His knuckles have become hardened, and his biceps and triceps have doubled in size.
He isn't the most skilled. He isn't the most combat-saavy.
His durability is what enables him to survive his strength. Though his skin is truly tougher than a humans, not impossibly durable- But deeper down, the muscle and bone constrict reflexively, growing denser and resistant to damage in anticipation even as the blow itself collides.
Weapons ricochet off his body unpredictably, swatted away almost absent mindedly or playfully caught between two fingers and flicked away.
Mark's unique genetics kicked in at a young age, though it was nearly his late teenage years before he actually started practicing combat and fighting, visiting a community boxing club.
First thing he learned was how to not break the gloves and bags.
Turns out people were *much* softer.
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 +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1). The target's Armor is fully effective against this Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
Mystery's recovery from injuries is unnaturally efficient. Bleeding stops near instantly, and injuries like broken bones and amputations which normal people couldn't naturally recover from are healed in about a day.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Any Injury you receive heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level every 6 hours. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active automatically count as a successful Proper Stabilization and do not deteriorate further. Any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will heal with the Injury.
A shimmer in the air when he speaks.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must use up TBD in order to activate this Effect. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target will be fully aware that they are doing this task on your behalf and will inform anyone who they interact with that they were sent by you, though they may not view it as compulsory or against their will until the effect wears off. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action and a conditional request. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. Commands may force a target to violate one of their Limits, and they will need to make a Trauma roll once the suggestion wears off.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
You must maintain Concentration while your command is being carried out. If you break Concentration, any active suggestions you have issued will end.
Esters eyes are glowing red, while the targeted item is dimly glowing in the same color.
Finally, a more efficient way to get research done. No more need to get up and move to get more books to read.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using A book to gain the benefits of this Effect.
You can interact with things that are within 75 feet without needing to physically touch them or be near them. Any rolls made for Actions taken in this way use a Mental Strength of 4 in place of your Brawn rating, a Mental Agility of 2 in place of your Dexterity, and otherwise use your own Attributes and Abilities.
Telekinetic actions have the following restrictions and behaviors:
Using his grimoire as a base, Luminous create a magic circle that warps and changes into a triangular prism around him. His grimoire being a focal point of it.
Old version - Standard Magic Guard
Old tagline - a must have for all mages
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use Grimoire/Book to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome +6 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of 6. Their Armor applies in full. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, 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. As long as it does not fall, the barrier regenerates back to full strength at the end of each Round of combat.
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.
As undead as a jianshi is, due to their nature of purely devouring the warmth/qi of creatures, they have no working digestive system... no source of energy, no need for food, water, sleep, or air to survive, they are... perpetual until they are slain.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You no longer require any food, water, sleep, or air in order to survive. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement automatically succeeds.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Cotard's syndrome: Believes they are dead, If afflicted any injuries, roll a self control roll to take care of it..
The mystic channels and communes directly with another person's spirit, allowing the two of them to freely exchange both physical and mental wounds between each other.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. Your target may Resist to cancel the transfer.
You may choose a single instance of one of the following to transfer from your target to yourself, or from yourself to them:
Whenever you transfer an Injury, it's Severity increases by 1. Whenever you transfer Mind damage or Traumas, the recipient takes an additional Mind damage.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
The Necromancer stands over a corpse and makes a series of grandiose lifting gestures. The corpse rises from the ground as though suspended by invisible strings, barks a pained groan, and lands on its feet, now a full-fledged member of the living dead.
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.
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.
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 time-traveler spins the second hand on one of their watches and speeds up until they are a blur.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch to activate this Effect.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
Outside of Combat, any non-Gift, non-movement Actions you attempt take drastically less time to complete, as long as your personal speed is a factor in the Action. Total time reduction is determined by the GM and capped at 90% (executing the Action takes no less than 1/10th the normal time).
The mutant has left humanity behind. They're are muted to the core, with glowing blue blood and a hunched posture that makes them more suited for running on all fours than using equipment and vehicles.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: you have blue, bioluminescent blood and a hunched posture adapted to running on all fours. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living Creature when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.
Your body is adapted to sprinting. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to sprinting.
Any Animate being that consumes or is injected with your bodily fluids receives a Severity-1 Injury. Every Round, they must roll Body Difficulty 9. If they fail, the Injury worsens by 1 Severity. If they succeed, the Injury stops worsening.
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.
You cannot ignore or decrease the effects of Stress for any Self-Control rolls you make.