Mechanic's Ear "That thing just don't sound right."

3
You possess supernaturally heightened senses.
Used by Mike Carson, Created by EvilRicktator.
(This Effect may or may not be obviously Alien.)

Even before the Contracts, Mike could hear a worn CV axle before the boot was even torn (and at 100 yards, so he claims). Now that he is imbued, his senses have picked up to literal superhuman levels, allowing him to hear engine problems and ambushers as either tries to sneak up.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Hearing: You may hear sounds of sub- and hyper-sonic frequencies, allowing you to hear tiny things (mice, insects, etc) better, and pick up on the vibrations of massive things (earthquakes, atmospheric disruptions, etc) long before others.
  • Hearing: You automatically know the origin location of any sound you hear, and you can tell which Action caused the sound.

Any senses which have been heightened cannot be overloaded. Battle Scars you receive cannot affect these senses.

  • Examples of overloading a sense include: an explosion causing temporary deafness, a bright light causing blindness, a sedative causing numbness, etc.
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from running Tales To Be Told spent on improving power: Mechanic's Ear
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Unbeatable spent on adjusting power: MIKE - Mechanic's Ear
Learn about charlatans - Hide fake ads

Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: ________. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1.

The Lotus III implant has been upgraded. Sophisticated decryption & code-breaking software is pre-loaded into the implant, optimized to synchronize with the end-user's conscious attempts to crack security systems. Capable of defeating the most sophisticated systems in moments, use of this feature causes the user's eyes to display the familiar Lotus Logo as a revolving pattern on the iris. Additionally, in what we consider to be a win for our marketing team, any device compromised by our software will display our Lotus Logo in system - all the better to alert potential clients of system vulnerabilities.

Operating the system linkage on a regular basis has been proven to damage the optic nerves: always use caution when operating prototype cybernetics.

Exert your Mind and spend 1 Action. Select a Computer within 300 feet. Can be used on Alien technology. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you go Blind. Roll Perception + Technology, with the Difficulty set by the GM depending on the security of the system you are hacking. Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you may issue a single command to the targeted system. This command must have a specific outcome or be a request for specific login credentials. The command you issue must be within the machine's current capabilities. For example, you cannot order a standard security camera to grow legs and walk around.

If your command does not require bypassing the security of the target (for example, typing on a computer that is unlocked), you do not need to Exert your Mind to activate this Effect, and activation only takes a single Action.

Your Hack cannot be reversed through mundane means for a number of hours equal to your Outcome.

Every hack you make leaves behind Lotus Logo in the system as a personal "calling card" that informs anyone who uses the system that the hack occurred.

  • You cannot hack things outside of your range over remote connections such as the internet. The system you are affecting must be physically within range.
  • 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.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You have 4, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except demonic magic. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.

You may spend an Action or Reaction and Exert your Mind to double your Armor rating for one Round.

Any Injury received from Damage that was reduced by this Armor is considered Makeshift Stabilized and will not degrade further, and any Battle Scar caused by them is reduced by 1 level. You may attempt a single Proper Stabilization on such Injuries.

When you take Damage from a source which is within 5 feet, deal back as much Damage as your Armor prevented.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: chronic pain and four eyes disfigurement.

  • This Effect’s Armor rating cannot be increased by any other Effects.
  • When shredded, it returns to full potency in one hour.

Between six and seven feet tall, its body a blend of raw reptilian power and primal intelligence. Thick, scaled limbs support a forward-leaning frame. Its skin is mottled grey, olive, and dark rust, colours that blend seamlessly into rocky or jungle terrain, with large, rugged scales that form natural plating along the shoulders, spine, and tail. The head is long and angular, with a wide jawline packed with serrated teeth and a flickering black tongue that tastes the air. Its eyes, golden and slit-pupiled, radiate a slow, calculating awareness. Long, clawed fingers suggest both tool use and combat capability, while a thick, muscular tail balances its gait.

Internally, its biology is built for endurance and sudden bursts of violence. A dual-lung system allows for high-efficiency oxygen exchange, enabling it to remain still for hours before erupting into explosive movement. Its heart, larger and more muscular than a human’s, beats slowly but forcefully, circulating a dense, copper-rich blood that resists infection and carries oxygen through its heavy musculature. Beneath its jaw and along the lower jawline lie venom glands that secrete a coagulant, inhibiting toxin, not injected, but smeared into wounds as its teeth rip and tear, causing slow, unstoppable bleeding. Its stomach is a high-acidity organ, capable of dissolving bone and carrion alike, while a second, smaller “crop” pouch stores food for slow digestion during lean periods.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: High Reptilian. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living Creature when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1, your Dexterity is increased by 1, your Perception is increased by 1, and your Charisma is increased by 1.

You may make a +2 Weapon Damage Melee Claws attack without additional equipment.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Reptilian.

You cannot be mistaken for a normal human. You cannot always use standard human clothes, equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and when you can, you suffer an increased Difficulty.

You cannot ignore or decrease the effects of Stress for any Self-Control rolls you make.

The Severity of any Injury caused by Cold is increased by 2.

  • Even though you're targetable as a Creature, you still are also targetable as a Sapient being.
  • The increase in Injury Severity stacks with any similar effects, such as the Silver Bullets drawback on Regeneration.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You automatically detect all humans within 50 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.

Stock Power Gifts

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.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Charisma rating is increased by 1. 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:

  • Party Animal: You are welcome at, and will be granted entrance to, any social gathering or party, at least as an observer.
  • The Price Of Fame: Any sightings or recordings of your activity can easily be traced back to you. Even when disguised or using an alias, people always get a Perception check to recognize you.

  • A "social gathering" might include a birthday party, after-work drinks, a ski trip, or yoga in the park, among other things. It likely would not include a cult gathering to summon a demon, Congressional negotiations over a contentious bill, etc.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet. You must be in an area abundant with man-made structures and materials.

Select one of the following alterations to create out of standard building materials originating at the target:

  • Wall: Create a straight wall made of standard building materials up to 40 feet long, 10 feet high, and 12 inches thick. This wall can also be used to create a bridge, ramp, or similar. It must be free-standing.

The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.

This alteration lasts one minute but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.

  • Attempting to break any alterations with inappropriate tools may damage or destroy the tools at the GM's discretion.
  • Any structures you create leave precise gaps for obstacles in their path or push them out of the way. You cannot directly destroy objects or structures or damage beings by creating walls or domes.
  • Tool guidance for GMs:
    • Difficulty 9: Brawn 5, no tools.
    • Difficulty 7-8: One-handed tools or makeshift tools (like a sword). Mythic Brawn without tools.
    • Difficulty 6: Appropriate manual tools. Crowbar, sledgehammer, armor-shredding attacks.
    • Difficulty 4-5: Power tools, vehicles, explosives.
  • This Effect produces the substance you are controlling unless it is drawn from the environment via “Required Environment” Drawbacks.
  • 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 a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must actively and obviously use a magnifying glass to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell the age of any structure or natural formation in the area. This includes trees and plants growing in the area.
  • You learn how heavily trafficked the area is, what sorts of Animate beings have moved through the area and when.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area 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 (unless you win a coin flip) 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 firepit's fire at your target. Extinguishing a fire does not cost Exertion. 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 4 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 shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.

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

  • Your fires may be extinguished with appropriate Actions and materials. Stop, drop, and rolling to extinguish requires spending an Action and making a Dexterity + Athletics roll, with an Outcome of 4 putting out the flames.
  • If the target is larger than your flame size, the Armor destruction creates a weak point instead of applying to the entire target.
  • 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.