Back to the Wall "AH GOD!! HOW DO WE STOP IT!!!" *gibber*

1
Requires Seasoned
The power to temporarily transform into a Frenzied, Mutant Abomination.
Used by Edgar Stokes, Created by Strazhari.
(Anyone who witnesses you activate this Effect or for its duration is very likely to be disturbed to see Rampant Mutation. )

When this effect occurs, Edgar undergoes a dramatic transformation, a period of rampant mutation from the multiple monstrous forces contained within his body - his talons lengthen, dripping with steaming, heated blood - his flesh writhes obscenely, as if dozens of steel cables pulsed & moved below his rugose flesh while his lolling tongue will often split like a flower, either into multiple tendrils or multiple eyestalks - perhaps most disturbing of all, his eyes swell & then burst - leaving gaping holes filled with a guttering orange flame. While under these episodes, the alien flesh of the Provider instantly regenerates any lost flesh, up to & including lost limbs - these mutations are imperfect however, often being formed of squamous flesh studded with the screaming faces of people the Ghoul has consumed - this flesh will swiftly become unstable, tearing itself away & crawling off to die (hopefully...) when the episode ends.

Edgar is a Survivor first & foremost. If cornered, his fear & rage can send him into a berserk frenzy, becoming a slavering, gibbering creature until he gathers himself again. In this time, he suffers a severe "Fight or Flight" response, losing the ability to speak coherently or manipulate fine objects.

This Effect activates whenever if he fails a Limit check or rendered unconscious. It does not require an Action or Exertion.

You transform into a Frenzied, Mutant Abomination for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a Frenzied, Mutant Abomination, 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.

You do not suffer any Penalty while in your Alternate Form.

If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Rampant Mutation.

Whenever you enter Combat, roll Self-Control. If you fail, you cannot choose which targets to attack and cannot stop fighting until there are no targets remaining.

You cannot speak any coherent verbal language while transformed and must resort to other means of communication.

You are incapable of fine object manipulation while transformed and can only hold or grasp things in a crude, clumsy way.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.

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Community Activated Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend one minute. This Effect cannot be used unless it lasts for only 1 minute. You must actively and obviously use a prism to activate this Effect. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.

You automatically detect all supernatural beings within 100 miles of you for the next hour. This includes any who come within range during the duration. You have a sense of how many valid targets are nearby, as well as their distance and direction.

Any supernatural beings detected while this Effect is active are “marked”. You will continue to detect them until the Effect ends, no matter how far away they move. You will also continue to detect them after the Effect ends, so long as they remain within 100 miles of you.

You learn basic information about why each detected being is being detected. For example, if you detect Criminals, you may learn how many crimes they have committed and what type.

You receive a recognisable aura signature for each being you detect.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see a great discomfort to all observers.

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.

You may only use this Effect once per day.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.

Exert your Mind (unless you spend 10 minutes casting) and spend an Action or Reaction. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.

You phase out of reality for up to 1 hour. During this time, you cannot affect the outside world (other than non-combat Actions using your hands, at +2 Difficulty) or take any Actions. You may move as normal while phased out. You may pass through walls and "climb" up and down through solid material at normal climbing speeds. 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.

You leave a blurry, glitch-like time duplicate at your location.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: Clock Hand: The forces of time take a significant toll on that which the watch is attached to. Called shots against your watch hand do +2 damage and Clock Arm: The watch continues to drain the vitality of which it is attached to. Whenever your left shoulder takes a major blow or is otherwise put under stress the GM may dislocate it. A dislocated limb cannot be used until you Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reset it.. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.

Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: Past Lives: The memories and experiences of previous timekeepers are muddled with your own. Any time you are asked about yourself, or are offering information about yourself, you must succeed a Self-Control roll in order to tell the truth. On a failure, you instead answer as if you were a separate person, and genuinely believe yourself to be telling the truth (The GM may determine this). If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • If you phase in while intersecting with solid material, you take a severe, potentially-lethal Injury.
  • Any items and equipment on your person become intangible along with you. You cannot interact with them, as they are intangible.
  • Effects that do not require a physical target may still affect you.
  • If you use this Effect to dodge as a Reaction, it succeeds without the need for a roll. Cannot be used as a Desperate Defense.
  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.

