The oracle dons the Witherheart Mask, which glows with a strange green mist. This mask is clearly magical, though seemingly only to predict the future as the oracle begins to speak their prophecy.
On mythology:
Cassiopeia has always been interested in the occult, to the point where she's done a double major involving Psychology and Classical Mythology. She's also incredibly curious about conspiracy theories, often going down lengthy rabbitholes, though part of her keeps a distance from it in that she's only reading a fictional story. With this gift she could very well bring them to life, and she's doing it all for the funsies.
On prophecies:
One has seen enough self-fulfilling prophecies in everyday life to know that people are very easily influenced by their own wills to stick to a path or stray from one completely. Though, it inevitably ends up the way it was predicted. If you were driving a car and trying not to hit a tree on the road, your focus is so solely on the tree that you veer towards it anyway. Cassiopeia is making use of this age-old hubris, this fallacy that "I'm not like them, I won't end up like this". She's not any better than this, of course she falls into this cycle too, but at least she's aware that it does happen.
On wordplay:
If she's going to use her arsenal of words learned from 4 years of being an Arts student, it's only fair to allow the listener some level of free will. Let them play their cards against what they perceive to be Apollo's blessing, when in reality it all relies on Cassiopeia's competence.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Human target within 20 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Occult 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 the letter-- but not necessarily the spirit-- of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested 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 and a conditional request. 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.
You may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking, reducing their Outcome by your own. Your command has no impact beyond disrupting their Action.
Sherry, now starting to live up to his name, pulls out a magnifying glass and focuses his power through it. The magnifying glass starts showing him how the target died, where it last walked, etc etc. He can follow its footprint, learn if the death was of a suicide, a gunshot, a suicide, etc etc.
Spend a minute. Select a Corpses within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use Magnifying Glass to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Ronnie unenthusiastically points at her target and a burst of glowing, glittery pink fires towards them.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Influence 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's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Brain Damage.
"Yep! This stuff works! How do you think I keep my complexation? I learned this one from an ol'friend I met way back when. But for some reason, you need to dress and act as a cowpoke. Not entirely sure why it does that. Chief says it's something to do with the essence of the maker supporting the one who drinks it."
- Blake Sacks
The front of the bottle has a label that calls this stuff "Snake Oil." Turning the bottle you find a list of ingredients.
* Alcohol
* Snake Oil
* Cactus Juice
* Newt
* Moonbeam
* Cowboy Vampire Blood
Spend a minute and use up this Amber liquid in a glass flask (unless you succeed on 1d10, Difficulty 7). Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.
The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect. Your patient is required to dress & act like a cowboy/girl for the next month. If they violate this rule, your treatment is immediately reversed.
Healing a Battle Scar in this way leaves behind Pale Skin, slightly pointy teeth on the target which cannot be healed.
This device generates a 3D image of the user's intended destination using floating metal shavings above an antiquated-looking analog console. Upon entering coordinates, the device activates, opening a rift accompanied by electric smoke and the sound of revving engines. When used for spirit walking, the effects are more subtle; the user merely needs to drunkinly walk through the bar as if seeking an exit. Upon leaving, they will find themselves entering any chosen bar, seamlessly transitioning to their new location.
From the perspective of the user, as they walk through the portal/bar, they are transported to a dimension of perfected forms. In the case of walking from bar to bar, there walking through their interpretation of a perfect bar. A large clockwork face of an old man can be seen creating these perfected forms, always with its back to the user.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Location within your line of sight.
You are transported directly to the chosen Location. Anyone who is touching you as you Travel will be brought along with you. You must wait an hour before activating this effect again.
If you traverse any a bar for one minute, you may activate this Effect and travel to the edge of any other a bar that you’re aware of, regardless of range.
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.
Athena establishes a single wounded target and points. With a curl of the knuckle, she can force any physical injury to the body to suddenly worsen. A mere cut with a steak knife can become a giant gash. A bullet wound from a 9mm can become as big as an autocannon round. To GM discretion, it can even target battle scars and reopen them.
Spend an Action to activate. Select a target within 300 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless This power only works against targets that are already wounded or have bad enough battle scars. GM Discretion.. Roll Intellect + Medicine Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Body, Difficulty 6.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much damage plus 1. Armor is fully effective against this damage.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
This Gift's level is capped at 2 Gifts and cannot be increased further.
Instead of dealing damage all at once, the Injury caused by this Power starts at Severity 1 and worsens at the rate of one level per round until it reaches the Severity it would have otherwise been.
The aquamancer shifts into their elemental form and melds into a nearby collection of water, only to reform shortly out of a different source of water within line of sight.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Select a Location within your line of sight , and which is directly adjacent to water. You must be within arm's reach of water to activate this Effect.
You are transported directly to the chosen Location. You must wait an hour before activating this effect again.
The survivalist is adept at following an animal through any terrain. Once they find a recent track, they may focus their will to illuminate the trail of their target. Any part of the target's trail within eyeshot glows a bright, misty green. Even the trails made by vehicles the target was riding in are illuminated.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You may select a target at any range if you use up fresh tracks of the target. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Survival 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 revealed by illuminating the trail in a glowing light and made publicly available.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The spy can twist the urban environment to their whims, erecting fences, walls, and barriers as needed. They whistle and gesture to where the wall should be, and the surrounding materials fly into place.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet. You must be in an area abundant with man-made structures and materials.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of standard building materials 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 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
The musician pours their heart and soul into their music, giving others some much needed perspective and solace and all around good vibes. This can be a temporary easing of the mind, but with prolonged music therapy it can even permanently cure psychic damage.
Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. This Effect cannot be used unless you continuously play music for your target during the activation. Over the course of one Downtime, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired. After the full treatment time has elapsed, roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6.
Your target may Resist. If your treatment is successful, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.
Once per day per target, you may choose to use this Effect to stabilize the Mind of a target within arm's reach. Treatment takes 30 seconds but will not remove any Traumas. If you are successful, restore 2 Mind damage.
You may choose to use this Effect to temporarily relieve any number of the patient's Traumas (including mental Conditions). In this case, Treatment takes an Action and the effect lasts two hours. If the Patient is currently experiencing an episode, Difficulty is increased by 2.
The aristocrat knows a ritual that allows them to rent the best version of any item. They set $10,000 worth of cash on fire and place the item to be upgraded in the fire as well. While in the flame, the item morphs into a high-end version of itself. After a while, it reverts.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. You must use up $10,000 cash (or equivalent) in order to activate this Effect. Cannot be used to improve Armor.
Lasts the next two hours. Your target receives 3 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +3 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice.