His knuckles have become hardened, and his biceps and triceps have doubled in size.
He isn't the most skilled. He isn't the most combat-saavy.
His durability is what enables him to survive his strength. Though his skin is truly tougher than a humans, not impossibly durable- But deeper down, the muscle and bone constrict reflexively, growing denser and resistant to damage in anticipation even as the blow itself collides.
Weapons ricochet off his body unpredictably, swatted away almost absent mindedly or playfully caught between two fingers and flicked away.
Mark's unique genetics kicked in at a young age, though it was nearly his late teenage years before he actually started practicing combat and fighting, visiting a community boxing club.
First thing he learned was how to not break the gloves and bags.
Turns out people were *much* softer.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in unarmed combat.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).
You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.
You also gain the following effects:
Whenever the Artifact is used by someone other than its true owner, observers can see shifting impressions of unknown glyphs temporarily appear in random places on the Artifact's surface. If whoever is wielding it had hurt the Artifact's true owner before, the aforementioned glyph impressions exhibit a crimson sheen. The noticeability of the sheen scales in direct proportion to the magnitude of the current wielder's total negative impact on the Artifact's true owner.
Whenever the Artifact is ordered by its true owner to return to them, it folds in on itself in a non-Euclidean manner, becoming more and more blurry as it does so. Then, the middle of one of the true owner's palms darkens as a single black, ever-shifting glyph with a crimson sheen emerges from it. The true owner reflexively closes its hand around it, 'catching' the glyph, but when they open it again they are instead faced with the Artifact in its shrunken form. The palm's darkening is also no longer present, as if it never happened in the first place.
All bleeding Injuries of the Artifact's true owner emit streaks of blur reminiscent of solar prominence. The parts of this phenomena that are close to the scar owner's skin faintly glow an uneasy red instead of remaining colorless and clear.
This Artifact cannot be broken. If this Artifact is lost and in no one else’s possession, it finds its way back to its true owner during the next Downtime.
By default, the creator of this Artifact is its true owner. The true owner may formally bequeath this Artifact onto another person within arm’s reach, after which they are its true owner. If the true owner dies or is destroyed, their ownership ends. If this Artifact has no true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.
If this Artifact is used by someone other than its true owner, its true owner is alerted and learns the user's appearance, direction, and distance at that moment. The true owner may use a single investigation Effect on them once at any range.
If this Artifact is in no one else’s possession, its true owner may Exert their Mind and spend two Actions to bring it to themselves.
Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their body and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Battle Scar: an ornate, inky-black mark depicting the Artifact's base form - a misericorde dagger - pointing downwards from inbetween the person's shoulder blades to the small of their back. So long as this mark exists, the person in question's blood becomes black and blurry with a crimson sheen, and all Injuries that aren't Stabilized degrade every 10 minutes instead of every 30 minutes. If observed under a microscope, anyone can see that the blood's cells have been replaced by various black, ever-shifting glyphs of similar sizes - however, despite this, the blood functions exactly the same as a normal human's blood would. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.
The cursed orphan watches intently as their eyes seem to glint as the light reflects off their eyes, an understanding forming as they watch the fight.
You gain the following benefits as long as you have your eyes that glint imperceptibly red in the dark.
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).
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Flickering Death - A significant moment from your past causes you immense trauma. (Whenever you experience a sudden shift in lighting, such as an explosion, gunfire in a dark environment, or strobe, roll Self Control. On a failure, you are stunned for -Outcome in Rounds, starting at 1. 0 or -1 Botch = 1 round, -2 botch = 2, and so on).
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:
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You may understand and communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language.
You've noticed that after becoming injured you've started healing at an accelerated pace, the warmth of Alban's blood reminding you of your dwindling Humanity. The blood of your ancestor envelops you, augmenting your vitality.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Any Injury you receive 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.
Your body glows slightly and give off a golden light as your muscle bulge
You gain the following benefits as long as you have your A dimond in the chest.
Your Brawn rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Brawn (cannot be used on combat rolls or Effect activations).
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Back scar that looks like you hadstuff cut out of it.
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 Ninja's incredible dedication to their discipline grants them supernatural dexterity and agility.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
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).
Be amazed as the magician wields a deck of simple playing cards with all the poise and precision of a ninja's shurikens. Fear not, for they will not hit you, unless they want to.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with playing cards.
+2 dice to all rolls utilizing playing cards.
You also gain the following effects:
While submerged, the aquamancer can fully sustain themselves from the waters around them, entirely forgoing food, drink, and even air. They may also enter a state of hibernation, remaining underwater and incapacitated for up to two months.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are submerged in water.
You no longer require any food, water, or air in order to survive. You no longer age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement automatically succeeds.
You may spend one minute entering a state of hibernation, during which you are inanimate and unaffected by any requirements for life. You may still perceive the outside world and may spend 3 Rounds "waking up" to end it.
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:
The detective has trained their eyes to notice the smallest of details.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way.