Dead Languages "What, no Ingles? Uh...uno momento..." *crunch, crunch, gibber*

1
The power to communicate with humans and Sapient beings.
Used by Edgar Stokes, Created by Strazhari.
(Anyone who witnesses you activate this Effect or for its duration is very likely to be disturbed to see Cannabalism. You must actively and obviously be using up flesh of the target.)

Edgar must consume a portion of a corpse (ideally the tongue, but any bit will do), gaining fluency in any language the target knew for the next hour. On occasion, he will learn the language indefinitely. The echoes of memories lay dormant within the Ghoul, allowing him to immediately recognize any language he hears.

When consuming the flesh of the dead, Ghouls can sometimes gain fluency in languages known to those they have eaten. Unlike the scraps of memory they usually gain, maintaining such an intuitive block of information is fleeting at best, rarely lasting more than an hour. A ghoul may attempt to facilitate this process by eating the tongue of the deceased, although any pound of flesh will do in a pinch.


Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect cannot be used unless you consume flesh from someone who knows the language in question. You must use up flesh of the target in order to activate this Effect.

You may understand and communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.

This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.

Whenever you encounter a Language you could commune in with this Effect, you immediately understand which language it is, the dialect, region, and other details about it.

If you use this Effect to spend an hour speaking with a native speaker of a human language you don't know, you may Exert your Mind and roll Intellect + Culture Difficulty 7. With Outcome 4 or higher, you permanently learn that language and accent.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.

  • The target of "human" refers to any target that speaks a human language.
  • When reading written communications, you get no information beyond what the writer was intending to communicate.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.

Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing up Crimes of Passion spent on improving power: Dead Languages    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Forever Young spent on revising power: Dead Languages    (since refunded)

Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with Razor Feathers.

+2 dice to all rolls utilizing Razor Feathers.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Finesse: You may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level to inflict on the target, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.
  • Pin Down: If you make a thrown attack with something sharp, and it hits a target near a wall or a floor, the projectile pierces through them, pinning them to the wall or floor. Unpinning oneself quickly will increase the relevant Injury’s Severity by 1.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Any Injury you receive heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level every 10 minutes. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active do not deteriorate over time. However, any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will remain unless it is Properly Stabilized as normal.

As long as at least half your body remains intact, you cannot die and remain at Incapacitated, regardless of how many Injuries you take. It is clear to observers that you are still alive.

All Injuries you receive are considered Properly Stabilized. You may also choose to heal any Battle Scar on yourself that may not have been caused by an Injury. Doing so takes one day, and the Battle Scar affects you fully until that time.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Hearing: You are capable of perceiving physical shapes via sound. You must produce a hum to “ping” with your echolocation each Round you wish to use it.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may understand and communicate to Creatures as if you are fluent in a relevant language.

  • Communing with creatures does not grant them intellect but does allow you to converse with them.

Len has been seeped in blood, death and war. She has seen slaughter. She has shifted as a result, become more in tune with Hades, the God of death. Len has gain the ability to store things in a private place in the land of the death, summoning up the mists of the river Styx, and reaching to them to a place only she knows.

Spend a Quick Action.

You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.

You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a ziploc snack bag (1 liter), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.

You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.

  • "Equip" refers to drawing a gun, putting on a piece of armor, etc. You may store or withdraw a maximum of 6 items in a given Round. Reminder: you may perform up to two Quick Actions for -2 dice each or 3 if you use up your Action, unless a different Effect grants you additional Quick Actions.
  • Containers which hold multiple things may count as a single item so long as the things within are generally packaged together. For instance, you may stash a clip full of bullets, a medical kit full of medical supplies, or a box of crackers, but you cannot stash a backpack full of miscellaneous equipment.
  • You may only attempt to store Objects which are free-standing and disconnected from other things. The use of this Effect will not allow you to sever any connections holding an Object in place.
  • The Maximum Object Size parameter is intended to roughly capture the weight / size restriction of items and isn’t intended to restrict shape. GM discretion is advised. A human being is level 4 in the Maximum Object Size parameter.

Stock Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Intellect rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Intellect (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

You also gain the following effects:

  • Brilliant Deduction: You may spend five minutes pondering an enigma, puzzle, or mystery, and roll Intellect at Difficulty 8. Success will reveal a clue or other tidbit that you have otherwise missed. Limit once per enigma.
  • Insufferable Know-It-All: Any social rolls you make are at +1 difficulty, and if someone else can answer an informational question or solve a puzzle before you do, make a Trauma roll.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a burlap sack to activate this Effect.

You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.

You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.

You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.

  • "Equip" refers to drawing a gun, putting on a piece of armor, etc.
  • Containers which hold multiple things may count as a single item so long as the things within are generally packaged together. For instance, you may stash a clip full of bullets, a medical kit full of medical supplies, or a box of crackers, but you cannot stash a backpack full of miscellaneous equipment.
  • You may only attempt to store Objects which are free-standing and disconnected from other things. The use of this Effect will not allow you to sever any connections holding an Object in place.
  • The Maximum Object Size parameter is intended to roughly capture the weight / size restriction of items and isn’t intended to restrict shape. GM discretion is advised. A human being is level 4 in the Maximum Object Size parameter.

Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless you can forage for herbs. You must actively and obviously use water, a container, and heat 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.

Whenever you cure a disease, poison, or toxin, if it had inflicted any Damage, your target is healed for half that Damage.

  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.
  • 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 a minute.

You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.

The new appearance must have a similar sex, age, and race to your own. You cannot significantly change your height and weight. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You may change the appearance of your outfit. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.

You cannot alter the appearance of your flesh and blood.

  • While you may alter your outfit's appearance, this does not grant or store equipment.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location which is at most 75 feet away horizontally or 15 feet away vertically. This Effect cannot be used unless you are in werewolf form.

You jump to the chosen location. If the landing is precarious, the GM may call for a roll to land safely. You will never take fall damage from successfully landing a jump made with this Effect.

You may opt to trade your free movement for a Super Leap if you are jumping less than 50 feet or if you are closing a gap to an opponent and spend your Action on an attack.

  • If you are Encumbered, the maximum range is cut in half. If Encumbrance has reduced your total movement to 0, you cannot activate this Effect.
  • vertical jump height measures to the bottom of your feet, so your total vertical reach is at least a body length greater.
  • Rolls to land safely will generally be Athletics, but GMs may call for a different roll at their discretion if it makes sense for the specific circumstances.
  • You must be on a surface of some kind in order to activate this Effect; it cannot be activated while in mid-air.
  • You may only use this Effect once per Round of combat, regardless of any Enhancements you have taken.
  • 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.