As Zephyren taps on the fire glyph, a flame sparks to life and hovers in the palm of his hand. The fire doesn't touch close enough to his skin to burn, and it grows until Zephyren snaps his fingers.
On fireplace size:
Zephyren imagines a fireplace would be 48" x 36", but he wouldn't know because he's never needed one until coming to Canada.
On fires:
Since when did he like fires so much? He isn't sure; the flickering orange glow just beckons and mesmerizes the longer he looks, and his old friends once pointed out that the reflection turns his irises a bright amber orange from the usual dark brown. If he didn't know better he'd think he was born for this. It'll be his making and his ruin. He knows it. If only he could be immune, but he also wonders if that would cause him to lose any sense of warmth completely. As much as he doesn't mind right now, he gets an inkling he'd regret it soon enough.
On spellcasting:
He only needs to snap his fingers to set someone on fire, but he could also go out of his way to do a little choreography. Recently Zephyren watched ATLA, and he was incredibly inspired by the firebenders, colonialism and genocide aside. The moveset was similar to certain martial arts he had briefly learned, and he's sure that if he started practicing again he could master it someday. For once this is something where Zephyren would consider "looking cool".
On the glyph:
Zephyren has carved it into the amber pendant that Caliose gave him, and he's starting to ink the design onto some of his other belongings too. For now he has a stack of post-it notes in his pocket with the glyph design. He's not the most artistic person he knows, but practically everyone around him has been telling him to draw more, and this is how Zephyren will honour that. In fact, Koriol was the one who helped make the glyph because his older sister had some strange runic books lying around.
Spend an Action. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). You must actively and obviously use any object with a fire glyph designed by Zephyren to activate this Effect.
You may start or extinguish a fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace at your target. Extinguishing a fire does not cost Exertion. You may create or extinguish fires the size of a lighter or candle flame without Exerting your Mind. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.
Lighting a target on fire deals 3 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.
You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.
You may spend a Free Action on your initiative move a fire as large as a fire in a residential fireplace that is within 20 feet to another location within 20 feet. You may Exert your Mind to draw a line which a fire up to twice as large as a fire in a residential fireplace cannot cross.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.
Minerva lets out a breath, and speaks her command first in her mind. It's not important for her to say them out loud anymore. With focus, she imbues her words with her will, and then she lets them out into the world in some way.
Her burgeoning powers first manifest with what she knows best - telling other people to do things. As she gets stronger, more comfortable with her powers, they get easier. But also more intimate somehow, deeper. Her own thoughts start to brush just a little against unknowable things, against shadows in her own mind. They don't like this.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Outcome in minutes. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
You must have some means of communicating this command to your target, but no one other than you and them will understand or perceive it.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
They will focus on a part of their body, and begin to manipulate it with their hands, exposing flesh, nerves, and bone to the outside world, in a attempt to simulate what the human body is like
Exert your Mind and spend 30 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. 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:
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
Mel furrows his brow, and focuses on the name of the target. A ghostly apparition forms, and can speak to Mel.
Mel’s mind opens more the the world of the supernatural. With some focus he can call up the dead, and talk to them.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within 50 feet. For dead targets, you must possess their True Name.
The target can communicate in your language for the next hour.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is Mel furrows his brow and looks at the target. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
You may only use this Effect once per target per day.
This was Valery's first sign that she was special. She had always had an aptitude for knowing way too much about death, but in the hospice she could just... ease them gently into the next world. Those who are effected by this ability can see a form overlapping hers, varying on where their soul will go after they die. For those who told her what she looked like in the hospice, it was usually some sort of angel, but it can also appear as a dark hooded figure, a flaming demon, a loved one who passed before, a being to whom they sold their soul, etc.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a Living target within 45 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless The target must be close enough to death that using this power would kill or destroy them. If you do not deal enough damage to kill or destroy them, your action is wasted. Roll Intellect + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Mind, Difficulty 6.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much damage plus 3. The target's material Armor is completely ignored.
Harriet's pupil rapidly changes shape to that of the key used for whatever it is Harriet wants locked/unlocked.
Harriet calls forth a creature of Knock. It's only purpose in life is to open and close gateways. When it dies, it's energy is returned from whence it came.
Harriet knows none of this.
Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within 20 feet.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is Pupils changing shape. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
If you successfully operate a lock, you may choose to destroy it, rendering it inoperable.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Nightmares: Walking Through The Mansus.
The doctor heals severe injuries in minutes using only standard medical supplies. Lacerations seal under the needle and thread, and reset bones can be used shortly after.
However, for the treatment to last, the patient must adhere to any aftercare regimen the doctor requires. Those who violate the doctor's orders suffer their injuries anew.
Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use basic medical supplies to activate this Effect. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 8.
If you succeed, the Injury is reduced in Severity by your Outcome. If you reduce its Severity to 0, the Injury is fully healed. Otherwise, it is partially healed and will heal the rest of the way at its natural rate.
This counts as a successful Makeshift Stabilization if the Injury was not already Stabilized; any Battle Scars caused by the Injury will remain. You may specify a specific condition that the patient must adhere to. If they break this condition, the treatment is immediately reversed. Record this regimen as a Condition. Lasts until the end of their next Contract or 1 month for non-Contractors.
The spy is able to transform an ordinary ballpoint pen into a monitoring device that is inconspicuous enough to blend in to most settings, but advanced enough to allow 360 degree surveillance as well as audio capture, which is sent to their smartphone.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 10 feet. You must actively and obviously use a ballpoint pen to activate this Effect.
You place a ward, which is fixed to its initial location. You can hear and see through the ward as though you were standing at its location. Your wards last 3 hours. You may have at most 3 wards active at once.
The ward requires Concentration to monitor, though it will remain active until you deactivate it. It can be detected with a roll and destroyed through mundane means.
Perform the Five Point Technique via a series of quick pressure point hits on the target’s chest. As you do, channel your chi and speak a condition involving the number five. If the target cannot stop you from performing the technique, their heart will take a direct hit when they fulfill the chosen condition.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Roll Dexterity + Brawl 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. The target's Armor is completely ignored.
When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."
Instead of dealing Damage all at once, the Injury caused by this Power starts at Severity 1 and worsens at the rate of one level per Round until it reaches the Severity it would have otherwise been.
The detective can flash their badge and bark out orders to a person or a crowd, and the target will have trouble ignoring their command.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. All Sapient targets within 20 feet of you are affected. You must actively and obviously use a police badge to activate this Effect. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your targets. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Any affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your targets will be compelled to follow your command to the letter-- but not necessarily the spirit-- of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in minutes. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. Commands may force a target to violate one of their Limits, and they will need to make a Trauma roll once the suggestion wears off.
This witch is a cruel and vengeful creature who works her vile arts against those she deems worthy of punishment. All she must do is point. A flash of green lightning strikes her victim and disappears. Immediately, or upon the completion of some condition, if the witch chooses, the victim's body warps and shifts into a gross mockery of its former self. Whether she's giving someone the head of a donkey or stealing their voice, the witch's enemies always get what is coming to them.
The sheer wickedness of this spell corrupts the witch, giving her a disgusting, witchy appearance.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, -2 dice at Difficulty 7, as a Free Action to resist.
If you succeed, the target receives a new Battle Scar of your choosing, limited by the contested Outcome:
When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Witchy Appearance. You have a long, warty nose and chin, wrinkled skin, and a hunch back. Social rolls are at +2 Difficulty, and your free movement is reduced by 10 feet.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Compulsion for payback. You must roll Self-Control to avoid using this Gift on anyone who wrongs you in a major way.