Ghost in the Machine "I'm in."

1
The power to issue commands to technological devices.
Used by Jean Beans, Created by soup.
(This Effect is obviously Alien when used. When activating this Effect, it is obvious you are interacting with the target. )

True to their namesake, the hacker can penetrate the security of any computer system, granting access to its informational stores, or, in a pinch, allowing them to issue commands. The hacked system will display a flickering image of a ghost until it is dismissed.

While hacking, The Technician's fingers move with supernatural speed, blurring like a ghost.


Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Computer within arm's reach. Does not work on Alien technology. Roll Intellect + Technology, with the Difficulty set by the GM depending on the security of the system you are hacking. Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you may issue a single command to the targeted system. This command must have a specific outcome or be a request for specific login credentials. The command you issue must be within the machine's current capabilities. For example, you cannot order a standard security camera to grow legs and walk around.

If your command does not require bypassing the security of the target (for example, typing on a computer that is unlocked), you do not need to Exert your Mind to activate this Effect, and activation only takes a single Action.

Your Hack cannot be reversed through mundane means for a number of hours equal to your Outcome.

Every hack you make leaves behind a flickering image of a ghost in the system as a personal "calling card" that informs anyone who uses the system that the hack occurred.

  • You cannot hack things outside of your range over remote connections such as the internet. The system you are affecting must be physically within range.
  • 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

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. You must use up revolver ammo in order to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Firearms 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.

The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.

  • 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 target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you lose all tension from the punch as it targets a random ally, including yourself. (Roll a die to determine new target). Roll Dexterity + 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 4. Armor is fully effective against this Damage.

Any Injury inflicted is considered unstabilized even if its Severity is less than 4. The equipment and roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6.

If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.

If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see your body stretch and compress at extreme speeds.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • 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.

When the glasses flash, they relay the information in front of him, on his side of the lenses, reading out memories, showing images to him and him only.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select an Animate target within arm's reach You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Intellect + Influence 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.

You may read memories that the target has forgotten.

  • 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 target within 50 feet. You must actively and obviously use staff, wand, staves to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Occult 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.

You may use this Effect to Defend against any melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks within range or Clash against any Attack targeted at you. Using it to Defend deals no Damage but does not cost Exertion.

You may choose to have this Effect Damage all targets in a perfectly straight line up to its maximum range.

Finesse: When Attacking a single being, you may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of Effect. There must be no substantial obstructions between you and your target.

Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: channelling power as runes of power begin to glow along your blade. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Roll Brawn + Alertness at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you possess your target for a number of days equal to the Contested Outcome. The target largely has no control over the host body’s actions, but they may Exert their Mind to take over for a 3 second period, after which you regain control. They retain consciousness and will remember anything that occurs during the possession. While the possession is active, the host body will the flesh they used to pick you up fuses around your hilt, making it very obvious to anyone who sees them that something is not right.

Your original body will be left behind, unconscious, in its same location. You may perceive through your original body's senses by Concentrating. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness to notice. 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 and Intellect. You may use either your own or the host’s Ability ratings, whichever is higher. 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 not 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 are evicted to your original body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed in some way, your disembodied spirit will haunt the location where your body died, and the only action you can take is activating this Effect on a new target within arm's reach.

Eviction: If the host body is ever not within arm's reach of your original body, you will be forced out. 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 they fail, you remain in control.

While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.

  • Access to equipment-based Gifts such as Signature Items depends entirely on whether you are holding the relevant object, and is not impacted by whether or not you are possessing a target.
  • 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

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 Intellect + 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 memory takes as long to read as it takes to answer the question. When replaying a full memory, it is replayed in double time.

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

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.

  • 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 eight hours. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you cause a major Battle Scar instead of an augmentation. 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. The target can easily Resist.

You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:

  • Specialized: You receive +2 dice to a particular non-combat, non-Effect Action.
  • Environmental Adaptation: You do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in a particular environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.
  • Implanted Tool: You have access to the functionality of some common Device at all times. The selected Device can be no larger than a motorcycle helmet.
  • Armor: You have 2 Armor at all times. As always, Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
  • Pouch: Part of your body functions as a hidden pocket. It can hold no more than a briefcase (15 liters).
  • Zippy: Your Free Movement is increased by 10 feet.
  • Maws and Claws: Your unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage instead of -1.

The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.

  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may not augment targets with pouches or implanted devices that are larger than they are.
  • Targets without Body ratings may have a maximum of 4 augmentations.
  • Example environments for adaptation: space, all saltwater, all fresh water, all water under 50 feet deep, all water deeper than 50 feet, the jungle, radioactive areas, a specific alien world, etc.
  • 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 two Actions performing the following ritual: open up the app on your cell phone, make your selection, and prepare to film. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use cell phone camera to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Choose an illusion to generate, which can be no larger than a person.

The chosen illusion is generated at your target, and it will remain in place as long as you maintain Concentration or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their smell, hearing, and sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.

Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion and can choose to perceive it or not at will.

The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.

  • You must retain Concentration to keep up the effect; if your Concentration is interrupted, the effect will end.
  • while you can use an illusion to obscure something smaller, you cannot make anything directly invisible (you can’t make a tank look like a regular baseball, but you can hide it in an illusion of a giant baseball).
  • You may only puppeteer a single illusion at once.
  • 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.

This Effect activates whenever a target you have injured with your teeth or claws escapes the range of your unarmed attacks. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target within arm's reach. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is alive and bleeds.

Your target is marked with a throbbing wound that smells strongly of blood. The mark can only be discovered with a deep medical inspection or Effect. Removal inflicts a Severity 1 Injury on the target.

You are aware of the marked target's direction and distance from you. This lasts for the next month, or until either the mark is removed, or you choose to end the Effect. You can have up to 1 mark active.

You receive +2 dice to any rolls made against a marked target.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
  • Marked individuals satisfy the line of sight requirement for targeted Effects.
  • 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 target Location within 75 feet.

You may perceive things as if you were standing at that Location. The effect lasts indefinitely but you must maintain Concentration to keep it up. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.

You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like a ghostly image of yourself meditating.

  • This does not satisfy the Line of Sight requirement for targeted Effects.