Unveil the Shroud* "It takes one to know one, and unfortunately for most of you, just as the shadows bend their will to me, you will find little sanctuary in the twilight of society."

6
Requires Seasoned
The power to detect all nearby hidden beings (i.e. actively in hiding or actively conealing their presence) and disguised beings (i.e. actively wearing/using a disguise/facade).
Used by Luci Alessi, Created by Riley.
(You must actively and obviously be using up 3 units of Varnish.)

It would be rather conceited and grandiose of Luci to label herself as a Master of Shadows, but this evolution in her connection to the Well makes it a close call.

Just like the conspiracy theorists say, the shadows can indeed talk. In fact, they can have quite a lot to say about those that like to hide within them. Luci would know- she's seen them both in and out of The Well. Whether they're all that happy about it is one of many philosophical questions, but the fact of the matter is that they do indeed talk.

Such beings only require a bit of nudging and a sip of her Source in order to spill what they know and act as beacons for Luci. Not only do they point her in the proper direction, but they will also aware her as to what her targets are hiding from or disguising themselves for.

And even without any direct calls to action, Luci's intuition awares her of any restless or uneasy shadows that might have information about nearby scoundrels for her.

The shadows that exist outside of the Well are either only personified by Luci herself or a product of her power. When a shadow points her in a direction, it manifests more as a feeling than an actual shadow getting up pointing in any particular directing.

Think of it more like Luci projecting herself into the surrounding darkness- a process that while not riskless, is certainly fruitful.


Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Luci mutters for the shadows to show their hand as she pours her Varnish at her feet. You must use up 3 units of Varnish in order to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.

You automatically detect all hidden beings (i.e. actively in hiding or actively conealing their presence) and disguised beings (i.e. actively wearing/using a disguise/facade) within 10 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.

If no hidden beings (i.e. actively in hiding or actively conealing their presence) or disguised beings (i.e. actively wearing/using a disguise/facade) targets are within 10 miles of you, and then one enters range, you automatically detect it, even if this Effect is not active.

Any hidden beings (i.e. actively in hiding or actively conealing their presence) and disguised beings (i.e. actively wearing/using a disguise/facade) 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 10 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 detailed silhouette of their body and clothes for each being you detect.


Community Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.

You can move at four times your normal movement speed for the next minute.

Your super speed affects all self-powered modes of movement, and you may avoid minor obstacles as you go.

If you move faster than your normal move speed, the world around you turns to a blur, and Perception rolls are made at -3 dice.

While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.

  • Any Encumbrance penalty to your movement still applies, but you do not suffer from any sort of exhaustion.
  • Damage from a collision depends on your speed at the time, as well as what you hit. GM's discretion, but generally moving faster than a car on the freeway and hitting a dense, solid object like a wall or a tree should be lethal. Mundane armor will not apply, but any supernatural forms of protection will.

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

Take a Severity-1 Injury 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.

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.

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.

  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.

You may levitate off the ground at three times your normal walking speed. The effect lasts for the next hour, and while it is active, you cannot choose to end the effect early, or come closer than 5 feet to the ground.

  • If something pushes or forces you down towards the ground, your buoyancy will automatically push you back upwards to a height of at least 5 feet off the ground.
  • Any penalties to dice or movement, including from Encumbrance, are applied as normal. If your movement is reduced to 0 due to encumbrance, you will begin to sink down to the ground.
  • You may activate this Effect while in midair, allowing you to slow and survive any free fall.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action to activate. This Effect cannot be used unless When Believed to be in Danger.

You may levitate off the ground at three times your normal walking speed. The effect lasts for the next minute, though you may choose to end it at will.

  • Any penalties to dice or movement, including from Encumbrance, are applied as normal. If your movement is reduced to 0 due to encumbrance, you will begin to sink down to the ground.
  • You may activate this Effect while in midair, allowing you to slow and survive any free fall.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to trap a region of any shape that contains your current location and fits entirely within 50 feet. This trap lasts one hour or until triggered or disarmed. Audiences or mobs with a singular focus count as one target. This Effect cannot be used unless you are trapping an illusion. You must actively and obviously use A musical instrument to activate this Effect. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6.

The trap looks like A slight magenta hue to the object that draws the interest and curiosity of the viewer. Only those who have seen this trap before can identify it as a trap. Anyone who is aware of the trap may intuitively avoid or destroy it.

When setting the trap, specify the condition under which it will trigger. The trap can trigger against a target in the trapped region. All affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

When the trap is triggered, the targets will keep their full attention focused on the trap for contested Outcome in Rounds. They will automatically fail any rolls related to noticing anything other than the trap.

The Effect ends if the trap is destroyed, or the target cannot perceive it. The Effect will continue even if violence occurs nearby.

This does not affect the target’s opinion of the trap or their mood, and they may take any Actions while affected (including attacking), as long as that action centers on the trap. Fascinated targets cannot Concentrate.

Fascinated targets are at a -2 dice penalty to any rolls they make to resist any other Effects that you attempt to use on them.

  • Anyone who witnesses you place the trap learns about this type of trap and can avoid it at will.
  • Multiple traps cannot be placed in the exact same location or be triggered by the same single Action. Nor can one trap triggering cause another to trigger.
  • Trap can only be spotted by someone who has witnessed this particular trap before, has been informed, or possesses relevant supernatural abilities. They must achieve an Outcome of 4 or higher on a Perception + Alertness roll to do so.
  • The trap's triggering condition, once set, is final. The trap cannot be manually triggered or made to fire on a selected target at will.

Stock Power Gifts

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:

  • Gifted: You get +3 dice on any rolls related to medical care as long as you are performing treatment near the site of a battle.
  • Sterile: Sanitary conditions no longer matter during medical care. Your patients will never suffer an infection or toxic shock during treatment, even if you are performing surgery in a sewer. You may preserve harvested body parts indefinitely.

  • All stabilizations being proper stabilizations applies to stabilizations from other Effects such as Heal Wound.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up a container of fine powder in order to activate this Effect.

You automatically detect all object that are designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. When you detect objects, instead of learning nothing about them, you may observe each object with all of your senses.

  • This includes any objects that come into range during activation.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch to activate this Effect.

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 time reduction on non-Movement Actions applies only to the parts of actions when your personal speed is a factor,: pouring water or smoking a steak are not affected, but constructing a shelter or picking a lock would be. The GM will determine how much the total time is reduced based on how relevant personal speed is to the task.
  • Any Encumbrance penalty to your movement still applies, but you do not suffer from any sort of exhaustion.
  • Damage from a collision depends on your speed at the time, as well as what you hit. GM's discretion, but generally moving faster than a car on the freeway and hitting a dense, solid object like a wall or a tree should be lethal. Mundane armor will not apply, but any supernatural forms of protection will.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a non-Sapient, Animate target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is undead.

For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow.

Your commands must be relatively simple and within the target’s intellectual grasp. You cannot make them obviously endanger themselves or violate their instinct for self-preservation. The effects of the command will fade after a day has passed.

Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

  • Your commands must be directly communicated to your target in some way, though this does not require a shared language.
  • 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. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Your target takes a Severity 1 Injury. You must actively and obviously use a ceremonial dagger blessed with holy water to activate this Effect.

You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.

You may use this effect to sanitize a 15-foot radius, destroying all poisons, toxins, diseases such that they are inert and cannot affect any new targets

  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.
  • 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.