Linguistic Espionage Mastery

2
The power to communicate with Creatures, humans, and Sapient beings.
Used by Harold Polk, Created by jwesley123.
(It is clear that you are communicating with the target. )

Harold Polk has honed his skills not only in the courtrooms of Chicago but in the shadowy corridors of international diplomacy and espionage. By tapping into his deep understanding of cultural nuance and linguistic subtlety, Harold has developed a unique capability akin to a high-tech linguistic decryption tool. With a moment of concentration, his mind synchronizes with the wavelength of any spoken or written communication, allowing him to fluently understand and interact with any creature or person, irrespective of language barriers.

This ability stems not from supernatural talent but from a rare combination of spy training, legal acumen, and a sophisticated mental framework developed over years of decoding complex legal documents and sensitive intelligence information. When activated, Harold’s eyes might briefly flicker with a subtle, cipher-like glow, reflecting the mental processing of converting unfamiliar languages to comprehensible information.


Exert your Mind and spend one minute.

You may understand and communicate to Creatures, 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.

  • Communing with creatures does not grant them intellect but does allow you to converse with them.
  • 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.

Community Activated Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect.

You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot affect the outside world (other than non-combat Actions using your hands, at +2 Difficulty) or take any Actions. You may move as normal while phased out. You may pass through walls and "climb" up and down through solid material at normal climbing speeds. Nothing can interact with you in any way.

When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.

You leave A mirage of his body just standing there where he phased out at your location.

  • If you phase in while intersecting with solid material, you take a severe, potentially-lethal Injury.
  • Any items and equipment on your person become intangible along with you. You cannot interact with them, as they are intangible.
  • Effects that do not require a physical target may still affect you.
  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.

You transform into Transparent slime-like substance for the next hour. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. It is not necessarily obvious that your transformed state is an unusual phenomena or that it is acting with singular purpose.

While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that is not water-tight.

Damage from standard attacks is halved, but damage from AOE effects is increased by 1.

You cannot communicate, use equipment, or use Gifts while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. You cannot carry any items while transformed.

You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Your whole body starting to melt.

After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.

  • You may only switch this Effect on or off once per Round.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend 1 minute to activate. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 6.

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.

  • Unstabilized wounds do not degenerate during treatment.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. This Effect cannot be used unless scar must be submerged in water. Select up to four Battle Scars on yourself to treat.

The treated Battle Scars heals as you finish activating this Effect. If used on a Battle Scar caused by an Unstabilized Injury, that Injury is Stabilized.

Hunahpu & Xbalanque lend their mosquito trick to indentify those around you.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action. Roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour.

You automatically detect all humans within 50 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 this Effect fails due to the Unreliable check, you must still pay any associated activation costs.

Stock Activated Gifts

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction.

You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.

When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.

You leave a golden glow shaped like yourself at your location.

  • If you use this Effect to dodge as a Reaction, it succeeds without the need for a roll. Cannot be used as a Desperate Defense.
  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.

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 Severity-limiting effect from Squish does not stack with the Enhancement Tough from Mythic Brawn.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.

  • Thermal: You are able to "see" heat signatures within your line of sight.
  • Hearing: You automatically know the origin location of any sound you hear, and you can tell which Action caused the sound.

  • Your thermal vision allows you to judge temperatures of surfaces fairly accurately as long as they are within livable temperatures.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.

You automatically detect all people wielding weapons 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.

  • This Effect does not satisfy the line of sight targeting requirement for other Effects.

Spend a Quick Action.

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 units of water in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.

You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.

  • "Equip" refers to drawing a gun, putting on a piece of armor, etc. You may store or withdraw a maximum of 6 items in a given Round. Reminder: you may perform up to two Quick Actions for -2 dice each or 3 if you use up your Action, unless a different Effect grants you additional Quick Actions.
  • Containers which hold multiple things may count as a single item so long as the things within are generally packaged together. For instance, you may stash a clip full of bullets, a medical kit full of medical supplies, or a box of crackers, but you cannot stash a backpack full of miscellaneous equipment.
  • You may only attempt to store Objects which are free-standing and disconnected from other things. The use of this Effect will not allow you to sever any connections holding an Object in place.
  • The Maximum Object Size parameter is intended to roughly capture the weight / size restriction of items and isn’t intended to restrict shape. GM discretion is advised. A human being is level 4 in the Maximum Object Size parameter.