You place a hand on the object, gloved or not, and glare into its figurative or literal soul. You may even sniff or lick it depending on how confident you are that it won't kill you right away. Observers to this act may feel a mild to intense discomfort depending on what item it is (pray that it's not someone's clothing, cough cough) but you can insist that this is all for the sake of science.
On testing:
Delphyrion has always wanted to know everything. However, no matter how strong one's background is in chemistry, you'd usually need equipment and time to study an object's composition. Not to mention the amount of harm it could do to the item.
On chemistry:
This gift could be groundbreaking, but only if you know what you're looking at. There's no point if you don't recognize what chemical or molecular structure you find in the item, or what you can do with it. Chemistry is all about using what you have, and what's the use of a weapon that you know nothing about?
On questionable acts:
Look, living creatures are born with five senses for a reason. Delphyrion will use all five senses if it means new knowledge can be found. Sure, they've gotten sick from licking stuff for no reason, but at least now there is a reason to do so. This will do wonders for their immune system.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
You may only use this Effect once per day.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You no longer require any food, water, sleep, or air in order to survive. You no longer age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
As you center your focus on your own shadow, it begins to envelop you and bend the light creating an obscuring mirage. In the light this may appear like a heat shimmer. In darkness it may appear as swirling mists. The less light there is present to bend, the more successful the effect. Some rumors suggest practitioners that have mastered this technique can completely disappear from sight.
Wrapping oneself in shadows is mentally and physically draining. With increased training practitioners are able to withstand the effects without the taxing exhaustion. As with any gift that brings one closer to the void, extreme caution is advised lest they find themselves careening into the depths rather than skirting in the shallows.
During the duration of this technique, the user effectively does not cast a shadow, regardless of near by light sources.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You and any clothes or equipment you are wearing are partially obscured from sight for the next 10 minutes. All attempts to detect you using sight are rolled at a -3 dice penalty, and all attempts to detect you where sight would assist are rolled at -1 penalty.
Entering Combat or being Injured will end the Effect. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for 1 hour.
You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.
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.
This base form has green skin and 'hair,' though the hair seems to seamlessly meld into the shape of the head. It doesn't have visible ears or a nose, but does have large black eyes.
Able to make "Finger Guns" that fire bullets made out of compressed flesh
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: Alien. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted..
You no longer age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.
You may make a +2 Weapon Damage Ranged attack without additional equipment.
You cannot be mistaken for a normal human. You cannot always use standard human clothes, equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and when you can, you suffer an increased Difficulty.
The Severity of any Injury caused by Corrosive is increased by 2.
It's all about Belief, and Bob knows he has the right key, or card, for the job... somewhere.. Aw Yes! This one! It may take him a moment to go through All those keys, but he damn well knows he's got it in there somewhere.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within arm's reach.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
Body warms up and starts lightly steaming. I can stretch more and my body feels lighter. My hair spikes up slightly.
You gain the following benefits as long as you have your Dragon Tattoo on forearm snaking around to shoulder.
Your Dexterity rating is increased by 1. 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: cut horizontally across nose and Gash in Chest like a bear swipe.
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:
The influencer is 100% tuned-in to any sort of chatter about themselves. Any time someone nearby so much as whispers about them, they know who they were and what they said.
This Effect activates whenever someone talks about you. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target Location within 75 feet.
You may perceive things through hearing as if you were standing at that Location for the next 30 minutes. You must maintain Concentration to keep up the effect. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.
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.
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's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The detective can flash their badge and bark out orders to a person or a crowd, and the target will have trouble ignoring their command.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. All Sapient targets within 20 feet of you are affected. You must actively and obviously use a police badge to activate this Effect. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your targets. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Any affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your targets will be compelled to follow your command to the letter-- but not necessarily the spirit-- of the command until they have completed it or for your Outcome in minutes. 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-destructive. Commands may force a target to violate one of their Limits, and they will need to make a Trauma roll once the suggestion wears off.
The Witch gazes at a calm and trusting animal and blinks, revealing eyes that have changed to match the creature's. Her body goes limp and collapses, and the witch proceeds to walk away, now temporarily borrowing the animal's body.
A borrowing Witch is a visitor in the animal's mind and cannot overstay her welcome or force the animal into danger.
Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Creature target within 20 feet. The target may Resist.
You possess your target and have control over their actions for the next hour. Your original body will be left behind, unconscious, in its same location. You may perceive through your original body's senses, at a -2 penalty to all Actions while doing so. If your original body is touched, you get a Perception check to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: Any Actions you take will use the possessed creature’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception, but use your own Charisma, Intellect, and Abilities.
Gifts: You do not have access to any Gifts while you are possessing your target.
Death: If the host suffers an Injury, or is destroyed or incapacitated, you are evicted back into your own body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed, you will die.
Eviction: You cannot force your host to take Actions which would violate their instinct for self-preservation (which includes engaging in Combat for any purpose other than self-defense or natural hunting); any attempt to do so will sever the connection and send you back into your own body. If you are forced out of the target's body prematurely, you must make a Trauma roll.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.