Only the most crass, disloyal citizen of the Empire would raise a hand against their Emperor - in this unlikely event, they will find themselves swiftly disarmed, even thrown to the ground - The Emperor will not tolerate assaults on his person.
Issac Neuman was quite the proponent of Tai-Chi & Aikido in his former life, both as a method of staying fit & as an opening to sell certain clients on his "woke" spirituality. As Emperor Norton II, Issac has discovered the truth behind the techniques - that the open hand is stronger than the clenched fist - the pen is mightier than the sword.
Incidentally, the Emperor leads daily Tai-Chi sessions in Golden Gate park for any who wish to attend.
You gain the following benefits as long as you take Defensive Actions only and you are engaged in unarmed combat. You must actively and obviously be using Imperial Raiment to gain the benefits of this Effect.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1). The target's
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.
You also gain the following effects:
Neil generates a portal of miasma in front of him, and reaches in, either depositing or withdrawing a corpse.
Spend an Action.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within armโs reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Corpses in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a rolling luggage bag (60 liters), and you may store up to 5 of them at a time.
Time is effectively frozen in your Stash. Sapient targets still experience a local passage of time inside the stash, and this does not extend the duration of Effects inside the stash.
Animate targets may Resist being stashed. You must Exert your Mind to stash Sapient targets.
The Psychic issues a telepathic command, communicated as sounding like a sharp whisper in the ear, to the target.
Then, they gesture an open hand towards the target. When the command is issued successfully, the target gives a slow nod and a smile that doesnโt quite reach the eyes.
Spend at least one Action to activate. Select a Sapient, Living target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless you currently have Telepathic Chatter active on the target. 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 Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
You must maintain Concentration while your command is being carried out. If you break Concentration, any active suggestions you have issued will end.
Kyle stretches flexes his muscles, and as his back muscles ripple, feathered and scaly wings sprout from his back. He tilts his head from side to side, cracking his neck, and when he smiles there are bloodied fangs descending from his jaw. He cracks his knuckles, and when he opens his hands to flex them, iron claws spring from his fingertips.
Kyle looks at you and smiles, and he is the most beautiful creature you have ever seen.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a siren for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a siren, 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 Charisma is increased by 2. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
Benoit begins to mime as if there is an invisible box that he is trapped in, this box becoming reality and deflecting attacks that are dealt towards him.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Roll Dexterity + Performance at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome + 4 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of the Barrier Strength Parameterโs bonus. Their Armor applies in full. 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.
Rhythmic, you dodge and weave past the mob. Untargetable. Unstoppable. You switch it up before they can lock on, and begin the game again. Never the same interval. Always shifting, always changing. A flawless dance punctuated by the harmless incapacitation of one of their number, until none are left.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat. You must actively and obviously be using hand wraps to gain the benefits of this Effect.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 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.
You also gain the following effects:
Finally, the girls are fusing the way theyโve wanted to since they began Contracting, three and a half years ago. It took Graceโs left eye for them to try this, but the girls are now able to spend a week focusing their energy towards a Battle Scarred area and permanently replacing it with The Spiritโs ghostly flesh. The replaced chunks, eyes, arms, whatever may come, appear just as The Spiritโs: bluish and semi-transparent, but now function just as the respective physical flesh would.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Any Injury you receive heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level every 6 hours. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active do not deteriorate over time. However, any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will remain unless it is Properly Stabilized as normal.
All Injuries you receive are considered Properly Stabilized. You may also choose to heal any Battle Scar on yourself that may not have been caused by an Injury. Doing so takes one day, and the Battle Scar affects you fully until that time.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: any scars that heal this way leave the flesh in that area bluish and semi-transparent, causing you to be viewed as a freak by most people who see you.
Any successful musician knows the value of a good roadie. The musician calls for a roadie, and one will promptly arrive. The roadie doesn't talk much, and they aren't too bright, but they can sure haul gear.
After a couple hours of work, the roadie will retire to smoke and get some sleep.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single Sapient roadie at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The Thief examines an object closely for a minute to appraise its value. As their eyes dance across the subject, their pupils split vertically, and their irises fade to gold. If it is a particularly valuable item, the Thief may greedily lick their lips, revealing a forked tongue.
Within a minute, they have determined how materially valuable the object is and why.
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 cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Through years of practice, the mobster is able to shatter someone's kneecap without much effort.
Spend an Action. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use a melee weapon to activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Melee at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, -2 dice at Difficulty 7, as a Free Action to resist.
If you succeed, the target receives a new Battle Scar of your choosing, limited by the contested Outcome:
All alterations you make must damage the target's knees.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
The Vampire has grown wicked fangs in place of their canines, allowing them to thoroughly drain a person of blood should they get ahold of one.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are biting and 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.
You also gain the following effects: