Ripley sits at a high-top in corner of bustling restaurant, sipping at a mixed drink that she barely tolerates. She eyes a thin man drinking alone at the bar, reaching down to pull her talisman from her wrist and begin to thumb at it. Ripley opens her mouth to call out to the spirits clinging to the man. She shivers as the condensation on her glass frosts over, her Voice bringing the whispering spirits close...
After a minute, Ripley has finished writing a list of victims, and some of the man's darkest secrets in a small booklet...
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use Spirit Talisman to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Bill is an avid investigator. He has spent his career hunting the next big lead. As he has begun writing the stories of the supernatural he has started to manifest abilities. His book "The Drawing of Spirits" seems to drain the readers of their curiosity and feed it to Bill. He has been granted the ability to see people in the objects that have had pass interactions with. Bill just needs to hold the object and open his mind to aether. As Bill manifests his power his eyes go completely white, as if his pupils don't exist. He can learn who has interacted with the object.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Alertness at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
In times where Laurence is being attacked by what he doesn't believe, Laurence's subconscious starts to attempt to defend him without clueing him in to what he is doing as not to cause strain on reality. this causes a sharp pain in Laurence's head in the moment (and then a sharper pain in the other's head if it works).
This Effect activates whenever attacked by something supernatural or completely alien to laurence. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Sapient or Creature target within 20 feet. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma. Roll Brawn + Alertness Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target loses that much Source. Once their Source is depleted, excess Outcome is applied as Mind Damage. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target gains a new Trauma of your choice. The Trauma should be general and not specifically mention you. You should not have to be involved to trigger the Trauma.
This Trauma may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.
During the time of establishing an augmentation, the target's body cycles through minor animal features that fit what the augmentation is about. Features of different animals fade into place and then out, until none show at all at the end but the concept of them is firmly established in their mind. Examples include claws, talons, teeth, beaks, etc for Maws and Claws; scales, toughened skin, thick hide, etc for Armor; and digitigrade legs, paws, hooves, etc for Zippy.
Sometimes the augmentation ends up a bit more than the animal features may suggest, such as with Adaptation augmentations. Key being that even though gills may be a physical representation of breathing in the target environment, the Adaptation may extend to not needing to breathe if the target environment contains toxic gasses. Perhaps they take in oxygen through the skin as a jellyfish does underwater, but in the air.
Using the same concept of resonance fields as the Morphic Resonance gift, I tap into the target's potential animal traits by connecting to different animals and cycling through them until the target's best affinity for the intended augmentation is found. Once found, the appropriate traits of that animal recede into their mind and stay there for as long as I can manage it. The field itself then takes that mental imprint and maintains a stable effect on the target.
Exert your Mind and spend 30 minutes. You may only target yourself. The target can easily Resist.
You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Trauma and can have exactly one of the following Effects:
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
Jenn leaves an afterimage similar to borrowed time, which over three seconds seems to be sucked into the target's outline.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living or Sapient target within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless borrowed time is ending and your target is the person who was with you. Roll Dexterity + Athletics at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you possess your target for the Contested Outcome in hours. The target has no control over their body or actions, and they are functionally unconscious through the entire possession, retaining no memory other than any Traumas they might obtain.
You do not leave your original body behind when you possess a target. When a possession ends, your original body will reappear at the host body’s same location. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: During the possession, you use the host body’s Body rating, but your own Mind rating. Any rolls you make use the host body’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception but your own Charisma and Intellect. You may use either your own or the host’s Ability ratings, whichever is higher. You gain the effects of any physical Assets and Liabilities they have. You cannot read the target’s mind or memories.
Gifts: You have access to and can use any of your own Powers which are intrinsic to your biology or physical body. You cannot access any Powers or other supernatural effects which the target has, unless they are intrinsic to the target’s biology or physical body.
Death: If the host body is killed or destroyed while you are still possessing it, you will die along with it.
Eviction: If you attempt to force your host to take actions which would violate one of their Limits or their instinct for self-preservation, they may resist by rolling Mind. If their Outcome is higher than or equal to the contested Outcome, the possession ends and you are evicted from their body.
While possessing your target, you may put them into “autopilot.” During this time they will act as they would normally for the situation without the knowledge that you are/were possessing them. This allows them to act “normal” around social contacts, type in passwords if they want to log in, etc. You have no control during this time.
If the Contested Outcome of your activation roll is 4 or higher, the activation cost of this Effect is refunded.
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.
Benedict smokes and thinks for a good minute about what they have found/ If there is biological material, he could smoke some as well. He's using the methods of tracking and analysing skills used by the ancient civilisations to discover prey. Definitely not appropriating... No.
Spend a minute. Select a Sapient target or a Creature within arm's reach. You may select a target at any range if you use up biological material of the target. You must actively and obviously use a Smoking Pipe to activate this Effect. You cannot investigate the same target more than once per hour. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
Any information you gather is said aloud with enthusiam and made publicly available.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The aristocrat knows a ritual that allows them to rent the best version of any item. They set $10,000 worth of cash on fire and place the item to be upgraded in the fire as well. While in the flame, the item morphs into a high-end version of itself. After a while, it reverts.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. You must use up $10,000 cash (or equivalent) in order to activate this Effect. Cannot be used to improve Armor.
Lasts the next two hours. Your target receives 3 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +3 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice.
The Skeleton Key slips easily into any keyhole and turns without a fuss.
Spend an Action.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, containers, knots, or locks 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.
Once the werewolf tastes the blood of their prey, there's no escape. Those injured by the beast's claws and teeth are marked with its saliva. Their wounds smell strongly of blood, and it's only a matter of time before the werewolf returns with a vengeance to finish the kill.
This Effect activates whenever a target you have injured with your teeth or claws escapes the range of your unarmed attacks. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target within arm's reach. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is alive and bleeds.
Your target is marked with a throbbing wound that smells strongly of blood. The mark can only be discovered with a deep medical inspection or Effect. Removal inflicts a Severity 1 Injury on the target.
You are aware of the marked target's direction and distance from you. This lasts for the next month, or until either the mark is removed, or you choose to end the Effect. You can have up to 1 mark active.
You receive +2 dice to any rolls made against a marked target.
The mobster presents a reasoned, logical case to the target: there's a lot of dangerous folks out there, and only they can offer safety... for a price.
If they agree, they will pay the mobster a monthly fee for protection. If they stop making their payments... well, let's just say, the mobster can't be held responsible for any unsavory types that might pay them a visit.
This Effect cannot be used unless you are making a deal to exchange money for protection.
You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must shake hands to seal the deal.
Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.
When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:
The target cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.
The De-Neuralizer is a small silver device that can emanate a bright flash of light. Any being that looks into it with uncovered eyes has their most recent period of the their memory set into a highly over-writable state for a moment. While in this state, their memories may be overwritten at will.
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”).