He drops to a knee and pricks you on the shoulder. Ouch!Then he pulls out a Bottle of Sake, drinks a little then he lets that drop of blood settle in the floor and then poof! Whatever ailment or curse that was inside you is suddenly gone!
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Your target takes a Severity 1 Injury. You must actively and obviously use Bottle of Sake to activate this Effect.
You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.
You may treat Alien maladies and curses. If there is some method to cure them, you learn what it is. If the malady does not provide its own means of curing it, it is cured.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
Harold Polk has honed his skills not only in the courtrooms of Chicago but in the shadowy corridors of international diplomacy and espionage. By tapping into his deep understanding of cultural nuance and linguistic subtlety, Harold has developed a unique capability akin to a high-tech linguistic decryption tool. With a moment of concentration, his mind synchronizes with the wavelength of any spoken or written communication, allowing him to fluently understand and interact with any creature or person, irrespective of language barriers.
This ability stems not from supernatural talent but from a rare combination of spy training, legal acumen, and a sophisticated mental framework developed over years of decoding complex legal documents and sensitive intelligence information. When activated, Harold’s eyes might briefly flicker with a subtle, cipher-like glow, reflecting the mental processing of converting unfamiliar languages to comprehensible information.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to humans as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
Strands of golden light coalesce from the foreheads of those close to you witnessing the effect. The strands form or deconstruct the object if desire from thin air in an instant, severing the ties from the minds of others. At the final moment of the object's (dis)appearance, those watching will see you in a flash of memory or fear as the cause or effect of their negative experience. You may replace a murderer at the scene of someone's death, or perhaps appear as the victim of an unfortunate accident they blame themselves for. You do not see these flashes, but the effects of your gift are obvious.
The mind is complex and intricate. On the physical level, it is a marvel of biology. You have learned to tap into the untapped potential within your own mind and that of those around you. Reaching into the metaphysical world is as simple as pulling a few strings. The more you have, the easier it gets.
You can use this to your advantage. By focusing deeply, you can manifest and demanifest the world around you. Whilst entirely held within your own mind, a bit of help from others never hurts.
You can't help it really. Reaching that deeply within a mind does terrible things to dredge up trauma. When the connection is severed, they see where you went - where you had to dig. They may never forgive you. They may never accept you. You are not enough. You are a monster.
Spend a Quick Action.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store small firearms in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a ziploc snack bag (1 liter), and you may store up to 15 of them at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see their darkest fears or worst memories flash before their eyes. You are present in these visions as either a cause or effect of said negative experience.
At one time, Amaryllis's arms were normal, unscarred, and white as a dove. She would wrestle with her brothers, surrounded by soft and fluffy couches, plug protected outlets, and edge protected tables. They were safe, mostly, until one gave another a shallow scratch with their fingernail. From even a single scrape, the children would ruin rugs and throw pillows as the Fleischer Family Curse took its toll, forcing them to make a sizable plasma donation to the house. They all knew the risks, of course, they had the band-aids and medical bandages on hand to stop the bleeding. They continued their roughhousing beyond earshot of their parents...
Amaryllis's mother, Dahlia, knew the truth of their family's curse. She understood that time was running short as Sorin had already passed away years before. She and her husband studied the occult, making a fortune by reading futures, holding seances, and investigating hauntings. The greatest ritual they ever developed was one to break their curse. She knew Amaryllis, the first-born, would need to be saved first, as soon as possible, before she followed Death to meet her husband.
Something was not right, Amaryllis had passed out early in the bloodletting phase of the ritual. She struggled against her bindings and exasperated the new cuts on her wrists. The long gashes and otherworldly lettering on her arms wept until they went blue. Dahlia completed the runes and smeared a circle in blood around her daughter before realizing that the ritual was faulty. She then realized that her baby girl was on Death's door. She rushed Amaryllis to the hospital in heavy bandages, but her body would refuse to close her wounds. Dahlia would die a year later, consumed by the knowledge that the ritual failed.
She was wrong.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
While Incapacitated, you may Exert your Mind to take a single action.
You may move at your normal speed and still maintain Concentration. Taking an Injury less than Severity 6 no longer interrupts Concentration.
The occultist has learned to reach through the void to control objects in the material world from a distance with their mind. Observers see a dark haze surround the object while it is being controlled.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You can interact with things that are within 75 feet without needing to physically touch them or be near them. Any rolls made for Actions taken in this way use a Mental Strength of 4 in place of your Brawn rating, a Mental Agility of 1 in place of your Dexterity, and otherwise use your own Attributes and Abilities.
Telekinetic actions have the following restrictions and behaviors:
A Green static charge appears in the form of a barrier around the contractor
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use Non-conductive fingerless gloves to activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Alertness at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome +4 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
The barrier will fall after two hours, 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.
The influencer knows just how to-- well-- influence people. By following a suggestion with a wink, smile, or a look of astonishment, their target is sure to be swayed. Is it any wonder they have a following of such incredible fans? Hit like, smash subscribe, and for the love of all that is holy, don't forget to retweet.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. 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 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. 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.
The detective can learn a lot by watching someone for a minute. Each subtle detail, every unexplained stain, reveals something about where the target has been. Ocassionally, they'll drop a business card, or explain how to contact them. The detective is listening.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target does not know you're watching them. You cannot investigate the same target more than once per hour. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is that you keep peeking at the target. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Unimportant characters just can't seem to hit our hero with their attacks. Injuries that are sustained from underlings are conveniently non-severe.
You gain the following benefits as long as the attacker isn't important enough to have a name.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
Through years of practice, the mobster is able to shatter someone's kneecap without much effort.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use a melee weapon to activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Melee 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 damage the target's knees.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
It's true the mad scientist is one of the greatest minds of our generation, that they can solve any puzzle or riddle. However, no one wants to spend time with them.
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).
You also gain the following effects: