**Description:** The "Body of the Ancient Cryptic" passively alters the user’s body, giving them a primal, beast-like appearance combined with ancient, mystical energies. These physical changes not only enhance their combat abilities but also make them appear more formidable and inhuman to those around them.
**Visible Changes:**
- **Beastly Claws:** The user's hands and fingers elongate slightly, ending in sharp, retractable claws. These claws appear to be made of a dark, obsidian-like material and can tear through most materials with ease.
- **Feral Eyes:** Their eyes take on a bestial quality, with slit-like pupils and a glowing, predatory hue—often amber, red, or another unnatural color. These eyes grant heightened vision, especially in darkness.
- **Rugged, Enhanced Physique:** The user’s muscles are denser, their bones more robust, and their posture slightly hunched, resembling a primal predator. This gives them enhanced strength and agility beyond normal human limits.
- **Roughened Skin:** Their skin takes on a tougher, almost hide-like texture, with patches of scales or hardened ridges in certain areas, providing natural armor.
- **Elongated Teeth:** The user’s teeth sharpen into fangs, giving them a fearsome grin and enabling them to bite with great force when necessary.
- **Beastial Presence:** A low growl or snarl might be heard from the user when they are angered or in danger. Their overall demeanor is predatory, making others instinctively sense danger in their presence.
These beastly transformations, combined with ancient, arcane markings and energies, make the user a terrifying force, blending primal strength with cryptic wisdom.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: perfect bodys. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living Creature when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1, your Perception is increased by 1, and your Charisma is increased by 1.
Your appendages can reach an additional 30 feet.
You may make a +2 Weapon Damage claws and fangs attack without additional equipment.
Whenever you enter Combat, roll Self-Control. If you fail, you cannot choose which targets to attack and cannot stop fighting until there are no targets remaining.
You cannot speak any coherent verbal language and must resort to other means of communication.
You cannot ignore or decrease the effects of Stress for any Self-Control rolls you make.
The Severity of any Injury caused by Sliver is increased by 2.
Emily has undergone truly massive genetic retrofitting by Gen-Wyld. The latest set of augments were mostly upgrades to her fur and subdermal armor. Several fascinating advances in keratin research have enabled the researchers to add a second underlayer of a down like fur that, when provoked by her autonomous nervous system, will rise like hackles and unfurl slightly. This undercoat has similar thermal resistance to aerogel, and enables survival in even extreme temperature environments.
Of course, her primary coat received an upgrade pass as well, increasing its softness and lustre both.
Some degree of genetics from an actual werewolf were integrated to serve as a bonding agent in some of the fur upgrades, and interestingly, an introduction of pure silver appears to cause an unraveling. We're going to need to switch out what we're using as a bonding agent for the next upgrade.
Update: Finally got up to switching out that bonding agent.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: werewolfess. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Charisma is increased by 1.
You are immune to damage from cold. If cold is a substantial component of other damage you would take (e.g. falling from a great distance into a vat of liquid nitrogen), that damage is reduced by 2 (in addition to Armor)
You are immune to damage from heat and flames. If heat is a substantial component of other damage you would take (e.g. slashed with a flaming sword), that damage is reduced by 2 (in addition to Armor)
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.
Hezalea's past has brought her into places that no normal human would've been allowed into, all for the "greater good". The exposure has changed her on a fundamental level for better or worse; how could anyone call her a hero now? She can't even be called "human" anymore. Her "blood" coagulates so quickly that her injuries simply look grotesque, as if a Venom-like creature has touched them. Due to this, she has also found herself becoming slightly more flexible than before - that is, her very flesh is less anchored to her form, no longer restricting her ability to fit through smaller spaces.
On toxicity:
Hezalea always used to carry around vials of liquid cancer: chromyl chloride. Koriol was the one who supplied her with it, no questions asked. It looks like blood, just a little more orange in smaller portions, and it fumes enough that people know right away that she means very much harm. The moment they lay eyes on it they usually back away. What does it mean, now that something quite similar flows through her veins? At least she's not planning to maintain any relationship that matters anytime soon.
On the white streak:
No matter what she's tried, she can't get rid of it in any meaningful way. Cutting it off only means it'd grow back with the same pale whiteness, and it's not even porous enough to be dyed before the colour slips away, staining everything else. Maybe it's from the incessant stress of all the situations she throws herself into, but she secretly knows this is just another superficial symptom of something quite sinister underneath.
