Your human skin is just a disguise, a piece of flesh you hold onto for a shred of comfort. It reminds you of what was, what could be, and how far you've come. You're free to abandon that peel whenever you so choose, showing the world your filth in the process.
Hair tears through your epidermis, forming a thick fur as your limbs grow into spindles. Despite it all, you still look malformed, like a vague imitation of the myths that make up your form. Maybe that's all you ever were, just another freak playing pretend.
Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action.
You transform into a bakeneko for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a bakeneko, and you can use your equipment. The Injuries and Battle Scars of your Alternate Form and your true form are tracked separately.
While transformed, your Attributes are the same. Your Stress is reduced by 2.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see you unveil your true form.
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.
Gustav is imbued with a formidable shield of infernal origin. His flesh acts as a bastion against the physical world, although even the deepest connections to demonic forces cannot defend him from the purest expression of faith. Gustav skin has turned an even darker shade of black closer to obsidian in nature and has been hardened to turn away blade and bullet.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You have 4, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except from a religious source. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
Due to years of training, you have obtained some pretty good skills in beating the shit out of people with your bare hands.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +4 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).
You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.
You also gain the following effects:
Whenever Jacob is struck, a crown of thorns manifests on both the user and the target's heads, a manifestation of his festering doubts and anxiety. The worries just exacerbate and worsen, causing the crowns to grow violently and invade their brain through whatever path they can find...
Once they make their way to the brain, they "connect" and cause both Jacob and the target to experience the sum of their guilt and regret and jumble of emotions in a positive feedback loop that could leave both permanently scarred mentally. One could only guess what results from such an invasion of the mind.
At least Jacob is accustomed to coping with these sorts of... attacks. His resolve has been tempered. The target, however...
Jacob's able to withstand the potential trauma thanks to the demon that feeds off his feelings of guilt and regret. The demon gets a feast, so it 'blesses' Jacob with the ability to survive this attack relatively unscarred.
This Effect activates whenever you are struck by a melee attack. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Sapient or Creature target within arm's reach. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Intellect + Investigation Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target loses that much Source. Once their Source is depleted, excess Outcome is applied as Mind Damage. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target gains a Trauma of the GM's choice.
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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see the crowns' thorns probing and invading the head of the victim.
In addition to physical harm, the protection spell now messes with a target's mind, causing their mind to boil and buckle under ungodly psychic pressure. Their eyes alight, blood vessels turning to red steam and leaking from nose and head. If killed from this effect, their head explodes.
This Effect activates whenever Cassidy is touched aggressively, for example a melee attack, unarmed attack or attempted grapple. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Sapient or Creature target within arm's reach. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. 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. Roll Dexterity + Athletics Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target loses that much Source. Once their Source is depleted, excess Outcome is applied as Mind Damage. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target gains a Trauma of the GM's choice.
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.
The Thief examines an object closely for a minute to appraise its value. As their eyes dance across the subject, their pupils split vertically, and their irises fade to gold. If it is a particularly valuable item, the Thief may greedily lick their lips, revealing a forked tongue.
Within a minute, they have determined how materially valuable the object is and why.
Exert your Mind and spend a half hour. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Thievery at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: It's All Mine Roll self control to not attempt to automatically steal whatever this is used on.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The toon shouts a catchphrase, strikes a pose, and then zips away at a high speed, leaving a cloud of dust behind. While moving, they look like a blur.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
Doc puts his hands on you and begins to mutter to himself in french. The effect is instant and horrible. You begin to remember all of the sins of your past, all the ways that you've wronged those who loved you. All of the terrible, evil things you've done on these contracts in order to survive. Doc seems to be in the grips of similar memories, tears running down his chin and dripping onto his hands that are pressed tightly against you. At the point where your mind feels like it's about to break, it's over. Just as quickly as it began. You feel your wounds begin to close.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. 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 must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Charisma + Medicine 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.
You never know whether or not the musician's death is merely part of the performance.
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
If, while you are unconscious, your wound level rises above your rating in Body + Charisma, or if you take an Injury with Severity greater than your rating in Charisma, you die. 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.
Most severe injuries occur far from a facility that could treat them, and in the fetid muck of the battlefield even minor wounds may be a death sentence. Luckily the soldier is well-trained in the use of their standard-issue medical kit. They may stabilize even the most severe injuries with a little gauze and some no-anesthetic stitching. Furthermore, the treated wounds of their comrades never get infected.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using a standard issue military medical kit to gain the benefits of this Effect.
All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.
You also gain the following effects:
The detective squints, drawing on years of police experience to find any hidden drugs, weapons, or other illegal objects, no matter how well-hidden.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all illegal materials within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You do not learn any details about the detected items.