While before I used my wit and planning to get my way, now I will alter the board directly.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of Checkered Wood originating at the target:
The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.
This alteration lasts one minute but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 3 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
The user is able to channel the holy commandment of the King from ages past to be able to effectively order a given target to perform the required task or action.
When used a transient white glow emanates from the cross, for the duration while the command is being given out. The target hears whispers upon whispers in their head, of their own voice directing them to perform the action.
Spend at least one Action to activate. Select a Sapient, Living target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use Cross to activate this Effect. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-endangering or self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
This Gift's level is capped at 2 Gifts and cannot be increased further.
Oz brings the cigarette to his lips and taps the ash off its end with a casual flick, as if entirely unaware of the grotesque transformation about to unfold. A single flake of ash drifts downward—slow, serene, unaffected by gravity's urgency or the surrounding chaos. It hovers and twists lazily in the air, utterly unbothered by the screams, blood, or tension nearby.
Then, where that speck of ash touches the earth, flesh begins to grow—slow and deliberate at first, like muscle stretching beneath skin. Faces—flattened, stretched, and locked in silent torment begin to rise, pressed like frescoes against the ever-thickening mass. The wall expands outward in a straight line, up to 40 feet long and 10 feet high, forming a solid slab of compacted skin, muscle, bone, and cursed soul-matter. It’s flat enough to walk across... for the most part -- though the sensation underfoot is sickening.
Observers feel the air grow heavier, the world slightly wrong—like Hell has blinked into their reality for just a moment. And all the while, that first ashflake drifts to rest... as though it had nothing to do with any of this.
Oz didn’t learn this from a wizard’s tome or a back-alley occultist. He learned it from a creature that most would’ve overlooked—a frail, withered thing, ancient beyond comprehension but hollowed out by time. It wasn’t terrifying when Oz found it. It was hiding. Hunted by a third-rate monster hunter with more bravado than brains.
The thing could barely stand. Its claws were chipped, its eyes sunken and dull. But when Oz saw the hunter raise their weapon, something in him rebelled. Maybe it was pity. Maybe curiosity. Maybe a whisper of something older.
In gratitude, the creature offered him a secret—a technique older than most names, passed down not to preserve power, but to be rid of it. A method born in the Fifth Circle of Hell, back when Wrath still had shape and weight.
The technique hinges on equivalence: a tiny, forgotten thing—a piece of ash—can be traded, momentarily, for something vast and wrathful and real. The ash is a symbol. Burned, spent, weightless. Exactly the opposite of what it summons. That’s the balance. That’s the key.
The wall doesn't scream, but it wants to.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet. You must actively and obviously use Cigarrettes to activate this Effect.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of Human flesh, skin and faces, dense as a wall of concrete. originating at the target:
The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.
This alteration lasts three hours but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see a literal wall of corpses and suffering souls..
Description:
The Shadow Briefcase is an unassuming, sleek briefcase on the outside, but inside, it houses an array of advanced technological tools designed for the secure handling and, if necessary, the selective and legal disposal of sensitive evidence.
Technological Features:
• Quantum Encryption Module: Documents or digital evidence stored within the briefcase are encrypted using quantum cryptography, making them virtually unhackable. Only the lawyer and authorized personnel can decrypt and access the information, ensuring unmatched confidentiality.
• Biometric and Retinal Lock System: The briefcase is secured with a dual-lock system that requires both a biometric scan (fingerprint or DNA) and a retinal scan, ensuring that only the designated legal operative can access its contents.
• Selective Evidence Disintegrator: A built-in mechanism for the destruction of physical documents and digital media, which operates under strict legal protocols. It can disintegrate materials into atomic dust using pointed directional lasers.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Evidence of crimes within arm's reach no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). You cannot target objects which are currently in someone else’s possession. Roll Intellect + Culture Difficulty 6.
If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be completely destroyed and can no longer function, though it may still be repaired. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.
When activating this Effect, you may spend an extra minute and maintain Concentration. If you do, it has no Exertion cost, and you may destroy an object which has up to 3x larger dimensions, or up to 27x larger volume than the normal maximum size.
A Brooch given to him by his late father, one he has used ever since starting up the foster home as a way to remember his roots.
The Brooch is a memory for him, one of his only material possessions and one he cares deeply for, He plans to pass it down to the next foster care director once he croaks.
He holds it when speaking to the new arrivals, to ease their minds and welcome them to his home, their home.
Spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location. You must actively and obviously use Silver Brooch to activate this Effect.
You open up a line of communication to your target, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
You touch your enemy and will his flesh to move, crippling him.
Moving flesh that isn't yours is difficult but not impossible and when you are normally able of precise manipulation with your own body, you can only crudely compact the one in front of you.
You can order the flesh, but you know it will eventually overcome your will, ignore you, and fix itself back.
Compression make it useless but do not damage it.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Roll Intellect + Crafts 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:
All alterations you make must only rend body part useless by compressing their flesh, blood and bones.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
Dazzle Glasses are advanced "black-tech" espionage gear. They can be styled as any sort sunglasses. When the wearer is recorded, they will quickly flash a non-visible laser into the recording device, destroying it after only a moment of footage is taken.
This Effect activates whenever you are recorded. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Non-Sapient Object within 20 feet no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Perception + Culture Difficulty 6.
If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be completely destroyed and can no longer function, though it may still be repaired. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.
The doctor heals severe injuries in minutes using only standard medical supplies. Lacerations seal under the needle and thread, and reset bones can be used shortly after.
However, for the treatment to last, the patient must adhere to any aftercare regimen the doctor requires. Those who violate the doctor's orders suffer their injuries anew.
Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use basic medical supplies to activate this Effect. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 8.
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. 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.
The aquamancer channels a nearby source of water into a flexible whip, which can be used to attack or to defend.
Spend an Action. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use at least a gallon of water to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Athletics Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4.
You may use this Effect to Defend against any melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks within range or Clash against any Attack targeted at you. Using it to Defend deals no Damage but does not cost Exertion.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
The Future Soldier learned to create foam grenades in their own time period, and they still can, kinda. They look like glowing orange capsules with a rugged rubberized grip. When thrown, they burst into a splash of expanding neon orange foam. The foam hardens in seconds, severely hampering the movement of anyone unlucky enough to have been splashed. Those affected may use their hands or weapons to hack away at the foam and free themselves.
Occasionally, the fuses on these bootleg grenades fails, and they go off immediately.
Spend an Action and use up this small metallic grenade with pin (unless you succeed on 1d10, Difficulty 7). Make a thrown Attack at a Location within normal Attack range. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you are hit as it activates immediately at your present location. The target may roll to dodge or Defend, as normal for thrown Attacks. The Attack itself does not deal any Damage beyond the Effect.
If you succeed, all affected targets will be restricted at their location by a physical, tangible binding. They can still move their arms and use Effects, but are reduced to ¼ of their movement speed.
The binding around a target must be destroyed in order for them to break free. Breaking the binding requires a total amount of Damage equal to twice the original Contested Outcome. Damage from multiple attacks is cumulative and stacks linearly.
By focusing and whispering a prayer under their breath, the priest may invoke their god to protect those who have good works left to do.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a living human. Roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome +2 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is you whispering a prayer under your breath. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.