As Zephyren taps on the fire glyph, a flame sparks to life and hovers in the palm of his hand. The fire doesn't touch close enough to his skin to burn, and it grows until Zephyren snaps his fingers.
On fireplace size:
Zephyren imagines a fireplace would be 48" x 36", but he wouldn't know because he's never needed one until coming to Canada.
On fires:
Since when did he like fires so much? He isn't sure; the flickering orange glow just beckons and mesmerizes the longer he looks, and his old friends once pointed out that the reflection turns his irises a bright amber orange from the usual dark brown. If he didn't know better he'd think he was born for this. It'll be his making and his ruin. He knows it. If only he could be immune, but he also wonders if that would cause him to lose any sense of warmth completely. As much as he doesn't mind right now, he gets an inkling he'd regret it soon enough.
On spellcasting:
He only needs to snap his fingers to set someone on fire, but he could also go out of his way to do a little choreography. Recently Zephyren watched ATLA, and he was incredibly inspired by the firebenders, colonialism and genocide aside. The moveset was similar to certain martial arts he had briefly learned, and he's sure that if he started practicing again he could master it someday. For once this is something where Zephyren would consider "looking cool".
On the glyph:
Zephyren has carved it into the amber pendant that Caliose gave him, and he's starting to ink the design onto some of his other belongings too. For now he has a stack of post-it notes in his pocket with the glyph design. He's not the most artistic person he knows, but practically everyone around him has been telling him to draw more, and this is how Zephyren will honour that. In fact, Koriol was the one who helped make the glyph because his older sister had some strange runic books lying around.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). You must actively and obviously use any object with a fire glyph designed by Zephyren to activate this Effect.
You may start or extinguish a fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace at your target. Extinguishing a fire does not cost Exertion. You may create or extinguish fires the size of a lighter or candle flame without Exerting your Mind. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.
Lighting a target on fire deals 3 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.
You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.
You may spend a Free Action on your initiative move a fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace that is within 20 feet to another location within 20 feet. You may Exert your Mind to draw a line which a fire up to twice as large as a fire in a residential fireplace cannot cross.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
When activated, the Umbrae Defender processes its gathered data and displays the results on a concealed, high-resolution screen embedded discreetly into the handle. As the multispectral imaging completes, the screen illuminates, revealing a color-coded map of residues and fingerprints, each substance tagged and classified with forensic precision. Soil, pollen, or microscopic traces appear as glowing markers, each one identified by its chemical signature, presenting a clear visual of the object’s recent environments.
Next, the GPS data renders as a series of coordinates on a small map overlay, showing the object’s last known locations. These coordinates pulse on the screen, tracing a path of its journey, almost like a breadcrumb trail left by the item’s history. You can zoom in on these points to get a sense of specific places, each location tagged with approximate timestamps that correspond to environmental changes noted by the sensors.
The LIDAR-generated surface map appears as a 3D model on the screen, rotating slowly to display every scratch, dent, and mark on the object. Each detail is magnified, allowing you to examine wear patterns up close and trace the item’s handling history. This surface map provides clues about the object’s use, as well as how it may have been involved in the crime.
Finally, any available RFID data or manufacturing records load into a separate information tab on the screen. This section gives background details like the object’s origin, manufacturer, and production date, presenting a digital “birth certificate” of sorts. Each piece of information, meticulously presented on the screen, combines to create a clear, organized summary of the object’s journey, origin, and recent interactions—making the Umbrae Defender a powerful, portable investigative tool.
Spend a minute. Select a evidence of crimes within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Culture at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
Somm gazes through the spirit veil, utilizing the boundary between worlds as a "cheat sheet" for X-ray. Unfortunately, his gaze manifests as a ghost orb in the psychical plane: a small ball of light which floats around eerily.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
You may perceive things through Sight within 50 feet of you as though there were no walls or obstacles blocking your view for the next five minutes.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is the reflection of a bright orb in his eyes, floating around.. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
Any Perception rolls made through obstacles are rolled at +1 Difficulty.
You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like a ghost orb.
The Dream Engine's preliminary calibrations have begun. Fine detail is still a little tricky, but the hardlight projector can now reliably produce simple shapes at scale. If you can imagine it, you can build it, provided "it" is a smooth, mostly featureless polyhedron of translucent blue light.
Exert your Mind (unless you are Sculpting) and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of hard-light originating at the target:
The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.
This alteration lasts one minute but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
You may sculpt your walls, domes, or tunnels as you create them, without any additional activation time or cost.
Momma Ettu is so persuasive, she can convince people they are being deceived by their own memories, and only Ettu can fill in the blanks. He words slot into the memories like lock and key, more often than not to minimize violence...
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, a specific period of time (up to 1 hour long) from your target’s memory is replaced with new memories of your choosing. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.
The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).
The Pleading Jackal of Opening is a curious trinket from Maggie’s collection, a pendant strung on a simple leather braid necklace, fitted with copper wire. The jackal itself is carved from black stone, frozen in a pleading posture, like a desert dog begging for food. It’s not just for show, though—when knocked against a locked door or container, and with a shameless plea for it to please open, the jackal’s charm works its magic. Its reliable magic it can unlock nearly anything, for the price of good manners. A fitting companion for a grave robber who knows the art of coaxing secrets from stubborn doors.
Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within 20 feet.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
The mystic enters a meditation while focusing on a remote location. A glowing sigil of an eye appears on their forehead, and a ghostly image of themselves meditating appears at the location they are envisioning. For a brief period, they may see the area they are projecting to as though they were standing there.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target Location within 75 feet.
You may perceive things as if you were standing at that Location. The effect lasts indefinitely but you must maintain Concentration to keep it up. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.
You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like a ghostly image of yourself meditating.
The De-Neuralizer is a small silver device that can emanate a bright flash of light. Any being that looks into it with uncovered eyes has their most recent period of the their memory set into a highly over-writable state for a moment. While in this state, their memories may be overwritten at will.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within within arm's reach. All Sapient targets within 20 feet are affected. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is looking directly into the device with uncovered eyes. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the most recent 1 hour from your target’s memory is either replaced with new memories or forgotten entirely. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.
The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).
The musician pours their heart and soul into their music, giving others some much needed perspective and solace and all around good vibes. This can be a temporary easing of the mind, but with prolonged music therapy it can even permanently cure psychic damage.
Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. This Effect cannot be used unless you continuously play music for your target during the activation. Over the course of one Downtime, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired. After the full treatment time has elapsed, roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6.
Your target may Resist. If your treatment is successful, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.
Once per day per target, you may choose to use this Effect to stabilize the Mind of a target within arm's reach. Treatment takes 30 seconds but will not remove any Traumas. If you are successful, restore 2 Mind damage.
You may choose to use this Effect to temporarily relieve any number of the patient's Traumas (including mental Conditions). In this case, Treatment takes an Action and the effect lasts two hours. If the Patient is currently experiencing an episode, Difficulty is increased by 2.
The musician assumes a powerful stance and strums a mighty power chord on their guitar. A blast of sound waves radiate outwards, destroying all who dare face the power chord directly.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use your instrument to activate this Effect. The area within 25 feet of you immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Targets inside the radius may attempt an appropriate Reaction at GM’s discretion. Finding a physical barrier to use as cover will cut total Damage taken in half (applies after Reaction roll but before Armor).
If the Outcome is positive, your blast hits everything within 25 feet of you with Damage equal to your Outcome + 4. If you botched the activation roll, you will also take full Damage from the blast, otherwise it will not hurt you.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Come one, come all! Stand in amazement and behold as the Fire Eater consumes a flame as if it were cotton candy! Gasp with fright as they breathe a plume of fire a great distance! And yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is quite dangerous.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: perform a fire-breathing trick. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you take a Severity-4 Injury as the fire burns your throat. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
You may start or extinguish a fire as large as a firepit's fire at your target. Extinguishing a fire does not cost Exertion. You may create or extinguish fires the size of a lighter or candle flame without Exerting your Mind. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.
Lighting a target on fire deals 4 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.
You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.