Beard of the Archmage

1
Requires Seasoned
You possess superhuman wits and insight.
Used by Preston Vincent Astor III, Created by ShadyTradesman.
( Your beard must be used or obviously visible while you are actively benefitting from this effect.)

Preston’s beard is an incredible focus of power. With it, controlling his spells is as easy as breathing, and he understands whether he is being targeted by outside influences.


You gain the following benefits as long as you have your beard.

Your Intellect rating is increased by 0. 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).

If you are witnessed actively using this Effect, whoever sees it can make a Perception + Alertness roll at Difficulty 6. A complete success reveals the source of your power.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Multithreaded: Instead of being unable to take Actions while maintaining Concentration, you may now take Actions at a -2 dice penalty. You may maintain Concentration from two different Effects, but you are unable to take Actions when doing so.
  • Remarkably Self-Aware: You may roll Intellect at Difficulty 6 to “scan” yourself for abnormalities. With Outcome 1-3, any outside influences on your thoughts/mind will be detected, as well as Traumas. With Outcome 4+, you may Exert your Mind to cancel the Effect. One attempt per Effect.

  • Being Injured or interrupted in some way can still break your Concentration.
  • If your beard is damaged, destroyed, or lost, you lose all benefits from this Effect for the next two months.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Community Passive Gifts

This Artifact cannot be broken.

This Artifact's creator is always aware of the direction and distance to this Artifact.

  • "Cannot be broken" means that damage cannot render the Artifact's Effects unusable, nor can it cease to be used for its primary mundane purpose, if it has one.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

If you would take an Injury that would kill you, you don’t die. Instead, you survive in an Incapacitated state, though you appear dead to any means of detecting life. This state lasts for the next hour, at which point you fully return to life.

If, while you are unconscious, your wound level rises above your rating in Body + twice your intellect, or if you take an Injury with Severity greater than twice your rating in intellect, you die. After you return, the Injury that would have killed you, as well as any Injuries sustained while Incapacitated, are healed. Battle scars obtained during this time remain.

The Soul of St. Hopkins acts as a reflective barrier that bounces Wisdom's Embrace off of the inside of the coat and back at the user. Creating a bypass that allows a triggered effect on impact to temporarily circumvent the selfless drawback at a fixed heal potency.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

You have 3, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except radiation. Armor from multiple sources does not stack.

Your Armor cannot be destroyed, and it always provides a minimum of 2 Armor regardless of any Armor shredding or penetration. It cannot be circumvented with Called Shots. When shredded, it returns to full potency in one hour.

Your Armor’s rating is increased by 2. If you do something that Damages, restricts, or otherwise directly, negatively affects another being, your Armor’s rating is decreased by 3 for one minute. This penalty does not stack with itself.

Any Injury received from Damage that was reduced by this Armor is considered Makeshift Stabilized and will not degrade further, and any Battle Scar caused by them is reduced by 1 level. You may attempt a single Proper Stabilization on such Injuries.

  • This Effect’s Armor rating cannot be increased by any other Effects.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Dexterity rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Dexterity (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

You also gain the following effects:

  • Centered: You have perfect balance. You cannot be knocked over and can maintain your footing regardless of the size or stability of the material underneath you. For the purposes of encumbrance and load bearing, you weigh 5 pounds.
  • Infinity-Jointed: Your body is incredibly flexible, allowing you to maneuver and squeeze through tight spots as if you were the size of a cat, and you get +3 dice to rolls which require extreme flexibility, such as escaping grapples.
  • Reactionary: You gain an additional Reaction each Round. You cannot take an Action after taking a Reaction.
  • Track Star: You may always move at your full Dash speed without any penalty.

  • You cannot React to the same Action more than once.
  • Reminder: to calculate the distance you can dash in one Round of combat, add together Dexterity + Brawn + 1, and multiply that by 5 feet.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

Any Injury you receive from a source other than blunt weapons heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level every 10 minutes. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active automatically count as a successful Proper Stabilization and do not deteriorate further. Any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will heal with the Injury.

You may Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reduce the Severity of one of your Injuries by 1. Does not affect Injuries suffered as an activation cost for Effects.

Once an Injury has been reduced in Severity by two levels, it no longer benefits from this effect and instead heals as normal.

Injuries you receive from blunt weapons are increased in Severity by 1.

  • The increase in Injury Severity stacks with any similar effects, such as the Vulnerable drawback on Inhuman Physiology.

Stock Passive Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations.

  • Pathfinder: You are adept at making your way through crowds, underbrush, and other dense, congested environments. While doing so, you move at full speed.
  • You are able to climb trees and cliffs at your full movement speed.

You only gain the benefits of this effect if you are in an area without a human building within 300 feet.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

You get +0 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:

  • Naturally Resistant: Any time you make a Mind resistance roll, the individual who you are resisting must Exert their Mind, or your resistance succeeds automatically.
  • Clash Of Wills: If you fail to fully resist an Effect, your Outcome is considered to be 0.

  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Smell: Your nose is highly sensitive and can differentiate between scents the way a dog can, as well as recognize things you have smelled before.

This Artifact cannot be broken. If this Artifact is lost and in no one else’s possession, it finds its way back to its true owner during the next Downtime.

By default, the creator of this Artifact is its true owner. The true owner may formally bequeath this Artifact onto another person within arm’s reach, after which they are its true owner. If the true owner dies or is destroyed, their ownership ends. If this Artifact has no true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.

This Artifact's true owner is always aware of the direction and distance to this Artifact.

  • "Cannot be broken" means that damage cannot render the Artifact's Effects unusable, nor can it cease to be used for its primary mundane purpose, if it has one.

You gain the following benefits as long as the target object has a cutting edge.

As long as you maintain Concentration, you can take Actions and interact with things that are within 75 feet without needing to physically touch them or be near them. Any rolls made for Actions taken in this way use a Mental Strength of 2 in place of your Brawn rating, a Mental Agility of 2 in place of your Dexterity, and otherwise use your own Attributes and Abilities.

Telekinetic actions have the following restrictions and behaviors:

  • Line of Sight: You must be able to visually observe anything you interact with, and any actions that you are taking will end if their target moves out of sight.
  • Unarmed Combat: You cannot deal damage through unarmed combat or thrown objects with this Effect, though you may still grapple with targets.
  • Weapons: You are able to effectively wield weapons to Attack, Defend, and Clash with this Effect.
  • Fine Tools: You are otherwise limited to actions that a normal human could do with their bare hands.
  • Levitation: If you are strong enough to lift yourself, you may levitate up to 75 feet away from the ground. Movement is limited to 5 feet per Round.
  • Multiple Items: You can only interact with one thing or take one Action at a time.
  • Lifting and hauling: you may lift 90 pounds.

  • Any telekinetic actions which interact with Animate targets may require contested rolls at GMs discretion.