Harold Polk’s Binding Covenant power transforms spoken agreements into unbreakable oaths, reinforced by the permanence of written word. For each covenant, Harold drafts a formal contract on paper, infusing it with the intent and authority that define his speech. His words, once spoken aloud over the document, create a powerful binding that tethers the target to their promise, with the contract itself acting as a physical anchor for the vow. This ritual of spoken and written word merges into a pact that cannot be broken without consequence.
The paper of the Binding Covenant becomes more than a document—it’s an extension of Harold’s will, symbolizing the weight of the promise. Should anyone attempt to violate the terms, they face repercussions that manifest psychologically, physically, or even supernaturally, as though reality itself enforces the pact. For Harold, the Binding Covenant is a sacred vow, the written form capturing his intent and ensuring that promises are kept.
You must actively and obviously use Paper to activate this Effect.
You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must Sign The Contract to seal the deal.
Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.
When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:
The target cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.
When crafting your oath, you may opt to enforce compliance. If you do, any participant that wishes to break the deal must take 3 Mind damage and succeed a Self-Control roll. They may attempt once per day.
Whenever a participant breaks the oath, you are immediately made aware and may even witness the act as if standing nearby.
By focusing and whispering a prayer under their breath, the priest may invoke their god to protect those who have good works left to do.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a living human. Roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome + 2 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of the Barrier Strength Parameter’s bonus. Their Armor applies in full. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You 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.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is you whispering a prayer under your breath. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
German while looking at his target through his gold rimmed glasses sends fear into the target, like a prey facing a predator, they just freeze in their place
Spend an Action. Select a target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use glasses to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Alertness at Difficulty 6. the target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If you succeed, your target will be restricted at their location by an intangible, ethereal binding. They can still move their arms and use Effects, but cannot move to a new location.
Restricted targets may attempt to break the binding and escape by spending an Action and rolling Mind at Difficulty 7. Breaking free requires a total cumulative Outcome of twice the original Contested Outcome.
Your bindings affect intangible beings like ghosts.
While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
When Birch picks up a cleaning implement, they know what to do. They may wield a mop or broom as if it were a wizard’s staff, or a duster as if it were a magic wand, channeling their Power through their chosen tool. Birch’s job is to cleanse tainted energy, and when they flourish their tool as if cleaning their target, the target feels their anger and aggression melting away, replaced by a calmness and clarity that harming others will not bring them happiness.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient or Creature target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use a cleaning implement (e.g. mop, duster, etc.) to activate this Effect. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.
If they fail, your target will take 1 point of Mind damage and gain Clarity: Fear of Causing Harm as a Trauma. This Trauma may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Targets that receive a new Trauma are aware that you are interacting with them but they do not view it as an attack or view the resulting Trauma as malicious. If their Trauma is treated, they will be able to see the reality of the situation.
Standing at a safe distance, with a clear line of sight to the sky and the location he’s targeting, Ethan Storm prepares to unleash his unique ability. His eyes fix on a point in the open field, 60 feet away. The air around him grows tense, charged with anticipation.
Ethan extends his arms, not towards the tornado, but outward, as if to embrace the vast expanse of the sky. His concentration is laser-focused, and the atmosphere responds to his silent call. Above the chosen location, the clouds begin to swirl menacingly, converging into a spiraling mass.
With a subtle movement of his hand and a deep exertion of his mind, Ethan commands the elements. A hemispherical dome of a tornado bursts into existence, its radius encompassing the 60-foot area he envisioned. The tornado is a whirlwind of debris and force, yet Ethan stands outside its reach, a master orchestrating a symphony of nature’s fury.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Dexterity + Science 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.
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's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The musician starts using the guitar pick and begins to aggressively play air guitar.
The target if affected will hear the voice in their head tell them about a rumor that will induce the chosen emotion.
For example: I heard that Siren saved a kitty from a burning tree, I love him so much.
