As Julio pulls out a piece of paper, text from Cortázar's "Cefalea" appears written, the paper turns to dust, and the victim hears the Mancuspias cry inside their head.
Julio Ramos was named after Julio Cortázar, after all, and Ramos considers him one of the greatest. This power represents the countless nights Ramos, as a boy, spent reading tale after tale of Cortázar's collections.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 25 feet. You must use up a piece of paper in hand in order to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Influence at Difficulty 6. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes any number of the following symptoms:
The affliction can be diagnosed with a Medicine roll, and may be cured by modern medicine through treatment at a fully equipped facility. Treatment outside of a facility may stop the affliction from worsening for a day, but will not cure the underlying Condition.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
Zain is constantly on edge. Hyper paranoid of his surroundings and always on the lookout for danger, he refuses to let his guard down and let any corruption slip by him. These instincts have sharpened exponentially over time, allowing him to even predict incoming threats and take action before they can pose a problem.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Perception rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Perception (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
You also gain the following effects:
Fields of stardust and gleaming light begin to form amidst the air creating a field of wonderous streaks of light, it's looking up at the night sky, but all around you, blinded by its radiant beauty.
Spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: moving your arms upwards in a wave to activate. Select a Location within 45 feet. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
Star Fog, which can be no larger than an SUV is generated at your target, and it will remain in place for the next minute or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You cannot make an exact replica of an existing Animate being or Object.
Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion, and the entire effect will be ended for all targets.
The illusion will remain fixed to its initial Location. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The jerboa splits, its body growing, shedding, and growing again. It only stops because it wants to. Children cower at the sight of it, grown men weep, woman faint. The Jerboa has hands. God has forsaken us.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into Child Sized Jerboa with Hands for 30 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are Child Sized Jerboa with Hands, 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 Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
While transformed, instead of your normal clothes and equipment, you are equipped with: Red Barret, Jerboa AK, Bandolier with extra mags, and a lit Cigar.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see a Child Sized Jerboa with human hands.
If you become Incapacitated or suffer an Injury Severity 4 or greater, you revert from your Alternate form.
The presence of those around you pressures you to keep on going. Regardless of what may happen next.
You gain the following benefits as long as they aren’t incapacitated or dead, at least 1 ally is present nearby, and the ally is 30 feet near.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
Stress from Injuries acts as a dice bonus instead of penalty.
If you die, you may continue to act as though you were not dead for 3 Rounds.
The influencer is welcome at any event or social gathering, but they're easy to recognize, even when they'd rather not be.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
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).
You also gain the following effects:
As long as the ninja is carrying a weapon, their self-defense is almost subconscious. Subtle twitches and lighting-fast feints and parries using sword and scabbard can buy the ninja precious seconds to enact an escape plan or make the kill.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using a sword to gain the benefits of this Effect.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
Whenever your Armor reduces incoming Damage, you are immediately made aware of the source of the Damage. You may pinpoint their location for 30 seconds.
Any time your Armor prevents damage, your total Armor rating is temporarily decreased by 1. Whenever you go two Rounds without preventing any damage, it is restored back to its full value.
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.
This is a doctor who exists on the front lines. They're most at home working under stressful conditions when the stakes couldn't be higher.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.
You also gain the following effects:
The creature's claws rip through the poor, defenseless doctor's coat, opening deep gashes in their gut. It bares its fangs to lunge for the killing blow, but the doctor looks up at the attacker. Their eyes filed not with utter terror at their imminent demise, only a look of disappointment and pity. Touched, the monster hesitates. . .
This Effect activates whenever you receive a Severity 2 or higher Injury from an attack. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Living target within 45 feet. 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 remorse for hurting such a pure soul. 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.
The Thief casts a container's worth of fine powder into the air. The particulates are drawn to any sort of object that is designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc. The powder will not trigger these devices or interfere with their operation, but it does reveal their presence to the Thief.
The cloud drifts and swirls, subtly following the Thief for a minute.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up a container of fine powder in order to activate this Effect.
You automatically detect all object that are designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc within 50 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.