Harold Polk embodies the pinnacle of spycraft, blending classic espionage skills with a self-hypnosis regimen grounded in Speech Act Theory. Through carefully crafted hypnotic phrases, he has reprogrammed his mind into a weapon of perception and influence. His mental conditioning allows him to follow multiple streams of awareness, effortlessly tracking conversations and hidden details in his surroundings. Each observation is absorbed like a new language, allowing him to mimic skills and knowledge with uncanny ease, as though he’s slipping into a role. In critical moments, a single, self-planted word—“clarity”—sharpens his mind to a fine edge, guiding his thoughts with the precision of a spy and the insight of a linguist. Through this unique form of self-hypnosis, Harold’s mind has become his greatest tool, a finely tuned instrument that lets him move through any scene with flawless subtlety and control, embodying the true essence of espionage.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
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).
You also gain the following effects:
Scrape and lick. Laghlaghlalagha
You gain the following benefits as long as you are biting and you are engaged in unarmed combat.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage (instead of -1). The target's Armor is fully effective against this damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The clench of your fist and a mental chant is all you need to convince most people to accompany you.
"Help me [Insert Objective]"
And just like that; they'll follow you.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Human target within 20 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Brawl at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target will be fully aware that they are doing this task on your behalf and will inform anyone who they interact with that they were sent by you, though they may not view it as compulsory or against their will until the effect wears off. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action, a conditional request, and an abstract goal. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
You must have some means of communicating this command to your target, but no one other than you and them will understand or perceive it.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
You are equally bound to follow any command you issue.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Paranoia.
Polamedes places his hand on a person or object. The nanobots making up the arm sleeve start to disassemble and become loose. They surge down the outstretched arm pulling with them long strands of polamedes skin. underneath the skin threads are small glowing dots hidden under the dermis serving as connection points. The bots take the skin trails and start connecting them to the target that will be upgraded. Burrowing new holes and inserting the strands of skin as long tensile wires of flesh. Once the skin wires are all connected surges of blue light travel from Pol to the target transmitting data and nanomachines into the new vessel. Once in their new host the nanomachines balloon the flesh and are seen squirming around both in the area to be upgraded as well as migrating their way northward to the brain in order to establish the new neural pathways needed to connect to the augmented area. Once the augment is finished the fleshwires dissolve into a puddle of blood and sparking electricity for a few seconds before dissolving completely and reforming. The new mass of bugs crawls its way back towards polamedes and reassembles into the sleeve covering his right arm.
Fear of being recorded
Exert your Mind and spend 30 minutes. 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 Trauma and can have exactly one of the following Effects:
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Flesh Wires.
In addition to their benefits, your augments come with a penalty equivalent to a minor Battle Scar or Trauma. This penalty does not count as an additional Battle Scar or Trauma.
Got my Canines done when I was younger -- yeah, that's right. 24 Karat.
She rips her right canine out with her thumb and pointer. It makes an awful sound.
She holds it up to the lock - and you watch as it wiggles in and clicks it open.
Does it hurt? Does what hurt? I'm joking. Not too badly, hijito - ever dig a bullet out of your leg?
Spend an Action to activate. Select a door, lock, or locked target within arm's reach. Cannot be used on Alien technology.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Check the Lock.
The Goblin King taps a lock or lockable structure, causing it to open or close.
Spend an Action. Select a door, lock, or locked target within arm's reach. Cannot be used on Alien technology.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
Most severe injuries occur far from a facility that could treat them, and in the fetid muck of the battlefield even minor wounds may be a death sentence. Luckily the soldier is well-trained in the use of their standard-issue medical kit. They may stabilize even the most severe injuries with a little gauze and some no-anesthetic stitching. Furthermore, the treated wounds of their comrades never get infected.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using a standard issue military medical kit to gain the benefits of this Effect.
All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.
You also gain the following effects:
The beastmaster puts their nose to the ground and sniffs about the area. Their feral nostrils tell them what sorts of creatures live in the area, and who lays claim to each region.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet Can only be activated while you are in the wilderness. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Survival at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
The Necromancer may exert their will on any undead creature, forcing it to act as they desire. The Necromancer's eyes turn completely black, and they speak a command to the creature in the language of the dead.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a non-Sapient, Animate target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is undead.
For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow.
Your commands must be relatively simple and within the target’s intellectual grasp. 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.
Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
Perform the Five Point Technique via a series of quick pressure point hits on the target’s chest. As you do, channel your chi and speak a condition involving the number five. If the target cannot stop you from performing the technique, their heart will take a direct hit when they fulfill the chosen condition.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Roll Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Body, Difficulty 6.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4. The target's material Armor is completely ignored.
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."
Instead of dealing Damage all at once, the Injury caused by this Power starts at Severity 1 and worsens at the rate of one level per Round until it reaches the Severity it would have otherwise been.
The beastmaster can speak to and understand any animal.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to terrestrial animal as if you are fluent in a relevant language.