Charlatans

Exert your Mind and spend three Actions performing the following ritual: Its an intricate prayer in an angelic language not meant for human ears... Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless Alternate Form. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Influence ( dice) at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

• Determine if this target is Alien in origin or whether it has any Alien energy or outside influences. You receive information about the type of energy, including the name of the relevant Source pool or equivalent.
• You determine how many living beings the target has killed, what sorts of creatures they were, and how long it has been since they last killed.
• You learn the target's name, nicknames, screen names, and aliases.
• You determine any major weaknesses that the target might have.

The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee weapons.

+2 dice to all rolls with melee weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using melee weapons.

You also gain the following effects:

• Quick Draw: You may draw and equip yourself with any melee weapon on your person or within arm’s reach as a Free Action, as long as it is not being wielded by someone else.
• Two Swords are better than One: If you are wielding more than one melee weapon, you may Attack with all using the highest Weapon Damage, plus 1 for each additional weapon. If you reserve a weapon, any Clash or Defend roll you make is -1 Difficulty, and mob penalties are ingored.

Exert your Mind and spend one minute.

You transform into a small, swirling cyclone of water and wind that shifts from the size of a basketball to a person for the next day. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. Observers will view you as an unusual entity moving with a singular purpose.

While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that a rodent could fit through. You may fly at your standard movement speed.

Damage from standard attacks is halved, but Damage from AOE effects is increased by 1. You may spend an Action to reduce one of your Injuries’ Severity by 2, as long as you obtained the Injury while transformed and the separated pieces could reasonably be rejoined. If you would die from Injuries sustained while transformed, you instead live, but the only action you can take is Reforming.

You cannot communicate, use equipment, or use Gifts while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. You cannot carry any items while transformed.

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.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Of Nature - You have a fascination with nature and its creatures. (Whenever you would see a wild animal, roll Self-Control or be forced to interact with it out of curiosity).

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Roots take the place of Carpathia's cardiovascular system. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.

Your appendages can reach an additional 30 feet.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.

Your unarmed attacks deal +2 Bonus Damage, and Brawn no longer acts as Armor against them. The target's other Armor is fully effective against this damage.

You also gain the following effects:

• Armored Fist: You cannot take damage from attacking a dangerous material (such as steel armor, a spiked carapace, or an acidic blob). You may Clash with or Defend against any melee weapons or arrows.

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:

• You may suspend a targeted Offensive Power which will take effect when the oath is broken. The Power must be able to target all participants the oath indicates it could hit.
• A Battle Scar up to Severe (deaf, missing limb)
• The oath-breaker is physically marked as an oath-breaker, and any investigative effect will reveal the terms of the oath they broke.
• A particular Trauma and a single Mind Damage
• The oath-breaker goes unconscious for up to 24 hours
• An Injury up to Severity-6 (cannot be reduced by any means)

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.

Spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use bread or a fish to activate this Effect.

For the next 24 hours, your target does not require any food, water, or sleep. Any attempts to age your target fail. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement is made at -1 Difficulty.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. You must use up $10,000 cash (or equivalent) in order to activate this Effect. Cannot be used to improve Armor.

Lasts the next two hours. Your target receives 3 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +3 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice.

Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. All Sapient targets within 20 feet of you are affected. You must actively and obviously use a police badge to activate this Effect. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your targets. Roll Charisma + Influence ( dice) at Difficulty 6. Any affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If the contested Outcome is positive, your targets will be compelled to follow your command to the letter-- but not necessarily the spirit-- of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in minutes. 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 is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. 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. 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. Commands may force a target to violate one of their Limits, and they will need to make a Trauma roll once the suggestion wears off.

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.