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.
It takes constant conversation, so when Mark mentions the details, their answer does too.
Preferably in the form of a back and forth demeaning/competitive/humorus banter.
Exert your Mind (unless The target thinks they have the upper hand) and spend one 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. 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.
Working in many places as a park ranger, Janice has grown to be able to track any being throughout any sort of environment. Her discerning eyes can keep track of her target once she spots any sign that they left.
This ability has been honed throughout years of hunting throughout the night for intruders in deserts and forests. She's not using just physical hints, like footprints, but also patterns of movement from a litany of people trying to evade her.
By taking a close look, with a magnifying glass, Janice is able to use any trace of even the most minuscule of debris to see where the target has been. Even from the depth of their prints, she's able to tell if the footprint is a red herring left by the evader. Janice is able to keep track of the target well enough that she could teach a toddler how to follow them.
Looking at the gait of the target, and the depth of the footprints, Janice is also able to tell if the target is limping, going slower than normal. She's even able to find out their weight.
However, following their trail, and judging their health together is too much for Janice. Her mental endurance isn't enough to be able to juggle these. She has to focus down on one concept beforehand.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target or a Creature within arm's reach. You may select a target at any range if you use up Footprints of the target. You must actively and obviously use Magnifying Glass to activate this Effect. 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:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
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You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may communicate to humans as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
The phantom's true movements separate from appearances and some of the kinetic limitations of mundane flesh and bone. It acts with preternatural dexterity, and while in motion, touches just before reaching, and slips away when barely touched or grasped.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Dexterity rating is increased by 1. 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).
A purple haze pools from the corn cob as it turns to dust. The miasma pools into the target's wounds, promptly clogging them with cornstalks tipped in cobs. Vines wrap around the body, pulling it upwards like a puppet tugged by strings. It jolts and staggers as a sinister presence takes root within its hollow form. This is not life restored, the figure that rises is naught but a vessel for something new, something ancient.
Over the course of an hour, the corn protruding from the wounds goes black, slowly rotting away. In time, it'll fade completely, returning the corpse to its unanimated death.
On Casper's hand, something resembling purple burns appears. The bruise grows with subsequent castings, crawling further up his arm.
The second page of the Necornomicon tells of an old god and the false life it can bestow. Necornmancers can call upon the Great Husk and draw its attention to a corpse, allowing the entity to animate a body with a fraction of its endless mind. The power held by the Great Husk is said to be too vast for fragile mortal bodies, resulting in a rot that prevents any prolonged connections. Life is not returned here, rather death is altered.
It's good ol' fashioned Necornmancy, no strings attached... Well, none that Casper seems to care about.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. You must use up a cob of corn in order to activate this Effect.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts one hour until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
Blood becomes a green jade liquid while bruises becoome an obsidian colored skin. The body starts combolsing as it fights to stay alive.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using Xibalba Stone to gain the benefits of this Effect.
If you would take an Injury that would kill you, you don’t die. Instead, you survive in an Incapacitated state. While incapacitated, you can take one Action per minute. Stress applies in full and cannot be reduced for any rolls demanded by the Action. This state lasts for the next hour, at which point you fully return to life. Unstabilized Injuries do not degrade while you are Incapacitated
If, while you are unconscious, your wound level rises above your rating in Body + Intellect, or if you take an Injury with Severity greater than 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 survivalist is adept at following an animal through any terrain. Once they find a recent track, they may focus their will to illuminate the trail of their target. Any part of the target's trail within eyeshot glows a bright, misty green. Even the trails made by vehicles the target was riding in are illuminated.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You may select a target at any range if you use up fresh tracks of the target. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Survival at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
Any information you gather is revealed by illuminating the trail in a glowing light and made publicly available.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The Vampire is able to turn one of their victims into a lesser vampire, a pale shadow of a full creature of the night but useful nonetheless. Having drained and killed their target, the Vampire performs a brief ritualistic bloodletting, wherein they spill their own blood into the target's mouth, forcing them to drink, and bonding them together as child and sire.
Shortly afterwards, the fledgling vampire will rise from death, hungry for blood and eager to serve.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
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.
As a free creature, The Fairy cannot withstand being caged or imprisioned in any way. Luckily, they possess a glamour that allows them to unlock any lock binding them with a wink of their eye. The lock falls open with a sparkle of light and a sound like a ringing bell.
Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the targeted lock or door is being used to restrain or imprison you.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
The magician waves a handkerchief over an item, and it disappears! They may produce the object later by fluttering a scarf.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a scarf, sheet, or handkerchief to activate this Effect.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.