On gift conception:
It was a night with a full moon, as she walked along the shores of Miami trying to think of a gift. On a regular night the stars would be nigh invisible from light pollution, but she noticed they were twinkling as brightly as if she were out camping in the wilderness. Suddenly there was a woman standing beside her; any normal person wouldn't bat an eye, but Cassiopeia saw a strange blue aura around her. The woman looked up at the moon and asked if she believed in Artemis. She asked if Cassiopeia would want to join the Hunt. Cassiopeia knew where this was going. She knew what she was in for, and there was one aspect that concerned her the most. Thus, she told the woman, "I would, but only if I can continue to age." There was a long silence, as if Artemis waited for Cassiopeia to change her mind, but after a few hours' long standoff, the goddess was intrigued enough to accept Cassiopeia's terms.

On Artemis' oath:
"I, Cassiopeia, pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood without immortality, and join the hunt."

On semantics:
Cassiopeia has always been wary of wording in agreements, and this one was no different. Did "men" refer to people in general, or just... men?

On romance:
So long as Cassiopeia swears off of romantic love, she will be protected by Artemis. Is it cruel? Cassiopeia can't tell. But she doesn't see it as much of an obstacle because she's lived so long without the need for it (or any kind of affection at all). It makes for a good experiment to see if love is really powerful enough to make her turn against the gods.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome +4 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.

The barrier will fall after two hours, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is Cassiopeia whispers prayers to Artemis. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

  • Effects which circumvent Armor completely also circumvent your barrier.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

Summon the one and only Sapient Frog at your location. They last until they move more than 150 feet from you or are destroyed They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat starting the Round after they are summoned.
  • Combat: Minions roll 4 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make Staff/melee Attacks. Their unarmed Attacks are melee range and deal +0 Damage.
  • Body/Mind: Minions have 3 Body. Your minions roll 7 Mind resistance dice.
  • Armor: Minions have 1 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 20 feet per Round as Free Movement and double that when performing an all-out Sprint.
  • Intelligence: Minions have human-level intelligence and can speak your language. They can use equipment, Artifacts, and Consumables. However, they cannot Exert their Mind.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 4 dice. Any other roll is made with 4 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 2 Brawn.
  • Powers: Your companion can Exert their Mind using your Mind and spend your Source.
  • Unusual: Minions are not obviously Alien.

If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.

  • Your companion heals fully during each Downtime, but is not healed fully when you re-summon them.
  • Your companion is affected normally by Artifacts and Energy Transfer.
  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You phase out of reality for 1 hour. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world but may take mental and self-targeting Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.

You may only use this Effect once per day.

  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.

Stock Activated Gifts

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.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction.

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.

You leave a golden glow shaped like yourself at your location.

  • If you use this Effect to dodge as a Reaction, it succeeds without the need for a roll. Cannot be used as a Desperate Defense.
  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.

Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a scarf, sheet, or handkerchief 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.

  • "Equip" refers to drawing a gun, putting on a piece of armor, etc. You may store or withdraw a maximum of 6 items in a given Round. Reminder: you may perform up to two Quick Actions for -2 dice each or 3 if you use up your Action, unless a different Effect grants you additional Quick Actions.
  • Containers which hold multiple things may count as a single item so long as the things within are generally packaged together. For instance, you may stash a clip full of bullets, a medical kit full of medical supplies, or a box of crackers, but you cannot stash a backpack full of miscellaneous equipment.
  • You may only attempt to store Objects which are free-standing and disconnected from other things. The use of this Effect will not allow you to sever any connections holding an Object in place.
  • The Maximum Object Size parameter is intended to roughly capture the weight / size restriction of items and isn’t intended to restrict shape. GM discretion is advised. A human being is level 4 in the Maximum Object Size parameter.

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.

Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. You must use up corpse in order to activate this Effect.

Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate zombie at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 3 minions active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat starting the Round after they are summoned.
  • Combat: Minions roll 4 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make unarmed Attacks. Their Attacks are melee range and deal +3 Damage.
  • Body/Mind: Minions have 7 Body. They automatically fail all Mind resistance rolls.
  • Armor: Minions have 3 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 15 feet per Round as Free Movement and double that when performing an all-out Sprint.
  • Intelligence: Minions have dog-level intelligence and cannot communicate back to you. They cannot actively use Equipment.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 4 Brawn.
  • Unusual: Minions are obviously Alien to any observer.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.

  • The sacrificial Injury received from activating this Effect cannot be prevented by any means or healed before 1 day has passed. It is shared with all Effects that use sacrifice. This Injury does not requires Stabilization or cause Battle Scars when it becomes Severe.
  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.