If the gift is used by grabbing the target physically, a black imprint of the grab is left on their flesh - if applicable - which fades away over time. Additionally, the edges of the imprint are surrounded by equally-black, unknown, intertwined glyphs. While the imprint normally fades away completely within hours, it may instead remain for longer, up to a week, in proportion to how fiercely the target opposed the gift's usage on them. (lack of awareness at the time of gift usage results in the normal hour-or-so fadeaway time)
If the gift is used via blood of the target, the blood in physical contact with the user darkens as it coalesces into black, ever-shifting glyphs which get drawn to and absorbed by the user's skin. All blood within the same pool gets drawn to the point of contact as the gift is being used, with the draw being stronger the closer it is to the user. The wound of the target from where the blood being used had originated from darkens as well, with the edges getting surrounded by equally-black, unknown, intertwined glyphs.
In either case, the parts of the gift user's flesh which interacted either with the target or the target's blood in order to activate the gift are also graced with the same type of black imprint as described above, glyphs at the edges included. The fadeaway is linked to the fadeaway of the imprint on the target.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. You may select a target at any range if you use up blood of the target. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Occult (8 dice) at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The user rubs their hands together as they then release a plume of "Healing Aura" onto their targets, which then festers inside of them, before tearing through their body and soul, leaving an injury behind.
Spend an Action. Select a Living or Animate target within 45 feet. You must use up Dagger in order to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + Athletics (6 dice) 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:
You may affect up to 3 targets within range.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
The fibres at the end of Vein's primary Tendril fold into themselves, and a small aperture opens on the palm. Identical apertures open on the target's body. Words spoken into the aperture will be heard only in the minds of others under this effect. Every hole will close into itself and disappear if neither the user nor any target is maintaining concentration.
The aperture opens at a point chosen either consciously or subconsciously by each target, with the default being their left palm.
When sending a physical object with the message, Vein's Tendrils instead move to cover the desired object, swallowing it into the aperture. After about a minute, the object is expelled from the desired target's aperture, which can widen considerably to accommodate even a large payload.
This effect explicitly involves opening a series of minor portals to the Arterial Hive, the living pocket dimension that Vein originates from.
Spend an Action. Select a number of targets up to your Mind rating any distance away from you. You must have specific targets in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location.
You open up a line of communication to your targets, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
You may Exert your Mind to send any physical Object that would fit into a backpack with your message. Takes 1 minute to arrive. Any active traps on the objects are triggered when you attempt to send them, and wards and marks are likewise removed.
Cassie can make the mark flare when they would be damaged by anything non-living. Debris shattered, swords broken, all on instinct.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Non-Sapient Object or piece of an Object or structure within arm's reach no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour. Roll Dexterity + Athletics (6 dice) Difficulty 6.
If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be completely destroyed and can no longer function, though it may still be repaired. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.
When activating this Effect, you may spend an extra minute and maintain Concentration. If you do, it has no Exertion cost, and you may destroy an object which has up to 3x larger dimensions, or up to 27x larger volume than the normal maximum size.
You can shoot the lock on a door with a gun, causing it to break and fall cleanly out the other side, without any shrapnel flying about. The door may now be opened, and cannot be re-locked unless a new lock is installed.
Spend an Action to activate. Select a Doors within 20 feet. Cannot be used on Alien technology.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
This Gift's level is capped at 2 Gifts and cannot be increased further.
Mason screams at the top of his lungs at four people within 45 feet. The shout echoes and usually includes a demanding word such as "get off my property." Sound waves are visible. Exhausting for an old man like Mason and instills fear.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a number of Living targets equal to your Charisma within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Alertness (6 dice) at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8.
If you succeed, for the next minute, affected targets will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by fear. 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.
Both attacking someone and being attacked will end the Effect.
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.
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 (6 dice) 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.
The priest's miracles expand into the treatment and curing of poisons and diseases. To do so, they require a ceremonial dedication (or often re-dedication) to the service of their god, during which the priest and the patient pray together and perform ritualistic bloodletting. These wounds burn with holy, golden fire, attacking the sinful malady and expelling it from the body.
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
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 Toon performs some sort of cartoonish act of violence. This may be handing someone a bomb, hitting someone with a cartoon mallet, burping a burp that is so noxious it melts flesh, or anything else as long as it is cartoonish.
The attack is more of a throwaway gag than a plot element, so any props or properties of the attack are incidental and disappear immediately. Animated mallets evaporate in a puff of smoke, fire does not spread, and electricity cannot power devices.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Performance (5 dice) Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4. Armor is fully effective against this damage.
True to their namesake, the hacker can penetrate the security of any computer system, granting access to its informational stores, or, in a pinch, allowing them to issue commands. The hacked system will display a flickering image of a ghost until it is dismissed.
While hacking, The Technician's fingers move with supernatural speed, blurring like a ghost.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select a Computer within arm's reach. Does not work on Alien technology. Roll Intellect + Technology (6 dice), with the Difficulty set by the GM depending on the security of the system you are hacking. Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you may issue a single command to the targeted system. This command must have a specific outcome or be a request for specific login credentials. The command you issue must be within the machine's current capabilities. For example, you cannot order a standard security camera to grow legs and walk around.
If your command does not require bypassing the security of the target (for example, typing on a computer that is unlocked), you do not need to Exert your Mind to activate this Effect, and activation only takes a single Action.
Your Hack cannot be reversed through mundane means for a number of hours equal to your Outcome.
Every hack you make leaves behind a flickering image of a ghost in the system as a personal "calling card" that informs anyone who uses the system that the hack occurred.