Linguistic Espionage Mastery

2
You possess the ability to communicate with humans.
Used by Harold Polk, Created by jwesley123.
(This Effect may or may not be obviously Alien. It is clear that you are communicating with the target. )

Harold Polk’s Linguistic Espionage Mastery is a unique fusion of his perfect memory and deep understanding of Speech Act Theory, allowing him to communicate in any language with native fluency and cultural precision. Through his flawless recall, Harold has accumulated vast stores of linguistic patterns, dialects, and subtleties, giving him an intuitive grasp of each language’s nuances. He doesn’t merely translate words; he understands their intent, context, and hidden meaning, slipping into conversations as though he were born to each language he speaks.

With Speech Act Theory, Harold imbues his words with layers of meaning and influence, embedding subtle cues to guide others’ perceptions or actions. Every word he speaks carries intent, carefully crafted to either blend into the conversation or gently steer it, as if he were weaving an invisible thread through every interaction. This mastery makes him a linguistic ghost, an agent who can infiltrate through language alone, understanding and subtly shaping discussions to achieve his aims without ever raising suspicion.


You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may understand and communicate to humans as if you are fluent in a relevant language.

  • The target of "human" refers to any target that speaks a human language.

Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Charisma rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Charisma (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

You also gain the following effects:

  • Liar Liar Pants on Fire: You have an intuitive understanding of whether or not someone believes what they are saying. You can always tell if someone is lying to you without making a roll, though you do not necessarily know what they are lying about.

  • In rare cases, GMs may require you to make a roll to detect a lie from particularly powerful beings (trickster gods, etc).

Being a contractor is not an easy life. There is pain, loss and suffering. That being said, despite everything Vivian dedicated herself to giving hope to others despite not really believing it was impossible to improve the world. Her power works by allowing her to, in the simplest explanation, enforce her will on the world around her, through channelling her very essence of being. As such when this most recent contract occurred something shifted. For a moment, she considered not following her ideals. To give in and unleash on the world what it unleashes on her. A traumatic truth to the effects of her 'gifts' and what they are truly capable of. If she gave up the control and ideals she spouts despite not believing them. Perhaps even a punishment to herself, for whilst she wasn't truly traumatised she feels like she should have been. To be the Font of Hope is a powerful responsibility, one that can cause pain if misused.

Spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. 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 Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, -2 dice at Difficulty 7, as a Free Action to resist.

If you succeed, the target receives a new Battle Scar of your choosing, limited by the contested Outcome:

  1. A Minor Battle Scar E.g. an aesthetic-only body modification (a disfigured face, a pig's tail), impacted hand or foot, or vocal changes that complicate communication
  2. A Major Battle Scar E.g. a disabled/removed hand or foot, an inability to speak, an impacted major sense, removal of a minor sense, impacted movement.
  3. A Severe Battle Scar E.g. a disabled/removed arm or leg, deafness, aesthetic changes that are nearly impossible to conceal.
  4. An Extreme Battle Scar E.g. removal/disabling both hands or both legs, blindness, a full-body deformation that leaves the target humanoid but makes it difficult to use clothes, vehicles, and equipment designed for humans.
Refer to the stock Battle Scars on the Character Sheet for specific systems.

You may affect up to 3 targets within range.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may opt to inflict a Battle Scar that is less severe than what your Outcome allows.
  • 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.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.

  • Sight: You can see things that are up to a mile away as though you were only standing twenty feet away, provided your view is unobstructed.

Any senses which have been heightened cannot be overloaded. Battle Scars you receive cannot affect these senses. If one of these senses does become suppressed, you may Exert your Mind to end the effect.

You may only use this Effect once per day.

  • Examples of overloading a sense include: an explosion causing temporary deafness, a bright light causing blindness, a sedative causing numbness, etc.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you the Upgraded object shatters the next time the user attempts to activate it. You must actively and obviously use a Ball-Peen Hammer to activate this Effect. Can be used on Armor.

Lasts the next day. Your target receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. If it is a piece of Armor, it instead receives half that amount as bonus armor rating, rounded up. If an upgraded shield and armor are both worn, the upgrade bonus does not stack with itself.

  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used. The same is true for extra dice.
  • Extra dice from this Effect do not apply to Gift activation rolls.
  • 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.

With a 2 or higher on some sort of occult roll, it is easy to recognize these spirits as the four classical elemental spirits found in greek mythology.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend 1 minute.

Choose an Object which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You cannot create firearms.

Roll Intellect + Occult to fabricate up to 5 copies of your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Equivalent Exchange and Equivalent Exchange.

  • The Difficulty for the fabrication roll increases based on specificity. Something like a "shirt" would be Difficulty 5, whereas "Police uniform" would be Difficulty 9. The Outcome determines overall quality and how well the item fits the request.
  • You can fabricate a container of something so long as it contains a single type of thing (such as a tank of water) or it is designed to be packaged together (such as a first aid kit).
  • If you are able to activate this Effect as a Reaction, its roll contests the incoming Attack.

Stock Power Gifts

Spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location.

You may send a single message to your target. It can be as complex or as large as you like. It takes at least 30 minutes before it is received.

The message may be intercepted while in transit, and may be overheard, read, or otherwise understood by anyone near either you or the recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • Depending on the length of your message, it may take a target some time and/or effort to understand it in its entirety.
  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Spend an Action. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use at least a gallon of water to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Athletics Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.

If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4.

You may use this Effect to Defend against any melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks within range or Clash against any Attack targeted at you. Using it to Defend deals no Damage but does not cost Exertion.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of Effect. There must be no substantial obstructions between you and your target.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Perception rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Perception (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

You also gain the following effects:

  • Constant Vigilance: You may React to surprise Attacks, and you do not automatically lose initiative if ambushed or caught-flat footed. +2 dice to Initiative.
  • Can't Unsee: Any Trauma rolls you make are rolled at +2 Difficulty.

  • You can still be ambushed if you are incapacitated, stunned, or being kept unconscious supernaturally.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • You learn the object's highest material value and why it is worth so much.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

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 Dead target within 50 feet. Dead targets must have died within the past week, and you must have their remains in your possession.

The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.

  • 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.