At one time, Amaryllis's arms were normal, unscarred, and white as a dove. She would wrestle with her brothers, surrounded by soft and fluffy couches, plug protected outlets, and edge protected tables. They were safe, mostly, until one gave another a shallow scratch with their fingernail. From even a single scrape, the children would ruin rugs and throw pillows as the Fleischer Family Curse took its toll, forcing them to make a sizable plasma donation to the house. They all knew the risks, of course, they had the band-aids and medical bandages on hand to stop the bleeding. They continued their roughhousing beyond earshot of their parents...
Amaryllis's mother, Dahlia, knew the truth of their family's curse. She understood that time was running short as Sorin had already passed away years before. She and her husband studied the occult, making a fortune by reading futures, holding seances, and investigating hauntings. The greatest ritual they ever developed was one to break their curse. She knew Amaryllis, the first-born, would need to be saved first, as soon as possible, before she followed Death to meet her husband.
Something was not right, Amaryllis had passed out early in the bloodletting phase of the ritual. She struggled against her bindings and exasperated the new cuts on her wrists. The long gashes and otherworldly lettering on her arms wept until they went blue. Dahlia completed the runes and smeared a circle in blood around her daughter before realizing that the ritual was faulty. She then realized that her baby girl was on Death's door. She rushed Amaryllis to the hospital in heavy bandages, but her body would refuse to close her wounds. Dahlia would die a year later, consumed by the knowledge that the ritual failed.
She was wrong.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Body and Mind Penalties are reduced to 0.
Everything's dark. Breathe. In, out. Slow. Open your eyes. Focus.
Ten meters and the shroud of darkness is all that stands between you and your prey. The string goes tense as you begin to draw, the rain providing no bane to your accuracy.
Loose. Sixteen arrows embed themselves in sixteen targets, a lethal blow being rendered to all.
You gain the following benefits as long as engaged in combat with bows.
You receive +2 dice to all rolls using bows. Reloading is considered a Free Action.
You also gain the following effects:
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must use up Wine in order to activate this Effect. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.
The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect.
With a classic smirk and wave, Riley is able to take center stage in almost any environment.
Spend an Action. A number of Sapient, Living targets within 50 feet who can perceive you through no greater than your Charisma rating are affected. Audiences or mobs with a singular focus count as one target. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. All affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the targets will keep their full attention focused on you for contested as long as you maintain Concentration. They will automatically fail any rolls related to noticing anything other than you.
If you pass from their perception and they are unable to pursue you, the Effect ends. If they can follow you, they must do so for 2 Rounds or the Effect will end. The Effect ends early if the target is Injured or violence occurs nearby.
This does not affect the target’s opinion of you or their mood, and they may take any Actions while affected (including attacking), as long as that action centers on you. Fascinated targets cannot Concentrate.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
A greenish energy flows from the wand, transforming Kergan into a bear or bird. The bird has an obvious 3rd eye. The bear has antlers and has streaked brown and white fur.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use intricately carved wand to activate this Effect.
You transform into bird or grizzly bear until you transform into something else or choose to return to your original form. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you do not have access to any of your Powers. Any equipment you are wearing transforms with you.
Injuries and Wound Level are carried over between forms. However, transforming can never kill you; you merely remain Incapacitated until your Injuries are sufficiently healed.
While transformed, you are obviously unusual, unnatural, or alien, and the average person will take a special interest in you.
When this effect occurs, Edgar undergoes a dramatic transformation, a period of rampant mutation from the multiple monstrous forces contained within his body - his talons lengthen, dripping with steaming, heated blood - his flesh writhes obscenely, as if dozens of steel cables pulsed & moved below his rugose flesh while his lolling tongue will often split like a flower, either into multiple tendrils or multiple eyestalks - perhaps most disturbing of all, his eyes swell & then burst - leaving gaping holes filled with a guttering orange flame. While under these episodes, the alien flesh of the Provider instantly regenerates any lost flesh, up to & including lost limbs - these mutations are imperfect however, often being formed of squamous flesh studded with the screaming faces of people the Ghoul has consumed - this flesh will swiftly become unstable, tearing itself away & crawling off to die (hopefully...) when the episode ends.
Augments during Mutation Episode
-Death Chisels (Maws & Claws, Aquatic Adaptation)
-No Escape (+15 Movement, Pouch)
-Blind
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a hulking mutant Ghoul for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a hulking mutant Ghoul, and you can use your equipment. The Injuries and Battle Scars of your Alternate Form and your true form are tracked separately.
While transformed, your Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
If you take Injuries totaling 4 Severity or higher while transformed, you recover all Injuries and change into a pulsating mound of flesh composed of the screaming corpses of all those the Ghoul has consumed. All dice rolls are at -1 Difficulty for the next minute or until this Effect ends. Cooldown 1 day.
If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Rampant Mutation.
Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.
Whenever you enter Combat, roll Self-Control. If you fail, you cannot choose which targets to attack and cannot stop fighting until there are no targets remaining.
Even in human form, the werewolf retains their incredible sense of smell. This helps them track their prey and learn where people and things have been.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way.
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.
The mystic can meld their aura with another, allowing them to superimpose their being, physical and mental, into a target. Observers witness the mystic fading and entering their target's body as wisps of smoke, leaving no trace of their own body behind.
While inside, they can control their target's actions. Affected targets have no memory of the experience.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend an Action. Select a Living or Sapient target within arm's reach. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you possess your target for a number of minutes equal to the Contested Outcome. The target has no control over their body or actions, and they are functionally unconscious through the entire possession, retaining no memory other than any Traumas they might obtain.
You do not leave your original body behind when you possess a target. When a possession ends, your original body will reappear at the host body’s same location. 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, Intellect, and Abilities. 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 will die along with it.
Eviction: 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. Otherwise, they may Exert their Mind to evict you from their body.
The Witch gazes at a calm and trusting animal and blinks, revealing eyes that have changed to match the creature's. Her body goes limp and collapses, and the witch proceeds to walk away, now temporarily borrowing the animal's body.
A borrowing Witch is a visitor in the animal's mind and cannot overstay her welcome or force the animal into danger.
Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Creature target within 20 feet. The target may Resist.
You possess your target and have control over their actions for the next hour. Your original body will be left behind, unconscious, in its same location. You may perceive through your original body's senses, at a -2 penalty to all Actions while doing so. If your original body is touched, you get a Perception check to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: Any Actions you take will use the possessed creature’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception, but use your own Charisma, Intellect, and Abilities.
Gifts: You do not have access to any Gifts while you are possessing your target.
Death: If the host suffers an Injury, or is destroyed or incapacitated, you are evicted back into your own body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed, you will die.
Eviction: You cannot force your host to take Actions which would violate their instinct for self-preservation (which includes engaging in Combat for any purpose other than self-defense or natural hunting); any attempt to do so will sever the connection and send you back into your own body. If you are forced out of the target's body prematurely, you must make a Trauma roll.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
It's true the mad scientist is one of the greatest minds of our generation, that they can solve any puzzle or riddle. However, no one wants to spend time with them.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Intellect rating is increased by 1. 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: