Marks caught a few villians in his day, and one thing they always seem to have in common is they never shut up.
He's learned how to conversationally 'push their buttons' and make them talk.
So far, the most reliable way has been to talk about himself, to instigate their inevitable sense of competition.
Think more.. skill of conversation than anything supernatural.
Exert your Mind (unless The target thinks they have the upper hand) and spend a minute to activate. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. You must continuously interact with the individual in question in order to gather any information. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you They may lie, and as absurd as it may be he will believe it. At the end of your investigation, roll Brawn + Influence at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome. For any information you learn about your target, the corresponding information about you is shared with them.
Any information you gather is A spoken conversation and made publicly available. This also includes any information the target learns about you.
The Jester shines in the flickering light of the campfire, bringing his lute and unerring wit to bear against the fears and stress his companions suffer.
His songs heal.
Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Over the course of one day, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired. After the full treatment time has elapsed, roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6.
Your target may Resist. If your treatment is successful, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.
You may heal a Trauma on any number of targets with a single activation of this Effect, but any Traumas which you treat are revealed to the entire group.
Imagine the affected individual suddenly finding themselves in a distorted version of reality where familiar surroundings twist into nightmarish shapes. Alice appears as an ethereal figure, her eyes glowing with an otherworldly intensity. She moves with an unsettling grace, her voice echoing like whispers in a windstorm.
Within the mind, memories and fears manifest in grotesque forms: childhood toys turn into monstrous creatures, familiar faces morph into sinister masks, and mundane objects distort into symbols of dread. The atmosphere becomes suffused with a sense of impending doom, as if the very fabric of reality is unraveling.
As Alice delves deeper into the psyche, she projects haunting visions and manipulates emotions, causing profound psychological distress. The victim feels powerless against this invasive force, their thoughts and fears laid bare before Alice's penetrating gaze.
Throughout the experience, Alice remains an enigmatic presence, her motives unclear but her impact undeniable. Those witnessing the scene are left with a lingering sense of unease, as if they too are peering into the abyss of their own subconscious fears.
In the tapestry of Alice's extraordinary abilities, her power to invade minds and evoke profound trauma weaves a thread of dark enchantment. Rooted in the whimsical yet unsettling realm of "Alice in Wonderland," this Gift transcends mere fantasy, delving deep into the metaphysical underpinnings of consciousness and fear.
At its core lies a duality akin to the looking glass itself—a reflection of both wonder and terror. Alice, a paradoxical figure of innocence and manipulation, harnesses this power with a grace that belies its chilling implications. Her ability to traverse the boundaries of sanity and perception speaks to an intimate understanding of the human psyche's fragile architecture.
Metaphysically, this Gift taps into the uncharted territories of psychic intrusion, where reality bends at the whim of a singular will. It hints at a realm where dreams and nightmares converge, where memories bleed into manifestations of dread. Alice, as the wielder, becomes a conduit between the tangible and the intangible, navigating through mental landscapes fraught with symbolism and subconscious echoes.
The origins of such a power are shrouded in mystery, perhaps stemming from the peculiar alchemy of Wonderland itself—a place where logic twists into riddles and reality fades into whimsy. It mirrors the transformative journey of Alice, from a curious child exploring a fantastical realm to a spectral presence capable of haunting minds.
In essence, this Gift embodies the timeless allure of darkness within enchantment, where innocence and malevolence dance in an eternal waltz. It invites contemplation on the depths of human fear and the fragility of perception, urging us to confront the shadows that lurk beneath our conscious selves. Alice's power is not just a narrative device but a philosophical exploration—a haunting reminder that even in wonderlands, there are depths where fears take shape and nightmares come alive.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8 with a -3 dice penalty. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.
If they fail, your target will take 1 point of Mind damage and gain a new Trauma selected by you (the GM can overrule you at their discretion). This Trauma may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.
Instead of the normal squeaking noise, the hammer becomes as solid as steel at the last second. Additionally, it can extend up to 45 feet to hit it's target, uncoiling like a spring.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Dexterity + Performance Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4.
You may use this Effect to Defend against any melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks within range or Clash against any Attack targeted at you. Using it to Defend deals no Damage but does not cost Exertion.
If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The user folds their arm or appendage in on itself, creating tension, and that tension is then released in an explosive strike with a rapid decompression causing the limb to stretch further than normal.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you lose all tension from the punch as it targets a random ally, including yourself. (Roll a die to determine new target). Roll Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4. Armor is fully effective against this Damage.
Any Injury inflicted is considered unstabilized even if its Severity is less than 4. The equipment and roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6.
If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.
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 your body stretch and compress at extreme speeds.
The Goblin King waves his Bangmangi in the air, causing a mist to appear and envelop the target, who becomes sleepy, quickly falling asleep.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within 30 feet. You must actively and obviously use Club to activate this Effect. Roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, your target becomes drowsy for the next 3 Rounds, during which time they suffer an additional -2 dice Penalty to all Actions. At the end of their drowsiness, they fall asleep for Outcome x 3 hours.
Sleeping targets will not prematurely wake up on their own, and can only be awoken by taking Damage or nearing death from hunger, thirst, or suffocation. Drowsy targets always fall asleep, regardless of what happens while they are drowsy.
By focusing and whispering a prayer under their breath, the priest may invoke their god to protect those who have good works left to do.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a living human. Roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome +2 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is you whispering a prayer under your breath. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
The priest's miracles expand into the treatment and curing of poisons and diseases. To do so, they require a ceremonial dedication (or often re-dedication) to the service of their god, during which the priest and the patient pray together and perform ritualistic bloodletting. These wounds burn with holy, golden fire, attacking the sinful malady and expelling it from the body.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Your target takes a Severity 1 Injury. You must actively and obviously use a ceremonial dagger blessed with holy water 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.
You may use this effect to sanitize a 15-foot radius, destroying all poisons, toxins, diseases such that they are inert and cannot affect any new targets
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.
The mystic enters a meditation while focusing on a remote location. A glowing sigil of an eye appears on their forehead, and a ghostly image of themselves meditating appears at the location they are envisioning. For a brief period, they may see the area they are projecting to as though they were standing there.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target Location within 75 feet.
You may perceive things as if you were standing at that Location. The effect lasts indefinitely but you must maintain Concentration to keep it up. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.
You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like a ghostly image of yourself meditating.
The De-Neuralizer is a small silver device that can emanate a bright flash of light. Any being that looks into it with uncovered eyes has their most recent period of the their memory set into a highly over-writable state for a moment. While in this state, their memories may be overwritten at will.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within within arm's reach. All Sapient targets within 20 feet are affected. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is looking directly into the device with uncovered eyes. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the most recent 1 hour from your target’s memory is either replaced with new memories or forgotten entirely. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.
The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).