Ilya’s Vigil

2
Requires Seasoned
The power to learn new information about the area you are in.
Used by Harry Johnson, Created by jwesley123.
(This Effect is not obviously Alien when used. During Effect activation, you are obviously investigating the area. )

Harry channels the legendary vigilance of Ilya Muromets, relying on his connection to the land to “see” the world in ways no one else can. Exerting his mind, he expands his awareness outward, letting the physical world guide him. Over the course of a minute, he feels the area come alive, its secrets emerging not through sight, but through texture, sound, and sensation.

Concealed features reveal themselves as faint echoes underfoot or subtle shifts in airflow. A hollow resonance signals a hidden cache, while an unnatural stillness marks the presence of a trap. Every surface carries a history that Harry deciphers through touch and focus—the worn edges of a hidden mechanism or the smoothness of a concealed door.

When Harry focuses on a specific type of event, the land itself offers its memory to him. The vibrations of the past ripple through his awareness: the hurried footsteps of a fleeing figure, the sharp thud of a dropped object, or the tension in the air from a heated argument. These impressions play out vividly in his mind, giving him a precise understanding of what transpired.

Through Ilya’s Vigil, Harry transforms his blindness into a strength, perceiving the world as a rich network of sensations and impressions. In doing so, he embodies the vigilant legacy of Ilya Muromets, uncovering the hidden truths of any place he surveys.


Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You learn Hidden Features - Detects concealed doors, hidden traps, or secret caches. (Requires Seasoned)
  • You choose a specific type of event and receive a vision of the last time it occurred here.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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.

Community Investigate Area Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You learn where exactly creatures and people live within the area, and what sorts of creatures they are.
  • You can tell how many living things have died in this area, what they were, and roughly when the deaths occurred.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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 a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell how many living things have died in this area, what they were, and roughly when the deaths occurred.
  • You choose a specific type of event and receive a vision of the last time it occurred here.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

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

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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.

All of the events that transpire in a location, all the thoughts and feelings of the creatures that inhabit the area, all of these things come together to form a spirit that reflects all these things. Technically, the entire universe has formed a spirit. Carpathia is just able to speak to a specific piece. But these spirits are unknowable, and if Carpathia is not careful she can be overcome by the sheer weight of the history around her. The world is rarely so directly hostile towards one of it's inhabitants, especially one as tied to it as Carpathia, but it can overestimate her psyche.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 500 feet You must actively and obviously use Acorn to activate this Effect. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell how many living things have died in this area, what they were, and roughly when the deaths occurred.
  • You can locate the source of any Alien energy or the presence of any Alien effects on the area. Specific information about the function of these effects beyond their general type is not forthcoming.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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 a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Alertness at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell which entities lay claim to each part of the area and how these borders have shifted over time.
  • You can locate the source of any Alien energy or the presence of any Alien effects on the area. Specific information about the function of these effects beyond their general type is not forthcoming.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Don't trust the system (Paranoia).

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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 a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 500 feet At the end of your investigation, roll Brawn + Survival at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You choose a specific type of event and receive a vision of the last time it occurred here.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.

Stock Investigate Area Gifts

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 can tell the age of any structure or natural formation in the area. This includes trees and plants growing in the area.
  • You learn how heavily trafficked the area is, what sorts of Animate beings have moved through the area and when.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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 a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet Can only be activated while you are in the wilderness. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Survival at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell which entities lay claim to each part of the area and how these borders have shifted over time.
  • You learn where exactly creatures and people live within the area, and what sorts of creatures they are.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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.