A small cowrie shell pendant appears on the necklace, which glows while the barrier is up.
Joe takes a meditative pose and takes a deep breath, during which he establishes his inner peace and then wills it to supernaturally manifest. A nearly invisible spherical barrier appears around him and his friends. The barrier ripples with soft light (like under sunshine through water) when touched by anything, and it splashes and cracks when damaged.
While dangers, chaos, and bad weather are all a part of life, Joe's inner peace is available to all who are (literally) within his inner circle.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. This Effect cannot be used unless you take no Quick Actions, Free Actions, nor minimal Movements. Roll Intellect + Influence at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a Barrier extending out 15 feet from yourself, which absorbs 2 times the next Outcome + 4 Damage. Only applies to attacks which originated outside the 15 foot radius, and protects anyone who is within that radius. Nothing can pass into the bubble until the barrier is broken. 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. 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.
Blessed by the Yaksha; you call apon it's power & transform into a magnificient divine general the likes of which rarely grace this plane.
Good luck to whoever's fighting you.
Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action.
You transform into Yaksha; Giant version of myself. for two hours.You are unable to revert to your original form at will and must wait for the duration to fully elapse before returning to normal. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), but you can use your Powers. The equipment you are wearing does not transform 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.
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.
While transformed, you are obviously unusual, unnatural, or alien, and the average person will take a special interest in you.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Preston uses a staff to draw a magic circle on the ground around or adjacent to an object. He then raises the staff and shouts "Epsilon Omicron!" With a mighty zap, the circle opens up to a swirling portal, and the object is drawn inside. The ritual may be performed without an object to summon an object that was previously sent to the void.
Spend two Actions performing the following ritual: draw a circle around or adjacent to the target and shout "Epsilon Omicron!". You must actively and obviously use a staff to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
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 any targets in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside an SUV (4,000 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
Animate targets may Resist being stashed. You must Exert your Mind to stash Sapient targets.
An airy puff pastry filled with cream that ignores all allergies. It's so large you have to take some time to eat the whole thing, but it's so good that you don't regret it, and it won't make you feel heavy after. Plus it heal ya wounds boss.
It comes in a box that reads "Jann Melmouth, Freelance Pastry Chef". The box also has Jann's contact info on the inside, under where the paper box liner sits.
Use up this pastry and spend 1 minute. Roll 7 dice Difficulty 6, penalty does not apply.
If you succeed, the Injury is reduced in Severity by your Outcome. If you reduce its Severity to 0, the Injury is fully healed. Otherwise, it is partially healed and will heal the rest of the way at its natural rate.
This counts as a successful Makeshift Stabilization if the Injury was not already Stabilized; any Battle Scars caused by the Injury will remain.
Minerva sucks in a breath and grips her pendant, squeezing it hard enough to hurt. She stares into her own reflection, and wills it to change. Her own form is begins to change in accordance with her desires. She breathes hard during this; the process is obviously deeply unpleasant, more so the bigger changes she makes.
Minerva's will begins to manifest further. More than just influencing people, more than just influencing herself, her will begins to spill over onto the world itself.
She started with small changes the first night, exploring the spark that had formed in her. The next night, she had fur. She could feel her bones grind, her jaw cracking as it turned into a maw, her flesh stretch as a tail burst out. She collapsed, crying. But they were tears of happiness, for in this first moment, all was right in the world. She slept like that, the first time she did it. It was restful sleep. She sleeps like that whenever she can now.
She's realized that her clothes are merely an extension of herself - and as such, she can mutate them just as much.
///
Meta: Minerva's mutation is more than just bone deep, and a large part of her transformation is instinctive and subconscious. When she gives herself fur, she's also instinctively messing with her own neurochemistry. She experiences a form of mild and constant euphoria while transformed.
She needs a mirror because she's exerting her will on changing herself, and at the moment, she needs to look at what she's doing.
"Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both marble and sculptor."
///
History: As Minerva's concept comes together, I think 'everything is a cantrip / is effortless for her' is a big part of it. At the point of this edit, the power hasn't been used on a contract or a significant part of a move.
After Minerva's inability to use her powers while she was transformed lead to one of her fellow contractors dying, she focused, practicing. Practicing, practicing. She learned to use them when she's not her... but the pain she worked though is still there, always in the back of her mind.
