In just few moments of reading this book, its enough for listeners to comprehend 3 pages worth of mind numbingly boring information that brings about feelings of intense drowsiness.
This classic book tells the story of the development of Income Tax from its beginning in 1799 to the present day and relates it to the social, economic and political history of the period.
There have been studies of Income Tax at various stages in its growth; studies of finance and taxation in general in which Income Tax has been closely concerned; studies too of some of the Chancellors of the Exchequer who have made significant contributions to the Income Tax system; but this is the first time an attempt has been made to encompass the whole 160 years or so of its life in one volume.
And a fascinating story it is too when set in perspective. The author shows how Income Tax was introduced to finance the Napoleonic Wars, how it was revived by Peel to pay for Free Trade, and how it underwrote Victorian prosperity and confidence. He then describes its immense expansion through two World Wars to its present position as a dominant feature of British finance. This book was first published in 1966.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 30 feet. Roll Intellect + Culture at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, your target becomes drowsy for the next 3 Rounds, during which time they suffer an additional -2 dice Penalty to all Actions. At the end of their drowsiness, they fall asleep for Contested Outcome x 3 minutes.
Sleeping targets will not prematurely wake up on their own, but may still be woken up by sudden loud noises, being jarred or splashed with water, taking Damage, or similar rousing events. They will also awaken before dying of hunger, thirst, or suffocation. Drowsy targets always fall asleep, regardless of what happens while they are drowsy.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Whenever the Artifact's owner allows it to temporarily expand their perception, an aggressive red glint can be seen shining for a split second from within the center of the dagger's crossguard. Likewise, the Artifact's silhouette momentarily blurs as well.
To the Artifact owner, during their period of otherworldly awareness, all opaque materials become partially transparent. Crimson, glowing, ever-shifting glyphs start to frequently appear floating inside all of the aforementioned opaque-turned-transparent objects and terrain. Normally, the glyphs themselves aren't distracting, and tend to be somewhat faint, however some decide to trace the outlines, edges and corners of seen-through surfaces instead of simply floating without purpose - these ones are quite more noticeable, being a bit more numerous and bright. The Artifact owner is mentally aware of all such glyphs within this sense's range.
The difficulty of discerning the less obvious details within a given area dictates how colorful the glyphs in said area appear: for example, glyphs within the first and thus unobscured wall that the Artifact's owner could see are of a strong red hue, while glyphs in an object that's behind several usually-opaque surfaces or deep underground would be darker - both in color and in brightness.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.
You may perceive things within 75 feet of you with perfect clarity as though there were no walls or obstacles blocking your view for the next 30 minutes.
You may perceive through up to 15 feet of material. The Difficulty of all Perception rolls made through a wall are increased by 1 per wall.
A spin, a flip, a handstand and several kicks in continuous succession.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Dexterity + Athletics 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 4. Armor is fully effective against this damage.
You may use this Effect to Defend or Clash in Combat, including against ranged attacks such as firearms.
If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.
From the edge of his stave erupts a terrible blast of flame and fire! You manage to just barely duck behind a wall, but your friends aren't so lucky. As their wreathed by the hellfire, their bodies begin to char and smolder, before eventaully, their reduced to ash in mere seconds.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a Location no further than 50 feet from you and in your line of sight. You must actively and obviously use A staff, stave, or otherwise rod. to activate this Effect. The area within 20 feet of the chosen Location immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6. Targets inside the radius may attempt an appropriate Reaction at GM’s discretion. Finding a physical barrier to use as cover will cut total damage taken in half (applies after Reaction roll but before Armor).
If the Outcome is positive, your blast hits everything within 20 feet of the chosen Location with Damage equal to your Outcome + 2. Armor is fully effective against this damage.
Any flammable Objects within the radius during the blast will catch fire, and any being who takes at least 4 damage will have their hair and clothes catch fire.
All pigeons love, respect and listen to Pombo and whatever they have to say.
Approved by group leader.
Exert your Mind and spend a Free Action to activate. Select a Creature within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless Only works on pigeons and Do a funny dance. You must use up Birdseed in order to activate this Effect.
For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow. All other Creatures which are the same species as your target will also be compelled to follow commands that you issue if they are within 20 feet when the command is given.
Your commands can be complex and multi-layered, though they must still be specific. You cannot make them obviously endanger themselves or violate their instinct for self-preservation. The effects of the command will fade after a day has passed.
