Auspicious Color 挂红辟邪, 求平安

2
The power to create a protective barrier.
Used by Nathan Hong, Created by Ltyinkwint.
(Activating this Effect is not obvious. The only sign you are using an Effect is Nathan drawing a circle with his finger.)

As Nathan breathes out, he vigorously incants in his mind, his finger guiding the fiber on his target. His target notices the red thread emanating from them form a loop around their wrist before heading off elsewhere.

Warded against harm, would-be deadly threats find themselves unable to land onto the target, whether it be through circumstances of good fortune or preemptive movements of the body.

When the protection is exhausted, the target sees the string naturally unravel from their wrist, returning to its state of drifting off to elsewhere.

Red string being worn around the wrist has been commonly done for luck and providence of the body, the color seen as auspicious.


Spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is Marked by you. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you create a barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome +2 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 Nathan drawing a circle with his finger. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

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

  • Effects which circumvent Armor completely also circumvent your barrier.
  • 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.

Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing up G.O.A.T. Milk spent on adjusting power: Providence of the Body    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from writing a Journal for Savage spent on revising power: As a Mirror    (since refunded)
Gift from playing in Not enough Grit. spent on revising power: As a Mirror    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Revision purchased with:
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from running Passing the Hours spent on improving power: Manifest Refraction    (since refunded)
Revision purchased with:
Revision purchased with:
Revision purchased with:
Revision purchased with:
Gift from playing in Demon Circle spent on new power: Manifest Mirror    (since refunded)

Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits as long as you are engaged in combat with melee weapons.

Your attacks with melee weapons deal +1 Bonus Damage. Armor is fully effective against this damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Two Swords are better than One: If you are wielding two melee weapons, your attack's Weapon Damage is equal to the sum of your two weapons'. If you split your Outcome to attack two targets, any target you successfully hit takes the full Weapon Damage and full Bonus Damage.

  • Reminder: Bonus Damage stacks with Weapon Damage, but does not stack with any other Bonus Damage. Instead, the highest Bonus Damage is used.

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:

  • 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

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

You gain the following benefits at all times.

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

  • Sight:You are partially obscured from being noticed by sight. All attempts to detect you using sight are rolled at a -3 dice penalty, and all attempts to detect you where sight would assist are rolled at -1 penalty. Anyone who detects you cannot determine any visual details about you beyond your general shape.

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.

You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Disconcerting: Your unnatural presence puts people at unease. All social rolls are at +1 difficulty.

  • You may only switch this Effect on or off once per Round on your initiative as a Free Action.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Roll Intellect + Alertness 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.

Spend an Action to activate. Select a target within 300 feet. Roll Charisma + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Body, Difficulty 6.

If the contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much damage plus 1. Armor is fully effective against this damage.

You may use this Effect to Defend or Clash in Combat, including against ranged attacks such as firearms.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see The Wound Disappears from Sally and appears slowly on the target.

This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Stock Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend eight hours. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you cause a major Battle Scar instead of an augmentation. Your target must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. The target can easily Resist.

You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:

  • Specialized: You receive +2 dice to a particular non-combat, non-Effect Action.
  • Environmental Adaptation: You do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in a particular environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.
  • Implanted Tool: You have access to the functionality of some common Device at all times. The selected Device can be no larger than a motorcycle helmet.
  • Armor: You have 2 Armor at all times. As always, Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
  • Pouch: Part of your body functions as a hidden pocket. It can hold no more than a briefcase (15 liters).
  • Zippy: Your Free Movement is increased by 10 feet.
  • Maws and Claws: Your unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage instead of -1.

The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.

  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may not augment targets with pouches or implanted devices that are larger than they are.
  • Targets without Body ratings may have a maximum of 4 augmentations.
  • Example environments for adaptation: space, all saltwater, all fresh water, all water under 50 feet deep, all water deeper than 50 feet, the jungle, radioactive areas, a specific alien world, etc.
  • 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.

Spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use bread or a fish to activate this Effect.

For the next 24 hours, your target does not require any food, water, or sleep. Any attempts to age your target fail. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement is made at -1 Difficulty.

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 sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Exert your Mind and spend 30 seconds to trap a region of any shape that contains your current location and fits entirely within 300 feet. This trap lasts one day or until triggered or disarmed. You must use up a dart in order to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Survival Difficulty 6.

The trap looks like a tripwire, a pressure plate, or a hidden switch. 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 Living target that enters the chosen region will trigger the trap. 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.

The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.

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.

  • Multiple traps cannot be placed in the exact same location or be triggered by the same single Action. Nor can one trap triggering cause another to trigger.
  • Trap can only be spotted by someone who has witnessed this particular trap before, has been informed, or possesses relevant supernatural abilities. They must achieve an Outcome of 4 or higher on a Perception + Alertness roll to do so.
  • The area you choose where the trap can be triggered may be just a single location, similar to a tripwire or a pressure plate, or it can be a proximity trigger which hits anyone who comes within the specified range of the trap. This is defined by you when you place the trap and cannot be changed once the trap is placed.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a object that uses electricity within 20 feet no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). You must actively and obviously use a smart watch to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Technology Difficulty 6.

If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be completely destroyed and can no longer function, though it may still be repaired. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.

When a target is destroyed, it sends shards flying. Anyone within 5 feet of the object rolls 4d10 at Difficulty 6 and takes damage equal to the Outcome. Can be reacted to.

  • The penalty from an object being damaged will stack with itself if a target is hit multiple times, but the object is destroyed when it reaches a total penalty of -4.
  • 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.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are in werewolf form, and you are engaged in unarmed combat.

+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +0 Weapon Damage (instead of -1).

You may Defend against melee, projectile, or firearm Attacks from any range and Clash with those in range of your Attacks. Attacking materials like steel or spikes will not Damage you unless it has an Effect that does so.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Brutal Strikes: If your attack inflicts a Battle Scar, you may choose which of the appropriate-severity Battle Scars the target suffers. If it causes a less severe Injury, you may inflict a Minor Battle Scar of your choosing.
  • Jiu-Jitsu:When you successfully grapple an opponent, you may choose to also deal damage to them equal to the Contested Outcome on the grapple roll.

  • The total damage of a ju-jitsu grapple-attack is equal to your Outcome minus their Outcome. Bonus Damage from the Bonus Damage Parameter does not apply to damage dealt through this Enhancement.
  • Unlike the Ability Brawl, this Effect does not affect small weapons such as knives.