Linguistic Espionage Mastery

2
You possess the ability to communicate with humans.
Used by Harold Polk, Created by jwesley123.
(This Effect may or may not be obviously Alien. It is clear that you are communicating with the target. )

Harold Polk’s Linguistic Espionage Mastery is a unique fusion of his perfect memory and deep understanding of Speech Act Theory, allowing him to communicate in any language with native fluency and cultural precision. Through his flawless recall, Harold has accumulated vast stores of linguistic patterns, dialects, and subtleties, giving him an intuitive grasp of each language’s nuances. He doesn’t merely translate words; he understands their intent, context, and hidden meaning, slipping into conversations as though he were born to each language he speaks.

With Speech Act Theory, Harold imbues his words with layers of meaning and influence, embedding subtle cues to guide others’ perceptions or actions. Every word he speaks carries intent, carefully crafted to either blend into the conversation or gently steer it, as if he were weaving an invisible thread through every interaction. This mastery makes him a linguistic ghost, an agent who can infiltrate through language alone, understanding and subtly shaping discussions to achieve his aims without ever raising suspicion.


You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may understand and communicate to humans as if you are fluent in a relevant language.

  • The target of "human" refers to any target that speaks a human language.

Community Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend 1 Action. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use vehicle to activate this Effect. Cannot be used to improve Armor.

Lasts the next day. 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.

You may choose a second valid Device target while activating this Effect and splice both targets into a single new Device. The newly created item has the same size as the larger of the two initial targets, and can be used to perform the same actions as either of the original items. It receives 2 to those actions for the next day.

After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.

  • "Destroyed" in this context means "prevented from functioning for its primary purpose", so for instance, an upgraded land mine would still explode as normal if triggered, even though it cannot be "destroyed" and a car's windows may still be broken.
  • When Splicing, you must be in possession of both devices. The resulting object behaves exactly as if both devices occupy the same space and do not gain any new functionality at all.
  • Exhaustion penalties and duration stack. If you activate this Effect or another Effect with Exhaustion, your penalty will worsen, and the duration is increased by one hour.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used. The same is true for extra dice.
  • Extra dice from this Effect do not apply to Gift activation rolls.
  • 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 at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: ________. You are considered to be a Sapient, Living being when targeted. Your Dexterity is increased by 1.

Your body is adapted to Evasion. You receive +3 dice on non-attack rolls related to Evasion.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Obsession with killing necromancers/zombies.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Brawn rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Brawn (cannot be used on combat rolls or Effect activations).

You also gain the following effects:

  • Beast of Burden: You may now carry up to your lifting and hauling capacity without suffering an encumbrance penalty or needing to Concentrate. You do not tire from extended physical activity.
  • Tough: You gain Armor equal to half your Brawn rating. This Armor cannot be penetrated or shredded and protects against falling Damage.

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

Using the system text Alien:
Alien: Something that is not of this world or not common to this world.

Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: kneeling down, and closing her eyes, meditating for a short moment. You must actively and obviously use silver fox pendant to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.

You automatically detect all Alien beings within 1 mile of you for the next hour. This includes any who come within range during the duration. You have a sense of how many valid targets are nearby, as well as their distance and direction.

You receive a common name for each being you detect.

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.

  • This Effect does not satisfy the line of sight targeting requirement for other Effects.

Being behind a bar is more than just making fancy drinks or cleaning glassware, it's about maintaining an atmosphere well into the night. When individuals get too rowdy after one too many drinks, Integrity is needed to cut off people and get them out of the bar, in spite of drunken insults or, worse, fights. It takes a lot of willpower to do this regularly, but with a bit of help...

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You get +2 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make.

  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

Stock Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations.

  • Amphibious: You are able to move about in liquids using standard Movement rules rather than any special swimming rules.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a broom to activate this Effect. This Effect remains active for two hours.

As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage. Additionally, you may glide as you fall, traveling 35 feet horizontally for every 10 feet you fall. While gliding, you fall at a minimum speed of 10 feet per Round.

You may ascend into the air and fly using your mind. Your Free Movement is Mind x5 feet/Round, including vertically. You cannot Dash. When sprinting, roll Mind and add your rating in Mind plus 1 to the outcome, multiply by 5 to find your sprint speed. Your encumbrance limit is 10 lbs per point of Mind.

You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:

  • Earthbound: You cannot fly or glide in an atmosphere thin enough to be unbreathable.
  • Weight-Limited: This Effect is suppressed any time you are over-encumbered.

  • Any penalties to dice or movement, including from Encumbrance, are applied as normal. If your movement is reduced to 0 due to encumbrance, you will begin to sink down to the ground.
  • You may activate this Effect while in midair, allowing you to slow and survive any free fall.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target does not know you're watching them. You cannot investigate the same target more than once per hour. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Investigation at Difficulty 6.

You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about your target:

  • You learn how to reliably contact the target.
  • You may follow the target's trail, no matter where or how they have traveled, so long as the trail is less than a day old.

The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is that you keep peeking at the target. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

  • Contact info Low Outcome: a means of communication (phone, email, a secretary). High Outcome: specific phone numbers, email addresses, protocols for getting access to the individual.
  • Tracker You are not made instantly aware of where they have been in the past 24 hours; you must follow their trail. You may "happen upon" any trail they have made in the past 24 hours.
  • 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 two Actions performing the following ritual: open up the app on your cell phone, make your selection, and prepare to film. Select a target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use cell phone camera to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Choose an illusion to generate, which can be no larger than a person.

The chosen illusion is generated at your target, and it will remain in place as long as you maintain Concentration or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their hearing, smell, and sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You may create a replica of a specific being or Object, though it is still limited by what you do or do not know about the subject.

Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion and can choose to perceive it or not at will.

The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.

  • You must retain Concentration to keep up the effect; if your Concentration is interrupted, the effect will end.
  • while you can use an illusion to obscure something smaller, you cannot make anything directly invisible (you can’t make a tank look like a regular baseball, but you can hide it in an illusion of a giant baseball).
  • You may only puppeteer a single illusion at once.
  • 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 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.

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

  • 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.