It starts with a hum in the bones—low, steady, like a neon sign buzzing in a rain-soaked alley.
Myles doesn’t see faces. He doesn’t need to. The moment his fingers curl around the grip of The Last Word, the world tips, just a little. The guilty light up like cigarette embers in the dark—hot, red, undeniable. Victims? They’re colder. Like ash after the burn.
He feels it in his chest: how many souls are nearby. The liars. The killers. The ones who took something they had no right to take. And the ones still bleeding, even if the wound ain’t visible.
They don’t know he’s coming. Not yet.
But he can feel them.
And the gun? It’s already judging.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all Victims and Criminals within 300 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.
A magic shield, created accidentally as a reaction to danger.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a Barrier extending out 15 feet from yourself, which absorbs 2 times the next Outcome + 4 Damage. Only applies to attacks which originated outside the 15 foot radius, and protects anyone who is within that radius. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
When the Artifact owner decides to embody their grief, they and everything that was equipped by them - except for the Artifact itself - suddenly turns to water, which naturally splashes to the ground. The Artifact falls down as well, always landing in at least some of the water created by this. Slowly, the water begins to pull itself towards the Artifact, the gemstone eye of which had started to glow with increasing brightness, and soon even the water itself lights up with a cyan shimmer as if filled with bioluminescent algae. The longer the Artifact has been accumulating this phantasmal glow-water, the greater its shimmer becomes, and the more the Artifact's undulations quicken.
Eventually, the Artifact owner and the Artifact itself complete their merger. The result is an otherworldly, ephemeral centipede the size of a scarf, wearing the now-enlarged, dark purple-brown Artifact as its exoskeleton and having equally-dark gray metallic mandibles, legs and antennae made up of the cyan phosphorescent water which was finally collected fully, and a mint-colored, glowing, lantern-esque eye. The main body of it is covered by a thin film of glow-water as well.
When returning back to human form, the Artifact portion of the creature simply coils up and begins to gradually shrink, while the water loses all glow and collapses. The latter progressively coalesces over time, loosely forming the Artifact owner in their fetal position, equipped with everything they were equipped with originally. Then, the shrunken Artifact uncoils and swims through the watery figure, ending up curled around the left hand's ring finger. As it locks into place, a glowing wave spreads from that point all across the figure's surface and reverts all the water back into its original materials.
If anything attempts to interrupt either transformation before it finishes, the waters involved in it lash out at the target with shining, piercing stabs.
The Artifact owner remains transformed even beyond this Effect's duration, reverting only when they elect to end the Effect manually as a Free Action. Instead, this Effect's duration simply dictates how long the Artifact owner is able use to their Active, Targeted, and Trap Powers while transformed. To regain access to the usage of the aforementioned Power types, the Effect must be reactivated.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action.
You transform into an abyssal centipede for 30 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are an abyssal centipede, 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 Dexterity is increased by 2 and your Perception is increased by 2. 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).
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see a growing, undulating, supernatural centipede.
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: Whispering Waves. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
Mid-winter , Ontario Canada a man is cuffed by two blue collars, tears run down his red sodden face, his mumblings reverbates like falling glacier repeating " i didn't kill her, i didn't kill her". A blue collar holding the door responded with in a cold venemous tune " you and every other pig" proceeding to slam the door shut as the man walked in. In the rearview mirror the bluecolour's eyes turned from brown to green and back.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. You must use up Blood in order to activate this Effect.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.
The new appearance may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You cannot alter your clothes. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
"...Trust in me, my kin... I may appear off-putting, but the power of the universe resides within me! Gaze upon the true form of divinity! Though you understand the truth, there others who fear- who HATE the nature of reality... For them, I will hide... But not for long!..."
Spending a few seconds gathering rainbow cosmic energy into their palm, Serq is able to tear into the air around them and open a rift. Stepping into it, they are able to form a mesh around themself like a second skin, allowing them to take a different physical form. The scent of bog water can be detected as the coalescence of the universe disperses.
[Disfiguring]: They're an Alien being.
Spend 2 Actions.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.
The new appearance must have a similar sex, age, and race to your own. You cannot significantly change your height and weight. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You cannot alter your clothes. You may add inhuman features to your disguise. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Alien Sting: Phase 3 and Alien Sting: Phase 3.
You have broken past the illusion of American materialism and are able, through a brief but intense focusing of your will while flipping through your passport, to entirely change your appearance, and even to replicate the appearance of others, with a degree of specificity which allows you to easily pass for local.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts until you either activate a new disguise, or choose to end the effect.
The new appearance may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. Your disguise may directly mimic the appearance of a specific individual. You may change the appearance of your outfit. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
You can "pass" in any culture or group without arousing suspicion as long as you look normal for that group and can communicate with those inside the group.
The magician waves a handkerchief over an item, and it disappears! They may produce the object later by fluttering a scarf.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a scarf, sheet, or handkerchief to activate this Effect.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.
The Necromancer stands over a corpse and makes a series of grandiose lifting gestures. The corpse rises from the ground as though suspended by invisible strings, barks a pained groan, and lands on its feet, now a full-fledged member of the living dead.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. You must use up corpse in order to activate this Effect.
Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate zombie at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 3 minions active at a time.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
If the Selkie's seal skin is worn close to the body, any contact with salt water will cause them to transform into a seal. While transformed, they have full access to their normal suite of Powers.
This Effect activates whenever you are submerged in salt water. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event.
You transform into small for two hours or until you choose to end the Effect. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you cannot use your Active, Targeted, or Trap Powers. However, you can use your Passive 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.
The Thief has a stash in which they can store a few objects. It can be accessed through any burlap sack.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a burlap sack to activate this Effect.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.
The time-twister spins a dial on one of her watches, slowing time for everyone but her and one other person.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch or clock to activate this Effect.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
Outside of Combat, any non-Gift, non-movement Actions you attempt take drastically less time to complete, as long as your personal speed is a factor in the Action. Total time reduction is determined by the GM and capped at 90% (executing the Action takes no less than 1/10th the normal time).
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.