Alan sets an hourglass up somewhere nearby, and for a few seconds seems to look around with snappy, jerking movements that almost don't pass through the intervening space as his head turns. After a few seconds, far too little time, it would seem, the sand is all drained to the bottom, and a haunted looking Alan, breathing more heavily and moving stiffly, collects his device.
What is witnessed from the outside is merely the overlapping moments early in each iteration. Alan has just lived out dozens, if not hundreds of days in a time loop, examining the area around him, watching the people and creatures moving through it, scrutinizing the energies flowing through it and emanating with in it. At the end of each loop, when the last grains of sand fall, he is pulled back to the same spot, to explore another sliver of the environment until his task is done. If pressed, he cannot recall any details of the events, which is likely for the better. After all, a nosy contractor on his own has probably gotten up to all sorts of dark troubles and met with more than a few grisly ends. He only knows what "they" allow him to keep, and it's better that way.
Yes. Much better that way.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 500 feet You must actively and obviously use A large hourglass to activate this Effect. 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. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
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.
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
By consuming the flesh of humans, Ghouls gain dream-like insights into that person's life. Typically this is the moments just before death, though it is not uncommon to see the images of the most recent places visited by the deceased. If he is able to completely consume the heart of the target, this information comes almost effortlessly, a throwback to the Rites of Anubis & the Ghoul Cults of Egypt.
Name/Identity: Who they were, including Aliases
Codes & Passwords: Including arcane phrases, disarming traps (though not the nature of those traps) as well as the order in which they are used.
Treasure Map: An image of the items they treasure the most, & where they keep them.
Moment of Death: Details increase w/ successes scored.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Select a Corpse within arm's reach. You must use up eat at least a pound of the target in order to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.
This Effect is obviously Alien and eye-catching across its range to those witnessing it, and you are obviously the source.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Just a run of the mill tattoo gun.
Spend eight hours. Select a Living target within arm's reach. 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:
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
This witch is a cruel and vengeful creature who works her vile arts against those she deems worthy of punishment. All she must do is point. A flash of green lightning strikes her victim and disappears. Immediately, or upon the completion of some condition, if the witch chooses, the victim's body warps and shifts into a gross mockery of its former self. Whether she's giving someone the head of a donkey or stealing their voice, the witch's enemies always get what is coming to them.
The sheer wickedness of this spell corrupts the witch, giving her a disgusting, witchy appearance.
Exert your Mind and Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 20 feet. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, -2 dice at Difficulty 7, as a Free Action to resist.
If you succeed, the target receives a new Battle Scar of your choosing, limited by the contested Outcome:
When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Witchy Appearance. You have a long, warty nose and chin, wrinkled skin, and a hunch back. Social rolls are at +2 Difficulty, and your free movement is reduced by 10 feet.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Compulsion for payback. You must roll Self-Control to avoid using this Gift on anyone who wrongs you in a major way.
Buttons will perform the most captivating act of clownery ever to be performed on this earth. She will dance and juggle and make the most amazing balloon animals anyone has ever seen. It's almost like no one can take their eyes off her.
Spend an Action. A number of Animate targets within 50 feet who can perceive you through no greater than your Charisma rating are affected. Audiences or mobs with a singular focus count as one target. You must actively and obviously use props and gags to activate this Effect. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. All affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the targets will keep their full attention focused on you for contested as long as you maintain Concentration. They will automatically fail any rolls related to noticing anything other than you.
If you pass from their perception and they are unable to pursue you, the Effect ends. If they can follow you, they must do so for 2 Rounds or the Effect will end. The Effect will continue even if violence occurs nearby or if your target is Injured. It does end if the target takes Damage from a source other than you.
This does not affect the target’s opinion of you or their mood, and they may take any Actions while affected (including attacking), as long as that action centers on you. Fascinated targets cannot Concentrate.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
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.
