Project Shining Star is TARP'S intention to find a method to get an immortal soul in an otherwise weak body, by any means necessary. The Conventions and rules of the real world would not stand for such experimentation, however in this simulation, any research would be viable in the pursuit of making Humanity a greater species.
Subject Shining Star is a testament to the hard work and ideals of TARP science and biological research: they have shown promise in a controlled setting, but how does it fair out in the field? Would this have militaristic applications?
While the Subject is unstable and prone to spontaneous combustion, they are otherwise the most promising in relation to the 12 others: The Soul's energy, when released without warning enshrouds the blast area with unstable radioactive isotopes. However when this energy is harnessed, the blast is able to set off without these consequences.
With this, the only notable flaw, the next stage of Shining Star is set to commence. Field research.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. The area within 25 feet of you immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. On the following Rounds, you may choose to detonate the Blast as a Free Action on your initiative. When you do so-- or when one minute elapses-- roll Brawn + Athletics at Difficulty 6.
If the Outcome is positive, your blast hits everything within 25 feet of you with Damage equal to your Outcome + 4. If you botched the activation roll, you will also take full Damage from the blast, otherwise it will not hurt you.
Anyone hit by the blast may roll Body at Difficulty 7 as a Free Action, and reduce their Damage taken by the Outcome. Damage spreads to targets beyond the edge of the initial radius, decreasing by 2 Damage for every 5 feet traveled.
Any flammable Objects within the radius during the blast will catch fire, and any being who takes at least 4 Damage will catch fire. Starting the Round after they caught fire, flaming targets take 2 Damage per Round until the fire is extinguished.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Shining Star: You cannot raise your voice above a shout or a whisper. After physical activity, your body starts humming and dimly glowing; all stealth rolls are -2 dice.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Papa said War is War: Good soldiers follow orders, but should a dangerous situation were set up, you are the first in line to face it. In the heat of battle, roll self-control in order not to do a dangerous action to complete the mission- with no regards to collateral damage to yourself, or others.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
Ramsey opens his third eye and projects his mind into his target, allowing him to learn things about a person. Instead of learning these things directly, he instead writes it down on his paper and can read them after he returns.
Spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use pen and paper to activate this Effect. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6. The target resists by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
You learn all the following information about your target:
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see an eye opens from the scar on the back of his head.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
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.
As he opens the medical bag, he begins to pull out fairly mundane items; a scalpel, needle and thread, rubbing alcohol and bandages. As he begins working on the wound, it begins to disappear overtime, reducing down to a small scar.
Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Living or Dead target within arm's reach. You cannot target yourself. You must actively and obviously use Medical Bag 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 6.
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.
If you begin healing an Injury on a target that has been dead for less than a minute, and your healing reduces their Wound Level to a non-lethal level, their life is restored.
The Zulu God is called "uSomanlda", he felt the urge to create a world and therefore he began to shape land and water. He was immensely proud of its creation, he admired the sheer beauty of hills and rivers and was captivated by the huge size of imposing mountains and vast seas. This was a gift to the Zulu people, to use as a bounty of food and security, and in turn, the Zulu people return what was given in respect and praise.
Ibutho, the warrior kin of the Zulu were blessed with the gifts of hunting and warfare, using muthi and traditonal ornaments, they have the ability to contact their ancestors for guidance.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 500 feet You must actively and obviously use Traditional Beads to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Melee at Difficulty 6.
You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about the area:
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
Liv hold a hand with a demonic artifact clasped in it near her target. Small creatures of shadow reach out of the artifact towards the target. Grasping shadowy hands. They pull bits of red fleshy energy out of the target, pulling it into the artifact.
The target's body become divorced from its usual needs, and can keep functioning without food, sleep or air. Something feels vaguely lost from the target, although it recovers over the next week.
The thing that is happening with this gift is that the part of people metaphysical self is the human desire and need for food, water, air, is ripped away from them. It comes back slowly.
This is done by Liv using the existing object as an anchor to open a portal to the home realm of the servant. There the native creatures will reach out and feed on the part of the target which connects them to material need.
This is a bit based on part of The Hungry Choir, a living ritual in the web serial Pale. In that ritual you could gain the ability not to need to eat, but it is presented as spiritually horrifying, with the part of them that is their need to eat being ripped out.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. You must actively and obviously use An object with a demon in it (Crafted bound servant or demon themed upgrade) to activate this Effect.
For the next week, your target does not require any food, water, sleep, or air. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement is made at -1 Difficulty.
Michael is showing the ring to the person he wants to influence and the ruby will start to shine real bright. After that the person will do anything Michael wants him to.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Alertness 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 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. 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 may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking, reducing their Outcome by your own. Your command has no impact beyond disrupting their Action.
The priest channels their true faith into a brutal assault on the consciousness of demonic or unholy creatures. By wielding their favored holy symbol, a gilded crucifix, they can put a proper fear of god into them, leaving them cowering at any truly holy things they encounter.
Exert your Mind (unless you have been recently attacked by your target) and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is undead, demonic, or another evil creature. You must actively and obviously use a gilded cross to activate this Effect. Roll Brawn + Alertness Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target loses that much Source. Once their Source is depleted, excess Outcome is applied as Mind Damage. If you deal at least 3 Mind damage, the target gains a Trauma of the GM's choice.
This trauma cannot be removed by spending Experience and undergoing mundane therapy. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.
The mystic channels and communes directly with another person's spirit, allowing the two of them to freely exchange both physical and mental wounds between each other.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Sapient target within arm's reach. Your target may Resist to cancel the transfer.
You may choose a single instance of one of the following to transfer from your target to yourself, or from yourself to them:
Whenever you transfer an Injury, it's Severity increases by 1. Whenever you transfer Mind damage or Traumas, the recipient takes an additional Mind damage.
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.
The Thief examines an object closely for a minute to appraise its value. As their eyes dance across the subject, their pupils split vertically, and their irises fade to gold. If it is a particularly valuable item, the Thief may greedily lick their lips, revealing a forked tongue.
Within a minute, they have determined how materially valuable the object is and why.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.
You learn all the following information about your target:
You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.
The psychic can reach into another's' mind and pilfer their deepest memories. Doing so causes the psychic's nose to bleed and is exceptionally draining.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living, Animate target within 25 feet. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you are able to view your target's memories. If you fail, the target knows you're attempting to read their memories.
You may ask a number of specific questions about their memory equal to your Contested Outcome. For example, “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc. You cannot get answers to broad, analytical questions like “are they a good person?” or “what are their plans for the future?”
Each memory takes as long to read as it takes to answer the question. When replaying a full memory, it is replayed in double time.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is your nose bleeding. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
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.
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.