perceive things as if you were standing at that Location for the next 30 minutes. You must maintain Concentration to keep up the effect. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.
You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like cold semi-transparent fog.
A psychic cry rings out as a shimmering translucent orb envelopes them and they cease to exist for a brief moment. Every moment you spend in the presence of the orb you want to flee for a reason you can't describe. In the deep primal resseces of your mind you know this shouldn't exist and it takes all of your mental fortitude not to run as far away as you can.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.
When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see The Void energy that is called forth is depply unsettling to beings from the mortal plane. They know at some fundemental level that this energy doesn't belong here..
Preston raises his staff to the sky and there is a flash of distant lightning. A few seconds later, thunder rumbles menacingly, the lights flicker, there is a gust of wind, and Preston disappears at one location and appears at another.
The effect occurs at the source and destination simultaneously, though there is no sign he is the source (besides appearing/disappearing).
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Select a Location within your line of sight. You must actively and obviously use a staff to activate this Effect.
You are transported directly to the chosen Location. You must wait 1 full Round before activating this Effect again.
While addressing a crowd, the influencer may use coded language to send secret messages to a particular person in the crowd. These messages can't be noticed or understood by anyone but the intended target.
Spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is listening and you are speaking to multiple people.
You may send a single message to your target. It can be no more complicated than a multi-page letter or a long email.
The message will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is your left hand making a fist. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The detective pulls out their magnifying glass and investigates the area, learning details about any nearby structures and picking up details on what sorts of beings have passed through and when.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must actively and obviously use a magnifying glass to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
The time-twister presses a button on one of their wristwatches, and, in a flash of orange light, disappears. They have skipped 12 seconds forward in time. To them, the travel is instantaneous, but everyone else must wait until they reappear.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a clock or watch to activate this Effect.
You phase out of reality for 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.
When you phase out, you may bring up to 1 additional target in arm's reach with you.
The priest channels their true faith into a brutal assault on the consciousness of demonic or unholy creatures. By wielding their favored holy symbol, a gilded crucifix, they can put a proper fear of god into them, leaving them cowering at any truly holy things they encounter.
Exert your Mind (unless you have been recently attacked by your target) and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is undead, demonic, or another evil creature. You must actively and obviously use a gilded cross to activate this Effect. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8 with a -3 dice penalty. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically and their Outcome is 0.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes Mind damage equal to the Contested Outcome. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target will gain a phobia of holy things as a Trauma. This Trauma may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.
Through their faith, the priest is able to stretch bread or fish to extreme lengths, feeding a seemingly endless number of people from meager supplies.
Spend an Action. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use bread or a fish to activate this Effect.
For the next 24 hours, your target does not require any food, water, or sleep. Any attempts to age your target fail.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.