The Philospher’s Stone “The beast Unleashed”

2
Requires Seasoned
You possess the ability to come back to life.
Used by Harry Johnson, Created by jwesley123.
(While "dead," you appear to be hanging onto life when investigated. )

When Harry died, his body became the site of a grotesque alchemical transformation. The foreign rituals performed on him activated the Philosopher’s Stone embedded within his chest, altering it in ways no one could predict. The red, waxy substance of the Stone, seemingly alive, reacts violently to Harry’s death, weaving itself through his body like threads of molten steel.

An hour after his death, the Stone begins to reconstruct his shattered form. Muscles knit themselves together, bones snap back into place, and veins reconnect with a sickening precision as the waxy material courses through his system. Slowly, his heart begins to pump once more, its rhythmic beat reigniting his body with unnatural vitality.

While Harry is incapacitated, his body lies in a fragile limbo, resisting further decay or failure. Yet, the Philosopher’s Stone anchors him to life with a single fatal flaw—his heart remains his sole vulnerability. If crushed or damaged during this liminal state, the alchemical magic will fail, leaving him beyond salvation.

When Harry rises, the injuries that killed him are gone, replaced by scars that bear the marks of his unnatural revival. The Philosopher’s Stone continues its silent work within him, a constant reminder that his survival is as much a curse as it is a miracle. Harry is no longer simply alive—he is alchemy incarnate, defying death itself, but tethered to a fragile and dangerous balance.


You gain the following benefits at all times.

If you would take an Injury that would kill you, you don’t die. Instead, you survive in an Incapacitated state. This state lasts for the next hour, at which point you fully return to life. Unstabilized Injuries do not degrade while you are Incapacitated

While Incapacitated, your only weakness is Crushing my heart, and if you take Damage from it, you will die. Damage from other sources will still be dealt and can cause Battle Scars, but will only kill you if your body is destroyed completely. If your weakness is not immediately obvious, attackers may roll to discover it. After you return, the Injury that would have killed you, as well as any Injuries sustained while Incapacitated, are healed. Battle scars obtained during this time remain.


Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits as long as Alt form and engaged in combat with firearms.

+2 dice to all firearms rolls.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Parry: You may use a Reaction to Defend against any Melee, thrown, or projectile Attack in range of your Attacks.
  • Finesse: You may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level to inflict on the target, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with soul weapons.

+2 dice to all rolls with soul weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using soul weapons.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Nightmares of Angelo Yun and his memories.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Grip Discipline: You cannot be disarmed against your will by Minor, Major, or Severe Battle Scars, physical Actions, environmental conditions, botches, or Effects. Your weapon may still be destroyed.
  • Quick Draw: You may draw and equip yourself with any melee weapon on your person or within arm’s reach as a Free Action, as long as it is not being wielded by someone else.
  • Sheathing the Sword: When you would Clash with an opponent, before the dice are rolled, you may opt to have both sides deal full damage. If you do, your attack roll is at -2 Difficulty.
  • Two Swords are better than One: If you are wielding more than one melee weapon, you may Attack with all using the highest Weapon Damage, plus 1 for each additional weapon. If you reserve a weapon, any Clash or Defend roll you make is -1 Difficulty, and mob penalties are ignored. Maximum +5 Damage from bonus weapons.
  • Whirlwind: You may Exert your Mind to apply your next attack to any number of targets who are within melee range.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee weapons.

+2 dice to all rolls with melee weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using melee weapons.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Riposte: If you successfully Defend against an attack within range of your melee weapon, you deal Damage equal to your excess Outcome plus Weapon Damage back to your attacker.
  • Sheathing the Sword: When you would Clash with an opponent, before the dice are rolled, you may opt to have both sides deal full damage. If you do, your attack roll is at -2 Difficulty.
  • Two Swords are better than One: If you are wielding more than one melee weapon, you may Attack with all using the highest Weapon Damage, plus 1 for each additional weapon. If you reserve a weapon, any Clash or Defend roll you make is -1 Difficulty, and mob penalties are ignored. Maximum +5 Damage from bonus weapons.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Circular metalic hinges around my fingertips. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.

Your body is adapted to Persuasion. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to Persuasion.

The Severity of any Injury caused by Frost 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.

You gain the following benefits as long as you have your Chest tattoo of the Sephiorthic Tree of Life.

Your Intellect rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Intellect (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

If you are witnessed actively using this Effect, whoever sees it can make a Perception + Alertness roll at Difficulty 6. A complete success reveals the source of your power.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Multithreaded: Instead of being unable to take Actions while maintaining Concentration, you may now take Actions at a -2 dice penalty. You may maintain Concentration from two different Effects, but you are unable to take Actions when doing so.
  • Never Forget: You have a perfect photographic memory, and can recall or recreate even complex and detailed things. If you forget something you had previously seen or noticed, you may ask the GM and they will remind you.
  • Remarkably Self-Aware: You may roll Intellect at Difficulty 6 to “scan” yourself for abnormalities. With Outcome 1-3, any outside influences on your thoughts/mind will be detected, as well as Traumas. With Outcome 4+, you may Exert your Mind to cancel the Effect. One attempt per Effect.

  • Being Injured or interrupted in some way can still break your Concentration.
  • If your Chest tattoo of the Sephiorthic Tree of Life is damaged, destroyed, or lost, you lose all benefits from this Effect for the next two months, or until you can recover any relevant missing items (which may involve a side-game and requires a GM to approve whatever process is used).
  • 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.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.

  • Thermal: You are able to "see" heat signatures within your line of sight.
  • Hearing: You automatically know the origin location of any sound you hear, and you can tell which Action caused the sound.

  • Your thermal vision allows you to judge temperatures of surfaces fairly accurately as long as they are within livable temperatures.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations. Lasts 2 hours.

  • Spider Climber: You are able to climb on and cling to any surface without regard for the ordinary rules of gravity. You climb at your normal movespeed.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 10 feet. You must actively and obviously use a ballpoint pen to activate this Effect.

You place a ward, which is fixed to its initial location. You can hear and see through the ward as though you were standing at its location. Your wards last 3 hours. You may have at most 3 wards active at once.

The ward requires Concentration to monitor, though it will remain active until you deactivate it. It can be detected with a roll and destroyed through mundane means.

  • Your ward cannot be used to satisfy the line of sight requirement for targeted Effects.
  • 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 1 minute. You must use up at least a gallon of water in order to activate this Effect. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Brawn + Survival 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.

  • Unstabilized wounds do not degenerate during treatment.