“Music is the perfect medium to make a person feel a certain way. A sad song makes you more sad, a energetic song makes people wanna start dancing, a diss track might make the listener experience a feeling of hate for the person the song is aimed at. Music is truly a fascinating medium.”
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet as well as a specific emotion. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, for the next hour, your target will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by the chosen emotion. They will not necessarily display their emotions in an obvious way.
Actions they take will be in keeping with their character and the way they tend to deal with strong emotions. They will be unlikely to change their mind about any actions taken or decisions made until after the Effect ends.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
The user places this slip of paper from the mystic against their head, speaks the inscribed phrase, and envisions a time they wished they were alone. the paper bursts into a shockwave that pushes a nearby being away. The repulsion field can be maintained for several seconds by meditating on the nature of solitude.
Spend an Action and use up this paper with mysterious calligraphy. Select a Animate target up to 100 feet away.
Targets are pushed back until they are 100 feet away.
This Effect cannot move anything heavier than 500 pounds.
Affected targets may use a Reaction and roll Dexterity or Brawn + Athletics to hold on to a nearby anchor, if available. A complete success increases their effective weight by whatever they hold onto.
Pushing a target straight upward requires you to be directly beneath them and halves the range. GM’s may ask for a Dexterity + Athletics roll when repositioning yourself around a target to get a desired angle. They may React to reposition or anchor themselves as normal.
You may maintain Concentration after the initial activation of this Effect to continue the push on the target. Lasts up to one minute.
The Witch gazes at a calm and trusting animal and blinks, revealing eyes that have changed to match the creature's. Her body goes limp and collapses, and the witch proceeds to walk away, now temporarily borrowing the animal's body.
A borrowing Witch is a visitor in the animal's mind and cannot overstay her welcome or force the animal into danger.
Spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Non-Alien Creature target within 20 feet. The target may Resist.
You possess your target and have control over their actions for the next hour. Your original body will be left behind, unconscious. You may perceive through your original body's senses by maintaining Concentration. If your original body is touched, you may roll Perception + Alertness to notice. You may spend an Action to end the possession early.
Stats: Any Actions you take will use the possessed creature’s Brawn, Dexterity, and Perception, but use your own Charisma, Intellect, and Abilities.
Gifts: You do not have access to any Gifts while you are possessing your target.
Death: If the host suffers an Injury, or is destroyed or incapacitated, you are evicted back into your own body. If the possession ends and your original body was killed or destroyed, you will die.
Eviction: You cannot force your host to take Actions which would violate their instinct for self-preservation (which includes engaging in Combat for any purpose other than self-defense or natural hunting); any attempt to do so will sever the connection and send you back into your own body. If you are forced out of the target's body prematurely, you must make a Trauma roll.
Targets with Body ratings higher than 10 require a Charisma + Animals roll resisted by the target’s Body. Kaiju and environment-scale targets are immune.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
The Doctor examines their patient and gives a standard medical checkup, asking them questions, nodding to themselves, and muttering arcane medical jargon. The examination reveals an extraordinary amount of detail about any medical issues suffered by the patient.
Spend one minute. Select a Sapient target or a Creature within arm's reach. You must actively converse with the individual in question for one minute in order to gather any information. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Medicine at Difficulty 6. The target may Resist.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
While addressing a crowd, the influencer may use coded language to send secret messages to a particular person in the crowd. These messages can't be noticed or understood by anyone but the intended target.
Spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location. This Effect cannot be used unless you are speaking to multiple people and the target is listening.
You may send a single message to your target. It can be no more complicated than a multi-page letter or a long email.
The message will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is your left hand making a fist. 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.
The mobster presents a reasoned, logical case to the target: there's a lot of dangerous folks out there, and only they can offer safety... for a price.
If they agree, they will pay the mobster a monthly fee for protection. If they stop making their payments... well, let's just say, the mobster can't be held responsible for any unsavory types that might pay them a visit.
This Effect cannot be used unless you are making a deal to exchange money for protection.
You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must shake hands to seal the deal.
Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.
When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:
The target cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.