Personal Phalanx

1
The power to bring inanimate objects to life.
Used by Alexander Stewart, Created by carsick.
(This Effect is obviously Alien when used. When activating this Effect, it is obvious you are interacting with the target. Objects will appear obviously animated until the effect ends. )

Magical glowing glyphs are traced onto the shield. They remain while animated. Occasionally the glyphs will shift on their own, hinting at a deeper awareness.


Spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Trace glowing glyphs across the surface of the shield. Select a shield within arm's reach which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters). You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.

Your target will become Animated for three hours. You may choose to end the effect at will, as a Free Action. You can maintain a max of 4 targets animated at once.

Animated Objects have the following restrictions and capabilities:

  • Awareness: Animated targets are capable of perceiving the world around them within reasonable limits. They cannot communicate in a clear or coherent way.
  • Movement: Animated targets can use an existing method of locomotion (wheels, etc); otherwise they can move across the ground or hover up to a height of 7 feet in the air at 40 feet per Round.
  • Combat: Animated objects cannot take offensive actions in combat.
  • Artifacts: Animating an Artifact does not grant the animated object access to any Effects built in to that Artifact.
  • Ability Use: If an action requires a roll, Animated objects have a dice pool of 7 when performing a task for which they were designed, and a dice pool of 4 for taking any other actions.
  • Toughness: Animated targets are as easy to destroy as they were prior to being animated. If destroyed, the effect ends.
  • Following Orders: Animated objects are controlled by the GM, and will follow any commands you give them, as long as they don't require problem-solving.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • A task for which an object was designed might include a broom sweeping, a gun shooting things, a car driving, a towel rubbing up on stuff, etc.
  • Animated objects may be more or less susceptible to certain attacks at GMs discretion. A scarecrow golem would be easily destroyed by a sword (or fire). An animated suit of armor may not fear bullets but could be smashed to bits with a hammer. A full bronze statue is largely indestructible but might have difficulty standing up if toppled.
  • If an indestructible object is animated, the animation ends in any event where the base object would have been destroyed.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Community Power Gifts

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:

  • Brilliant Deduction: You may spend five minutes pondering an enigma, puzzle, or mystery, and roll Intellect at Difficulty 8. Success will reveal a clue or other tidbit that you have otherwise missed. Limit once per enigma.
  • Push Through It: When you Exert your Mind to ignore Stress and gain +1 to your Outcome, it lasts for 3 Rounds.
  • Quick Thinking: Any Intellect rolls other than Power activations are made as Free Actions. You get +2 dice to all Initiative rolls.
  • Insufferable Know-It-All: Any social rolls you make are at +1 Difficulty, and if someone else can answer an informational question or solve a puzzle before you do, make a Trauma roll. The Difficulty of this Trauma roll cannot be reduced by any means.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Dexterity rating is increased by 3. 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).

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Time: Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction to make a single dodge roll that applies its full Outcome to any attacks made against you that Round. Mob bonuses do not apply on attacks against you this Round.
  • Reactionary: You gain an additional Reaction each Round. You cannot take an Action after taking a Reaction.
  • Split Second: You may Dodge or Defend against surprise attacks.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

By utilizing the skull of a beast that has been given the proper due respect one can cause a natural illusion to form around themselves hiding them for the senses of those outside of the illusion.

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

Your senses are enhanced in the following way.

  • Sight: You can see things that are up to a mile away as though you were only standing twenty feet away, provided your view is unobstructed.
  • Thermal: You are able to "see" heat signatures within your line of sight.

  • Your thermal vision allows you to judge temperatures of surfaces fairly accurately as long as they are within livable temperatures.

You gain the following benefits as long as you have your Oddly Sharp Canine teeth.

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).

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:

  • Honest Eyes: Your word is accepted as honest so long as you are speaking the truth as you understand it. You can always tell if someone telling a lie without making a roll, though you may not know what they are concealing
  • Life-Changing Conversation: Speak to a target for 10 minutes, Exert your Mind, and roll Charisma + Influence, Difficulty of the target’s Mind score. If you achieve a complete success, you may suppress one of their Limits or add a new Limit. Lasts two months
  • No Choice But To Stan: If someone speaks or acts against you socially, anyone observing it must roll Mind, with the difficulty equal to your Charisma, in order to not defend you.
  • Party Animal: You are welcome at, and will be granted entrance to, any social gathering or party, at least as an observer.

  • Being forced to Stan will not force someone to violate any of their Limits or to engage in violence of any kind (though they may still do so of their own volition).
  • A "social gathering" might include a birthday party, after-work drinks, a ski trip, or yoga in the park, among other things. It likely would not include a cult gathering to summon a demon, Congressional negotiations over a contentious bill, etc.
  • If your Oddly Sharp Canine teeth is damaged, destroyed, or lost, you lose all benefits from this Effect for the next two months.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with Tarot cards.

+2 dice to all rolls utilizing Tarot cards.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Parry: You may use a Reaction to Defend against any Melee, thrown, or projectile Attack in range of your Attacks.
  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Jackie Chan: You do not receive a Difficulty penalty when throwing objects that are not designed for throwing.
  • Ricochet: You can make a thrown attack against a target behind cover so long as there is at least one exposed pathway to them.

Stock Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

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: You are muscled like a gorilla and have a slight muzzle and animal facial features.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Champion of the Caber Toss: You may lift an additional 2000 pounds per point of Brawn beyond 5, and you may throw items up to this weight to a distance of your throwing roll’s Outcome x10 feet.
  • Heavy Hitter: Successful attacks made with Brawn will either knock your target back Outcome x 5 feet, or knock them down to the ground. Choose which effect the attack will have prior to rolling for it.
  • Ham-Fisted: You cannot limit yourself when handling delicate objects or physically interacting with people. You may need to roll Dexterity + Athletics to avoid breaking things or causing unintended injury.

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

Summon a single Sapient roadie at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most one minion active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat starting the Round after they are summoned.
  • Combat: Minions roll 3 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make roadie Attacks. Their unarmed Attacks are melee range and deal +0 Damage.
  • Body/Mind: Minions have 5 Body. Your minions roll 3 Mind resistance dice.
  • Armor: Minions have 1 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 15 feet per Round as Free Movement and double that when performing an all-out Sprint.
  • Intelligence: Minions have human-level intelligence and can speak your language. They can use equipment, Artifacts, and Consumables. However, they cannot Exert their Mind.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice. Your minion is able to lifting and hauling with a 7 dice pool. Any other roll is made with 3 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 2 Brawn.
  • Unusual: Minions are not obviously Alien.

You may only use this Effect once per day.

  • Minions die if targeted with Energy Transfer (before the Effect resolves) or if an Artifact or Consumable they use would Injure them or cause them to roll Trauma.
  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.

  • Any Encumbrance penalty to your movement still applies, but you do not suffer from any sort of exhaustion.
  • Damage from a collision depends on your speed at the time, as well as what you hit. GM's discretion, but generally moving faster than a car on the freeway and hitting a dense, solid object like a wall or a tree should be lethal. Mundane armor will not apply, but any supernatural forms of protection will.

Spend an Action. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use at least a gallon of water to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Athletics 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 cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of Effect. There must be no substantial obstructions between you and your target.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Roll Dexterity + Brawl Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Body, Difficulty 6.

If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 2. The target's Armor is completely ignored.

When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."

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.

  • A given target can have a maximum of one Suspended Effect on them at a time. The selected triggering Action cannot be used to reveal information about the target (e.g. no "activate when they are a vampire"). It must be an Action they take, not a thought or something that happens to them.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of Effect. There must be no substantial obstructions between you and your target.