The Problem with Jude "You're just thinking about it a little off- no one ever taught you how to process the way you feel. C'mon, let's talk."

1
You possess tolerance to pain and distractions.
Used by Jude Torrance, Created by lumiq.
(This Effect may or may not be obviously Alien. )

Jude revels in his shuddering lungs and hacking cough. The dehydration headache, the stitch in his side when he runs, and the soreness of his legs from spending his life in cheap shoes- it's all home, it's always been there for him, and it makes him feel confident that he's doing something right. He wants to help others realise that this is the right way to feel, but is smart enough to play some waiting games on the process.

Ann Webber is his best friend and longest term project. He knows/thinks he knows that he'll convert her eventually; he can at least put it on the backburner for their friendship.


You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Typhoid Mary - Jude is convinced that this ability is secretly present in every single person. He will try to get others sick whenever he thinks he can get away with it (or when the GM rules that the trauma overpowers reason). He may try to convince others into addictions. This is ingrained in his personality and the progression of his gifts..


Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.

A towering, monstrous figure, its massive form grotesque and unnatural, crafted through various experimental. The body is a patchwork of exaggerated muscle, each bulging and swollen to the point of deformity, unnatural strength that goes far beyond what any living thing normally should possess. Every movement is heavy and awkward, as if this abomination was never meant to exist in its current state.

The most horrifying feature is its warped and disfigured appearance. Its head, a mess of distorted flesh, looks like it was brutally reshaped by a force that cared little for balance or symmetry. The skin on its face is stretched unevenly across its skull, with some parts pulled so tight they seem ready to tear, while others sag loosely, creating a disturbing mismatch of textures. One eye is disturbingly enlarged, bulging grotesquely out of its socket, while the other is small, sunken, and almost lifeless, giving the creature an eerie, lopsided expression that seems permanently frozen in agony.

Metal staples and thick, crude stitching cover its flesh, crisscrossing its entire body in a patchwork. These rough repairs hold together sections of skin that don't seem to belong on the same being, as if pieces were violently fused. The seams are jagged, and in some places the skin appears torn, revealing layers of sinew and exposed muscle underneath, as though the body is barely holding together, threatening to unravel with every move.

Its jaw is a wide, gaping maw filled with jagged teeth that protrude unnaturally, as if too large to properly fit inside its mouth. The jaw itself seems locked in a permanent snarl, unable to close completely, giving the creature a look of endless hunger. The teeth, uneven and sharp, stick out at grotesque angles.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Grotesque Body. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1 and your Dexterity is increased by 1.

No single organ in your body is critical for life. If any of your body parts are separated from your body, you may take Actions with the severed part for three hours. You may reattach severed body parts by spending an Action and Exerting your Mind.

Your appendages can reach an additional 30 feet.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Grotesque Body.

You cannot be mistaken for a normal human. You cannot always use standard human clothes, equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and when you can, you suffer an increased Difficulty.

  • Detached parts move at 5 feet per Round. You may activate awareness Effects through detached sensory organs. This does not grant extra Actions.
  • You may stretch or retract your limbs once per Round on your Initiative.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

This is a spell gleaned from fragments of Cultes des Goules, a book written on the Ghoul Cults of 16th Century France. The process is both painful & horrific, as the flesh of the target is consumed, the body of the imbiber flows like wax, melting into it's new shape.

Frequently Used Identities

Ephraim Powelton, ACSC Administrator
Galam mac Rath (Son of Fortune), Pictish King
Timmy Donner, of the Donner Party
Will Langman, AKA "Chicken," Cancerous Biker
Casey Thornton, Adventurous Camp Councilor
John "Jocko" Milligan, Catcher for the NY Giants
John Cardigan, Ghoul Slaver
Martin Wheeler, the Demon Delir
Allena, Pastel Goth Shadowmancer
Jeremy Wesley, Fiedish Accountant
Old Man Jules, Blundering Thief

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. This Effect cannot be used unless you are assuming the form of someone you have previously eaten. 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 become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts until you either activate a new disguise, or choose to end the effect.

The new appearance may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. Your disguise may directly mimic the appearance of a specific individual. You cannot alter your clothes. Your disguise can alter your smell, DNA, and other aspects that are not perceivable via human senses. This does not conceal you against investigative Effects. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.

