The dagger plunges into the chest of the squirming man. His final cries degrade into bubbling coughs as blood fills his lungs. Ancient words fill the air as the chant reaches its crescendo. The remains of the man fold in on themselves, rearranging into the winged forerunners of The Ones that Came Before. The army grows.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Chanting to the Ones that Came Before. This Effect cannot be used unless A human was sacrificed within the past hour. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you Creates an uncontrollable monstrosity that seeks only to feast. You must actively and obviously use Sacrificial Dagger 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.
Summon a single Eldritch Servant at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
My nails burst off and claws grows out and takes its place. My skin rips off as hide and fur grows out. Small antlers burst out of my head and sprays blood everywhere. All my limbs extend as my bones snap and fuse back together. My mouth elongates and turns into a snout. while my teeth all fall off and sharp fangs take its place.
Exert your Mind and spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: antlers gouging out of his skull, a toothy maw jutting out as his teeth's roots grow and detach, claws "stabbing" out of his nails, Fur growing all over his body. to activate. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
You transform into Pseudo-Wendigo for 30 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are Pseudo-Wendigo, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. While transformed, your Brawn is increased by 1 and your Dexterity is increased by 1.
Your body is adapted to Hearing, Smell, and Sight. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to Hearing, Smell, and Sight.
Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Bonus Damage (instead of the typical -2).
You do not suffer wound penalties while in your Alternate Form.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Lot of Blood and Bone snapping.
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.
While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.
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.
Jerm opens a menu and invites a random chat member to assist him in his journeys.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single Chat Member at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The vampire sucks a copious amount of blood from a human and replenishes their own cursed flesh.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend 1 minute. This Effect cannot be used unless you drink blood directly from a human until it injures them. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Dexterity + Brawl 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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see you drink blood directly from the vein.
Delphyrion reaches a hand into their hair and pulls out what seems to be a hypercube. One can't really perceive what's inside it, but as it intersects with our world, a more recognizable object emerges.
On stashing:
Delphyrion's had access to obscure and illicit chemicals for a long time, but they hadn't expected to make such great use of them on the contracts. He loves his bags and long coats and big pockets, but he could always use a better way to store things that he doesn't want people seeing. There's a limit to how many liquids he could bring on a plane, and how many times someone could mistake him for a perv who brings... a "certain kind of liquid" to deadly missions.
On technique:
He's itching to go up to someone and lift his lab coat while saying, "Want some goods?" at some point. It's definitely more practical to pull it out from under their hair though.
On hypercubes:
There were so many. Too many. 8. Eight. Huit. Ocho. 여덟. Not a good memory. Still a cool concept. He hates it. He's enamoured. So much left to learn. He's falling.
Spend a Quick Action.
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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see a non-euclidean shape containing an ancient eldritch monster that threatens to rip itself apart to escape into this dimension. The mere weight of its truth causes anyone who looks at it to feel an intense headache (anguish).
Heart consumed in the ancient, original form of Dragon
Communion.
Use while disrobed to turn one's human flesh into an ancient
dragon.
The last thing the partaker saw with human eyes was a sunset, its
colors faded and tarnished—a remote thing from eternity.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into an ancient dragon for 30 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are an ancient dragon, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. Reverting from your Alternate Form cannot cause your existing Injuries to kill you. Instead, you remain Incapacitated.
While transformed, your Brawn is increased by 1, your Dexterity is increased by 1, and your Perception is increased by 1. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -1).
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.
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.
If you become Incapacitated or suffer an Injury Severity 4 or greater, you revert from your Alternate form.
Any successful musician knows the value of a good roadie. The musician calls for a roadie, and one will promptly arrive. The roadie doesn't talk much, and they aren't too bright, but they can sure haul gear.
After a couple hours of work, the roadie will retire to smoke and get some sleep.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single Sapient roadie 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 one minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The aquamancer dissolves into a flowing pool of semi-solid water. Anything they were carrying is left behind in a damp pile. While transformed, they may squeeze through tiny gaps, and are extremely resilient against most standard attacks.
Resolidifying is exhausting.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a flowing pool of water for the next minute. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. Observers will view you as an unusual entity moving with a singular purpose.
While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that is not water-tight.
Injuries from standard attacks are reduced to Severity 1, but Damage from AOE effects is increased by 1.
You cannot communicate or use equipment while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. You cannot carry any items while transformed.
You have access to your Powers while transformed.
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.
The magician dons an unusual piece of clothing and immediately shifts their appearance to be completely different! However, they must reveal their true identity before they can cast any more spells.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. You must actively and obviously use a piece of clothing you wouldn't normally wear to activate this Effect.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.
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 cannot directly mimic an existing person. You may change the appearance of your outfit. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
This Effect ends if you take an Injury or are stunned or incapacitated.
While disguised, you cannot use any Activated or Targeted Powers.
The beastmaster shouts, and their human voice cracks into a deep, bestial roar. Their body swells with muscle, clothes melting into a thick pelt of fur. Seconds later the beastmaster is gone. Standing in their place is a massive grizzly bear.
However, even in human form the beast within remains close to the surface, and the beastmaster finds highly civilized social situations unbearable.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a brown bear for two hours or until you choose to end the Effect. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you cannot use your Active, Targeted, or Trap Powers. However, you can use your Passive Powers. Any equipment you are wearing transforms with you.
Injuries and Wound Level are carried over between forms. However, transforming can never kill you; you merely remain Incapacitated until your Injuries are sufficiently healed.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Intolerance for society. When you are in a situation with strict social protocols (like a trial or a formal dinner) roll Self-Control not to enter a flight or fight response.
The "Reaper" Assault Helmet is the signature piece of the Future Soldier's arsenal. It has a sleek, design and is made of a mysterious matte-metallic alloy. The wearer's face is exposed normally, but when activated, a blue holographic visor flickers to life in front of the eyes. This HUD contains information about the soldier's ammunition and shield status, but more significantly can detect enemy combatants. Anyone nearby who is holding a weapon is painted with a red dot that follows them in real time. This allows the Future Soldier to fire at painted targets in the dark, detect ambushes lurking around corners, and grants an overall tactical advantage.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all people wielding weapons within 300 feet 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.