I have learnt enough to know how little I know.
Alice, while in the lab, realized she was the weakest link to finding a cure.
This is the final manifestation of the foolish augmentation she did to herself in that lab.
Days later, after the fighting ended, was when the headaches started. Trapped in bed, sweating, a fever dream. But mostly the fear. The fear her mind was going.
When it passed, Alice could feel the clarity of her thoughts. Whatever the scientists had done to her had been mere building blocks for this. Her mind was glorious.
And she remembered that her mind should have gone. Her mistake, in retrospect, was obvious. It a moment it jumped out at her. The transcription error should have killed her, or worse. But instead, she was still alive. She couldn't see why. Perhaps it was related to the abnormality in her genome and the sun. Or maybe a nudge from a greater power. In any case, she was sure that if she tried to reproduce the effect on someone else she'd turn their mind into tapioca.
But for now... her thoughts were instant, her memory perfect. She'd taken to writing a program to flash documents on her monitor as fast as it could, and with just that moment, she could know it, and index it while she slept.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Intellect rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Intellect (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
You also gain the following effects:
Cassiopeia invites you to sit down with her favourite book and read together, with a video of a fireplace playing in the ambience. After reading a seemingly random sentence she stops and asks how you feel about it. Also, what was your childhood like?
On therapy:
Of all the things she's learned throughout her university days, it's that everyone needs therapy - she herself has gone to a session or two for reasons she won't disclose. Whether they've had a good childhood or not doesn't matter. Stress can get to anyone and it's much better if everyone willingly learns how to deal with it instead of shutting themselves away. She knows she realistically can't help every person on Earth but at least it'll save her the pain of watching yet another star blink out.
On books:
She's always loved books. She wants to share that love with everyone else too. Someone she once knew would always put on fireplace or rain ambience in the background, and she's been doing that ever since. It's a fond memory.
On psychology degrees:
People don't usually get jobs directly related to an undergraduate psych degree, and Cassiopeia wasn't dedicated enough to study any further. She's thought of being a therapist before, of course, but she wouldn't want to make that her entire life.
On the Witherheart Mask:
Cassiopeia originally intended for the gift to go on the Mask, but she realizes it's a bit disingenuous to let a magical item do all the work for you. This would've been the description had she used the Mask:
"You sit down in the fabled Cafe Cosmo, where all your worries shall fly away. The barista appears to be a masked figure who listens in silence, but it also feels like the problems you reveal are being... absorbed."
Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Over the course of one day, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired. After the full treatment time has elapsed, roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6.
Your target may Resist. If your treatment is successful, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.
You may choose to use this Effect to temporarily relieve any number of the patient's Traumas (including mental Conditions). In this case, Treatment takes an Action and the effect lasts two hours. If the Patient is currently experiencing an episode, Difficulty is increased by 2.
You flip a coin towards the target, an unnaturally wide grin stretching across your face. Upon the coin making contact, a large part of their body turns into a shower of worthless golden coins and falls to the ground.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 20 feet. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you the effect is used on yourself. You must use up a golden goblin coin in order to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Thievery at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, 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:
When you Full Polymorph a target, you may transform them into an inanimate object.
If you inflict two Extreme (Outcome > 3) Battle Scars on the target, you may transform them fully into another species.
All alterations you make must change the target into golden coins.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
"...I have had a vision, my friends. A vision in which I must battle the world for you, my flock! A vision in which I endure great and terrible injuries to save those I have sworn to protect! You may not see its power, but look into my eyes and know that it is there! My courage, my strength! My love! For you... For all!..."
It's Grit.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is divided in half.
You may move at your normal speed and still maintain Concentration. Taking an Injury less than Severity 6 no longer interrupts Concentration.
After choosing a target, a powerful gust builds up in the surrounding area. Within mere moments, the air itself is attacking them, slashing at the target's body. Due to the nature of this gift, it is unusable in any environment that's devoid of oxygen.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Dexterity + Melee 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 2.
If the target suffers an Injury from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of its Severity. When this Effect causes a Battle Scar, you may select which one of the appropriate level.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The smith hits downward with his tool and in the same notion the enemy is hit with a tungsten cube, shot at them from a portal from seemingly nowhere. The cube disappears shortly after.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. You must actively and obviously use a metal working tool to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Crafts 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 2.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Instead of dealing Damage all at once, the Injury caused by this Power starts at Severity 1 and worsens at the rate of one level per Round until it reaches the Severity it would have otherwise been.
The Witch wiggles her fingers at her broomstick, and it leaps from the ground with a whoosh of wind. She may then hop on and fly around. It’s so fun, she often finds herself cackling uncontrollably.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a broom to activate this Effect. This Effect remains active for two hours.
As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage and may hover in place mid-air. Additionally, you may glide as you fall, traveling 35 feet horizontally for every 10 feet you fall. While gliding, you fall at a minimum speed of 10 feet per Round.
You may ascend into the air and fly using your mind. Your Free Movement is Mind x5 feet/Round, including vertically. You cannot Dash. When sprinting, roll Mind and add your rating in Mind plus 1 to the outcome, multiply by 5 to find your sprint speed. Your encumbrance limit is 10 lbs per point of Mind.
You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:
The werewolf's gnashing teeth sheer through steel and bone alike. Those caught in their maw rarely make it out alive.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are in werewolf form, and you are engaged in unarmed combat.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).
You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.
You also gain the following effects:
This is a doctor who exists on the front lines. They're most at home working under stressful conditions when the stakes couldn't be higher.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.
You also gain the following effects:
The Witch gazes at a calm and trusting animal and blinks, revealing eyes that have changed to match the creature's. Her body goes limp and collapses, and the witch proceeds to walk away, now temporarily borrowing the animal's body.
A borrowing Witch is a visitor in the animal's mind and cannot overstay her welcome or force the animal into danger.
Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Non-Alien Creature target within 20 feet. The target may Resist.
You possess your target and have control over their actions for the next hour. Your original body will be left behind, unconscious. You may perceive through your original body's senses by maintaining Concentration. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: Any Actions you take will use the possessed creature’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception, but use your own Charisma, Intellect, and Abilities.
Gifts: You do not have access to any Gifts while you are possessing your target.
Death: If the host suffers an Injury, or is destroyed or incapacitated, you are evicted back into your own body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed, you will die.
Eviction: You cannot force your host to take Actions which would violate their instinct for self-preservation (which includes engaging in Combat for any purpose other than self-defense or natural hunting); any attempt to do so will sever the connection and send you back into your own body. If you are forced out of the target's body prematurely, you must make a Trauma roll.
Targets with Body ratings higher than 10 require a Charisma + Animals roll resisted by the target’s Body. Kaiju and environment-scale targets are immune.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
The Witch is a master herbalist and can cure any number of illnesses and diseases with her special potions. She goes into the wilderness to find the proper set of herbs. Once she has what she's looking for, she mixes them together and boils the concoction. Steam rises from the mixture, twisting into recognizable shapes such as animals and spirits. The whole process takes about fifteen minutes, after which the patient must drink the entire mixture. They are immediately cured.
The proper preparation varies from person to person, so a single batch cannot be used to treat multiple people.
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.