When activated, a viscous black inky liquid spreads from the bracelet and shoots at the target an imperceptible speed. The liquid envelopes the target and makes them feel drowsy, until they have fallen into a state of sleep paralysis (the target does not fall asleep). When in this state, the target although paralyzed seems to be suffering great mental anguish as they see demonic visions burning their body and if anybody were to get close to the target (within 1 ft) they will hear a faint demonic voices. The target hears dark demonic voices that taunts them and narrates to the them their deepest darkest secrets. In exchange for using this ability, these demonic voices also tell the target of the user's deepest darkest secretes (that the user is a player character - that you cannot die).
Spend an Action. Select a Living or Animate target within 30 feet. Roll Charisma + Influence 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, and can only be awoken by taking Damage or nearing death from hunger, thirst, or suffocation. Drowsy targets always fall asleep, regardless of what happens while they are drowsy.
An affected target's dreams while they are asleep will involve you in some way, and will reveal you as the source of their sleep as well as reveal secret information about yourself to them.
When an affected target wakes up, they remain drowsy for the next minute, and suffer a -3 dice penalty. If an affected target successfully resists being put to sleep, they will still become drowsy for the next minute, and will suffer the same penalty.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see the target although paralyzed seems to be suffering great mental anguish as they see demonic visions burning their body and if anybody were to get close to the target (within 1 ft) they will hear a faint demonic voice.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: Compulsive Liar. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
The Future Soldier learned to create foam grenades in their own time period, and they still can, kinda. They look like glowing orange capsules with a rugged rubberized grip. When thrown, they burst into a splash of expanding neon orange foam. The foam hardens in seconds, severely hampering the movement of anyone unlucky enough to have been splashed. Those affected may use their hands or weapons to hack away at the foam and free themselves.
Occasionally, the fuses on these bootleg grenades fails, and they go off immediately.
Spend an Action and use up this small metallic grenade with pin (unless you succeed on 1d10, Difficulty 7). Make a thrown Attack at a Location within normal Attack range. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you are hit as it activates immediately at your present location. The target may roll to dodge or Defend, as normal for thrown Attacks. The Attack itself does not deal any Damage beyond the Effect.
If you succeed, all affected targets will be restricted at their location by a physical, tangible binding. They can still move their arms and use Effects, but are reduced to ¼ of their movement speed.
The binding around a target must be destroyed in order for them to break free. Breaking the binding requires a total amount of Damage equal to twice the original Contested Outcome. Damage from multiple attacks is cumulative and stacks linearly.
The spy can twist the urban environment to their whims, erecting fences, walls, and barriers as needed. They whistle and gesture to where the wall should be, and the surrounding materials fly into place.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet. You must be in an area abundant with man-made structures and materials.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of standard building materials originating at the target:
The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.
This alteration lasts one minute but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
The witch knows bad things happen to bad people. By bringing attention to a karmic imbalance, she can hurry it along, causing her target's bad luck to catch up with them. The target finds themselves suffering injuries due to freakishly bad luck until they cleanse themselves or perish.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. Select a Living target within 25 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target deserves it. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes one of the following symptoms:
The affliction is not treatable by modern medicine. It may be diagnosed by rolling Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6, and can be cured by bathing fully in clear running water.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is you staring at the target, speaking calmly. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
No terrestrial animal dares defy the will of the beastmaster. The beastmaster exerts their dominance over an animal by locking eyes and giving a primal cry. The creature immediately becomes docile and eager to please.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien Creature within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a terrestrial animal.
For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow.
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.
The magician places a mirror to reflect a subject and conjures an illusion that perfectly replicates it!
If the illusion is touched, it shatters into a thousand tiny shards of glass.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: place a mirror such that it reflects the subject of your illusion. Select a target within 45 feet. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
a reflection of something else in the area, which can be no larger than a person is generated at your target, and it will remain in place for the next minute or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their 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 the entire effect will be ended for all targets.
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.