Zephyren collects blades almost obsessively, perhaps because they are some of the least detectable weapons. Or, he does it instinctively because a bird is never complete without its talons. In result, he's also the most proficient with blades.
On weapon usage:
People have guns (even in Canada, they're just quieter about it), but Zephyren legally cannot own one, and traveling with those can be such a pain for those with licenses anyway. He very much prefers a quieter option too. Also, blades are far more versatile (he wants to toss a bunch of vegetables in the air one day and try to slice them all). Never bring a knife to a gun fight? Think again.
On blade proficiency:
Fighting isn't the only thing Zephyren uses blades for. If anything he's rarely had to fight outside contracts; he mostly uses knives in the kitchen, and since he has been cooking from a very young age, there's no surprise that this is what he's the most comfortable with. In any video games, he also predominantly uses a knife or sword. Don't ask how he's gotten through Resident Evil; let's just say he had to face a lot of corpses up close.
On bird talons:
Thankfully Zephyren has never been attacked by a bird, but from what he's read, talons can be really sharp. They have to grip onto things after all, even if it means they'd puncture their target.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with knives and daggers.
+2 dice to all rolls with knives and daggers. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using knives and daggers.
You also gain the following effects:
This Effect has no explicit visibility requirement.
Due to being a rock, no physical limitations that afflict humans are placed upon Gerald Bones. Except for sleep.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
You no longer require any food, water, or air in order to survive.
The Wrangler’s body contorts, limbs jerking and twisting in unnatural, stuttering motions, his avatar emits visuals similar to that of cracking/breaking bones. It's like watching someone halfway between being alive and corrupted code
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You and everything you are carrying is obscured in one of the following manners. Lasts 30 minutes.
While this Effect is active, any Effect that would obscure you or your equipment specifically from other, additional senses fails automatically.
If someone discovers you, this Effect will not help you hide from them for the next minute. This Effect does not end early when you activate an obvious Effect, attack, or receive an Injury.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see The Wrangler’s body contorts, limbs jerking and twisting in unnatural, stuttering motions, his avatar emits visuals similar to that of cracking/breaking bones. It's like watching someone halfway between being alive and corrupted code..
Being the intended payment for a fairy deal has altered Tighe in strange ways once he stepped into adulthood. Alongside the inability to speak falsehoods, the world itself recognizes what Tighe speaks to be truth. When Tighe speaks now, people stop questioning if he is lying and instead accepts it to be what it is now, the truth as he perceives it to be.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Charisma rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Charisma (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
You also gain the following effects:
The contractor times their breaths along with their movements and trigger pulls, using their gun to great effect.
You gain the following benefits as long as engaged in combat with firearms.
+2 dice to all firearms rolls.
You also gain the following effects:
When this effect occurs, Edgar undergoes a dramatic transformation, a period of rampant mutation from the multiple monstrous forces contained within his body - his talons lengthen, dripping with steaming, heated blood - his flesh writhes obscenely, as if dozens of steel cables pulsed & moved below his rugose flesh while his lolling tongue will often split like a flower, either into multiple tendrils or multiple eyestalks - perhaps most disturbing of all, his eyes swell & then burst - leaving gaping holes filled with a guttering orange flame. While under these episodes, the alien flesh of the Provider instantly regenerates any lost flesh, up to & including lost limbs - these mutations are imperfect however, often being formed of squamous flesh studded with the screaming faces of people the Ghoul has consumed - this flesh will swiftly become unstable, tearing itself away & crawling off to die (hopefully...) when the episode ends.
Augments during Mutation Episode
-Death Chisels (Maws & Claws, Aquatic Adaptation)
-No Escape (+15 Movement, Pouch)
-Blind
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a hulking mutant Ghoul for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a hulking mutant Ghoul, and you can use your equipment. The Injuries and Battle Scars of your Alternate Form and your true form are tracked separately.
While transformed, your Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
If you take Injuries totaling 4 Severity or higher while transformed, you recover all Injuries and change into a pulsating mound of flesh composed of the screaming corpses of all those the Ghoul has consumed. All dice rolls are at -1 Difficulty for the next minute or until this Effect ends. Cooldown 1 day.
If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Rampant Mutation.
Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.
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.
The Thief casts a container's worth of fine powder into the air. The particulates are drawn to any sort of object that is designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc. The powder will not trigger these devices or interfere with their operation, but it does reveal their presence to the Thief.
The cloud drifts and swirls, subtly following the Thief for a minute.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up a container of fine powder in order to activate this Effect.
You automatically detect all object that are designed to detect people, including tripwires, security cameras, detection lasers, heat sensors, etc within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. When you detect objects, instead of learning nothing about them, you may observe each object with all of your senses.
EzFake is an app that appears on any cell phone the influencer holds as long as they are holding it. The influencer need only make a selection and focus their will to project a lifelike forgery into the world in front of them. It may be an object, a creature, or even a specific person, and they can speak and make sounds as well.
The Influencer gets ready to film, and focuses fully on getting a good shot. After all, no video doctoring software can compete with a real life forgery which can be filmed from any number of directions by anyone's camera and appear legitimate.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: open up the app on your cell phone, make your selection, and prepare to film. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use cell phone camera to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Choose an illusion to generate, which can be no larger than a person.
The chosen illusion is generated at your target, and it will remain in place as long as you maintain Concentration or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their hearing, smell, and sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.
Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion and can choose to perceive it or not at will.
The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.
The priest channels their true faith into a brutal assault on the consciousness of demonic or unholy creatures. By wielding their favored holy symbol, a gilded crucifix, they can put a proper fear of god into them, leaving them cowering at any truly holy things they encounter.
Exert your Mind (unless you have been recently attacked by your target) and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is undead, demonic, or another evil creature. You must actively and obviously use a gilded cross to activate this Effect. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8 with a -3 dice penalty. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically and their Outcome is 0.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes Mind damage equal to the Contested Outcome. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target will gain a phobia of holy things as a Trauma. This Trauma may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.
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.
Take a Severity-1 Injury 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.
The magician places a mirror to reflect a subject and conjures an illusion that perfectly replicates it!
If the illusion is touched, it shatters into a thousand tiny shards of glass.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: place a mirror such that it reflects the subject of your illusion. Select a target within 45 feet. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
a reflection of something else in the area, which can be no larger than a person is generated at your target, and it will remain in place for the next minute or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.
Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion, and the entire effect will be ended for all targets.
The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.