As Selma activates the Gift, a shimmering, translucent sphere about 25 feet wide materializes around her. It looks like woven strands of memories and emotions — flashes of hospital beds, funeral tears, whispered confessions — all stitched together into a pulsating orb. The air grows cold, heavy, and vibrating with overwhelming sadness and dread. Victims caught within feel their chests tighten and their skin crawl, sensing — too late — the explosion of emotional devastation about to erupt.
This is Selma’s art at its purest: weaponized despair. Over the course of her grim work, she has become a repository for countless final moments, confessions of the dying, and the silent horrors no therapy could erase. Now, she pulls from that endless well of agony, solidifying it into a brutal force of obliteration.
This blast is not simply destructive — it is deeply personal. Every bit of pain she once tried to soothe now detonates outward, a fitting requiem for all who thought their sins, their hurts, could remain buried.
(Selma’s hands tremble — not with fear, but anticipation. A low hum grows in the air, the static feeling of countless deaths, regrets, and unspoken agony twisting into something tangible. Around her, the very weight of trauma compresses reality until it buckles, releasing a shattering blast that leaves flesh and bone crumbling in its wake.)
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. 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. The area within 25 feet of you immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Anyone in the area has 1 Round to attempt to escape. During the next Round, on your Initiative, roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 6. Targets remaining 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 25 feet of you with Damage equal to your Outcome + 4. If you botched the activation roll, you will also take full Damage from the blast, otherwise it will not hurt you.
Damage spreads to targets beyond the edge of the initial radius, decreasing by 2 Damage for every 5 feet traveled.
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 A sphere, woven from the traumatic events of my patients, takes physical form around me.
The kid walks down the dark street illuminated by street lamps, bunching himself up to stay warm. He hears a piercing screech from afar and quickens his pace out of fear. The air feels colder and heavier. A man walks down the road in front of him, he's big, muscly as hell but the cold keeps the kid in place he can't seem to bring himself to cross the street to avoid him and with every step the air feels colder and colder and colder until it hugs him in a climax, the man smirking passes the kid, a new weight bearing on his shoulders. Days later the child sits over a corpse eating, greedily stuffing chunks into his mouth.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm’s reach. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Influence 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 _Ingestion of copious amounts of animal fat and oils_.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is A cold wind leaves Gullivers slightly open mouth and wraps around your body. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Tam starts to tap her fingers against her side, a soft smile on her face as she looks away a little. This was just another kind of sparring - and she was good at that.
A manifestation of Tam's telekinetic abilities, Tam has learned to manipulate the internals of electronics.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Select a Computer within 20 feet. Does not work on Alien technology. 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. 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.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is fingers tapping against your side. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Atrophied Shoulder - One of your shoulders is damaged. Whenever it takes a major blow or is otherwise put under stress the GM may dislocate it. A dislocated limb cannot be used until you Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reset it.
The Witch summons a crow, whispers a message to it, and sends it off to deliver her words. Half an hour later, the crow arrives at the recipient and repeats her message aloud in its croaking, animal voice.
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.
You may send a single message to your target. It can be as complex or as large as you like. It takes at least 30 minutes before it is received.
The message may be intercepted while in transit, and may be overheard, read, or otherwise understood by anyone near either you or the recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The user taps their bell then raises their hands up in the causing a star to float up and onto the target or user which will then empower them causing their battle scars to be healed.
Exert your Mind and spend an hour to activate. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.
The treated Battle Scar will heal immediately.
Janus reflects on his time in the cult and his slow but progressive indoctrination. How his food was subtly diminished, sleeping times were shifted, independence and decision making were shelved. How all of his behaviors were subtly curtailed to fitting what the cult wanted. He then tries to recreate a minor example of that on another in order to better understand them and their traumas.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a human or Dead target within 50 feet. For dead targets, you must possess their True name..
The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is Janus eyes change color from brown to blue. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
You may only use this Effect once per target per day.
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.
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 (unless you win a coin flip) and Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 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.
The mobster presents a reasoned, logical case to the target: there's a lot of dangerous folks out there, and only they can offer safety... for a price.
If they agree, they will pay the mobster a monthly fee for protection. If they stop making their payments... well, let's just say, the mobster can't be held responsible for any unsavory types that might pay them a visit.
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:
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.
The user places this slip of paper from the mystic against their head, speaks the inscribed phrase, and envisions a time they wished they were alone. the paper bursts into a shockwave that pushes a nearby being away. The repulsion field can be maintained for several seconds by meditating on the nature of solitude.
Spend an Action and use up this paper with mysterious calligraphy. Select a Animate target up to 100 feet away.
Targets are pushed back until they are 100 feet away.
This Effect cannot move anything heavier than 500 pounds.
Affected targets may use a Reaction and roll Dexterity or Brawn + Athletics to hold on to a nearby anchor, if available. A complete success increases their effective weight by whatever they hold onto.
Pushing a target straight upward requires you to be directly beneath them and halves the range. GM’s may ask for a Dexterity + Athletics roll when repositioning yourself around a target to get a desired angle. They may React to reposition or anchor themselves as normal.
You may maintain Concentration after the initial activation of this Effect to continue the push on the target. Lasts up to one minute.
The Necromancer spits into the mouth of a recently deceased corpse. For the few minutes, the corpse's head comes back to life and speaks to the Necromancer.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Dead target within 50 feet. Dead targets must have died within the past week, and you must have their remains in your possession.
The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.