Harold Polk’s Linguistic Espionage Mastery is a unique fusion of his perfect memory and deep understanding of Speech Act Theory, allowing him to communicate in any language with native fluency and cultural precision. Through his flawless recall, Harold has accumulated vast stores of linguistic patterns, dialects, and subtleties, giving him an intuitive grasp of each language’s nuances. He doesn’t merely translate words; he understands their intent, context, and hidden meaning, slipping into conversations as though he were born to each language he speaks.
With Speech Act Theory, Harold imbues his words with layers of meaning and influence, embedding subtle cues to guide others’ perceptions or actions. Every word he speaks carries intent, carefully crafted to either blend into the conversation or gently steer it, as if he were weaving an invisible thread through every interaction. This mastery makes him a linguistic ghost, an agent who can infiltrate through language alone, understanding and subtly shaping discussions to achieve his aims without ever raising suspicion.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to humans as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
Green beams of light shoot from the users eyes, causing a reaction similar to sulfuric acid concentrated on the point where it hits. The consistent focus of the lasers can burn through many objects and melt through metals, given enough time.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Roll Perception + Alertness 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. Armor is fully effective against this damage.
You may use this Effect to Defend or Clash in Combat, including against ranged attacks such as firearms.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Victims of viral lycanthropy are known to transform into a monstrous liminal form in situations of high stress or danger. In this form, they are impulsive and act more on instinct than intellect, fleeing or fighting until they eventually revert back to their human form.
(describe your liminal form's appearance here)
Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action. 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.
You transform into were-xyz for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are were-xyz, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. Reverting from your Alternate Form cannot cause your existing Injuries to kill you. Instead, you remain Incapacitated.
While transformed, your Brawn is increased by 2 and your Dexterity is increased by 2. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -1).
Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.
While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Roll Self-Control not to enter Liminal Form at the start of Combat. Whenever you fail any Trauma or Self-Control roll, you must immediately transform into your Liminal form.
Julius wields his knives with grace and skill, deftly cutting into a moving target as easily as he would a steak. As he does so, sound around his target disappears, almost as if swallowed whole.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with Knives.
+2 dice to all rolls with Knives. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using Knives.
You also gain the following effects:
The Goblin King taps a lock or lockable structure, causing it to open or close.
Spend an Action. Select a door, lock, or locked target within arm's reach. Cannot be used on Alien technology.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
The armor works by having small nano machines interlink with each other, more or less forming a microscopic set of chain mail armor covering the whole body.
“Protecting the weak means that you have to be their sword, striking down the evil that is after them. It also entails being their shield, blocking of the attacks heading their way.”
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You have 3 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
EzFake is an app that appears on any cell phone the influencer holds as long as they are holding it. The influencer need only make a selection and focus their will to project a lifelike forgery into the world in front of them. It may be an object, a creature, or even a specific person, and they can speak and make sounds as well.
The Influencer gets ready to film, and focuses fully on getting a good shot. After all, no video doctoring software can compete with a real life forgery which can be filmed from any number of directions by anyone's camera and appear legitimate.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: open up the app on your cell phone, make your selection, and prepare to film. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use cell phone camera to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Choose an illusion to generate, which can be no larger than a person.
The chosen illusion is generated at your target, and it will remain in place as long as you maintain Concentration or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their smell, hearing, and sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.
Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion and can choose to perceive it or not at will.
The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.
The beastmaster can speak to and understand any animal.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to terrestrial animal as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
The Thief has a stash in which they can store a few objects. It can be accessed through any burlap sack.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a burlap sack to activate this Effect.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.
Be amazed as the magician wields a deck of simple playing cards with all the poise and precision of a ninja's shurikens. Fear not, for they will not hit you, unless they want to.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with playing cards.
+2 dice to all rolls utilizing playing cards.
You also gain the following effects:
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:
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.