Minerva lets out a breath, and speaks her command first in her mind. It's not important for her to say them out loud anymore. With focus, she imbues her words with her will, and then she lets them out into the world in some way.
Her burgeoning powers first manifest with what she knows best - telling other people to do things. As she gets stronger, more comfortable with her powers, they get easier. But also more intimate somehow, deeper. Her own thoughts start to brush just a little against unknowable things, against shadows in her own mind. They don't like this.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action to activate. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your 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 and a conditional request. 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-endangering or self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
You must have some means of communicating this command to your target, but no one other than you and them will understand or perceive it.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Penalty ever exceeds 5.
As the contract is verbally stated the caster's eyes glow red and their teeth are turned serrated.
You must use up 100$ dollars in order to activate this Effect.
You may make an oath with any number of physically-present, Sapient targets. Communicate the oath's terms to the targets, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must touch me 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 targets 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 targets, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.
When crafting your oath, you may opt to enforce compliance. If you do, any participant that wishes to break the deal must take 3 Mind damage and succeed a Self-Control roll. They may attempt once per day.
Whenever a participant breaks the oath, you are immediately made aware and may even witness the act as if standing nearby.
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.
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 for the next 30 minutes. You must maintain Concentration to keep up the effect. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is eyes slightly glow. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like a ghostly image of yourself meditating.
Jordan locks eyes with his target, and holds their gaze. Both parties’ eyes strangely dilate for a moment as if seeing something only the two of them can see. Then, if successful the target carries out the singular sentence he broadcast into their brain. For the target, what this looks like is when they gaze into Jordan’s eyes, they seem to fall into them, deeply, until all they see before them is a single sentence, and they have a deep primal fear of what will happen if they do not carry it out.
Though it is very difficult to perceive as it is a beam of light, (thus moving at light speed), the way the gift works physically are that Jordan’s alien eyes beam out an encoded signal that is received through the target’s eyes, sending a single message to their brain. If Jordan’s eyes are destroyed, he will lose access to this power. This power would also be ineffective on things that cannot visually perceive light.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a number of Sapient targets equal to your Charisma within 100 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your targets. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The 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 their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in days. 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, a conditional request, and an abstract goal. 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.
You must have some means of communicating this command to your targets, but no one other than you and them will understand or perceive it.
You may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking, reducing their Outcome by your own. Your command has no impact beyond disrupting their Action. This interrupts Concentration.
If the Contested Outcome of your activation roll is 4 or higher, the activation cost of this Effect is refunded.
Held at gunpoint by Ozz.
TL;DR: Feed Elmo cigarettes, become big flamethrower
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. You must use up an entire pack of cigarettes in order to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + 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 choose to have this Effect Damage all targets in a perfectly straight line up to its maximum range.
When you die, you may activate this Effect targeting the person that killed you at any range and without any penalty. Its roll is at -1 Difficulty.
If the target suffers an Injury from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of its Severity. When this Effect causes a Battle Scar, you may select which one of the appropriate level.
You may only use this Effect 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 Necromancer spits into the mouth of a recently deceased corpse. For the few minutes, the corpse's head comes back to life and speaks to the Necromancer.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Dead target within 50 feet. Dead targets must have died within the past week, and you must have their remains in your possession.
The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.
EzFake is an app that appears on any cell phone the influencer holds as long as they are holding it. The influencer need only make a selection and focus their will to project a lifelike forgery into the world in front of them. It may be an object, a creature, or even a specific person, and they can speak and make sounds as well.
The Influencer gets ready to film, and focuses fully on getting a good shot. After all, no video doctoring software can compete with a real life forgery which can be filmed from any number of directions by anyone's camera and appear legitimate.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: open up the app on your cell phone, make your selection, and prepare to film. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use cell phone camera to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Choose an illusion to generate, which can be no larger than a person.
The chosen illusion is generated at your target, and it will remain in place as long as you maintain Concentration or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their smell, hearing, and sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.
Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion and can choose to perceive it or not at will.
The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.
The mad scientist produces thorium cores that can be used to upgrade tools and other devices. The core supercharges the item, increasing its quality and rendering it indestructible for a period. However, once the core runs dry, the object is rendered less useful than it was before. The core crackles with blue electricity while active.
Spend 1 Action and use up this glowing blue disk. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. Cannot be used to improve Armor.
Lasts the next two hours. Your target receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. While it is upgraded, the item cannot be destroyed.
After the Effect ends, any upgraded targets suffer a -2 dice penalty until they are either repaired or upgraded again.
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.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 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 the Contested Outcome in minutes. 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 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.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.