Dead Languages "What, no Ingles? Uh...uno momento..." *crunch, crunch, gibber*

1
The power to communicate with humans and Sapient beings.
Used by Edgar Stokes, Created by Strazhari.
(Anyone who witnesses you activate this Effect or for its duration is very likely to be disturbed to see Cannabalism. You must actively and obviously be using up flesh of the target.)

Edgar must consume a portion of a corpse (ideally the tongue, but any bit will do), gaining fluency in any language the target knew for the next hour. On occasion, he will learn the language indefinitely. The echoes of memories lay dormant within the Ghoul, allowing him to immediately recognize any language he hears.

When consuming the flesh of the dead, Ghouls can sometimes gain fluency in languages known to those they have eaten. Unlike the scraps of memory they usually gain, maintaining such an intuitive block of information is fleeting at best, rarely lasting more than an hour. A ghoul may attempt to facilitate this process by eating the tongue of the deceased, although any pound of flesh will do in a pinch.


Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect cannot be used unless you consume flesh from someone who knows the language in question. You must use up flesh of the target in order to activate this Effect.

You may understand and communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.

This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.

Whenever you encounter a Language you could commune in with this Effect, you immediately understand which language it is, the dialect, region, and other details about it.

If you use this Effect to spend an hour speaking with a native speaker of a human language you don't know, you may Exert your Mind and roll Intellect + Culture Difficulty 7. With Outcome 4 or higher, you permanently learn that language and accent.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Cannabalism.

  • The target of "human" refers to any target that speaks a human language.
  • When reading written communications, you get no information beyond what the writer was intending to communicate.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.

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Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing up Crimes of Passion spent on improving power: Dead Languages    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Forever Young spent on revising power: Dead Languages    (since refunded)

Community Power Gifts

The girls’ power continues to grow with their search for the mess they made by opening Pandora’s Box. They’ve already gotten ahold of the feeling they get when they know they’re headed towards a spirit of interest; they’ll be able to conjure up that feeling again from now on.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You automatically detect all Spirits within 300 feet of you for the next hour. This includes any who come within range during the duration. You have a sense of how many valid targets are nearby, as well as their distance and direction.

If no Spirits targets are within 300 feet of you, and then one enters range, you automatically detect it, even if this Effect is not active.

Even if there are no Spirits within 300 feet of you, you become aware of the direction the closest one is in, as well as a rough sense of its distance from you.

Any Spirits detected while this Effect is active are “marked”. You will continue to detect them until the Effect ends, no matter how far away they move. You will also continue to detect them after the Effect ends, so long as they remain within 300 feet of you.

Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action.

You transform into Werebear for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are Werebear, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. Reverting from your Alternate Form cannot cause your existing Injuries to kill you. Instead, you remain Incapacitated.

While transformed, your Dexterity is increased by 2 and your Perception is increased by 2. Your Stress is reduced by 2.

Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -1).

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Fur sprouting on his body, his body morphing, skin slightly stretching to fit the new figure.

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.

  • Reminder: Weapon Damage from multiple sources does not stack. Instead, the highest value is used.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1). The target's Armor is fully effective against this damage.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: weak spot on back.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Armored Fist: You cannot take Damage from attacking a dangerous material (such as steel armor, a spiked carapace, or an acidic blob). You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your attacks.
  • Flow Like Water: If you win a Clash or successfully prevent an attack by Defending, you may instead redirect the incoming attack to another target within range. If you Defend, the redirected attack uses your positive Outcome after defending, if you Clash it uses the outcome in entirety if you win.

  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee weapons.

+2 dice to all rolls with melee weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using melee weapons.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Quick Draw: You may draw and equip yourself with any melee weapon on your person or within arm’s reach as a Free Action, as long as it is not being wielded by someone else.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.

Stock Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

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

You also gain the following effects:

  • Constant Vigilance: You may React to surprise Attacks, and you do not automatically lose initiative if ambushed or caught-flat footed. +2 dice to Initiative.
  • Can't Unsee: Any Trauma rolls you make are rolled at +2 Difficulty.

  • You can still be ambushed if you are incapacitated, stunned, or being kept unconscious supernaturally.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits as long as engaged in combat with wooden longbows.

You receive +2 dice to all rolls using wooden longbows. Reloading is a Free Action, and drawing your weapon does not require a Quick Action as long as it is on your person.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Parry: You may use a Reaction to Defend against any Melee, thrown, or projectile Attack in range of your Attacks.
  • Bullseye: If you are not making an attack or activating an Effect, any projectile you fire will be considered a complete success without needing to make a roll.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch or clock 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).

While using this Effect, you may carry one other being without affecting your Encumbrance, so long as you maintain contact with them for the duration and they consent or are grappled.

  • The time reduction on non-Movement Actions applies only to the parts of actions when your personal speed is a factor,: pouring water or smoking a steak are not affected, but constructing a shelter or picking a lock would be. The GM will determine how much the total time is reduced based on how relevant personal speed is to the task.
  • Any Encumbrance penalty to your movement still applies, but you do not suffer from any sort of exhaustion.
  • Damage from a collision depends on your speed at the time, as well as what you hit. GM's discretion, but generally moving faster than a car on the freeway and hitting a dense, solid object like a wall or a tree should be lethal. Mundane armor will not apply, but any supernatural forms of protection will.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet as well as a specific emotion. This Effect cannot be used unless you are engaged in conversation with the target. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6 -3 dice.

If you succeed, for the next minute, your target will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by the chosen emotion. They will not necessarily display their emotions in an obvious way.

Actions they take will be in keeping with their character and the way they tend to deal with strong emotions. They will be unlikely to change their mind about any actions taken or decisions made until after the Effect ends.

  • Common emotions and the actions they inspire
    • Anger (shouting, cruelty, denying requests, attacking)
    • Pity (stopping an attack, executing an injured target)
    • Happiness (generosity, dancing, joking, socializing)
    • Sadness (finding solitude, openly crying, demotivation)
    • Fear (running, attacking)
  • If you succeed, the target MUST take at least one Action they otherwise would not have. Hey, GM who is reading this, I'm talking to you. You have to enforce this. Remember: Gifts must feel powerful.
  • 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 an Action.

You automatically detect all illegal materials within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You do not learn any details about the detected items.

  • This includes any objects that come into range during activation.
  • This Effect does not satisfy the line of sight targeting requirement for other Effects.