Nik spends a minute tapping at his smartphone. Faintly glowing lines resembling the traces of a circuit board flow over the ground to the computer. As they fade away, a satisfied smirk appears on their face.
Was that computer even on the network? Doesn't matter, they know how to get access.
If it exists, it can be hacked. Nik believes that this maxim should be true for everything that exists, and this gift is their first step towards making that a reality.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Computer within 20 feet. Does not work on Alien technology. You must actively and obviously use smartphone to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Technology, with the Difficulty set by the GM depending on the security of the system you are hacking. Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you may issue a single command to the targeted system. This command must have a specific outcome or be a request for specific login credentials. The command you issue must be within the machine's current capabilities. For example, you cannot order a standard security camera to grow legs and walk around.
If your command does not require bypassing the security of the target (for example, typing on a computer that is unlocked), you do not need to Exert your Mind to activate this Effect, and activation only takes a single Action.
Your eyes glow a fiery red and a space near you bursts into flames.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire).
You may start a new fire as large as a torch's flame at your target. You may create fires the size of a lighter or candle flame without Exerting your Mind. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.
Lighting a target on fire deals 2 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be depleted by any Damage dealt, destroying the Armor once it reaches 0.
You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
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.
Others can tell that I am speaking to the creatures, it’s quite amusing
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You may understand and communicate to terrestrial animals as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
Ted Westwood, survivor of over a dozen Contracts, has experienced horrors most mortal men would never dare face, and been traumatised over and over by the things that lurk in the dark. At this point, he's starting to get pretty numb, all things considered, and the things in the dark, that try to worm their tendrils into his mind, are liable to get burned by the things previous invaders left behind.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You get +2 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:
Anyone watching will see the contractor reach into their pocket and pull out a set of balloons, they can either be brightly coloured and patterned or the expected colour of what they have selected. They inflate each of them using their mouth then twist them together to represent the shape of what they have decided to make. Once this has happened the balloons slowly deflate with the usual whooshing sound. In place of what was once the air that inflated the balloons is the item the balloons represented. The item takes on the colour of the balloons used to make it. The rubber of the balloons appears to absorb into the item after deflation.
A circus is filled with many things that arouse the imagination, from highwire acts to clowns, even illusionists and wild animals seemingly tamed! But one truly captivates the heart of every child. The Balloon modeller. They go by many a name, but every single one knows how to turn your classic balloons into anything a child can imagine! Want a dog? It's right in front of you with a few simple twists! A pirate sword! You got it sport, swashbuckling away all day with that squeaky new cutlass. You need a gun in a hitch? Well, I know a person who's got you covered. Balloon art is just the start, balloon manufacturing; that's a whole new level of creativity at your fingertips.
Watch as the amazing stranger crafts an immaculate 50 calibre sniper rifle right before your eyes! Gasp as his balloon outfit creates a stunning suit and tie! And gawk at the amazing balloon mallet with realistic head crushing capabilities!
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute.
Choose an Object which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You may create firearms.
Roll Dexterity + Crafts to fabricate your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.
The user of this gift will intimidate a target into revealing information they may not even be privy to.
Tarhos is an incredibly imposing man, and intimidation was one of the first tactics he mastered. He became so proficient in it that simply looking a man in the eyes was enough for them to divulge their darkest secret whether they wanted to or not.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Brawn + Brawl at Difficulty 6. The target resists by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
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 The target will speak their secret aloud and made publicly available.
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.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The Werewolf’s body, long caught in the crossfire between human and beast, has developed a powerful coping mechanism. It draws upon the conflict, healing severe injuries in a matter of days.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Any Injury you receive from a source other than silver or fire. heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level every 6 hours. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active do not deteriorate over time. However, any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will remain unless it is Properly Stabilized as normal.
You may Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reduce the Severity of one of your Injuries by 2. Does not affect Injuries suffered as an activation cost for Effects.
Injuries you receive from silver or fire. are increased in Severity by 1.
The Thief examines an object closely for a minute to appraise its value. As their eyes dance across the subject, their pupils split vertically, and their irises fade to gold. If it is a particularly valuable item, the Thief may greedily lick their lips, revealing a forked tongue.
Within a minute, they have determined how materially valuable the object is and why.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The Vampire is able to turn one of their victims into a lesser vampire, a pale shadow of a full creature of the night but useful nonetheless. Having drained and killed their target, the Vampire performs a brief ritualistic bloodletting, wherein they spill their own blood into the target's mouth, forcing them to drink, and bonding them together as child and sire.
Shortly afterwards, the fledgling vampire will rise from death, hungry for blood and eager to serve.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
Who wouldn't want one of the mad scientist's famous implants? All it takes is a little time and a few terrifying experiments, and you too could be a better you!
Warning: not fully tested on humans. Risk of dry mouth, upset stomach, or lost limbs. Do not consult your doctor before signing the liability release.
Exert your Mind and spend eight hours. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you cause a major Battle Scar instead of an augmentation. Your target must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. The target can easily Resist.
You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.
The mutant has left humanity behind. They're are muted to the core, with glowing blue blood and a hunched posture that makes them more suited for running on all fours than using equipment and vehicles.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: you have blue, bioluminescent blood and a hunched posture adapted to running on all fours. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living Creature when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.
Your body is adapted to sprinting. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to sprinting.
Any Animate being that consumes or is injected with your bodily fluids receives a Severity-1 Injury. Every Round, they must roll Body Difficulty 9. If they fail, the Injury worsens by 1 Severity. If they succeed, the Injury stops worsening.
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.
You cannot ignore or decrease the effects of Stress for any Self-Control rolls you make.