heat wave Is it hot in here or what?

2
1 Reward assigned
The power to inflict mental trauma on a target.
Used by blake, Created by price.
(When activating this Effect, it is obvious you are interacting with the target. You must actively and obviously be using staff.)

Blake tries to tap into his victim psychi. then, as his staff starts glowing brighter, his target feels as if his very being and essence is being set on fire


Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient or Creature target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use staff to activate this Effect. Roll int+occult at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8 with a -3 dice penalty. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically and their Outcome is 0.

If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes Mind damage equal to the Contested Outcome. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target will gain fear of fire as a Trauma. This Trauma may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.

  • Mundane animals have a Mind score of 1 or 2 at the GM’s discretion.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Community Targeted Gifts

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction to activate. Select a Non-Sapient Object within 20 feet no larger than a purse (5 liters). You must use up 4 AA batteries in order to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Firearms Difficulty 6.

If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be fully and completely destroyed, leaving behind no meaningful remains. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.

  • Destroyed targets cannot be repaired, as they do not leave any remains behind.
  • The penalty from an object being damaged will stack with itself if a target is hit multiple times, but the object is destroyed when it reaches a total penalty of -4.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. You must use up a pound of Plant matter in order to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • Determine if this target is Alien in origin or whether it has any Alien energy or outside influences. You receive information about the type of energy, including the name of the relevant Source pool or equivalent. You determine the effect of any active Alien energy detected, and you get an idea as to the sorts of ways that latent Alien energy may be channeled by the target.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

To observers, the folder appears to be filled with nothing but blank sheets of printer paper. Those with the Clear-Sighted enhancement should be easily able to gleam that there’s something off with the folder, that some illusion or false reality prevents it’s contents from being shared.

Once the power ends, the folder returns to his benefactor.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living, Animate target within 25 feet. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you are able to view your target's memories. If you fail, the target knows you're attempting to read their memories.

You may ask a number of specific questions about their memory equal to your Contested Outcome. For example, “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc. You cannot get answers to broad, analytical questions like “are they a good person?” or “what are their plans for the future?”

Each question you ask and memory you replay takes a single Round to read.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is reading over a manila folder. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

  • In the case of a failed activation, GMs should consider how bystanders would realistically react to a potentially-outlandish accusation of mind-reading.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien electronically controlled lock within arm's reach.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is static discharge when touching the reader or door. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Leon had felt the pain of arcane bondage before. What it felt like to have your soul shackled and your body unable to listen to a single command. He had broken those shackles, mostly, and today he had learned what incredible things the universe held. How others could take your body and leave you trapped by simple bindings that one could not even see. Leon would not have this, he would not have his body, his mind shackled by these profane others who had come to make him a slave again. Never again.

So he set out and studied at every Shinto shrine he could find. From every priest, he could meet to find a solution to find a Kami that would grant him the power to shatter these seals in exchange for the incredible divine offering he had been given for his victory, and his studies came to an unfortunate realization.

No single Kami could grant the power he needed, to shatter these otherworldly things and the stone that had one yoked his soul, to seal them forever so that he would never again need to fear the shackling power of the killing stone or this new threat again he had but one offering to give, but his cause for once was just, and he went to the shrine dedicated to the pantheon of the Shinto gods. On his knees he begged as he presented the offering, knowing that it alone was not enough but that their world and so very much more was at stake, and so he implored. Their duty as Kami went beyond the petty struggle of Yokai and Kami, that they needed to unite and he would be their agent on this plane if that is what it took to recognize that the universe was more important than the squabbles of individual men and women. Divine, Yokai, or Mortal. It mattered not, they were in the face of an incredible threat. Thus, the gods listened, and they accepted. Though they demanded they each be honored with a gesture before this power was used, together they would grant him the power to shatter, seal, or open these strange things but they would need his offering in exchange. The world at stake or otherwise, bestowing a divine boon such as this without compensation would render them weaker in the coming conflict. Thus, Leon parted with the boon he received and returned to begin studying the gestures and through that study created the nine cutting fingers.

