While this gift presents no outward appearance, the user's own perception of the world changes. The night sky looks different to the user after they have received this gift. The stars and nebulas look brighter, clearer, more defined. It's almost as though the user is able to see the night sky in its complete form, unobscured by the existence of light pollution. In fact, if the user focuses hard enough, they may be able to make out a few stars even in the day time. It truly is a sight to behold.
Andromeda gained this gift after looking through her newly repaired telescope (courtesy of The Friend). Bearing witness to the true appearance of the Andromeda Galaxy through her observatory's telescope left the child speechless, and opened her eyes to what the stars truly are.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Perception rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Perception (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Claustrophobia - When faced with a tight or narrow space (ie. an area where it is impossible to walk side by side with another person, or an enclosed area without an obvious exit), you must succeed a Self-Control roll to traverse it. If you fail, do anything in your power (short of directly harming others) to avoid entering that area.
You also gain the following effects:
Conner’s artistic approach embodies the power of transformative perception and dynamic interaction between art and its audience. By placing harnesses on his art pieces, he metaphorically is exploring the concept that art possesses its own identity and viewpoint shaped by restraints. This act is a profound investigation into how art interacts with and is influenced by its environment, and how it evolves over time in response to these interactions.
The harnesses symbolize the various constraints and influences that shape the interpretation and perception of art. Through this lens, Conner examines how context, perspective, and external factors alter our understanding and appreciation of art. This approach blurs the line between creator and creation, suggesting a symbiotic relationship where each influences and learns from the other.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 10 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless can only be placed on collars, harnesses, and saddles. You must actively and obviously use Tattooing Gun to activate this Effect.
You place a ward, which is fixed to a target Object that can be moved and repositioned. You can hear and see through the ward as though you were standing at its location. Your wards last 3 hours. You may have at most 8 wards active at once.
The ward requires Concentration to monitor, though it will remain active until you deactivate it. It can be detected with a roll and destroyed through mundane means.
Your Ward records all activity it observes, regardless of whether or not you are actively monitoring it. This recording can be played back and referenced later.
You may communicate through your ward, though doing so will reveal its presence.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Inkz Pulls his flesh up and off pulling a small item that’s been tattooed into their skin off and out causing blood to come out during the pulling and when it’s finally out it absorbs the blood to become three-d.
Using Substance B has rendered Mary-Anne susceptible to an inhuman transformation, dense cells packed and ready to flood her system with concentrated power when adrenaline rushes through her body.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action. Whenever you fail or botch a Trauma or Self-Control roll, you must activate this Effect. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.
You transform into The Monster for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are The Monster, 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 Dexterity is increased by 3. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
Your body is adapted to running. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to running.
If you take Injuries totaling 4 Severity or higher while transformed, you recover all Injuries and change into an even larger beast. 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 a transformation into a monstrous, bestial form.
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.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
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.
While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.
Neil observes his target, letting Miasma occupy his eyes while he uses it to sense necromantic energy, alerting him to traces of death.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. 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.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Cassiopeia has formed an oath with Artemis, and in return, receives protection. She may call on the goddess, and a lesser personification of Artemis materializes to thwart incoming attacks.
On gift conception:
It was a night with a full moon, as she walked along the shores of Miami trying to think of a gift. On a regular night the stars would be nigh invisible from light pollution, but she noticed they were twinkling as brightly as if she were out camping in the wilderness. Suddenly there was a woman standing beside her; any normal person wouldn't bat an eye, but Cassiopeia saw a strange blue aura around her. The woman looked up at the moon and asked if she believed in Artemis. She asked if Cassiopeia would want to join the Hunt. Cassiopeia knew where this was going. She knew what she was in for, and there was one aspect that concerned her the most. Thus, she told the woman, "I would, but only if I can continue to age." There was a long silence, as if Artemis waited for Cassiopeia to change her mind, but after a few hours' long standoff, the goddess was intrigued enough to accept Cassiopeia's terms.
On Artemis' oath:
"I, Cassiopeia, pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood without immortality, and join the hunt."
On semantics:
Cassiopeia has always been wary of wording in agreements, and this one was no different. Did "men" refer to people in general, or just... men?
On romance:
So long as Cassiopeia swears off of romantic love, she will be protected by Artemis. Is it cruel? Cassiopeia can't tell. But she doesn't see it as much of an obstacle because she's lived so long without the need for it (or any kind of affection at all). It makes for a good experiment to see if love is really powerful enough to make her turn against the gods.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome +4 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
The barrier will fall after two hours, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is Cassiopeia whispers prayers to Artemis. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Grace's olfactory senses have evolved tremendously due to her bestial affliction. Similar to a shark, she possesses an extraordinary sense of smell allowing her to distinguish things from scent alone, enhanced eyes that can see perfectly in the dark, and special receptors that detect electric currents and neurological activity.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way.
Any senses which have been heightened cannot be overloaded. Battle Scars you receive cannot affect these senses.
The seasoned necromancer's darkest art spits in the face of the natural order. Given sufficient preparation, they may temporarily revive any dead individual.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last month.
Your target rises as an Animate being. They remember their past life and retain their same personality. They can communicate as they would have been able to in life. They may roll Mind, Difficulty 8, to resist any commands you give them.
The creature lasts for eight hours or 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.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Attributes are all the same as they were in life. Raised creatures have access to any Effects they had in life.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The beastmaster shouts, and their human voice cracks into a deep, bestial roar. Their body swells with muscle, clothes melting into a thick pelt of fur. Seconds later the beastmaster is gone. Standing in their place is a massive grizzly bear.
However, even in human form the beast within remains close to the surface, and the beastmaster finds highly civilized social situations unbearable.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a brown bear for two hours or until you choose to end the Effect. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you cannot use your Active, Direct, or Trap Powers. However, you can use your Passive Powers. Any equipment you are wearing transforms with you.
Injuries and Wound Level are carried over between forms. However, transforming can never kill you; you merely remain Incapacitated until your Injuries are sufficiently healed.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Intolerance for society. When you are in a situation with strict social protocols (like a trial or a formal dinner) roll Self-Control not to enter a flight or fight response.
The ninja is a master of a wide variety of martial weapons. They kill quickly and quietly.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee ninja weapons.
+2 dice to all rolls with melee ninja weapons. You may Defend against firearm attacks from any range using melee ninja weapons.
You also gain the following effects:
Most severe injuries occur far from a facility that could treat them, and in the fetid muck of the battlefield even minor wounds may be a death sentence. Luckily the soldier is well-trained in the use of their standard-issue medical kit. They may stabilize even the most severe injuries with a little gauze and some no-anesthetic stitching. Furthermore, the treated wounds of their comrades never get infected.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using a standard issue military medical kit to gain the benefits of this Effect.
All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.
You also gain the following effects:
As long as the ninja is carrying a weapon, their self-defense is almost subconscious. Subtle twitches and lighting-fast feints and parries using sword and scabbard can buy the ninja precious seconds to enact an escape plan or make the kill.
You gain the following benefits at all times. You must actively and obviously be using a sword to gain the benefits of this Effect.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
Whenever your Armor reduces incoming Damage, you are immediately made aware of the source of the Damage. You may pinpoint their location for 30 seconds.
Any time your Armor prevents damage, your total Armor rating is temporarily decreased by 1. Whenever you go two Rounds without preventing any damage, it is restored back to its full value.