Harold Polk’s mastery of language turns everyday phrases into tools of subtle influence, each carefully crafted to direct attention and control focus, whether in the courtroom or in casual conversation. His words are designed to blend seamlessly into any setting, creating a form of linguistic programming that shapes perception without raising suspicion. In the courtroom, phrases like “Objection,” “Eyes Only,” “Under Review,” “Leading the Witness,” and “Relevance” grant him control over proceedings, guiding attention where he needs it. In more covert settings, phrases such as “Just Between Us,” “By the Way,” “In the Meantime,” “That Reminds Me,” and “One More Thing” allow him to divert focus, prompt hesitation, or subtly steer actions, all within the flow of casual conversation. Each phrase becomes a tool of influence, enabling Harold to shape interactions with language alone, whether he’s in court or blending into the background.
Spend an Action. A number of Sapient, Living targets within 50 feet who can perceive you through no greater than your Charisma rating are affected. Audiences or mobs with a singular focus count as one target. Roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6. All affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, the targets will keep their full attention focused on you for as long as you maintain Concentration. They will automatically fail any rolls related to noticing anything other than you.
If you pass from their perception and they are unable to pursue you, the Effect ends. If they can follow you, they must do so for 2 Rounds or the Effect will end. The Effect ends early if the target is Injured or violence occurs nearby.
This does not affect the target’s opinion of you or their mood, and they may take any Actions while affected (including attacking), as long as that action centers on you. Fascinated targets cannot Concentrate.
You may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking. The target does not roll to resist, and beating their Outcome does not fascinate them. This interrupts Concentration.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
After a moment, grayish mist is emitted from the necklace. The cloud then coalesces into cloaked, wraith-like beings that surround your target.
The wraiths use the voices of the innocents that have been harmed by the users actions.
What they’re saying is nearly incomprehensible due to the sheer quantity of voices attempting to whisper over each other, but the target gets the sense that the user must have done something terribly wrong.
If used on self, the wraiths taunt and mock the user. Unlike the others, the user recognizes each and every voice and how they are related to the user.
They're translucent and wouldn't inhibit vision.
When attacked, the wraiths let out a bloodcurdling wail and lunge for the attacker before bursting into ethereal flames.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. Roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome +4 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of 4. Their Armor applies in full. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. This Artifact may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, 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.
Years of dodging trouble and getting out of sketchy situations left their mark - making Evans more cold, calculating, but most of all slippery.
As of his last job however Clay is now able to weave trouble by quite literally jumping away thanks to his his new best friend - a wrist mounted grappling hook that has been expertly tuned to account for Clay's lightweight frame and equipment load, making him as slippery as a snake and fluid as a professional dancer, ideally at least.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction to activate. Select a Location which is at most 50 feet away horizontally or 10 feet away vertically.
You jump to the chosen location. If the landing is precarious, the GM may call for a roll to land safely. You will never take fall damage from successfully landing a jump made with this Effect.
If your target location is no more than 50 feet away, you may spend your Free Movement instead of an Action to activate this Effect.
The targets body morphs to reflect the new augmentations before snapping back into how they looked before
Utilizing the mutable properties of quantum energy you can shape matter and give it new properties, this is a form of that application.
Exert your Mind and spend an hour to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. 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:
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
You can commit to a superhuman jump.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location which is at most 60 feet away horizontally or 15 feet away vertically.
You jump to the chosen location. If jumping blind or landing precariously, must roll Dexterity + Athletics to land safely. You will never take fall Damage from successfully landing a jump made with this Effect.
I read an incantation from my tome, becoming enwreathed in a redish orange energy and expel dragonic fire from my mouth
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location no further than 40 feet from you and in your line of sight. The area within 25 feet of the chosen Location immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Roll Intellect + Occult 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 the chosen Location with Damage equal to your Outcome + 4.
Any flammable Objects within the radius during the blast will catch fire, and any being who takes at least 4 Damage will catch fire. Starting the Round after they caught fire, flaming targets take 2 Damage per Round until the fire is extinguished.
The psychic can reach into another's' mind and pilfer their deepest memories. Doing so causes the psychic's nose to bleed and is exceptionally draining.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living, Animate target within 25 feet. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you are able to view your target's memories. If you fail, the target knows you're attempting to read their memories.
You may ask a number of specific questions about their memory equal to your Contested Outcome. For example, “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc. You cannot get answers to broad, analytical questions like “are they a good person?” or “what are their plans for the future?”
Each memory takes as long to read as it takes to answer the question. When replaying a full memory, it is replayed in double time.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is your nose bleeding. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
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.
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 detective pulls out their magnifying glass and investigates the area, learning details about any nearby structures and picking up details on what sorts of beings have passed through and when.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must actively and obviously use a magnifying glass to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
The mutant has gained some control over their genetic instability, allowing them to trigger a mutation at will. When the need arises, their flesh warps and twists, and a new mutation manifests that is suited to whatever obstacle the mutant happens to be facing at the time.
Spend 30 minutes. You may only target yourself. 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:
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
The mad scientist produces thorium cores that can be used to upgrade tools and other devices. The core supercharges the item, increasing its quality and rendering it indestructible for a period. However, once the core runs dry, the object is rendered less useful than it was before. The core crackles with blue electricity while active.
Spend 1 Action and use up this glowing blue disk. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. Cannot be used to improve Armor.
Lasts the next two hours. Your target receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. While it is upgraded, the item cannot be destroyed.
After the Effect ends, any upgraded targets suffer a -2 dice penalty until they are either repaired or upgraded again.