Hyalophora Diaboli not your average cryptid

2
The power to temporarily transform into a monstrous moth creature.
Used by Mathias Galligan, Created by MesmerMara.
(While you are a monstrous moth creature, you are obviously transformed and unusual. )

Mathias shifts and morphs, his muscles coming undone and rebinding, growing and reshaping into a creature of malice. His hair weaves and flows around his neck, forming a massive mane, antennae sprout from his forehead like devil horns, and gruesome claws curve from his fingertips. He grows in size, turning into a large moth-like creature, red as the blood that will soon drip from its grizzly talons.


Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You transform into a monstrous moth creature for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a monstrous moth creature, 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 Brawn is increased by 1. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.

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

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.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Community Power Gifts

On touch:
I hug my plushies all the time. That's enough! If it was anyone else, I wouldn't know what to do. Holding hands is already a very big thing - are they going to come after me for that? Touch between people is a very intimate thing - it's just not right if it's not between people who share blood or... what's it called... a "matrimonial bond". Y'know, I don't think I'll ever get married - it just seems like a big hassle, and for what? If you really loved someone you wouldn't need a grand gesture to show it. I love my stuffed animals. At least they like me back. They've stayed.

On mobs:
It happens all the time - so many people who stare down at me (it's not that hard, I'm not very tall) and threaten to take things away and whatnot... it's honestly gotten dull at this point, but it doesn't make them any less- well, interesting. I say interesting, but those in the field know what "interesting" really entails - if we've got actual thoughts on an artwork, one word could never express it all. What if I said it was thrilling? It sends shivers through my heart and it's buzzing like a dozen bugs have started to electrify it, I feel so alive that I can't stand still, my mind splits and rejoins and I can't tell which one is myself (but we are all Luciole, it's clear by now).

On the Order:
That was my Family! Probably still is, I can't just erase the fact with a few words and thoughts. It's not on me to decide because I haven't reached that prestige yet. They watch over me. In return I must watch over those I love. I love everyone so I must watch them all. Do I want to have the choice? (How much do I want?) Well...

On tinnitus:
I never chose this. I never wanted to be this way. My body wasn't meant for this. Yet here I am pushing it to its limits and I can hardly breathe anymore. They're everywhere. They're watching. They can get me anytime, I can't calm myself and let my guard down now. They're speaking. So many of them. I can't hear much else so I'm listening. I'm happy. I'm fine. This is so normal. My heart is beating out of its chest and everything is too much, too exhausting, but I have to keep going if I want to help them so they'd let me stay-

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Dexterity rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Dexterity (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Tinnitus.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Time: Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction to make a single dodge roll that applies its full Outcome to any attacks made against you that Round. Mob bonuses do not apply on attacks against you this Round.
  • Infinity-Jointed: Your body is incredibly flexible, allowing you to maneuver and squeeze through tight spots as if you were the size of a cat, and you get +3 dice to rolls which require extreme flexibility, such as escaping grapples.
  • Split Second: You may Dodge or Defend against surprise attacks.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Location which is at most 75 feet away horizontally or 15 feet away vertically. If you are using this Effect as a Reaction, you must travel at least 10 feet. You must actively and obviously use Mifi's Obsidian rock to activate this Effect.

You jump to the chosen location. If the landing is precarious, the GM may call for a roll to land safely. You will never take fall damage from successfully landing a jump made with this Effect.

When you use this Effect as a Reaction to dodge, if you Exert your Mind to activate the Effect, you do not need to roll; your dodge is automatically successful.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Wheezing.

  • If you are Encumbered, the maximum range is cut in half. If Encumbrance has reduced your total movement to 0, you cannot activate this Effect.
  • vertical jump height measures to the bottom of your feet, so your total vertical reach is at least a body length greater.
  • Rolls to land safely will generally be Athletics, but GMs may call for a different roll at their discretion if it makes sense for the specific circumstances.
  • You must be on a surface of some kind in order to activate this Effect; it cannot be activated while in mid-air.
  • You may only use this Effect once per Round of combat, regardless of any Enhancements you have taken.
  • 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. Select a Living target within 45 feet. 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:

  1. A Minor Battle Scar E.g. an aesthetic-only body modification (a disfigured face, a pig's tail), impacted hand or foot, or vocal changes that complicate communication
  2. A Major Battle Scar E.g. a disabled/removed hand or foot, an inability to speak, an impacted major sense, removal of a minor sense, impacted movement.
  3. A Severe Battle Scar E.g. a disabled/removed arm or leg, deafness, aesthetic changes that are nearly impossible to conceal.
  4. An Extreme Battle Scar E.g. removal/disabling both hands or both legs, blindness, a full-body deformation that leaves the target humanoid but makes it difficult to use clothes, vehicles, and equipment designed for humans.
Refer to the stock Battle Scars on the Character Sheet for specific systems.

