He is 35 years old, lives in Midian (Philadelphia, USA), and often appears as skulking, snaggle-toothed, hooved, meeping monstrosity.
Edgar Stokes lives in Maelstrom, a setting where videos of the supernatural go viral every day. His journal, Just a pile of garbage..., has 56 entries. His Questionnaire has 5 answers.
4 Alertness
0 Animals
5 Athletics
6 Brawl
4 Crafts
4 Culture
4 Drive
0 Firearms
3 Influence
4 Investigation
0 Medicine
0 Melee
0 Occult
4 Performance
0 Science
4 Stealth
4 Survival
0 Technology
3 Thievery
4 Necrology
Edgar is slowly becoming a Ghoul; his hands have thickened & become tipped with hooked talons suitable for digging up graves & tearing flesh. He has grown a short muzzle choked with a combination of his original teeth & savage fangs. His feet have begun to fuse into hoof-like stumps. Like a rat, if he can get his head through a hole, he can get his entire body through.
After consuming a mythical dragon over the period of a month, Edgar's flesh is remarkably resistant to flames.
Update - Edgar has fully transformed into a Ghoul at this time, unable to even remotely pass for human or wear most human clothes, having a short muzzle, elongated arms tipped with hooked talons, & digitigrade legs ending in hardened hoofs - further, his exposure to the creature known as "The Provider" has mutated him - increasing Regenerative abilities & durability - this mutation has come with an increased susceptibility to Acid, which will inflict horrific wounds on his mutated flesh.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: a Mythos Ghoul. You are considered to be a Sapient, 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)
No single organ in your body is critical for life. If any body part is separated, it lives and can take Actions for one hour. Attacks do not get bonuses from targeting specific body parts. You cannot suffer an Injury with Severity greater than 6.
You are immune to damage from heat and flames. If heat is a substantial component of other damage you would take (e.g. slashed with a flaming sword), that damage is reduced by 2 (in addition to Armor)
You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.
Your body provides you with the functionality of Digging Tools. If used to attack, these "tools" use the same stats as a small knife.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Cannabalism - must roll trauma to avoid eating or caching any corpse encountered.
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.
The Severity of any Injury caused by Acid is increased by 2.
With their leathery flesh, dense musculature, & rugged constitution, Ghouls are invariably stronger than humans. Specifically, they are far more robust, withstanding injuries that would kill a man outright with ease.
Territorial: Edgar must roll Mind to avoid attacking anyone who enters his space or handles his things without permission (attack will scale with the level of offense - trespassing might only warrant running someone off - theft would almost certainly involve murder).
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Brawn rating is increased by 3. 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 Trauma at all times: Territorial.
You also gain the following effects:
Ghouls live below the earth, & solely subsist off human flesh. Over the centuries, they have adapted to this lifestyle, needing far less sustenance than a human. Close to the corpses that they feed on, Ghouls hardly seem to breathe, heart beating only a few times a minute.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may go five times longer than a normal human without sleep and air. You no longer age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
You can suspend all requirements for life by entering an inanimate state. You can remain in this state for up to 2 months, and are effectively Incapacitated while Hibernating. Entering and Exiting takes one minute, during which you cannot act.
Instead of food and water, you must consume Cadaver Flesh or Bone daily for sustenance. For every day you fail to consume it, you lose a point of Brawn. If your Brawn falls to 0 in this way, you die. Your Brawn is fully restored to normal as soon as you fulfill your dietary needs.
With a growl, meep, gibber, or similar; Edgar makes it clear what happens to those who get in his way.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a number of Living targets equal to your Charisma within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 9.
If you succeed, for the next hour, affected targets will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by Fear - Horror. They will not necessarily display their emotions in an obvious way.
Actions they take may be extreme and out of character for them. They will be unlikely to change their mind about any actions taken or decisions made until after the Effect ends.
When your target interacts with any valid target, they must roll Self-Control or be swept up in the same emotion. New targets pass it on as well, and so on, with the remaining duration decreasing by half until the chain stops.