Jei socks the target in the face, and he then rips the physical embodiment of their pains out of their body before violently brutalises it.
Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Your target must make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Over the course of one minute, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired.
After the full treatment time has elapsed, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Jei punches the physical embodiment of their pains and struggles out them and violently gores and brutalizes it.
The Scepter of Ang-Kapal is a gruesome device fashioned to look like a skeletal arm clutching a glass eye. When used, blood from the person holding is drawn into the eye where it swirls with dark energy. The eye turns to a nearby corpse and shudders, reviving the creature. The creature does not retain any of its memories or personality, but it is absolutely loyal to whoever is holding the scepter.
The Scepter of Ang Kepal has the unfortunate side effect of driving its owner mad.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. 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 rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts for eight hours or until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Destroying one of your zombies requires a called shot to the head or heart. All other Injuries zombies suffer result in Battle Scars only, limiting their mobility and effectiveness in other ways.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
The priest's miracles expand into the treatment and curing of poisons and diseases. To do so, they require a ceremonial dedication (or often re-dedication) to the service of their god, during which the priest and the patient pray together and perform ritualistic bloodletting. These wounds burn with holy, golden fire, attacking the sinful malady and expelling it from the body.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Your target takes a Severity 1 Injury. You must actively and obviously use a ceremonial dagger blessed with holy water to activate this Effect.
You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.
You may use this effect to sanitize a 15-foot radius, destroying all poisons, toxins, diseases such that they are inert and cannot affect any new targets
The mystic can meld their aura with another, allowing them to superimpose their being, physical and mental, into a target. Observers witness the mystic fading and entering their target's body as wisps of smoke, leaving no trace of their own body behind.
While inside, they can control their target's actions. Affected targets have no memory of the experience.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. Select a Living or Sapient target within arm's reach. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you possess your target for the Contested Outcome in minutes. The target has no control over their body or actions, and they are functionally unconscious through the entire possession, retaining no memory other than any Traumas they might obtain.
You do not leave your original body behind when you possess a target. When a possession ends, your original body will reappear at the host body’s same location. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: During the possession, you use the host body’s Body rating, but your own Mind rating. Any rolls you make use the host body’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception but your own Charisma, Intellect, and Abilities. You gain the effects of any physical Assets and Liabilities they have. You cannot read the target’s mind or memories.
Gifts: You have access to and can use any of your own Powers which are intrinsic to your biology or physical body. You cannot access any Powers or other supernatural effects which the target has, unless they are intrinsic to the target’s biology or physical body.
Death: If the host body is killed or destroyed while you are still possessing it, you will die along with it.
Eviction: If you attempt to force your host to take actions which would violate one of their Limits or their instinct for self-preservation, they may resist by rolling Mind. If their Outcome is higher than or equal to the contested Outcome, the possession ends and you are evicted from their body.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
The Witch gazes at a calm and trusting animal and blinks, revealing eyes that have changed to match the creature's. Her body goes limp and collapses, and the witch proceeds to walk away, now temporarily borrowing the animal's body.
A borrowing Witch is a visitor in the animal's mind and cannot overstay her welcome or force the animal into danger.
Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Non-Alien Creature target within 20 feet. The target may Resist.
You possess your target and have control over their actions for the next hour. Your original body will be left behind, unconscious. You may perceive through your original body's senses by maintaining Concentration. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: Any Actions you take will use the possessed creature’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception, but use your own Charisma, Intellect, and Abilities.
Gifts: You do not have access to any Gifts while you are possessing your target.
Death: If the host suffers an Injury, or is destroyed or incapacitated, you are evicted back into your own body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed, you will die.
Eviction: You cannot force your host to take Actions which would violate their instinct for self-preservation (which includes engaging in Combat for any purpose other than self-defense or natural hunting); any attempt to do so will sever the connection and send you back into your own body. If you are forced out of the target's body prematurely, you must make a Trauma roll.
Targets with Body ratings higher than 10 require a Charisma + Animals roll resisted by the target’s Body. Kaiju and environment-scale targets are immune.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
The influencer is 100% tuned-in to any sort of chatter about themselves. Any time someone nearby so much as whispers about them, they know who they were and what they said.
This Effect activates whenever someone talks about you. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target Location within 75 feet. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event.
You may perceive things through hearing as if you were standing at that Location for the next 30 minutes. You must maintain Concentration to keep up the effect. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.