Sukhman’s Lament

1
Requires Seasoned
You possess supernaturally heightened senses.
Used by Harry Johnson, Created by jwesley123.
(This Effect may or may not be obviously Alien.)

Harry Johnson was haunted by the faces of those he had failed, each one etched into his mind like a scar that wouldn’t fade. Driven to the edge, he chose to blind himself, hoping that darkness would bring him the peace he so desperately sought. But in the depths of his self-imposed blindness, he found no escape—only a curse that bound him even more tightly to the world he longed to leave behind.

As his vision faded, his other senses sharpened in ways he could hardly bear. It was as if the spirit of Sukhman Odikhmantievich, a mystic bogatyr from his lineage, had awakened within him, refusing to let him turn away. Sukhman was known for his uncanny ability to see beyond sight, a gift for perceiving the world’s hidden layers. Now, that power had passed to Harry, manifesting as a twisted gift that denied him the relief he had sought in blindness.

At first, Harry didn’t understand what was happening to him. His sense of smell became overwhelming, every scent pulling memories to the surface as if they were embedded in the air. He could smell the faintest traces of sweat, metal, and fear lingering around him, scents that brought back battles he thought he’d left behind. Each breath became a reminder of those he had lost, each scent carrying the echoes of faces and voices he could not forget. It was as if the world around him refused to let him go, holding onto him with the smells of sorrow, blood, and regret.

Soon, he discovered that his hearing had intensified, too. Every sound reached him with brutal clarity, each noise carrying a sense of purpose he couldn’t ignore. He could pick up the faintest whisper from across a room, distinguish the intentions behind movements, and feel the emotions in people’s voices. The softest sigh, the quietest scrape of a blade—everything spoke to him, telling him more than he wanted to know. Silence brought no peace, only a tense anticipation that something would break it, each sound pulling him back to the present, refusing him the respite he had hoped to find.

But the most unsettling discovery came when he began experimenting with music, trying to find solace in the familiar tones of an instrument. It was only then that he realized the full scope of his curse. When he played a note on a flute, a string instrument, or even a drum, he found that the sound reached out into the world, bouncing back with a picture of his surroundings. Each note provided him with a map—a way to “see” without sight, an echolocation that formed a mental image of the space around him. Yet, every time the sound returned, it carried something extra—a ghostly whisper, a faint echo of voices from his past, like the world was forcing him to confront the memories he’d tried to bury.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Smell: Your nose is highly sensitive and can differentiate between scents the way a dog can, as well as recognize things you have smelled before.
  • Hearing: You are capable of perceiving physical shapes via sound. You must produce a play a sound on a musical instrument to “ping” with your echolocation each Round you wish to use it.
  • Hearing: You automatically know the origin location of any sound you hear, and you can tell which Action caused the sound.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Complete Blindness.

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Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing a Journal for The Tomb of Cagliostro spent on improving power: Sukhman’s Lament    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Ring True spent on improving power: Sukhman’s Lament    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Safe House spent on improving power: Sukhman’s Lament
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Danse Macabre spent on adjusting power: Sukhman’s Lament
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Community Passive Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Hearing: You may hear sounds of sub- and hyper-sonic frequencies, allowing you to hear tiny things (mice, insects, etc) better, and pick up on the vibrations of massive things (earthquakes, atmospheric disruptions, etc) long before others.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You get +2 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:

  • Been There, Done That: If you succeed a Mind resistance roll, subsequent attempts to use that same Gift or supernatural ability on you for the next day will fail.
  • Compartmentalizing: You can take a maximum of 1 Mind Damage per Round.
  • Naturally Resistant: Any time you make a Mind resistance roll, the individual who you are resisting must Exert their Mind, or your resistance succeeds automatically.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Disfigured.

  • If you have an Effect that allows you to Exert your Mind more than once per Round, each Exertion still causes one Mind Damage.
  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Anthropomorphic Cat. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living Creature when targeted..

You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.

You may make a +2 Weapon Damage Claw and tooth attack without additional equipment.

  • Even though you're targetable as a Creature, you still are also targetable as a Sapient being.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You get +2 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:

  • Been There, Done That: If you succeed a Mind resistance roll, subsequent attempts to use that same Gift or supernatural ability on you for the next day will fail.
  • Naturally Resistant: Any time you make a Mind resistance roll, the individual who you are resisting must Exert their Mind, or your resistance succeeds automatically.
  • Reveal Yourself To Me: If you succeed on a Mind resistance roll, you understand who was targeting you and what the intended effect was.

  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

She still needs to sleep because sleeping is part of refreshing one's mind more than one's body - or at least that's what she believes, so far.

You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using fox pendant to gain the benefits of this Effect.

You no longer require any food, water, sleep, or air in order to survive. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement automatically succeeds.

  • In lieu of sleeping, once per day you may spend one hour meditating to recover a Mind Damage.

Stock Passive Gifts

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:

  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Ricochet: You can make a thrown attack against a target behind cover so long as there is at least one exposed pathway to them.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may go five times longer than a normal human without food, water, sleep, and air.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You can interact with things that are within 75 feet without needing to physically touch them or be near them. Any rolls made for Actions taken in this way use a Mental Strength of 2 in place of your Brawn rating, a Mental Agility of 2 in place of your Dexterity, and otherwise use your own Attributes and Abilities.

Telekinetic actions have the following restrictions and behaviors:

  • Line of Sight: You must be able to visually observe anything you interact with, and any actions that you are taking will end if their target moves out of sight.
  • Unarmed Combat: You cannot deal damage through unarmed combat or thrown objects with this Effect, though you may still grapple with targets.
  • Weapons: You cannot wield weapons effectively in combat.
  • Fine Tools: You are otherwise limited to actions that a normal human could do with their bare hands.
  • Maintaining Focus: You must maintain Concentration while taking Actions in this way. If you are Injured or interrupted, you must roll Mind at Difficulty 9 to maintain Concentration. If you fail, you cannot engage in telekinetic actions for the next 6 - Intellect rounds.
  • Levitation: If you are strong enough to lift yourself, you may levitate up to within 75 feet away from the ground. Movement is limited to 5 feet per Round.
  • Multiple Items: You can only interact with one thing or take one Action at a time.

  • Any telekinetic actions which interact with Animate targets may require contested rolls at GMs discretion.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Gifted: You get +3 dice on any rolls related to medical care as long as treating an Injury.

  • All stabilizations being proper stabilizations applies to stabilizations from other Effects such as Heal Wound.

You gain the following benefits as long as as long as you are visibly dressed head to toe in black with hardly any skin showing.

You are obscured in one of the following manners. You may Spend an Action to change the way in which you're concealed.

  • Hearing: You are completely obscured from hearing. You produce no sounds while this Effect is active. All attempts to detect you via hearing fail. Attempts via other senses where hearing would assist are rolled at -2 dice.

While this Effect is active, any Effect that would obscure you from other, additional senses fails automatically. If someone discovers you, this Effect will not help you hide from them for the next minute. Activating a targeted or obvious Effect, attacking, or being Injured ends the Effect. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for one minute.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: compulsion to test the awareness of allies by sneaking up on them with a weapon.

  • GMs should use their discretion when determining the exact impacts of this Effect, particularly in conjunction with environmental factors. Standing still against a complex background may render you impossible to detect, and footprints in snow may make it easy. A chance to detect you is not guaranteed.