If the target fails or botches their defensive roll, they gain a Trauma, which must be related to the chosen emotion in some way.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see a display of Monstrous nature (Cannabalism, Shredding out of a Disguise, or similar).
Edgar's pebbled black tongue is a prehensile organ, capable of "tearing the flesh from a fat man's face." Ghouls typically use their rough, thin tongues to pulverize brain matter & extract marrow from bones. The tongue is quite strong, & easily able to bend & compress into tight spaces. It currently has a reach of one meter.
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. 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.
Your appendage has a grip that is hard to shake. While grappling a target, when contesting their physical actions, you may roll your full dice pool, but it only counts as a Quick Action.
All rolls utilizing your Extra Appendage are at a -2 dice Penalty.
Your Extra Appendage is incapable of fine object manipulation.
Edgar has the sensory capacity of a ghoul: that is, a nose keen as any Bloodhound with a specific focus to locating corpses, as well as hearing able to pick up frequencies both above & below human perception. He is capable of using this extraordinary sense for echolocation, producing a "meep" that is beyond the range of human hearing. Even more revolting, his long, thin, pebbled tongue has an incredible degree of sensitivity...Edgar never forgets a taste or a face...often the same thing.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way.
By consuming the flesh of humans, Ghouls gain dream-like insights into that person's life. Typically this is the moments just before death, though it is not uncommon to see the images of the most recent places visited by the deceased. If he is able to completely consume the heart of the target, this information comes almost effortlessly, a throwback to the Rites of Anubis & the Ghoul Cults of Egypt.
Name/Identity: Who they were, including Aliases
Codes & Passwords: Including arcane phrases, disarming traps (though not the nature of those traps) as well as the order in which they are used.
Moment of Death: Replays 1 turn before death per success, as they witnessed it.
Treasure Map: An image of the items they treasure the most, & where they keep them.
Exert your Mind (unless you consume the heart) and spend a minute to activate. Select a Corpse within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the target was Sentient. You must use up eat at least a pound of the target in order to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.
From his bilious blood, yellowed teeth & mold-caked hide, anyone struck by Edgar in close quarters risk being exposed to the host of pathogens the ghoul carries. This infection typically takes the form of gangrene & sepsis in even the most minor cuts & abrasions. The host of infections have been bolstered through incubation in the ghoul - normal medical treatment will not help the victim, however a form of Homeopathy will. "Like calls to Like" it is said, & packing the wound with dirt from a grave will draw out the infection.
This Effect activates whenever a wounded target escapes melee range. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Living target within arm’s reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the target has suffered an injury from Edgar at close range. Roll Brawn + Brawl at Difficulty 6. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes one of the following symptoms:
The affliction is not treatable by modern medicine. It may be diagnosed by rolling Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 9, and can be cured by packing the wound with grave dirt. Gifts or supernatural Effects and Powers which would cure or prevent this affliction do not cure or prevent it, but instead offer a clear diagnosis and provide information regarding the method of treatment without requiring a diagnosis roll.
Any Scars, Traumas, or Injuries caused by your symptoms cannot be healed until the underlying Condition is cured.
Edgar bites into flesh or bone, typically devouring the heart, tongue, eyes, & brain in the first sitting. Memories flood the ghoul, causing his eyes to flicker - occasionally, these cast-off memories can be coalesced enough to re-create a fragment of the person's personality - this is an unpleasant fate, as the victim essentially becomes a powerless voice in the mind of the ravenous Ghoul for the duration. Only Edgar can hear this personality fragment, though he can converse with it if desired, effectively talking to himself.
Spend an Action to activate. Select a Dead target of which you have eaten a portion of. You must use up at least a pound of the target's flesh or bone in order to activate this Effect.
The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.
Edgar leans in close to the grappled or restrained target, using his thin pebbled tongue to extract a live maggot infesting his body, which he then inserts into an ear, a nostril, the mouth, or another orifice of choice - he then pronounces the terms upon which the maggots will mystically multiply, consuming the victim from within...slowly.
