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.
The day Joshua Norton the First died, there was a funeral procession over two miles long, & the day was marked by a total eclipse of the sun. Now, a new Emperor has risen to unite & heal the divides of America - Emperor Issac Norton the II (formerly Issac Neuman). When wearing the iconic attire associated with the role, Issac presents a commanding yet comforting presence. While the media & the shareholders that watched his profitable start up tank say he is mad, no one can doubt the conviction behind his eyes:
The Emperor has come to save us from ourselves.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Charisma rating is increased by 3. 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 Trauma at all times: Emperor of the United States.
You also gain the following effects:
Ame has such a strong force of personality, it’s easy to talk to her, which holds true even if you don’t normally speak the languages she does.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You may understand and communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.
The "Big Boss" flexes his comically large muscles as he proudly displays every part of him. That includes the strange tattoo-like birthmark on his neck.
You gain the following benefits as long as you have your bull-shaped birthmark on your neck.
Your Brawn rating is increased by 2. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Brawn (cannot be used on combat rolls or Effect activations).
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: The Big Boss! - You believe yourself to be the very best, better than everyone else. (Make a Self-Control roll in order to take an action or think in a way that contradicts this belief).
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:
A shadow figure with surgical tools appears making sure the wound is exactly the same as the targets. This also slowly causes the target to heal fully healed upon completion of the wound infliction on the user.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you It causes the user to be paralysed for the next 8 turns. Your target may Resist to cancel the transfer.
You may choose one each of as many things as you like from the following to transfer from your target to yourself, or from yourself to them:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see The wounds are slowly and painfully placed upon the user taking 4 turns..
Scales ripple over tsukihi or targets body pulsing.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You have 4, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except demonic magic. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
You may spend an Action or Reaction and Exert your Mind to double your Armor rating for one Round.
Any Injury received from Damage that was reduced by this Armor is considered Makeshift Stabilized and will not degrade further, and any Battle Scar caused by them is reduced by 1 level. You may attempt a single Proper Stabilization on such Injuries.
When you take Damage from a source which is within 5 feet, deal back as much Damage as your Armor prevented.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: chronic pain and four eyes disfigurement.
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 Armor rating is temporarily decreased by 2. Whenever it goes five Rounds without preventing any Damage, it is restored back to its full value.
The aquamancer is an adept swimmer and moves with agility in or out of the water.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations.
The beastmaster can speak to and understand any animal.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to terrestrial animal as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
The psychic can reach into another's' mind and pilfer their deepest memories. Doing so causes the psychic's nose to bleed and is exceptionally draining.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living, Animate target within 25 feet. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you are able to view your target's memories. If you fail, the target knows you're attempting to read their memories.
You may ask a number of specific questions about their memory equal to your Contested Outcome. For example, “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc. You cannot get answers to broad, analytical questions like “are they a good person?” or “what are their plans for the future?”
Each memory takes as long to read as it takes to answer the question. When replaying a full memory, it is replayed in double time.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is your nose bleeding. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
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 psychic can glean various important details about a person simply by engaging in a short conversation with them.
Spend one minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively converse with the individual in question for one minute in order to gather any information. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Influence at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
Any information you gather is spoken aloud in conversation and made publicly available.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.