The howl of the Banshee foretells death. Those who hear you are plagued with intense visions of their own demise, or that of those they hold dearest: either way, it's rarely a pleasant thing to experience.
Sacrifice: It turns out that violently wailing grim portents of death is also murder on your throat. Take the Severity-1 Injury "Shredded Vocal Cords" when you activate this ability.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8 with a -3 dice penalty. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically and their Outcome is 0.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes Mind damage equal to the Contested Outcome. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target will gain a new Trauma selected by the GM. 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.
Jan. 13, 2024, 8:33 p.m. - Revision Cost: 1. Added Drawback: Sacrifice, Removed Drawback: Humanities
The user uses the Mutagen Injector to inject the target with a bubbling red liquid, which causes the target's flesh, bone, and organs to mutate and develop hard cancerous growths. Over time, these growths spread throughout the target's body, eventually proving fatal.
After obtaining a blood sample from a genetically-engineered werewolf, Xaver researched it's properties, and found that it contained independent compounds which could self-replicate any organic solution it is present in if stimulated correctly, and cause rapid cancerous mutations in most living tissues. Xaver is currently using this to expedite his research, creating cancer biopsy samples from various healthy tissue samples. While the mutagen takes time to self-replicate, it does create enough to be used once per day.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a Animate target within arm’s reach. Roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 6. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 8.
If you succeed, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes any number of the following symptoms:
The affliction is not treatable by modern medicine. It may be diagnosed by rolling Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 6, and can be cured by cutting out the growths.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see the target mutating to display visible cancerous growths.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Harry channels the vigilance and resolve of Ilya Muromets, relying not on sight, but on his connection to the world around him. As he exerts his mind and focuses, his heightened senses allow him to perceive the area in ways others cannot. Over the course of a minute, he methodically “feels” the space around him—not physically, but through vibrations, airflow, and the resonance of his surroundings.
Traps and ambushes stand out like discordant vibrations in the otherwise steady rhythm of the area. A faint tension in the air reveals the presence of a tripwire, while subtle shifts in pressure signal hidden dangers or lurking enemies. Concealed doors and secret caches reveal themselves as whispers of drafts through cracks, changes in density underfoot, or the faint scent of something hidden.
Through Ilya’s legacy, Harry’s blindness becomes his strength, transforming the environment into a tapestry of sensations. The area’s secrets unfold, granting him unparalleled awareness of dangers and hidden features. Just as Ilya Muromets stood as a vigilant protector of his land, Harry uncovers and understands what others cannot, guided by the echoes of the world around him.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
when the target is enthralled , its eyes shine a barely noticeable purple light and obey the command with the open formula "would you kindly.."
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Alertness 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 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. 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.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Tinnitus.
Keith Nightly plays a musical instrument, and the heart and soul poured into his performance sways his target to fulfil a subliminal message put into the music.
Uses Music
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action to activate. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use Musical Instrument to activate this Effect. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Performance 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. 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.
Isaac claps his hands, and an illusion, one without substance, forms for all parties involved in the deal. It takes the appearance of the interior of a private railway car. Isaac will stand by the table and engage a member of the opposing force in a negotiation.
When the negotiation ends, hands are shaken, and the illusion ends.
The illusion takes the appearance of the private railway car of Ferdinand Foch, the Marshal of France during WW1, and is where the armistice was signed between the two sides. For a man tired of war, it was a fitting enough symbol.
You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must take a Severity-1 Injury and all participants must Shake Hands 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 target 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 target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.
Whenever a participant breaks the oath, you are immediately made aware and may even witness the act as if standing nearby.
It is obvious to your target that the oath you are proposing will be supernaturally enforced.
The mobster presents a reasoned, logical case to the target: there's a lot of dangerous folks out there, and only they can offer safety... for a price.
If they agree, they will pay the mobster a monthly fee for protection. If they stop making their payments... well, let's just say, the mobster can't be held responsible for any unsavory types that might pay them a visit.
This Effect cannot be used unless you are making a deal to exchange money for protection.
You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must shake hands 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 target 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 target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.
The aristocrat knows a ritual that allows them to rent the best version of any item. They set $10,000 worth of cash on fire and place the item to be upgraded in the fire as well. While in the flame, the item morphs into a high-end version of itself. After a while, it reverts.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. You must use up $10,000 cash (or equivalent) in order to activate this Effect. Cannot be used to improve Armor.
Lasts the next two hours. Your target receives 3 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +3 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice.
The spy is able to transform an ordinary ballpoint pen into a monitoring device that is inconspicuous enough to blend in to most settings, but advanced enough to allow 360 degree surveillance as well as audio capture, which is sent to their smartphone.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 10 feet. You must actively and obviously use a ballpoint pen to activate this Effect.
You place a ward, which is fixed to its initial location. You can hear and see through the ward as though you were standing at its location. Your wards last 3 hours. You may have at most 3 wards active at once.
The ward requires Concentration to monitor, though it will remain active until you deactivate it. It can be detected with a roll and destroyed through mundane means.
The Psychic can speak directly into someone's mind, engaging in an entirely telepathic conversation. While they do, they take on a blank, vacant stare in the direction of their target, and appear to be muttering gibberish to themselves under their breath.
Exert your Mind and 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. This Effect cannot be used unless you can see your target.
You open up a line of communication to your target, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
By slowing the hands of one of their watches, the time-traveler may interrupt and slow a target's movement through time. The target appears to be moving in slow motion for the duration.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use a watch or clock to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the target will suffer a dice penalty equal to the Outcome for the next 2 Rounds. Dice pools may be reduced all the way down to 0 by this penalty. This breaks Concentration.
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.