A curse learned from the vile pages of the Cultes des Goules, this effect relies on maggots that have come to live within the bodies of the Ghouls themselves, feeding on detritus & rotting flesh that lodges between the creatures teeth. These maggots are not generally harmful to the Ghouls, but if forced into healthy flesh they can be unnaturally voracious, made even more so by a Maledicta from the dread book - when the curse is fulfilled, the maggots multiply within the victim, eating him from the inside out in an excruciating process that can take up to a minute - of those killed by The Worm Turns, only bones remain.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is grappled or restrained. You must use up a live maggot in order to activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Brawl 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 8. The target's material Armor is completely ignored.
When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."
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.
After consuming a mythical dragon over a month, Edgar runs quite a bit more "Hot Blooded" that his ilk - typically running a Temperature of well over 100 degrees, he has also developed a taste for "spicy" food - something best left to the imagination in this case. When his blood is drawn, it visibly bubbles & steams, sometimes bursting into open flames. This quickly cauterizes wounds he might suffer, & can be an unpleasant surprise to anyone managing to injure him in close quarters.
This Effect activates whenever you suffer a severity 2+ Injury. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target within arm's reach which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). Roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour.
You may start a new fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace at your target. You may create 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 3 damage per round, starting in the next round after the one in which they caught fire. This damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be depleted by any damage dealt, destroying the Armor once it reaches 0.
Ghouls are notoriously resistant to hydrostatic shock, a fact that has doomed more than a few intrepid investigators over the years. Bullets tend to puncture them with relatively little harm inflicted.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You have 7 Armor, which only reduces damage taken from Bullets. Any armor piercing effects from Bullets are ignored. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
Edgar must consume a portion of a corpse (ideally the tongue, but any bit will do), gaining fluency in any language the target knew for the next hour. On occasion, he will learn the language indefinitely. The echoes of memories lay dormant within the Ghoul, allowing him to immediately recognize any language he hears.
When consuming the flesh of the dead, Ghouls can sometimes gain fluency in languages known to those they have eaten. Unlike the scraps of memory they usually gain, maintaining such an intuitive block of information is fleeting at best, rarely lasting more than an hour. A ghoul may attempt to facilitate this process by eating the tongue of the deceased, although any pound of flesh will do in a pinch.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. This Effect cannot be used unless Limited to Languages known by the target. You must use up flesh of the target in order to activate this Effect.
You may understand and communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.
This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.
Whenever you encounter a Language you could commune in with this Effect, you immediately understand which language it is, the dialect, region, and other details about it.
“If you use this Effect to spend an hour speaking with a native speaker of a human language you don't know, you may Exert your Mind and roll Intellect + Culture Difficulty 7. With Outcome 4 or higher, you permanently learn that language and accent.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.
Edgar's powerful hands & hooked talons are uniquely adapted for burrowing in soft materials. He moves through mud, snow, sand, & loose soil with relative ease, body compressing & flexing to great effect.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations. Lasts 2 hours.
By eating the flesh of humans, Edgar can adopt there likeness for a time. This is a physical transformation. If he uses any powers using his Ghoul physiology, the adopted likeness shreds where this occurs.
This is a spell gleaned from fragments of Cultes des Goules, a book written on the Ghoul Cults of 16th Century France. The process is both painful & horrific, as the flesh of the target is consumed, the body of the imbiber flows like wax, melting into it's new shape.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. This Effect cannot be used unless you assume the form of the person whose flesh you consume. You must use up a pound of flesh from the person duplicated in order to activate this Effect. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect.
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 cannot alter your clothes. Your disguise can alter your smell, DNA, and other aspects that are not perceivable via human senses. This does not conceal you against investigative Effects. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.
While disguised, you cannot use any Activated or Targeted Powers.
Edgar's flesh is unusually dense, scabrous, & sinewy, particularly around his thick forearms & curving talons. His teeth are now fully formed, a muzzle exploding with fangs. Edgar can claw, dig, & gnaw his way through most materials, or opponents, with frightening ease.
You gain the following benefits as long as 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). The target's Armor is reduced to 1/2, rounded up against this damage.
You also gain the following effects:
Edgar taps his hooves on the ground, sending a vibration to anyone he knows touching the same substrate (the ground, a pipe, in the same building). The message is delivered as a subtle vibration, the words playing out in the inner ear. Cannot penetrate structures but can travel along them (in the same building, touching the same pipe).
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a number of targets up to your Mind rating any distance away from you. You must have specific targets in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location. This Effect cannot be used unless Both parties in contact with the same ground/structure.
You may send a single message to your targets. It cannot be longer or more complex than a couple short sentences.
The message will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is foot tapping. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Edgar seems to shrug off wounds easily, blood clots almost immediately, though deep wounds will remain for some time.
This process is hindered if the wounds inflicted by Acid - while Edgar's scabrous, dragon-infused flesh is resistant to flames, Acid will dissolve it beyond recovery
After swimming within the flesh of the Provider, Edgar's healing abilities have been wildly enhanced - however, the wounds itch, crawl, & visibly form tumors while healing: This can be maddening to the Ghoul, who will sometimes succumb to a desire to gnaw at the regenerating flesh, creating terrible scars.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Any Injury you receive from a source other than Acid heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level each hour. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active automatically count as a successful Proper Stabilization and do not deteriorate further. Any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will heal with the Injury.
As long as at least half your body remains intact, you cannot die and remain at Incapacitated, regardless of how many Injuries you take. It is clear to observers that you are still alive.
You may Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reduce the Severity of one of your Injuries by 1. Does not affect Injuries suffered as an activation cost for Effects.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Self-Mutilation.
Injuries you receive from Acid are increased in Severity by 1.
Edgar, by his unique physiology & his profession, has little to fear from disease, poison, or most other toxins. However, the ghoul is a natural carrier for disease - & can continue to spread them even after the symptoms have passed.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You get +2 dice to any Body resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:
Using his Night Vision Scope, he views an item and finds all of it's flaws in design, improving on the design once he identifies the flaws. This is but a quick fix, and it even aggrivates those flaws immediately afterwards
Expend a point of Battery and spend 1 Action to activate. Select a non-Alien Military Equipment within arm's reach. Can be used on Armor.
For the next hour, your target receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. If it is a piece of Armor, it instead receives half that amount as bonus armor rating, rounded up.
After the Effect ends, any upgraded targets suffer a -2 dice penalty until they are either repaired or upgraded again.
The Cross-Eye has further advanced, allowing the user to use it's latent nanotechnology to cloak the user in a special suit. This suit reflects light around the target, and softens all noise made by it. With this, a sniper could be right next to it's target or miles away, and they would never know
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
You and any clothes or equipment you are wearing are partially obscured from sight for the next 10 minutes. All attempts to detect you using sight are rolled at a -3 dice penalty, and all attempts to detect you where sight would assist are rolled at -1 penalty.
Entering Combat or being Injured does not cause the Effect to end early. Anyone you attack will immediately notice you; anyone else may re-roll to notice you each time you take a Combat action, at -1 Difficulty per Combat action you have taken. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for 1 minute.
...
This Artifact can be used as a heavy sniper rifle. It is roughly at least twice as large as a heavy sniper rifle and cannot be concealed on your person or disassembled for storage.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal 3 Weapon Damage. The target's Armor is reduced to 1/2, rounded up against this damage.
You also gain the following effects:
When this effect occurs, Edgar undergoes a dramatic transformation, a period of rampant mutation from the multiple monstrous forces contained within his body - his talons lengthen, dripping with steaming, heated blood - his flesh writhes obscenely, as if dozens of steel cables pulsed & moved below his rugose flesh while his lolling tongue will often split like a flower, either into multiple tendrils or multiple eyestalks - perhaps most disturbing of all, his eyes swell & then burst - leaving gaping holes filled with a guttering orange flame. While under these episodes, the alien flesh of the Provider instantly regenerates any lost flesh, up to & including lost limbs - these mutations are imperfect however, often being formed of squamous flesh studded with the screaming faces of people the Ghoul has consumed - this flesh will swiftly become unstable, tearing itself away & crawling off to die (hopefully...) when the episode ends.
