Charlie's eyes glow with the same spiritual light that the Dead Line does when under the active effects of The Lifeline. She brings her target's consciousness temporarily to a temporary 'transitory' space. In this space, both Charlie and her target can see each other standing in an environment representing their souls in an endless dark void. (As detailed in the Extended Description.)
Charlie feels out souls as if they were abstract environments tied to the person's inner self. A violent and insecure person would have a volcano twisted and bent, about to snap, while a gentle and patient person would have a calm pool of water in a delicate glade.
Charlie's own soul is an ever-changing labyrinth of railroad tracks reaching out in all directions shrouded in concrete tunnels. Among the many tunnels is a single winding rail flickering with green-blue fire leading to some unknown place.
(When describing the shape of a character's soul, consider the following:
- What is the character's temperament?
- What are the character's aspirations?
- How does the character view themselves?
- How can you tie the abstract shape of a soul to the character's nature?)
Spend 2 Actions. Select a Sapient target or a Creature within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use a conductor's cap to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome. For any information you learn about your target, the corresponding information about you is shared with them.
This Effect is obviously Alien and eye-catching across its range to those witnessing it, and you are obviously the source.
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.
Ripley sits at a high-top in corner of bustling restaurant, sipping at a mixed drink that she barely tolerates. She eyes a thin man drinking alone at the bar, reaching down to pull her talisman from her wrist and begin to thumb at it. Ripley opens her mouth to call out to the spirits clinging to the man. She shivers as the condensation on her glass frosts over, her Voice bringing the whispering spirits close...
After a minute, Ripley has finished writing a list of victims, and some of the man's darkest secrets in a small booklet...
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use Spirit Talisman to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Carver fiddles with a toothpick in her mouth and looks the target over.
Carver briefly connects to her target's mind and directly reads its signals as if it was nothing more than a file sitting on her desk. With her psychic prowess and medical know-how, she can effectively diagnose any issues the patient may have, even if the patient themselves hasn't consciously noticed any symptoms yet.
...As long as she has a toothpick to ground herself. The sheer amount of information they need to sort through would easily overwhelm them if they didn't have something else to focus on. (It also helps that it reminds her of Julia, the memories helping to combat any spikes in anxiety from being suddenly presented with large quantities of information she needs to sort through.)
Spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use A Toothpick to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
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.
the bartender finishes polishes, a drinking glass, then offers to pour his patron a drink, asking them what is ailing them right now, and the target lifts up the drinking glass and begins to take a drink, before setting it down and giving an honest answer.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action to turn a drinking glass into a trap. This trap lasts one day or until triggered or disarmed. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6.
The trap looks like a drinking glass. Only those who have seen this trap before can identify it as a trap. Anyone who is aware of the trap may intuitively avoid, trigger, or destroy it.
Any Sapient target or a Creature within within arm's reach that uses the trap as a drinking glass will trigger it.
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 spoken and made publicly available.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Marks caught a few villians in his day, and one thing they always seem to have in common is they never shut up.
Not everyone can leave themselves open, provoke in just the right way and even let themselves get into seemingly precarious situations, just to loosen some lips.
He's learned how to conversationally 'push their buttons' and make them talk.
So far, the most reliable way has been to talk about himself, to instigate their inevitable sense of competition.
It takes constant conversation, so when Mark mentions his relavent truths, their target does too.
Preferably in the form of a back and forth gloating/determination sort of thing if it is antagonistic, or a comraderie building honesty moment if not.
Examples:
"I'm Mark Collins, fighter of injustice, protector of the weak. I'm here to stop you! " (flexes in superhero pose)
"It's too late, Mark!" (laughs maniacally) "You'll never find the bombs in time!" (Shows him live feed of the city.) "Watch your public failure with me! The world will know my name! ZOXOB!"
"If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word."
Terry Pratchett
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively converse with the individual in question for one minute in order to gather any information. At the end of your investigation, roll Brawn + Influence at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome. For any information you learn about your target, the corresponding information about you is shared with them.
Any information you gather is A spoken conversation and made publicly available. This also includes any information the target learns about you.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Disaster looms. You hear the songs in every heart, and know their inevitable, bitter ends.
You hum a familiar, dreadful tune, known only to you and your target. Droplets of cold river water condense on your hands. They get the disconcerting feeling of a thread unspooling in their brain.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Select a Sapient target or a Creature within arm's reach. You may select a target at any range if you use up a scrap of fabric stained with the blood of the target. You cannot investigate the same target more than once per hour. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target resists by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The detective can learn a lot by watching someone for a minute. Each subtle detail, every unexplained stain, reveals something about where the target has been. Ocassionally, they'll drop a business card, or explain how to contact them. The detective is listening.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target does not know you're watching them. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The Doctor examines their patient and gives a standard medical checkup, asking them questions, nodding to themselves, and muttering arcane medical jargon. The examination reveals an extraordinary amount of detail about any medical issues suffered by the patient.
Spend one minute. Select a Sapient target or a Creature within arm's reach. You must actively converse with the individual in question for one minute in order to gather any information. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Medicine at Difficulty 6. The target may Resist.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
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.
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 psychic can glean various important details about a person simply by engaging in a short conversation with them.
Spend one minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively converse with the individual in question for one minute in order to gather any information. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Influence 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 spoken aloud in conversation and made publicly available.
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.