CNS Depression "I can hear them. It's a short step to making them... slow down, just a little."

3
Requires Seasoned
The power to put a target to sleep.
Used by Minerva McAlaster, Created by Polymorph.
(When activating this Effect, it is obvious you are interacting with the target. You must actively and obviously be using silver fox pendant.)

Minerva focuses on the song of the electrons that make up a nervous system... and exerts her will on them. They start to show down... the subject experiences symptoms of CNS depression before collapsing.

Touching another living thing on such an intimate level is a distinctly traumatic experience. Even attempting to keep a degree of separation, looking at it as if it was *just* patterns of electricity, it's still difficult to justify reaching into someone's mind and messing with it.

Of course, a willingness to do so only comes out of exigent scenarios. An unwillingness to do so on one of her contracts lead to the separation of the group.. and as soon as her friend left her sight, she never saw them again. She's determined to not let that occur again.

Becoming a creature of more thought that form, she's gained the ability to slip into the dreams of others... and amplify her abilities, for the tradeoff of having to exert herself harder.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a single Living target or a Location within 30 feet. If you select a Location, all Living targets within 20 feet of the chosen Location, besides yourself, are affected. You must actively and obviously use silver fox pendant 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 + Influence at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, affected targets becomes drowsy for the next 3 Rounds, during which time they suffer an additional -2 dice Penalty to all Actions. At the end of their drowsiness, they fall asleep for Outcome x 3 minutes.

Sleeping targets will not prematurely wake up on their own, and can only be awoken by taking Damage or nearing death from hunger, thirst, or suffocation. Drowsy targets always fall asleep, regardless of what happens while they are drowsy.

You may determine the dreams of any sleeping being within within 30 feet. By maintaining Concentration, you may enter their dreams and converse with them directly.

  • You do not physically enter a target's dreams; your body stays in place while you are Concentrating.
  • For targets where "sleep" does not make any sense in terms of flavor, they will power down, freeze, etc, whatever state they can be in which is analogous to sleep.
  • 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.
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing a Journal for To fist and feast! spent on improving power: CNS Depression
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing up Flash Suits spent on revising power: CNS Depression    (since refunded)
Gift from playing in The Hospital spent on revising power: CNS Depression
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Community Targeted Gifts

Minerva's powers begin to manifest fully with this. Almost subconsciously, the young girl can change the world around her. Occasionally small things change without her thinking about it. But when she focuses... she convinces the universe her playthings are real, and it accepts this, with reservations.

If they are treated roughly, however - damaged or stressed at all, by anyone - the universe remembers, and such illusions evaporate into smoke.

Minerva deals poorly with pain or stress, having lived a pampered life and having little experience to see her though them. Physical pain at all keeps bringing her mind back to that, and she's unable to assert her will properly. Stress does the same - as soon as she's distracted, she's unable to focus, unable to make her will come forth as easily as it normally does.

Finally...under the surface, in the depths of her mind, lurk darker thoughts. Her practice with altering the world comes into full manifestation when she panics and loses her composure, her fears seeping in.

Exert your Mind (unless you have no body damage and your mind damage is agitated or better) and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Choose an illusion to generate, which can be no larger than a person.

The chosen illusion is generated at your target, and it will remain in place for the next two hours or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through all of their senses. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.

Anyone who struggles against the illusion hard enough to break a window or who would be damaged by the illusion realizes it is an illusion, and the entire effect will be ended for all targets.

The illusion is not fixed to the initial target, and may move about at a maximum speed 30 feet per Round. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.

  • while you can use an illusion to obscure something smaller, you cannot make anything directly invisible (you can’t make a tank look like a regular baseball, but you can hide it in an illusion of a giant baseball).
  • You may only puppeteer a single illusion at once.
  • 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 to activate. Select a Living target within 20 feet. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Firearms at Difficulty 6. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 7.

