Claws of the Cockatrice Ulysses raises his talons, jumps on his foe, and rips their throat out with his talons

7
You possess superhuman unarmed combat ability.
Used by Ulysses, Created by Metal.

Ulysses slashes, pierces, and rips apart his enemies with his cockatrice (think, scaly bird of prey looking) talons. He is swift and agile, but there is brutal muscle behind each ripping, tearing strike.

The Cockatrice, as legends say, was well known for its ferocious abilities in close quarters. Ulysses has inherited the instinct of this ancient beast in how to utilize his talons, as a hybrid with some of its DNA.


You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, Grappling, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +4 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:

  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Disarm: If you successfully Defend or Clash with a melee attack, you may take possession your opponent’s weapon or launch if up to 35 feet away.
  • Finesse: When Attacking a single being, you may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.
  • Precision Strikes: You may use Dexterity instead of Brawn to Attack and Defend. If you would successfully incapacitate a target using Finesse, you may opt to knock them out for one hour instead of having them suffer an Injury.
  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

Community Passive Gifts

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with thrown weapons.

+2 dice to all rolls utilizing thrown weapons.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Parry: You may use a Reaction to Defend against any Melee, thrown, or projectile Attack in range of your Attacks.
  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Catcher In The Rye: You may catch anything flying or thrown as a Free Action with no roll, as long as it is not an attack.
  • It’s All About Reflexes: You may use your throwing roll to Defend or Clash against any projectile Attack, even when unarmed. If you succeed a Defense, you catch their projectile. If you succeed a Clash, you make a throwing Attack against the target using the projectile.
  • Jackie Chan: You do not receive a Difficulty penalty when throwing objects that are not designed for throwing.
  • Nobody Tosses A Dwarf: Anything you can lift, you can throw 50 feet. Weapon damage for a heavy improvised thrown weapon is equal to the Brawn required to lift it minus 2 (minimum 0).
  • Pin Down: If you make a thrown attack with something sharp, and it hits a target near a wall or a floor, the projectile pierces through them, pinning them to the wall or floor. Unpinning oneself quickly will increase the relevant Injury’s Severity by 1.
  • Track And Field: If you move at least 25 feet in one direction before making a thrown attack, your throwing roll is made with +4 dice instead of the standard +2.
  • Yeet!: You can throw things up to 100 extra feet per point of Brawn with no penalty. Anything thrown further than 100 feet will not land at its target until the next Round on your initiative.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Homunculus. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted..

You are immune to damage from cold. If cold is a substantial component of other damage you would take (e.g. falling from a great distance into a vat of liquid nitrogen), that damage is reduced by 2 (in addition to Armor)

Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.

You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.

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 are incapable of fine object manipulation and can only hold or grasp things in a crude, clumsy way.

  • You must still perform some equivalent of eating, sleeping, and drinking unless other Effects allow you to ignore that requirement.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits as long as you have your Washboard sixpack.

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).

If you are witnessed actively using this Effect, whoever sees it can make a Perception + Alertness roll at Difficulty 6. A complete success reveals the source of your power.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Constant Vigilance: You cannot be ambushed or caught-flat footed when awake. When asleep, you can make a Perception + Alertness roll at Difficulty 6 to wake up in time.
  • Gut Feeling: You may roll Perception + Alertness Difficulty 7 to detect when someone is watching you remotely, even through supernatural means. Requires Outcome 4 or higher.
  • Weak Points: You may use Perception in place of Dexterity on attack rolls.

  • You can still be ambushed if you are incapacitated, stunned, or being kept unconscious supernaturally.
  • If your Washboard sixpack is damaged, destroyed, or lost, you lose all benefits from this Effect for the next two months, or until you can recover any relevant missing items (which may involve a side-game and requires a GM to approve whatever process is used).

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Electroreception: You may detect electromagnetic fields, electric currents, and even neurological activity in a 50 foot radius from yourself at all times. When detecting neurological activity, you learn nothing but the creature's rough size.

  • When you are within 50 feet of range, your electroreception sense is sufficient for aiming.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is tripled.

If your last Action was used for an all-out sprint or you are already accelerated, you may spend an Action to accelerate without a roll, adding 150 feet/Round (not affected by your speed bonus) to your sprint speed, to a max of an extra 300 feet/Round. As long as you stay at these speeds, you may use this distance per Round as your Free Movement.

Any terrain you traverse while accelerated must be passable by a standard vehicle at similar speeds. Stopping, turning sharply, or decelerating more than 150 feet/Round must be performed as an Action. Failing to decelerate with an Action (whether because of an obstacle, sudden unfavorable terrain, an Injury, or other event) deals 3 Damage which Armor does not reduce.

While using this Effect, you may carry one other being without affecting your Encumbrance, so long as you maintain contact with them for the duration and they consent or are grappled.

Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: Complusion to Pose like Elvis after every statement and Sleeping Diet: Instead of eating when hungry, roll a self-control in order not to take sleeping pills instead, gaining penalties involved. If no Sleeping Pills are available, it becomes a Self-Control roll not to overeat to a point of becoming Exhausted for 1 hour. If neither are available, you take a point of Mind damage. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • 150 feet/Round is approximately 33 mph.
  • Any Encumbrance penalty to your movement still applies, but you do not suffer from any sort of exhaustion.
  • Damage from a collision depends on your speed at the time, as well as what you hit. GM's discretion, but generally moving faster than a car on the freeway and hitting a dense, solid object like a wall or a tree should be lethal. Mundane armor will not apply, but any supernatural forms of protection will.

Stock Passive Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Intellect rating is increased by 1. 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:

  • Brilliant Deduction: You may spend five minutes pondering an enigma, puzzle, or mystery, and roll Intellect at Difficulty 8. Success will reveal a clue or other tidbit that you have otherwise missed. Limit once per enigma.
  • Insufferable Know-It-All: Any social rolls you make are at +1 Difficulty, and if someone else can answer an informational question or solve a puzzle before you do, make a Trauma roll. The Difficulty of this Trauma roll cannot be reduced by any means.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

You get +0 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:

  • Naturally Resistant: Any time you make a Mind resistance roll, the individual who you are resisting must Exert their Mind, or your resistance succeeds automatically.
  • Clash Of Wills: If you fail to fully resist an Effect, your Outcome is considered to be 0.

  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations.

  • Pathfinder: You are adept at making your way through crowds, underbrush, and other dense, congested environments. While doing so, you move at full speed.
  • You are able to climb trees and cliffs at your full movement speed.

You only gain the benefits of this effect if you are in an area without a human building within 300 feet.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

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

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: You are muscled like a gorilla and have a slight muzzle and animal facial features.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Champion of the Caber Toss: You may lift an additional 2000 pounds per point of Brawn beyond 5, and you may throw items up to this weight to a distance of your throwing roll’s Outcome x10 feet.
  • Heavy Hitter: Successful attacks made with Brawn will either knock your target back Outcome x 5 feet, or knock them down to the ground. Choose which effect the attack will have prior to rolling for it.
  • Ham-Fisted: You cannot limit yourself when handling delicate objects or physically interacting with people. You may need to roll Dexterity + Athletics to avoid breaking things or causing unintended injury.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Stress from Injuries is reduced to 0. Does not reduce Stress from Mind Damage.