Surprisingly, asking for a helping hand from the eldritch being that's made you it's vessel isn't too hard! Frank's main method of interrogation requires a bit of negotiation with benefactor, namely feeding it via smoke break. After which, it's finally open to sharing a bit more of it's power, namely that over voiceovers and subtitles.
For about 30 seconds, his voice appears to cut between various crappy dubs, progressing through various human & inhuman languages before finally settling on the right one.
Communication is more than just you talking, it's what you hear too. To stop Frank's brain from frying itself from all of the heinous shit he's been forced to overhear day-to-day, his benefactor has begun offloading some of that stress to itself, protecting his mind.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. You must use up a cigarette in order to activate this Effect.
You may understand and communicate to Creatures, humans, and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.
Communicating with a being cannot directly damage your Mind or cause Injury. All rolls to resist Effects that rely on communicating with you are made at -1 Difficulty.
The room is prepared - the bowl set in front, the item to the side. The process must be done outside the presence of light, lest what is happening see the caster.
Minerva opens a wound one one of her arms with one of her claws. Blood, both crimson and silver, but invisible in the darkness, leaks into a bowl. Once it is full, an offering of energy, a portal to the Dreamlands is opened, just for a moment. And a drop of the Chaos Sea is brought into our world. It enters the bowl - not too high, lest it splash. The blood boils, and one must ignore what they hear coming from the blood. It is then poured over the object to be animated, absorbed by it. Chained and shackled within form, making the object just a little bit one of both. Willpower is then applied, and, should one be successful, one may than coax a loyal entity of the Dreamlands into it, to play out its story.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and an Action. Select a Inanimate target within arm's reach which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters). This Effect cannot be used unless the caster is inside of a perfectly dark space. You must actively and obviously use silver fox pendant to activate this Effect.
Your target will become Animated indefinitely. You may choose to end the effect at will, as a Free Action. You can maintain a max of 4 targets animated at once.
Animated Objects have the following restrictions and capabilities:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see boiling blood, within which one can feel extremely strong emotions when looking at. Hate, and fear, the oldest emotions, are predominant.
As you transform muscle and biomass starts growing from your shoulders, wrapping your arms in flesh creating new, stronger arms. As the flesh grows it emits steam. You now have disproportionate arms and huge fists.
“This new power is wild. It feels like all my rage and determination have come to life. When my shoulders start growing muscle and flesh, and steam hisses out, it's like my inner fire is bursting out. These huge, disproportionate arms and fists aren’t just about strength, they’re a statement.
It’s like the universe recognized my fight against the system and decided to give me a boost.”
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into Human with huge arms for 30 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are Human with huge arms, 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. 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).
When you activate this Effect, roll a single D10. if the result is 5 or lower, you receive a Severity-1 Injury and a Minor Battle Scar.
If you become Incapacitated or suffer an Injury Severity 4 or greater, you revert from your Alternate form.
An amorphous limb and hand made of oddly pulsing shadow that is normally concealed by the chef's clothes. When in use, it streams out between shirt buttons, her collar, or whatever other space is available.
Pen's research has led her to an occult book of rituals regarding spirits and related metaphysics. One of the rituals she uncovered allowed her to bind shards of various broken spirits into a hand of darkness that comes out of her body and follows her needs. This is the beginning of her transformation.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand.
Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Each additional appendage you have gives you +1 dice to make and resist Grapples (up to a maximum bonus of +4 dice).
Any Battle Scars that affect or remove your additional limb will heal in a single week.
Your appendage is capable of bending and squishing in normally-impossible ways. It may fit through any gap that is not water-tight and retain its functionality.
Pulling a long black feather from their coat pocket, the mage begins to shrink and lose form as they become a small, assuming corvid - with piercing blue and green eyes that illicit a strange sense of reverence.
Brandishing a wolf's claw like a dagger, the mage begins to twist and morph into the shape of a large, sleek wolf, heterochromatic eyes glowing bright blue and green each. The mage bares their teeth, then leaps into the fray.
Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a token of the desired creature to activate this Effect.
You transform into a raven or a timber wolf until you transform into something else or choose to return to your original form. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (excluding Artifacts and Consumables, which you can use), and you do not have access to any of your 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.
While transformed, you are obviously unusual, unnatural, or alien, and the average person will take a special interest in you.
The old wounds on your back tear open again, your wings sprouting anew in a spectral light. Their radiant albeit corrupted light allowing you to take flight once more. When not needed, the wound stays shut, and your wings no longer exist, but you can reopen that old wound and fly again if you need to.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage. 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 are subject to the following effects while gliding:
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Bleeding Wing Scars.
No terrestrial animal dares defy the will of the beastmaster. The beastmaster exerts their dominance over an animal by locking eyes and giving a primal cry. The creature immediately becomes docile and eager to please.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien Creature within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a terrestrial animal.
For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow.
Your commands can be complex and multi-layered, though they must still be specific. You cannot make them obviously endanger themselves or violate their instinct for self-preservation. The effects of the command will fade after a day has passed.
The musician pours their heart and soul into their music, giving others some much needed perspective and solace and all around good vibes. This can be a temporary easing of the mind, but with prolonged music therapy it can even permanently cure psychic damage.
Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. This Effect cannot be used unless you continuously play music for your target during the activation. Over the course of one Downtime, 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 + Performance 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.
Once per day per target, you may choose to use this Effect to stabilize the Mind of a target within arm's reach. Treatment takes 30 seconds but will not remove any Traumas. If you are successful, restore 2 Mind damage.
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.
The aquamancer channels a nearby source of water into a flexible whip, which can be used to attack or to defend.
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.
All it takes is a flick of your hair and a bat of your eyelashes, and you’ve got their attention.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. A number of Sapient, Living targets within 50 feet who can perceive you through no greater than your Charisma rating are affected. Audiences or mobs with a singular focus count as one target. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. All affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the targets will keep their full attention focused on you for Contested Outcome in Rounds. They will automatically fail any rolls related to noticing anything other than you.
If you pass from their perception and they are unable to pursue you, the Effect ends. If they can follow you, they must do so for 2 Rounds or the Effect will end. The Effect ends early if the target is Injured or violence occurs nearby.
This does not affect the target’s opinion of you or their mood, and they may take any Actions while affected (including attacking), as long as that action centers on you. Fascinated targets cannot Concentrate.
The Blademaster is so attuned to blades that they may manipulate any bladed object at a range simply by willing it. Observers see translucent spider-silk connecting the Blademaster's fingers to the blade, allowing them to puppet it.
You gain the following benefits as long as the target object has a cutting edge.
As long as you maintain Concentration, you can take Actions and interact with things that are within 75 feet without needing to physically touch them or be near them. Any rolls made for Actions taken in this way use a Mental Strength of 2 in place of your Brawn rating, a Mental Agility of 2 in place of your Dexterity, and otherwise use your own Attributes and Abilities.
Telekinetic actions have the following restrictions and behaviors: