A wide smile spreads across my face as the Amethyst sparkles, dazzling the target into submission. This fixture on my teeth is imbued with a forceful magic that makes me appear that much more enticing, how could a charming man such as myself ever wish harm upon them?
In the hands – or rather, on the tooth – of its possessor, the Smile of the Ascended Ace becomes a conduit for mesmerizing influence. A wide grin adorned with the sparkling amethyst, coupled with a few choice words, can sway hearts, bend wills, and alter the course of destinies. Yet, as with all things of such potency, there comes a price.
For those who dare to wield the Smile of the Ascended Ace, a peculiar battle scar manifests over time. A burn mark, shaped in the likeness of an ace of hearts, emerges upon the skin, glowing with an ethereal light and causing a stinging sensation whenever its wearer indulges in deceit at the gambling tables. This scar serves as a reminder of the consequences that accompany the misuse of such formidable power.
Despite the allure of its abilities, the Smile of the Ascended Ace remains both a blessing and a burden to its bearer. Its influence can shape fortunes and sway the course of events, yet it demands caution and restraint lest its wielder succumb to the temptations of absolute control. In the cosmic dance of power and consequence, this legendary artifact stands as a testament to the delicate balance between influence and responsibility.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) 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 + 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 hours. 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-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 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 Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: A Burn Mark in the Shape of an Ace of Hearts that Glows and Stings Whenever He is Cheating at a Table Game. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a number of Living targets equal to your Charisma within 45 feet as well as a specific emotion. This Effect cannot be used unless must be able to preform a shanty and be heard. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, for the next hour, affected targets 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. Your own emotions are also shifted in the same 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.
A careful examination of a crime scene can tell this detective more than you could possibly know. Keeping an eye and an ear out for any hidden malcontents, a mix of finely tuned senses and a special kind of intuition are all Frank needs to ensure he's not stepping onto another landmine.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. 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.
Crane programs his nanite to add on and strengthen the material within the device he is utilizing. Enhancing its core components, speeding up its process, reducing cost, enhancing efficiency, with just a basic understanding of the machine, he can truly go wild.
Exert your Mind and spend an hour. Select a non-Alien Advanced Technology within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use Nanite Factory to activate this Effect. 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. Can be used on Armor.
Lasts the next day. 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. Upgraded Armor is shredded by half the normal amount. If it is a piece of Armor, it instead receives half that amount as bonus armor rating, rounded up , and any armor penalty it causes is reduced by 1. If an upgraded shield and armor are both worn, the upgrade bonus does not stack with itself.
Upgraded items have half their normal weight, for the purposes of encumbrance.
You may choose a second valid Device target while activating this Effect and splice both targets into a single new Device. The newly created item has the same size as the larger of the two initial targets, and can be used to perform the same actions as either of the original items. It receives 2 to those actions for the next day.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
Mike takes about half a minute inscribing or engraving his first rune on the device to be repaired. If the repair attempt is successful, the rune and tool glow with werelight as breaks seal, bends straighten, and in general the object reforms itself to it's functional state. At the end, the rune changes to be an intrinsic part of the repaired object, seemingly embossed, printed, or engraved there "from the factory". A failed attempt sees a misshapen form of the rune which sparks out and does nothing of value.
Flavor rewrite only.
Spend 10 Rounds. Select a Object within arm's reach that is no larger than an SUV. You may target Alien technology, so long as you have an understanding of its intended function. When repairing Alien targets, you must Exert your Mind. You must actively and obviously use a tool marked with the bindrune he uses to repair to activate this Effect. More than half the target object must be present in order to begin repairs. Roll Dexterity + Crafts at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, your target is repaired back to a functional state. If you fail, you spend the full time working before realizing you cannot repair the target.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
His hand distorts in a static mess, and with the touch of his hand against his victim he distorts their flesh to his will.
Exert your Mind and Spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Roll Intellect + Occult 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:
The Scepter of Ang-Kapal is a gruesome device fashioned to look like a skeletal arm clutching a glass eye. When used, blood from the person holding is drawn into the eye where it swirls with dark energy. The eye turns to a nearby corpse and shudders, reviving the creature. The creature does not retain any of its memories or personality, but it is absolutely loyal to whoever is holding the scepter.
The Scepter of Ang Kepal has the unfortunate side effect of driving its owner mad.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.
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 for eight hours or 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.
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.
Destroying one of your zombies requires a called shot to the head or heart. All other Injuries zombies suffer result in Battle Scars only, limiting their mobility and effectiveness in other ways.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
The influencer is 100% tuned-in to any sort of chatter about themselves. Any time someone nearby so much as whispers about them, they know who they were and what they said.
This Effect activates whenever someone talks about you. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target Location within 75 feet.
You may perceive things through hearing 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.
Come one, come all! Stand in amazement and behold as the Fire Eater consumes a flame as if it were cotton candy! Gasp with fright as they breathe a plume of fire a great distance! And yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is quite dangerous.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: perform a fire-breathing trick. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you take a Severity-4 Injury as the fire burns your throat. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
You may start or extinguish a fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace at your target. You may create or extinguish fires the size of a lighter or candle flame without Exerting your Mind. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.
Lighting a target on fire deals 3 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be depleted by any Damage dealt, destroying the Armor once it reaches 0.
You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.
The mystic channels and communes directly with another person's spirit, allowing the two of them to freely exchange both physical and mental wounds between each other.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. Your target may Resist to cancel the transfer.
You may choose a single instance of one of the following to transfer from your target to yourself, or from yourself to them:
Whenever you transfer an Injury, it's Severity increases by 1. Whenever you transfer Mind damage or Traumas, the recipient takes an additional Mind damage.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
The detective can learn a lot by watching someone for a minute. Each subtle detail, every unexplained stain, reveals something about where the target has been. Ocassionally, they'll drop a business card, or explain how to contact them. The detective is listening.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target does not know you're watching them. You cannot investigate the same target more than once per hour. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is that you keep peeking at the target. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.