Latent Instincts "People find it really hard to say no to me."

2
You possess superhuman people skills.
Used by Minerva McAlaster, Created by Polymorph.
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Minerva begins subconsciously imposing her will on the world around her. Even without focusing, her as long as she's honest, her desire to be believed will make her be believed. Anyone who sees her attacked feels a deep-seated reflexive instinct to protect and defend her, even if she isn't in the room.

When she focuses... every word she says is just the word she has to say, and is taken in the most favourable manner. It's impossible to stay mad at her, or to deny her.

Under the surface, in the depths of her mind, lurk darker thoughts. Her practice with altering the world comes into full manifestation when she panics and loses her composure, her fears seeping into the world.


You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Charisma rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Charisma (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Latent Nightmares: When your mind damage becomes Alarmed or worse make a self-control roll. You automatically fail this roll if your mind damage is Delirious or worse. On a failure, your fears and panic begin to manifest as illusions around you, typically taking the form of shadow creatures. All actions and movement must be focused on dealing with the illusions, which persist until you make a 4-success Mind roll at the end of a turn. The illusions focus on you, but are visible to all and will attempt to prevent anyone from helping you.

You also gain the following effects:

  • An Honest Face: Your word is unimpeachable, and is accepted as truth so long as you are speaking the truth as you understand it.
  • No Choice But To Stan: If someone speaks or acts against you socially, anyone observing it must roll Mind, with the difficulty equal to your Charisma, in order to not defend you.

  • Being forced to Stan will not force someone to violate any of their Limits or to engage in violence of any kind (though they may still do so of their own volition).

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Revision purchased with:
Improvement from running Stormy Talks spent on improving power: Latent Instincts    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing up Flash Suits spent on revising power: Latent Instincts
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from running Polite Disagreements spent on improving power: Latent Instincts    (since refunded)
Improvement from writing up Polite Disagreements spent on improving power: Latent Instincts    (since refunded)

Community Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You may send a single message to all targets which are within a specified range. It can be no more complicated than a multi-page letter or a long email.

You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.

  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Gemoid. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted..

You no longer age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.

Your Injuries no longer degrade with time.

Any creature that consumes or is injected with your bodily fluids receives a Severity-1 Injury. Every minute, they must roll Body Difficulty 9. If they fail, the Injury worsens by 1 Severity. If they succeed, the Injury stops worsening.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Gemoid Body: The red hair they possess shines and glistens in the light like an actual gemstone, making it very visable if not covered.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Pyrophobia.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Hearing: You are capable of perceiving physical shapes via sound. You must produce a Ting to “ping” with your echolocation each Round you wish to use it.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 50 feet. You must actively and obviously use A wand: a polished rod of metal or wood. to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Occult 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 Contested Outcome of your activation roll is 4 or higher, the activation cost of this Effect is refunded.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of Effect. There must be no substantial obstructions between you and your target.

Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions.

You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.

The new appearance may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You cannot alter your clothes. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see the flexing of ligaments past what would normally be considered flexible.

You cannot alter the appearance of your flesh and blood.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.

Stock Power Gifts

Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Non-Alien 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. You may perceive through your original body's senses by maintaining Concentration. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness 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.

Targets with Body ratings higher than 10 require a Charisma + Animals roll resisted by the target’s Body. Kaiju and environment-scale targets are immune.

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

  • If targeting a Sapient target that counts as a Creature due to an Effect, you must succeed a contested Mind roll. You roll at Difficulty 6, and the target rolls at Difficulty 8.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

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 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.

  • The target must be able to understand you and must receive your communication for the suggestion to work.
  • Allowed Commands
    • Direct Order: The target must take an immediate action (e.g. “Sit down,” "run away," or "tell me your password.")
  • In the case of a failed activation, GMs should consider how bystanders would realistically react to a potentially-outlandish accusation of mind-reading.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • You learn the object's highest material value and why it is worth so much.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand.

Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Each additional appendage you have gives you +1 dice to make and resist Grapples (up to a maximum bonus of +4 dice).

Any Battle Scars that affect or remove your additional limb will heal in a single week.

You may dedicate your extra Quick Action to contest any attempt to escape your Grapples. If you do so, you roll your full dice pool to contest and retain your Action to do anything that does not target the subject of your Grapple.

Your Extra Appendage is incapable of fine object manipulation.

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.

You may send a single message to your target. It can be as complex or as large as you like. It takes at least 30 minutes before it is received.

The message may be intercepted while in transit, and may be overheard, read, or otherwise understood by anyone near either you or the recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.

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

  • Depending on the length of your message, it may take a target some time and/or effort to understand it in its entirety.
  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.