This Effect activates whenever rendered unconscious or forced to roll the Capture Limit. It does not require an Action or Exertion.
You transform into a Mutant Abomination for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a Mutant Abomination, and you can use your equipment. The Injuries and Battle Scars of your Alternate Form and your true form are tracked separately.
While transformed, your Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Body or Mind Penalties.
Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -2).
If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Rampant Mutation.
Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.
Whenever you enter Combat, roll Self-Control. If you fail, you cannot choose which targets to attack and cannot stop fighting until there are no targets remaining.
The digestive system of a Ghoul is best left to imagination. Still, it is worth noting that they have limited stomach acid, relying on bacteria to aid in the consumption of their unique diet. This has a happy side effect, as a Ghoul can, with some practice, dislocate their jaws & swallow a surprising volume, holding it safely to be wretched up later.
Since consuming portions of the Provider, cooked up by the one & only Bu Fang, this ability has been enhanced with the addition of a second stomach of sorts, one capable of containing & astonishing 180 liters of material without issue. The otherworldly symbiote is alive, extracting nutrients from Edgar - in the event of Edgar's death, it will attempt to crawl out of his mouth to save itself. Provided it is maintained, it could be salvaged from his body as a Holding Container.
This Artifact can be used as a container. It is roughly the same size as a secondary stomach (15 liters) and just as difficult to conceal.
Your secondary stomach (15 liters) holds 12 times what it normally could. Objects stored inside are weightless.
Living things can be stored in your secondary stomach (15 liters). They will have access to anything else inside and may attempt to break free, damaging or destroying the secondary stomach (15 liters) in the process.
If your secondary stomach (15 liters) is destroyed, things inside may get out, and it will cease to function until it is repaired.
Only you may open and close the container. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents
This item is a living thing. It counts as a Creature when targeted. If destroyed or abandoned for more than two days, it dies and becomes unusable.
Edgar's Lucky MC dog tags have conferred yet another ability to the Ghoul - in this case, the ability to finally fix the oil leak on his motorcycle! Repairs require at least a suitable substitute part of some kind, & are often ugly, clearly hammered, welded or literally beaten into place. The process is not fast, but he gets it done: that is, if his frustration doesn't get the better of him & he destroys the object in question.
Spend 10 minutes. Select a Non-Living or Animate target within arm's reach that is of any size. You may target Alien technology, so long as you have an understanding of its intended function. When repairing Alien or Sapient targets, you must Exert your Mind. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you destroy the item beyond repair. You must use up improvised spare parts in order to activate this Effect. More than half the target object must be present in order to begin repairs. Roll Brawn + Crafts at Difficulty 6 (or 8 for Sapient targets).
If you succeed, your target is repaired back to a functional state. If you fail, you spend the full time working before realizing you cannot repair the target.
If you are successful in repairing a Sapient Object, a single Injury on the target is reduced in Severity by your Outcome.
Edgar places one hand on his lucky Dog Tags, or sometimes holds them in his mouth as he throws a stone, flicks a ball bearing, or lobs a hand grenade - the item ricochets off to it's target, striking with surprising force.
Edgar Stokes was quite the Billiards player back in the day - many of the rough brawls of his younger days were with people he hustled at the Pool Table. When aiming for something he can see (or smell), Edgar has an uncanny ability to ricochet shots off multiple surfaces, striking victims with relative ease.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact and you are engaged in combat with thrown weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls utilizing thrown weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
When wearing these tags, the driver is imbued with a reckless derring-do that would make Evil Knievel proud. Anytime the wielder starts a vehicle while wearing this item, any radio in the vehicle will automatically turn itself on, & begin playing Classic Rock songs (Born to be Wild, Danger Zone, Bad to the Bone, etc)
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact and you are piloting any vehicle.