You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see your flesh run like hot wax, the faces of those you have eaten in the past bubbling to the surface & vying for control.

This Effect ends if you take an Injury or are stunned or incapacitated.

  • A performance check is generally required to pass with people who know the individual you're mimicking.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • ‘Appearance’ includes voice, bone structure, skin quality, hair length and color, eye color, muscle tone, flesh texture, and generally anything perceivable about your body.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. The area within 25 feet of you immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Roll Brawn + Brawl at Difficulty 6. Targets inside the radius may attempt an appropriate Reaction at GM’s discretion. Finding a physical barrier to use as cover will cut total Damage taken in half (applies after Reaction roll but before Armor).

If the Outcome is positive, your blast hits everything within 25 feet of you with Damage equal to your Outcome + 10. If you botched the activation roll, you will also take full Damage from the blast, otherwise it will not hurt you.

Damage spreads to targets beyond the edge of the initial radius, decreasing by 2 Damage for every 5 feet traveled.

Any object destroyed or individual killed in your blast turns to dust. Any parts of structures within your blast radius are destroyed and cannot bear a load or block movement. Your blast leaves a 15 foot deep crater in the ground and deals +1 Damage.

Anyone who takes damage from the blast is knocked back away from you by a distance equal to the radius. They must succeed a Body roll, Difficulty 9, or be stunned for 1 round.

If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Esper. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1 and your Intellect is increased by 1.

The Severity of any Injury caused by Electric is increased by 2.

  • The increase in Injury Severity stacks with any similar effects, such as the Silver Bullets drawback on Regeneration.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Stock Power Gifts

Spend 30 minutes. You may only target yourself. The target can easily Resist.

You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:

  • Specialized: You receive +2 dice to a particular non-combat, non-Effect Action.
  • Environmental Adaptation: You do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in a particular environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.
  • Implanted Tool: You have access to the functionality of some common Device at all times. The selected Device can be no larger than a motorcycle helmet.
  • Armor: You have 2 Armor at all times. As always, Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
  • Pouch: Part of your body functions as a hidden pocket. It can hold no more than a briefcase (15 liters).
  • Zippy: Your Free Movement is increased by 10 feet.
  • Maws and Claws: Your unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage instead of -1.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.

  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may not augment targets with pouches or implanted devices that are larger than they are.
  • Targets without Body ratings may have a maximum of 4 augmentations.
  • Example environments for adaptation: space, all saltwater, all fresh water, all water under 50 feet deep, all water deeper than 50 feet, the jungle, radioactive areas, a specific alien world, etc.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and Spend an Action.

You transform into your own corpse for one minute. While transformed, you may control the functioning of the object you have transformed into. You can perceive your surroundings as normal. You can be targeted as a Non-Living, Sapient Object.

If you are damaged while transformed, the damage is realized when you return to normal. If you are damaged before you transform, your inanimate form will appear partially damaged.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

  • If a character is inside of you when you revert to your original form, you take a Severity-5 Injury when they burst from your innards as you shrink.
  • You cannot move in any way the object wouldn't normally be able to move. If you are a feather duster, you cannot float around, etc.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand.

Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Each additional appendage you have gives you +1 dice to make and resist Grapples (up to a maximum bonus of +4 dice).

Any Battle Scars that affect or remove your additional limb will heal in a single week.

You may dedicate your extra Quick Action to contest any attempt to escape your Grapples. If you do so, you roll your full dice pool to contest and retain your Action to do anything that does not target the subject of your Grapple.

Your Extra Appendage is incapable of fine object manipulation.

Spend an Action. Select a Animate 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. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement is made at -1 Difficulty.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living, Animate target within 25 feet. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you are able to view your target's memories. If you fail, the target knows you're attempting to read their memories.

You may ask a number of specific questions about their memory equal to your Contested Outcome. For example, “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc. You cannot get answers to broad, analytical questions like “are they a good person?” or “what are their plans for the future?”

Each memory takes as long to read as it takes to answer the question. When replaying a full memory, it is replayed in double time.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is your nose bleeding. 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.

  • In the case of a failed activation, GMs should consider how bystanders would realistically react to a potentially-outlandish accusation of mind-reading.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.