On choice:
She didn't choose this gift. She was told she'd be getting magic from fulfilling Contracts, but all she got instead was a true manifestation of what was already there. The scientists back then were so intent on achieving this very feat, telling her it'd make her better and stronger and all-powerful. They had an unnatural fixation on replacing one's crimson vitality with something else. All they really wanted was self-satisfaction and bragging rights for attaining divine knowledge, at the cost of her liberty and her life.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: Streak of ghostly white hair and fuming, pitch-black blood. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted..
Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.
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.
Aira bears a silicon-like skin that envelopes her form, with metallic bones and muscles underneath her skin. Using her higher bodily and mental capacity, her arm glows a dull green as she summons a plethora of psychic constructs that function similarly to the bullets of an assault rifle as they cycle around her right arm before being shot out, just as fast, though not as strong as the real thing.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: Silicon-like skin. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living Computer when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.
Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
You may make a +2 Weapon Damage Mental assault (Right arm (Assault rifle (Dex+Firearms))) attack without additional equipment.
You cannot ignore or decrease the effects of Stress for any social rolls you make.
The Severity of any Injury caused by magic is increased by 2.
Using his knowledge in magic, Raz infused his body with magical tattoos which seep Mana into his body, increasing his intelligence and dexterity by having magic shoot through his muscles, neurons and nerves, along with electricity, and may possibly increase more, if he grows stronger, though it increases his hatred of necromancers, and zombies by association, to the point of wanting to kill them on sight if he sees them
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: ________. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.
Your body is adapted to Evasion. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to Evasion.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Obsession with killing necromancers/zombies.
Charlie has mutated. His body resembles that of a gelatin mold of a man, the only thing keeping his form is his skeleton, and the clothes wrapped around him. Despite his inhuman appearance, there are some benefits such as increased resilience.
Ever since the incident Charlie has been changing for the worst. First it starts with blood in his vomit and urine, then blistering skin, and finally after his body decayed he seemed to just, heal. It’s like this never happened to him, however over night he rapidly mutated into what he is today.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: Ooze in the shape of a man. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted..
No single organ in your body is critical for life. If any of your body parts are separated from your body, you may take Actions with the severed part for three hours. You may reattach severed body parts by spending an Action and Exerting your Mind.
While in Radioactive Environments, heat, cold, pressure, and other atmospheric hazards do not affect you, and dangerous local flora and fauna will not bother you unless you give them a reason.
You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.
Any creature that consumes or is injected with your bodily fluids receives a Severity-1 Injury. Every minute, 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 are incapable of fine object manipulation and can only hold or grasp things in a crude, clumsy way.
The Severity of any Injury caused by cold is increased by 2.
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.
The Vampire was cursed to forever be a vile creature of the night! Their skin has faded to a deathly pale, only regaining something close to human complexion in the immediate aftermath of feeding on human blood. They are weakened when exposed to direct sunlight or when they have been unable to feed in the past day, but otherwise has gained inhuman strength, speed, and irresistibility from their devil's bargain.
You gain the following benefits as long as you have fed on fresh human blood in the past 24 hours and you are not in direct sunlight.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: a seductive and powerful humanoid, with pale skin and wicked fangs. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1, your Dexterity is increased by 1, and your Charisma is increased by 1.
Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
The Severity of any Injury caused by fire and heat is increased by 2.
The Android's skin is extremely pale, their eyes are yellow, and their body stays at room temperature. They do not bleed, and traditional medicine is ineffective at treating them. Furthermore, they may be hacked by any supernatural effect that could hack a computer.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: you are an android, with pale skin and yellow eyes. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living Computer when targeted..
You are immune to damage from cold. If cold is a substantial component of other damage you would take (e.g. falling from a great distance into a vat of liquid nitrogen), that damage is reduced by 2 (in addition to Armor)
No single organ in your body is critical for life. Called Shots do no additional Damage to you. You may perceive the world through separated body parts, take Actions with them, and reattach them by spending an Action and Exerting your Mind.
Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
You cannot ignore or decrease the effects of Stress for any social rolls you make.
The Severity of any Injury caused by electricity is increased by 2.