If you succeed, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes one of the following symptoms:

  • Wasting Away: The target’s body is being eaten away by the affliction. Immediately on being afflicted, and again for every hour that passes, they will obtain a new Major or Minor Battle Scar.
Symptoms begin to appear immediately, and will remain and continue to worsen until the affliction is cured. The affliction is contagious and will spread to new targets. Anyone who comes within 20 feet of afflicted person must roll Body, Difficulty 7, and if their outcome is lower than your initial Outcome, they become afflicted.

The affliction is not treatable by modern medicine. It may be diagnosed by rolling Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 6, and can be cured by Intense Heat/Fire.

  • Successfully diagnosing an affliction also includes information about the treatment method.
  • The chosen method of treatment must be something that you could obtain in a small town given an afternoon.
  • Curing an affliction removes the Condition, but does not automatically heal any Injuries, Battle Scars, or Traumas which may have been caused by that condition.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Spend 2 Actions. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Influence at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • You learn Fears: (phobias, worries, insecurities).

The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

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

This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Fearless: must roll Self-Control to fight or flee in a terrifying situation.

You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.

  • 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. Select a Living target within 20 feet.

The target's sense of pain, touch, and sight becomes suppressed for the next day. Any roll requiring pain, touch, or sight automatically fails, and other relevant rolls suffer up to a -3 dice penalty at the GM's discretion.

This effect is applied to the target and all targets within 5 feet. It can “jump” up to 5 times.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see The Mudonomicon opens as they read out the book as they chant and seep out mud from their body.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: Muddied up. If you lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next month.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Trauma to manifest over the course of a day: The World Shall Know Mud. If you lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next month.

  • Suppressing the target's sense of touch does not affect their ability to detect balance / momentum changes, nor does it reduce Body penalty.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • 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 hour. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.

The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect.

  • 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.

Stock Targeted Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless you can forage for herbs. You must actively and obviously use water, a container, and heat 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.

Whenever you cure a disease, poison, or toxin, if it had inflicted any Damage, your target is healed for half that Damage.

  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: perform a fire-breathing trick. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you take a Severity-4 Injury as the fire burns your throat. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.

You may start or extinguish a fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace at your target. You may create or extinguish fires the size of a lighter or candle flame without Exerting your Mind. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.

Lighting a target on fire deals 3 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be depleted by any Damage dealt, destroying the Armor once it reaches 0.

You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.

  • Someone may attempt to extinguish a fire that you started by spending an Action and rolling Dexterity + Athletics. An Outcome of 3 puts out the fire
  • 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 at least one Action. All Sapient targets within 20 feet of you are affected. You must actively and obviously use a police badge to activate this Effect. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your targets. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Any affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If the contested Outcome is positive, your targets will be compelled to follow your command to the letter-- but not necessarily the spirit-- of the command until they have completed it or for your Outcome in minutes. 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 is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. 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. 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.

  • The target must be able to understand you and must receive your communication for the suggestion to work.
  • Allowed Commands
    • Direct Order: The target must take an immediate action (e.g. “Sit down,” "run away," or "tell me your password.")
  • 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. Select a Location within within arm's reach. All Sapient targets within 20 feet are affected. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is looking directly into the device with uncovered eyes. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If the contested Outcome is positive, the most recent 1 hour from your target’s memory is either replaced with new memories or forgotten entirely. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.

The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).

  • You do not gain mind-reading through this effect, so your ability to alter their memory is limited by your knowledge of what they might know.
  • The target's roll to realize their memories have been altered can be made a maximum of one time per day.
  • 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.

Spend an Action.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, locks, or locked targets within arm's reach of you. Cannot be used on Alien technology.

If you successfully operate a lock, you may choose to destroy it, rendering it inoperable.

  • Any door or restraint that is fastened or shut with a mechanism may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. Can be used on control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems.
  • If you operate a locking mechanism through this Effect which has some other secondary effect (such as the ignition on a car causing the car to start) you may cause that effect as well.
  • 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.