Azik, holding his book in his hand, flips open to the very first page. Inscribed on it, is a language no one, not even azik can understand, yet he managed to pull together one word. "Protect", with that, letters from the page comes flying out akin to magic, arranging themselves in the air before turning into a protection barrier on the person it is casted upon.
Attested in English since 1530, from Latin prōtēctus (“covered, protected”), past participle of prōtegere (“to cover the front, protect”) from prō, prō- (“before, in front of”) + tegere (“to cover”), see tegument. Displaced native Middle English shelden, from Old English sċildan (“to protect,” literally “to shield”).
A word of benevolence, love, and understanding.
באַשיצן : Ashiten
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction to activate. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Alertness at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a Barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome + 2 Damage. Half the damage absorbed is reflected back at the attacker, which they can Defend against as normal. The Damage reduction from the Barrier is applied before Armor, and is treated like Armor by any effects such as Armor Penetration. 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. As long as it does not fall, the barrier regenerates back to full strength at the end of each Round of combat.
Possession of this Artifact causes the following Trauma to manifest over the course of a day: Book Eater: if there is a book in the surrounding, must roll self control to not rush over and read said book.. If you lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next month.
There are few visual cues; however, the target gets a cold, uneasy feeling like they are being watched. The feeling is of something angry at them and themselves. Almost shameful. Meanwhile, the closest duelling pistol or smoothbore flintlock will unlatch or float from wherever it is and start moving toward the target at supernatural speed. Charging and holding the gun, a ghost-like figure will flicker in and out, looking like a slender, frail woman. She looks like a woman of solid noble heritage. She will rush forward until she gets right in front of you. She will put a traditional duelling pistol against the chest right in front of the target's heart before firing.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet. You must actively and obviously use Model Dueling Pistol or other Smooth Bore Pistol to activate this Effect. Roll Charisma + Influence 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. Armor is fully effective against this Damage.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
If the target takes damage from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of the Severity of their Injury. The specifics of the scar are up to GM's discretion.
The user slashes while holding the sword in reverse, ignoring the space between the slash and the target.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. You must actively and obviously use katana to activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Melee 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.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within your line of sight. Roll Brawn + Alertness at Difficulty 6. The target may contest by Defending or Dodging.
If you succeed, your target will be restricted at their location by a physical, tangible binding. They can still move their arms and use Effects, but are reduced to ¼ of their movement speed.
The binding around a target must be destroyed in order for them to break free. Breaking the binding requires a total amount of Damage equal to twice the original Contested Outcome. Damage from multiple attacks is cumulative and stacks linearly.
You may use this Effect as a Reaction to contest any physical Action a target is taking. Excess Outcome does not restrict the target.
You can easily tell whether something is magical or not because if they’re the former, chances are they’re a Plot Device! And you know the tropes, you know how these things tend to go. Maybe. There’s always subversions, but typically you can easily figure out that the giant laser gun needs special laser gun fuel or that the glowing dagger holds a deadly curse. Tropes!
Spend a minute. Select a target Object within 25 feet. You must actively and obviously use glasses to activate this Effect. You cannot investigate the same target more than once per hour. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The sword begins to glow as their spirit passes through the hilt and takes direct control of the wielder.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: channelling power as runes of power begin to glow along your blade. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Roll Brawn + Alertness at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you possess your target for a number of days equal to the Contested Outcome. The target largely has no control over the host body’s actions, but they may Exert their Mind to take over for a 3 second period, after which you regain control. They retain consciousness and will remember anything that occurs during the possession. While the possession is active, the host body will the flesh they used to pick you up fuses around your hilt, making it very obvious to anyone who sees them that something is not right.
Your original body will be left behind, unconscious, in its same location. You may perceive through your original body's senses by Concentrating. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: During the possession, you use the host body’s Body rating, but your own Mind rating. Any rolls you make use the host body’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception but your own Charisma and Intellect. You may use either your own or the host’s Ability ratings, whichever is higher. You gain the effects of any physical Assets and Liabilities they have. You cannot read the target’s mind or memories.
Gifts: You have access to and can use any of your own Powers which are not intrinsic to your biology or physical body. You cannot access any Powers or other supernatural effects which the target has, unless they are intrinsic to the target’s biology or physical body.
Death: If the host body is killed or destroyed while you are still possessing it, you are evicted to your original body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed in some way, your disembodied spirit will haunt the location where your body died, and the only action you can take is activating this Effect on a new target within arm's reach.
Eviction: If the host body is ever not within arm's reach of your original body, you will be forced out. If you attempt to force your host to take actions which would violate one of their Limits or their instinct for self-preservation, they may resist by rolling Mind. If their Outcome is higher than or equal to the contested Outcome, the possession ends and you are evicted from their body. If they fail, you remain in control.
While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.
No terrestrial animal dares defy the will of the beastmaster. The beastmaster exerts their dominance over an animal by locking eyes and giving a primal cry. The creature immediately becomes docile and eager to please.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien Creature within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a terrestrial animal.
For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow.
Your commands can be complex and multi-layered, though they must still be specific. 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.
The mobster presents a reasoned, logical case to the target: there's a lot of dangerous folks out there, and only they can offer safety... for a price.
If they agree, they will pay the mobster a monthly fee for protection. If they stop making their payments... well, let's just say, the mobster can't be held responsible for any unsavory types that might pay them a visit.
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:
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.
The musician assumes a powerful stance and strums a mighty power chord on their guitar. A blast of sound waves radiate outwards, destroying all who dare face the power chord directly.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use your instrument to activate this Effect. The area within 25 feet of you immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Targets inside the radius may attempt an appropriate Reaction at GM’s discretion. Finding a physical barrier to use as cover will cut total Damage taken in half (applies after Reaction roll but before Armor).
If the Outcome is positive, your blast hits everything within 25 feet of you with Damage equal to your Outcome + 4. If you botched the activation roll, you will also take full Damage from the blast, otherwise it will not hurt you.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
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”).
The Psychic can speak directly into someone's mind, engaging in an entirely telepathic conversation. While they do, they take on a blank, vacant stare in the direction of their target, and appear to be muttering gibberish to themselves under their breath.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location. This Effect cannot be used unless you can see your target.
You open up a line of communication to your target, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.