Zephyren's birdlike senses have attuned him to the so-called languages of the animal kingdom. He can finally comprehend the song of the forests, but this is only the beginning.
On music:
It's a blemish in Zephyren's past, yet one of his most fond highlights all the same. The sense of community that music brings is universal, as anyone can understand when a score sounds upbeat or solemn. He could put his emotions into it and no one would know the subject of his grief, only that he does have feelings after all. It never quite leaves his mind, so he finds himself stopping in his tracks whenever he hears it - whether geophonic or anthropophonic or biophonic - he has to appreciate how it all flows together.
On animals:
Wildlife is harder to spot in Hong Kong, with all the urbanization. Zephyren remembers his first few months in Canada, which were often spent just gawking at the animals he's never seen. Particularly, he had no idea coyotes were dangerous. Whoops.
On comprehension:
Now that even animals can speak to him, he has more noise to filter through. It might just be his downfall.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to Creatures as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
Upon Activation, Haley's (Or whatever form he is taking) eyes and mouth will glow a bright neon green, followed by a blob of neon green light fired from Haley's mouth towards the target, burning them very hot, but can be defended against. This hurts Haley's throat and eyes :(
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. Roll Brawn + Alertness 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 6. Armor is fully effective against this Damage.
Any Injury inflicted is considered Unstabilized no matter its Severity. The roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6. These wounds do not heal naturally, though Effects may still be used to heal them.
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.
If the target suffers an Injury from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of its Severity. When this Effect causes a Battle Scar, you may select which one of the appropriate level.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see the following destruction to the target and Haley. And they may be disturbed by the potential outing of Haley's supernaturality.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
Aquara manifests her toggled ribbons, which can be used to attack or to defend.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you injure your ribbons severely in some way, rendering them unusuable until healed. 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.
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.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
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. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
Xanusham appears as a mottled green spherical creature, about two feet in diameter, with a single, large eye and a wide mouth.
The base of the sphere has two sets of long tendrils that it uses to move around in lieu of legs.
The mouth opens to reveal a pair of long, muscular tongues that can be used as clumsy arms.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: one-eyed spherical creature. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Perception is increased by 1.
Your body is adapted to alertness checks based on sight. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to alertness checks based on sight.
You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.
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.
You are incapable of fine object manipulation and can only hold or grasp things in a crude, clumsy way.
You become an unnatural and demonic forest beast. A creature not meant to live in this world, suited and adapted to it's hunting grounds.
Wick gained this form when he sought out a demonic creature within the woods, he made a deal- give his flesh in return for power. This body is his gateway into the deeper occult, marking him eternally and irreversibly.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: Your skin turns stark white and your head is replaced by an empty-eyed deer skull. Your feet are now hooved and antlers reside on your head. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living Creature when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.
Your body is adapted to Hiding. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to Hiding.
While in Thick forestry, heat, cold, pressure, and other atmospheric hazards do not affect you, and dangerous local flora and fauna will not bother you unless you give them a reason.
You may make a +2 Weapon Damage Sharpened Teeth attack without additional equipment.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Paranoia.
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.
Adrenaline surged through Luciano's body, either a fight or flight reaction from the increasing pace of the footsteps behind him, or out of fear as he recognised the all-too familiar oily lining that began to coat his throat; a premonition of what was to come.
An unnatural pressure forced his head to lift upward and turn his eyes skyward, his mouth pushed open by an internal presence so severely that his upper and lower jaw no longer remained connected by bone, and instead merely by the stringy flesh and muscles that lie there.
All signs of where there had once been teeth and a tongue were now concealed by the dark glistening of a beak that lay much further into the unnaturally sized maw, and launching their way past said beak with freakish speed were a group of 8 tentacles: pushing impossibly through the narrow space as if fighting for freedom of Luciano's body, each about the width of his own leg.
At once, they all finally found their majority exit from his body, snaking around his form and pushing down onto solid ground in a spider-like formation, their length necessitating that Luciano's feet now floated off of the ground.
And then, the horrid octuplet mass began to gallop in unison, kicking up dust as the monstrous flesh at once became only a blur on the horizon
His father was a Gen-Wyld operative with a bunch of Cuttlefish DNA implanted into him that made him all Squiddy, grafted tentacle appendages and gills and what not. Enzo probably shouldn't have been allowed to procreate, who knows.
I'm sure that no further horrific changes will result from the unmonitored mutation and growth of a Trans-Sepiidian Blossom. Unfettered scientific progress my beloved
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
If your last Action was used for an all-out sprint or you are already accelerated, you may spend an Action to accelerate without a roll, adding 150 feet/Round (not affected by your speed bonus) to your sprint speed, to a max of an extra 300 feet/Round. As long as you stay at these speeds, you may use this distance per Round as your Free Movement.
Any terrain you traverse while accelerated must be passable by a standard vehicle at similar speeds. Stopping, turning sharply, or decelerating more than 150 feet/Round must be performed as an Action. Failing to decelerate with an Action (whether because of an obstacle, sudden unfavorable terrain, an Injury, or other event) deals 3 Damage which Armor does not reduce.
While using this Effect, you may carry one other being without affecting your Encumbrance, so long as you maintain contact with them for the duration and they consent or are grappled.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Luciano's jaw rip open into a squid-like maw, eight freakishly-large tentacles dragging their way out to the floor, lifting him a foot off of the ground so that he may run on them like a spider.
If you were moving quicker than you could without super speed and go a Round without using your Movement, you collapse and must remain immobile and resting for two Rounds.
The Psychic can speak directly into someone's mind, engaging in an entirely telepathic conversation. While they do, they take on a blank, vacant stare in the direction of their target, and appear to be muttering gibberish to themselves under their breath.
Exert your Mind and 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 can see your target.
You open up a line of communication to your target, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
The Toon performs some sort of cartoonish act of violence. This may be handing someone a bomb, hitting someone with a cartoon mallet, burping a burp that is so noxious it melts flesh, or anything else as long as it is cartoonish.
The attack is more of a throwaway gag than a plot element, so any props or properties of the attack are incidental and disappear immediately. Animated mallets evaporate in a puff of smoke, fire does not spread, and electricity cannot power devices.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Performance 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.
The time-twister presses a button on one of their wristwatches, and, in a flash of orange light, disappears. They have skipped 12 seconds forward in time. To them, the travel is instantaneous, but everyone else must wait until they reappear.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a clock or watch to activate this Effect.
You phase out of reality for 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.
When you phase out, you may bring up to 1 additional target in arm's reach with you.
Years of scouting in dangerous areas has left the survivalist hyper-vigilant. They are impossible to catch in a trap.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Perception rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Perception (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
You also gain the following effects:
The Thief casts a container's worth of fine powder into the air. The particulates are drawn to any sort of object that is designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc. The powder will not trigger these devices or interfere with their operation, but it does reveal their presence to the Thief.
The cloud drifts and swirls, subtly following the Thief for a minute.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up a container of fine powder in order to activate this Effect.
You automatically detect all object that are designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. When you detect objects, instead of learning nothing about them, you may observe each object with all of your senses.