Tam has never felt - or thought - like other people. Performing the contracts has only amplified that. She does her best to hold onto what she believes she has in common with other people - for no one wants to feel truly alien - but her success is.. mixed.
How much does she really have in common with the average person?
A mind that is to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish.
Her mind continues to expand. She's able to concentrate on two things at once, now, a feat that gave her a migraine before...
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Intellect rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Intellect (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Sensitive Internals - You take +2 damage from called shots to the head.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Prompt Critical: When you are threatened, you must roll Self-Control to avoid entering an immedate and extreme fight-or-flight response. If you fail, you may Exert your Mind to control it.
You also gain the following effects:
The spores on your breath allow for manipulation of the mortal mind... and even sometimes the immortal one.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach as well as a specific emotion. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, for the next minute, your target 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.
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.
If you choose to use Chain of Screaming, your target interacts with any valid target, they must roll Self-Control or be swept up in the same emotion. New targets pass it on as well, and so on, with the remaining duration decreasing by half until the chain stops.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is heavy breathing. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
If any affected target takes or deals Damage, this Effect ends.
The orb floats between us as I lay out the terms. After completion, the parties pledge themselves to the pact and are brought into the fold. The swirling intensifies, then the orb grows darker. Another has been added to the flock.
You must actively and obviously use The Orb of Swirling Darkness to activate this Effect.
You may make an oath with any number of physically-present, Sapient targets. Communicate the oath's terms to the targets, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must say "by the old ones" 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 targets 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 targets, 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 targets that the oath you are proposing will be supernaturally enforced.
Hope lights a candle, and in the candle's light, they change. Their inhuman appearance gains the flush of life, their near-featureless mask vanishing under a new form that grows around the old, like wax sculpted around a scaffold.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. You must use up Candles in order to activate this Effect.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.
The new appearance may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You cannot alter your clothes. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
You gain the following benefits as long as you have your Hard Nipples.
Your Charisma rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Charisma (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Tinnitus.
If you are witnessed actively using this Effect, whoever sees it can make a Perception + Alertness roll at Difficulty 6. A complete success reveals the source of your power.
You also gain the following effects:
Myles can smell the steel before he sees it. It’s not just the oil or the metal—it’s the tension, the sweat soaked into shoulder holsters, the copper sting of a knife that’s been cleaned too many times and never well enough.
When he breathes in, the world sharpens. Weapons hum in his ears like a struck tuning fork. Blades glint behind drywall. Guns pulse like slow heartbeats in coat linings and glove compartments.
He walks through the world like a bloodhound on two legs, every step guided by a scent most folks never notice—cold iron, bad intent, violence waiting to happen.
He doesn’t ask if someone’s armed. He already knows. It’s in the way their heat wraps around the handle. The way fear sours the air when they reach for it.
And because he always knows—
He never lets anyone else decide if he lives or dies.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all Weapons that aren’t hidden and Hidden Weapons within 300 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. When you detect objects, instead of learning nothing about them, you may observe each object with all of your senses.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Self Reliant - Roll self control to put your life in someone else’s hands.
Driving rugged vehicles in a combat situation is second nature to the Soldier. They measure their shots and navigate obstacles with a subtle timing that doesn't affect the steadiness of their own or their passengers' weapons. Firing a few shots through the windshield or window while performing dangerous driving maneuvers is also no problem.
You gain the following benefits as long as Must be driving a rugged vehicle such as an SUV truck or armored car. and you are piloting any vehicle.
You receive +2 dice to any rolls to pilot a vehicle.
You also gain the following effects:
The Werewolf’s body, long caught in the crossfire between human and beast, has developed a powerful coping mechanism. It draws upon the conflict, healing severe injuries in a matter of days.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Any Injury you receive from a source other than silver or fire. 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.
You may Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reduce the Severity of one of your Injuries by 2. Does not affect Injuries suffered as an activation cost for Effects.
Injuries you receive from silver or fire. are increased in Severity by 1.
The doctor is a master at surgical transplantation. As long as they have a donor part, they can replace any permanent, lingering battle scars on their patient. Of course, the transplanted part doesn't always match, and the patient must be careful to follow the doctor's aftercare orders, or the replacement will be rejected.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must use up a donor body part matching the injured area in order to activate this Effect. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.
The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect. If used on a Battle Scar caused by an Unstabilized Injury, that Injury is Stabilized.
You may specify a specific condition that the patient must adhere to. If they break this condition, the treatment is immediately reversed. Record this regimen as a Condition. Lasts until the end of their next Contract or 1 month for non-Contractors.
Healing a Battle Scar in this way leaves behind a mismatched replacement on the target which cannot be healed.
By focusing, the Thief may shroud their hands in shadowy tendrils that seek nearby objects like static-charged hairs. They cast themselves across any surface the Thief touches, acting as anchors that allow the Thief to scale even the sheerest walls.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations. Lasts 2 hours.
The mobster's been through tougher scrapes than this. A few cuts and bruises won't stop them.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries is reduced to 0. Does not reduce Stress from Mind Damage.