Seasoned:
Minerva's powers intensified. Building on top of the latent power she has over other people, it's blossomed into something entirely more. People accept her if she believes she should be accepted. Her changes are deeper, touching her soul. But most importantly, they last. They last as long as she needs. She goes to sleep and awakes.. proper.
Something's happened, though. She doesn't have full control over it, and when she tries to change her form, it's almost like holding onto water. She needs to struggle as hard as she can just to keep from falling apart. It's hard work, and she has to exert her mind. At times, she wishes it was as easy as before.
Professional:
Minerva's experiences - traumatic and otherwise - have provided a little bit of clarity. She's only truly content in her true form. She's reluctant to do it - it takes her longer, she has a little bit less control over mutating her true form. But after everything that's happened, it's not quite as traumatic - she knows she'll go back. It's a deeper shift, as well. If something happens, she won't 'finch', and go back to her true form. She knows she can go back to it when she can. Just not yet.
Exert your Mind and spend a half hour. You must actively and obviously use a silver fox pendant to activate this Effect.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts until you either activate a new disguise, or choose to end the effect.
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 may change the appearance of your outfit. Your disguise can alter your smell, DNA, and other aspects that are not perceivable via human senses. This does not conceal you against investigative Effects. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You can "pass" in any culture or group without arousing suspicion as long as you look normal for that group and can communicate with those inside the group.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see The moment Minerva 'unlatches' her form, it pulses like a degaussed TV. Her clothes and flesh both smear some, uncountable wounds on her her leaking. They don't seem to hurt, but she's obviously struggling to stay in one piece. In the wounds, the tears to another place entirely, one can sense all the things that shouldn't be said. Intrusive thoughts come to mind. But are they hers? Or yours?.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
the deer god takes her crackers and replace it with a comically large version of what she wants
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. You must actively and obviously use deer crackers to activate this Effect.
Choose an Object which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You cannot create firearms.
Roll Brawn + Alertness to fabricate up to 5 copies of your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.
The Vampire may channel their inner beast and take the form of an animal. It is said they may transform into either a wolf or a bat. If used too often, the Vampire risks losing themselves to their beast forever.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.
You transform into a vampire bat or a wolf 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.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: A disfigured face with bat-like ears.
The aquamancer dissolves into a flowing pool of semi-solid water. Anything they were carrying is left behind in a damp pile. While transformed, they may squeeze through tiny gaps, and are extremely resilient against most standard attacks.
Resolidifying is exhausting.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a flowing pool of water for the next minute. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. Observers will view you as an unusual entity moving with a singular purpose.
While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that is not water-tight.
Injuries from standard attacks are reduced to Severity 1, but Damage from AOE effects is increased by 1.
You cannot communicate or use equipment while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. You cannot carry any items while transformed.
You have access to your Powers while transformed.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
The time-traveler spins the second hand on one of their watches and speeds up until they are a blur.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch to activate this Effect.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
Outside of Combat, any non-Gift, non-movement Actions you attempt take drastically less time to complete, as long as your personal speed is a factor in the Action. Total time reduction is determined by the GM and capped at 90% (executing the Action takes no less than 1/10th the normal time).
The Necromancer temporarily assumes the form of their own corpse, complete with maggots, spilled entrails, and exposed bone. They cannot move while transformed, but their empty eye sockets see as well as ever.
Exert your Mind and Spend an Action.
You transform into your own corpse for one minute. While transformed, you may control the functioning of the object you have transformed into. You can perceive your surroundings as normal. You can be targeted as a Non-Living, Sapient Object.
If you are damaged while transformed, the damage is realized when you return to normal. If you are damaged before you transform, your inanimate form will appear partially damaged.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
The Ninja is a master at blending in to any crowd or organization. If they can find complete privacy, they may channel their ninjutsu to temporarily create the illusion of any outfit or uniform they desire. The new clothes shimmer into existence over their existing garb over the course of a minute of meditation.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute.
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 must have a similar sex, age, and race to your own. You cannot significantly change your height and weight. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You may change the appearance of your outfit. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
You cannot alter the appearance of your flesh and blood.