臨/Rin: Tensho Kodaijingu/ Amaterasu Omikami

兵/Pyō: Sho Hachiman Daijin

闘/Tō: Kasuga Daimyojin

者/Shā: Kamo Daimyojin

皆/Kai: Inari Daimyojin

陣/Jin: Sumiyoshi Daimyojin

列/Retsu: Tanyu Daimyojin

在/Zai: Nittenshi

前/Zen: Marishi-Ten (Marici -Skt.)

Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Performing the Nine cutting fingers gesture on the target. Select a door, container, knot, or lock within arm's reach. This can be used on Alien targets. You must actively and obviously use A ritually blessed key to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.

You may Exert your Mind and spend two Actions to seal a lock or a closed door. Sealed doors / locks cannot be destroyed, removed, or operated by mundane means. When sealing a door, you may specify a passphrase which grants access.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Stock Targeted Gifts

Spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location. This Effect cannot be used unless you are speaking to multiple people and the target is listening.

You may send a single message to your target. It can be no more complicated than a multi-page letter or a long email.

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 your left hand making a fist. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

This Effect cannot be used unless you are making a deal to exchange money for protection.

You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must shake hands to seal the deal.

Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.

When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:

  • You may suspend a targeted Offensive Power which will take effect when the oath is broken. The Power must be able to target all participants the oath indicates it could hit.
  • A Battle Scar up to Severe (deaf, missing limb)
  • The oath-breaker is physically marked as an oath-breaker, and any investigative effect will reveal the terms of the oath they broke.
  • A particular Trauma and a single Mind Damage
  • The oath-breaker goes unconscious for up to 24 hours
  • An Injury up to Severity-6 (cannot be reduced by any means)

The target cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.

  • All Oaths must have at least two participants.
  • The target must be physically present to enter the oath.
  • The terms and penalties of the oath do not need to be equitable and do not need to affect all parties equally.
  • A single action cannot break multiple oaths. You cannot 'stack' oath penalties by having a target sign multiple identical oaths, or similar.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. 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. Your target must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Charisma + Medicine at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, the Injury is reduced in Severity by your Outcome. If you reduce its Severity to 0, the Injury is fully healed. Otherwise, it is partially healed and will heal the rest of the way at its natural rate.

This counts as a successful Makeshift Stabilization if the Injury was not already Stabilized; any Battle Scars caused by the Injury will remain.

  • Unstabilized wounds do not degenerate during treatment.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet Can only be activated while you are in the wilderness. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Survival at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell which entities lay claim to each part of the area and how these borders have shifted over time.
  • You learn where exactly creatures and people live within the area, and what sorts of creatures they are.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and an Action. Select a Inanimate target within arm's reach which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters). You must actively and obviously use a pointed hat with stars and moons 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:

  • Awareness: Animated targets are capable of perceiving the world around them within reasonable limits. They cannot communicate in a clear or coherent way.
  • Movement: Animated targets can use an existing method of locomotion (wheels, etc); otherwise they can move across the ground at 15 feet per round, or hover up to a height of 7 feet in the air at 10 feet per round.
  • Combat: Animated objects cannot take offensive actions in combat.
  • Artifacts: Animating an Artifact does not grant the animated object access to any Effects built in to that Artifact.
  • Ability Use: If an action requires a roll, Animated objects have a dice pool of 7 when performing a task for which they were designed, and a dice pool of 4 for taking any other actions.
  • Toughness: Animated targets are as easy to destroy as they were prior to being animated. If destroyed, the effect ends.
  • Following Orders: Animated objects are controlled by the GM, and will follow any commands you give them, as long as they don't require problem-solving.

  • A task for which an object was designed might include a broom sweeping, a gun shooting things, a car driving, a towel rubbing up on stuff, etc.
  • Animated objects may be more or less susceptible to certain attacks at GMs discretion. A scarecrow golem would be easily destroyed by a sword (or fire). An animated suit of armor may not fear bullets but could be smashed to bits with a hammer. A full bronze statue is largely indestructible but might have difficulty standing up if toppled.
  • If an indestructible object is animated, the animation ends in any event where the base object would have been destroyed.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.