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 vigilance and resolve of Ilya Muromets, relying not on sight, but on his connection to the world around him. As he exerts his mind and focuses, his heightened senses allow him to perceive the area in ways others cannot. Over the course of a minute, he methodically “feels” the space around him—not physically, but through vibrations, airflow, and the resonance of his surroundings.

Traps and ambushes stand out like discordant vibrations in the otherwise steady rhythm of the area. A faint tension in the air reveals the presence of a tripwire, while subtle shifts in pressure signal hidden dangers or lurking enemies. Concealed doors and secret caches reveal themselves as whispers of drafts through cracks, changes in density underfoot, or the faint scent of something hidden.

Through Ilya’s legacy, Harry’s blindness becomes his strength, transforming the environment into a tapestry of sensations. The area’s secrets unfold, granting him unparalleled awareness of dangers and hidden features. Just as Ilya Muromets stood as a vigilant protector of his land, Harry uncovers and understands what others cannot, guided by the echoes of the world around him.


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 about any traps or ambushes in the area. Using this power does not trigger said traps or ambushes.
  • You learn Hidden Features - Detects concealed doors and secret caches etc. (Requires Seasoned)
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 Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last month.

Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.

The creature lasts for eight hours or until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion.

Raised creatures have all their Abilities set to 0. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.

Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.

You may only use this Effect 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.

Activation of the Chromatic Nexus triggers the "Monsters" limit, suffusing the area with an otherworldly, prismatic glow that unsettles the mind and warps perception and reality, evoking the cosmic horror of colors beyond mortal perception: for Jessica's character concept, crystalline light is an independent alien intelligence (Inspired by "The Color of Madness" from Darkest Dungeon, Remiel from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and "The Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft).

Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Select a Location within your line of sight. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.

You are transported directly to the chosen Location. Anyone who is touching you as you Travel will be brought along with you. You must wait 1 full Round before activating this Effect again.

If you traverse any highway section for one minute, you may activate this Effect and travel to the edge of any other highway section that you’re aware of, regardless of range.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see a portal opens bathing the entire area in an unearthly, arcane glow of sickly purple that induces a strong feeling of doom (triggers "Monsters" - see Extended Description).

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • 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 as long as engaged in combat with firearms.

+2 dice to all firearms rolls.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Parry: You may use a Reaction to Defend against any Melee, thrown, or projectile Attack in range of your Attacks.
  • Silent Killer: If your shot would kill or incapacitate your target, they make no sound, even incidentally, for the next Round.

He finds his naturally mind appealing opal necklace laced around his neck to be glowing somewhat, and he channels this necklace and is able to see around the lands near him and figure out traps and otherwise peoples of the land.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 1 mile You must actively and obviously use Opal Necklace, Dimitry hands his to activate this Effect. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Influence 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 learn about any traps or ambushes in the area. Using this power does not trigger said traps or ambushes.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You may only use this Effect once per day.

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.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Made of fabric, filled with stuffing, stubby limbs, resembles a creature. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted..

You are immune to damage from cold. If cold is a substantial component of other damage you would take (e.g. falling from a great distance into a vat of liquid nitrogen), that damage is reduced by 2 (in addition to Armor)

Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.

You can squeeze through any cracks and passageways a cat would be able to.

You cannot be mistaken for a normal human. You cannot always use standard human clothes, equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and when you can, you suffer an increased Difficulty.

You are incapable of fine object manipulation and can only hold or grasp things in a crude, clumsy way.

  • You must still perform some equivalent of eating, sleeping, and drinking unless other Effects allow you to ignore that requirement.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Stock Power Gifts

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.

You may send a single message to your target. It can be as complex or as large as you like. It takes at least 30 minutes before it is received.

The message may be intercepted while in transit, and may be overheard, read, or otherwise understood by anyone near either you or the recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • Depending on the length of your message, it may take a target some time and/or effort to understand it in its entirety.
  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You automatically detect all illegal materials within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You do not learn any details about the detected items.

  • This includes any objects that come into range during activation.
  • This Effect does not satisfy the line of sight targeting requirement for other Effects.

Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action.

You transform into a werewolf for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a werewolf, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. Reverting from your Alternate Form cannot cause your existing Injuries to kill you. Instead, you remain Incapacitated.

While transformed, your Brawn is increased by 2 and your Dexterity is increased by 2. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.

Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -1).

Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.

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.

While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Whenever you are struck by the light of a full or gibbous moon, you must roll Self-Control to resist transforming. Triggers a max of once per night.

  • Reminder: Weapon Damage from multiple sources does not stack. Instead, the highest value is used.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. Your target takes a Severity 1 Injury. You must actively and obviously use a ceremonial dagger blessed with holy water to activate this Effect.

You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.

You may use this effect to sanitize a 15-foot radius, destroying all poisons, toxins, diseases such that they are inert and cannot affect any new targets

  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.
  • 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 as long as you are submerged in water.

You no longer require any food, water, or air in order to survive. You no longer age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement automatically succeeds.

You may spend one minute entering a state of hibernation, during which you are inanimate and unaffected by any requirements for life. You may still perceive the outside world and may spend 3 Rounds "waking up" to end it.

  • In lieu of sleeping, once per day you may spend one hour meditating to recover a Mind Damage.