You receive +2 dice to any rolls to pilot a vehicle.
You also gain the following effects:
A Pill that smells like dried squid/cuttlefish/octopus. Taste like roasted really good Starfish. Upon consuming, The Qi in pill dissipates the pill slowly. The Qi may react with the body specially and instead of consuming the pill, the pill will force itself out of your mouth.
The consumer will feel their scar rearranging itself and it is very visible as it heals.
Use up this Golden Pill (unless you succeed on 1d10, Difficulty 7) and spend an hour to activate. Select a Battle Scar on yourself to treat.
The treated Battle Scar will heal over the course of the next week.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
Edgar stores this vile fluid in his throat, which is naturally produced by his body. Those exposed risk degenerative madness, typically involving hallucinations of the dead (see ghosts, dead people call them on the phone) or experience parasitism (maggots or other insects crawling under their skin). The only cure is to eat at least a pound of cadaver flesh, a corpse at least 24 hours old. If confronted with such a corpse they are likely to have an episode, believing it smells (& tastes) like the most delicious food they've ever imagined...at least, until they finish eating it.
Use up this transparent ichor and spend an Action to turn a sticky fluid coating a surface into a trap. This trap lasts until triggered or disarmed. This Effect cannot be used unless skin contact is made. Roll 11 dice Difficulty 6, penalty does not apply. Choose one of the following symptoms:
The trap looks like a sticky fluid coating a surface and can only be discovered as a trap by those with preexisting knowledge of such traps. Anyone who is aware of the trap may intuitively avoid, trigger, or destroy it.
Any Living target within within arm’s reach that uses the trap as a sticky fluid coating a surface will trigger it. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 7.
When the trap is triggered, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes the chosen symptoms. Symptoms begin to appear immediately, and will remain and continue to worsen until the affliction is cured. The affliction is contagious and will spread to new targets. Anyone who comes into direct contact an afflicted individual of the same species must roll Body, Difficulty 8. If they fail, they become afflicted. Otherwise, they are immune to the spread.
The affliction is not treatable by modern medicine. It may be diagnosed by rolling Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 9, and can be cured by consuming at least a pound of flesh from a cadaver more than 24 hours old. Gifts or supernatural Effects and Powers which would cure or prevent this affliction do not cure or prevent it, but instead offer a clear diagnosis and provide information regarding the method of treatment without requiring a diagnosis roll.
Edgar Stokes is a Sanitation Engineer (read: garbage man) who has lived his entire life in & around the glorious city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A short, stocky man of mixed English & Polish descent, Edgar has always been haunted by two critical issues:
1) His stature, making him a target of Bullies growing up
2) The fact that girls didn't like him
The first he resolved in brutal fashion, pummeling the bigger kids with wild abandon. In later years this would escalate to bar brawls & rough street fights. While not always on top, no one walked away from a fight with Edgar Stokes unmarked. The second proved more confounding...he wasn't bad looking...was he? He had a quick sense of humor, girls laughed...but that's it. First base? Once. Second & beyond? Not a chance.
Edgar had a good job (Union Job, in fact, never mind the details). He bought a fancy motorcycle (Vincent Black Shadow, & the goddamn thing is more a bitch than any girlfriend he's likely to have)...goes to Biker rallies in his off time...why can't he get chicks?
That question gnawed at him, ate him up inside. Years went by, the same problem remained. Women thought he was funny, sure. Didn't seem to think he was at all bad looking. But then they shied away, almost repulsed. For the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. His useless friends were no help. Edgar threw himself into the things he knew: Fighting, Drinking, Riding, & taking out the trash.
Until one day, clearing out a rat filled alley downtown, he lifted a dumpster lid to find a dead girl in the back. Pretty, half-clothed, not long dead...need to call the cops! But a dark part of him said, "You need to call the cops...later." Victimless crime, right?
He didn't quite follow through...lost his nerve, came to his senses. But he did take a taste.
That is when all his troubles began...