While holding a blood covered knife, they mumble gibberish before vanishing into nothing.
Xylix, the Saint of Deceit, Luck & Creativity
Followers of Xylix embrace deception and mischief- for in cunning lies the greatest spark of creativity. Revel in unpredictability and misfortune, for that is how the seeds of innovation are sown. Let your every word be a jest, your acts a performance, and your every step a dance to hear Xylix's laughter echo in the cosmos.
Xylix boos at boredom, predictability, routine, and monotony, he showers you with foul luck for it.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: mumbling incantations. You must actively and obviously use a knife covered in blood to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
You are obscured in one of the following manners. Lasts 30 minutes.
While this Effect is active, any Effect that would obscure you from other, additional senses fails automatically. If someone discovers you, this Effect will not help you hide from them for the next minute. Activating a targeted or obvious Effect, attacking, or being Injured ends the Effect. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for one minute.
Minerva sucks in a breath and grips her pendant, squeezing it hard enough to hurt. She stares into her own reflection, and wills it to change. Her own form is begins to change in accordance with her desires. She breathes hard during this; the process is obviously deeply unpleasant, more so the bigger changes she makes.
Minerva's will begins to manifest further. More than just influencing people, more than just influencing herself, her will begins to spill over onto the world itself.
She started with small changes the first night, exploring the spark that had formed in her. The next night, she had fur. She could feel her bones grind, her jaw cracking as it turned into a maw, her flesh stretch as a tail burst out. She collapsed, crying. But they were tears of happiness, for in this first moment, all was right in the world. She slept like that, the first time she did it. It was restful sleep. She sleeps like that whenever she can now.
She's realized that her clothes are merely an extension of herself - and as such, she can mutate them just as much.
///
Meta: Minerva's mutation is more than just bone deep, and a large part of her transformation is instinctive and subconscious. When she gives herself fur, she's also instinctively messing with her own neurochemistry. She experiences a form of mild and constant euphoria while transformed.
She needs a mirror because she's exerting her will on changing herself, and at the moment, she needs to look at what she's doing.
"Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both marble and sculptor."
///
History: As Minerva's concept comes together, I think 'everything is a cantrip / is effortless for her' is a big part of it. At the point of this edit, the power hasn't been used on a contract or a significant part of a move.
After Minerva's inability to use her powers while she was transformed lead to one of her fellow contractors dying, she focused, practicing. Practicing, practicing. She learned to use them when she's not her... but the pain she worked though is still there, always in the back of her mind.
Seasoned:
Minerva's powers intensified. Building on top of the latent power she has over other people, it's blossomed into something entirely more. People accept her if she believes she should be accepted. Her changes are deeper, touching her soul. But most importantly, they last. They last as long as she needs. She goes to sleep and awakes.. proper.
Something's happened, though. She doesn't have full control over it, and when she tries to change her form, it's almost like holding onto water. She needs to struggle as hard as she can just to keep from falling apart. It's hard work, and she has to exert her mind. At times, she wishes it was as easy as before.
Professional:
Minerva's experiences - traumatic and otherwise - have provided a little bit of clarity. She's only truly content in her true form. She's reluctant to do it - it takes her longer, she has a little bit less control over mutating her true form. But after everything that's happened, it's not quite as traumatic - she knows she'll go back. It's a deeper shift, as well. If something happens, she won't 'finch', and go back to her true form. She knows she can go back to it when she can. Just not yet.
Exert your Mind and spend a half hour. You must actively and obviously use a silver fox pendant to 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 cannot directly mimic an existing person. You may change the appearance of your outfit. 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 The moment Minerva 'unlatches' her form, it pulses like a degaussed TV. Her clothes and flesh both smear some, uncountable wounds on her her leaking. They don't seem to hurt, but she's obviously struggling to stay in one piece. In the wounds, the tears to another place entirely, one can sense all the things that shouldn't be said. Intrusive thoughts come to mind. But are they hers? Or yours?.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Threads of shadow stitch across your open wounds, numbing the pain somewhat, but mostly just holding your body and mind together at the seams. You can certainly keep going, but you might try to actually repair the damage before you fall apart entirely.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0. Lasts three hours.
As Jules equips himself to aspire to God hood he has small minions that can save his items and prepare the ritual. Those that are needed are the ring of power and the seal of Nephys. Those are more and more needed as he fears his own death and has trained his flying undead minion to rescue him in his time of need.