You may affect up to 3 targets within range.

When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."

Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Compulsion for payback. You must roll Self-Control to avoid using this Gift on anyone who wrongs you in a major way.

  • A given target can have a maximum of one Suspended Effect on them at a time. The selected triggering Action cannot be used to reveal information about the target (e.g. no "activate when they are a vampire"). It must be an Action they take, not a thought or something that happens to them.
  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may opt to inflict a Battle Scar that is less severe than what your Outcome allows.
  • 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 15 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must use up a steak in order to activate this Effect. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Charisma + Crafts 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.
  • 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.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is quadrupled.

If your last Action was used for an all-out sprint or you are already accelerated, you may spend an Action to accelerate without a roll, adding 300 feet/Round (not affected by your speed bonus) to your sprint speed, to a max of an extra 900 feet/Round. As long as you stay at these speeds, you may use this distance per Round as your Free Movement.

Any terrain you traverse while accelerated must be passable by a standard vehicle at similar speeds. Stopping, turning sharply, or decelerating more than 300 feet/Round must be performed as an Action. Failing to decelerate with an Action (whether because of an obstacle, sudden unfavorable terrain, an Injury, or other event) deals 3 Damage which Armor does not reduce.

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.
  • 300 feet/Round is approximately 66 mph.
  • 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.

Stock Power Gifts

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 learn the object's highest material value and why it is worth so much.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.

  • 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.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand.

Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Each additional appendage you have gives you +1 dice to make and resist Grapples (up to a maximum bonus of +4 dice).

Any Battle Scars that affect or remove your additional limb will heal in a single week.

You may dedicate your extra Quick Action to contest any attempt to escape your Grapples. If you do so, you roll your full dice pool to contest and retain your Action to do anything that does not target the subject of your Grapple.

Your Extra Appendage is incapable of fine object manipulation.

Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the targeted lock or door is being used to restrain or imprison you.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • 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.

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:

  1. A Minor Battle Scar E.g. an aesthetic-only body modification (a disfigured face, a pig's tail), impacted hand or foot, or vocal changes that complicate communication
  2. A Major Battle Scar E.g. a disabled/removed hand or foot, an inability to speak, an impacted major sense, removal of a minor sense, impacted movement.
  3. A Severe Battle Scar E.g. a disabled/removed arm or leg, deafness, aesthetic changes that are nearly impossible to conceal.
  4. An Extreme Battle Scar E.g. removal/disabling both hands or both legs, blindness, a full-body deformation that leaves the target humanoid but makes it difficult to use clothes, vehicles, and equipment designed for humans.
Refer to the stock Battle Scars on the Character Sheet for specific systems.

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.

  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may opt to inflict a Battle Scar that is less severe than what your Outcome allows.
  • 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 must actively and obviously use a broom to activate this Effect. This Effect remains active for two hours.

As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage and may hover in place mid-air. Additionally, you may glide as you fall, traveling 35 feet horizontally for every 10 feet you fall. While gliding, you fall at a minimum speed of 10 feet per Round.

You may ascend into the air and fly using your mind. Your Free Movement is Mind x5 feet/Round, including vertically. You cannot Dash. When sprinting, roll Mind and add your rating in Mind plus 1 to the outcome, multiply by 5 to find your sprint speed. Your encumbrance limit is 10 lbs per point of Mind.

You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:

  • Evasive Maneuvers: During your turn, if you moved mostly through the air but traveled less than your Free Movement, all attacks against you are at a -2 dice penalty until your next turn.
  • Earthbound: You cannot fly or glide in an atmosphere thin enough to be unbreathable.
  • Weight-Limited: This Effect is suppressed any time you are over-encumbered.

  • Any penalties to dice or movement, including from Encumbrance, are applied as normal. If your movement is reduced to 0 due to encumbrance, you will begin to sink down to the ground.
  • You may activate this Effect while in midair, allowing you to slow and survive any free fall.