This Effect activates whenever incapacitated.. It does not require an Action or Exertion. This Effect cannot be used unless Shadows/Darkness. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you Battle scar. You must actively and obviously use necklace to activate this Effect.
Summon a Flying Monkey's at your location, plus enough additional minions to bring you up to your maximum of 1 minion. They will last for an hour, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
Minions have 4 Body and can make melee range attacks with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. Your minions can move 20 feet per Round as Free Movement, and double that when performing an all-out Sprint. They cannot dodge or Defend. They have dog-level intelligence, and cannot communicate back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice.
Your minions can fly at their normal movement speed.
Your minion is able to Occult with a 4-dice pool.
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.
The Well's Gallery is the prime manifestation of Luci's power-set. The Gallery is a holding space within The Well hidden within her shadow and barring very few people, she is the only one that can access it. She can be creative about pulling things in an out of the Gallery, but most of the time, she crouches down and dips her hand into her own shadow, parting it as if it were a thick viscous ink before pulling out her desired object/entity.
The Gallery, from the inside, manifests as... well, a gallery. It is a rectangular room- like a long hall museum exhibit with a tall domed ceiling that hangs some well crafted chandeliers purely for decoration. The walls are simple- a base sky amber with white diagonal lines. The floor is a classic tarrazzo flooring system with an off-white color that resembles polished stone.
Items that are stashed within The Gallery are stored as exhibits. Most of them appear as snapshots in time on paintings or murals, taken when they are first stashed. But for more sapient targets that can not easily be contained in pictures, they are put inside of a 15 foot by 15 foot by 15 foot indestructible display case.
And at the very far end of the room, Umbra is imprisoned within her own display case, brooding and generally being rude. Luci is always keeping tabs on her and preventing her from exercising her own will, but sometimes, that isn't easy.
Spend a Quick Action.
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 any targets in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside an SUV (4,000 liters), and you may store up to 7 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.
Time is effectively frozen inside your stash. Anything Sapient inside can still move and may still experience their own localized, subjective passage of time.
Animate targets may Resist being stashed. You must Exert your Mind to stash Sapient targets.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Whenever Luci has below a -2 stress penalty, she loses a bit of fortitude and Umbra will be able to speak her mind freely from Luci's shadow. She will tend to make threats, taunt enemies, reveal sensitive information openly, and generally be an annoyance to those around her for the purpose of distracting them. Can interrupt certain power casts of those around.
Futuristic armor that shapes itself to the wearer, even showing previous scars.
Expend a point of Battery 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 hour.
You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.
Possession of this Artifact causes the following Trauma to manifest over the course of a day: has a directive that cannot be explained driving you mad. If you lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next month.
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 "Reaper" Assault Helmet is the signature piece of the Future Soldier's arsenal. It has a sleek, design and is made of a mysterious matte-metallic alloy. The wearer's face is exposed normally, but when activated, a blue holographic visor flickers to life in front of the eyes. This HUD contains information about the soldier's ammunition and shield status, but more significantly can detect enemy combatants. Anyone nearby who is holding a weapon is painted with a red dot that follows them in real time. This allows the Future Soldier to fire at painted targets in the dark, detect ambushes lurking around corners, and grants an overall tactical advantage.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all people wielding weapons 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.
The Necromancer temporarily assumes the form of their own corpse, complete with maggots, spilled entrails, and exposed bone. They cannot move while transformed, but their empty eye sockets see as well as ever.
Exert your Mind and Spend an Action.
You transform into your own corpse for one minute. While transformed, you may control the functioning of the object you have transformed into. You can perceive your surroundings as normal. You can be targeted as a Non-Living, Sapient Object.
If you are damaged while transformed, the damage is realized when you return to normal. If you are damaged before you transform, your inanimate form will appear partially damaged.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
The beastmaster shouts, and their human voice cracks into a deep, bestial roar. Their body swells with muscle, clothes melting into a thick pelt of fur. Seconds later the beastmaster is gone. Standing in their place is a massive grizzly bear.
However, even in human form the beast within remains close to the surface, and the beastmaster finds highly civilized social situations unbearable.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a brown bear 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.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Intolerance for society. When you are in a situation with strict social protocols (like a trial or a formal dinner) roll Self-Control not to enter a flight or fight response.
The Vampire may channel their inner beast and take the form of an animal. It is said they may transform into either a wolf or a bat. If used too often, the Vampire risks losing themselves to their beast forever.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.
You transform into a vampire bat or a 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 (including Artifacts and Consumables), 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.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: A disfigured face with bat-like ears.