Whenever the gift user reacts to an ambush perpetrated against them, a wispy, blurry, illusory corona with an eldritch undertone can be observed around the user's head. The blur is of a gradient from crimson to perfectly clear, and the color is mostly only visible in close proximity to the silhouette of the user. Only the attacker is able to see this corona - everyone else is oblivious to its existence.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Perception rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Perception (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
You also gain the following effects:
The user extends their hand with the owl skull wave their hand around with the owl skull and says "DENMAD EHT FO LUOS UOY EM PLEH".
They also have to cut their hand and smear the blood on the skull neck or chest of the body.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. You must actively and obviously use a owl skull to activate this Effect.
Your target rises as an Animate being which is ghostlike and incorporeal, unable to physically interact with the real world, though they may pass through walls and make noise. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They can communicate as they would have been able to in life. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts for the next day 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 their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. 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.
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.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Lacey’s teeth become extremely sharp and parts of his body becomes inky black
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into ________ for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are ________, 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, your Dexterity is increased by 2, and your Perception 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.
While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.
Sand blows around David as he dips into the Realms of Death, and a dark, person sized shadow slips from those sands to fill his eyes as black as night.
David in his many travels through Realms of Death, encountered a nameless and sensation starved shade. A ghost, trapped amidst the great sands, that longed to experience life again. The wraith could see echoes of the living world through its reflections in the after and it craved to be able to see again. So David struck a deal with it—in exchange for sharing its longing sight when called for, he would let it possess and share his body. For that brief couple of hours, the wraith could share in his sense of taste, and smell, and touch, and all the other sensations of what it is to be living.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.
Slime drips onto the floor as it approaches the target
Gift granted in Ionising Anuran
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless Esmerelda is active. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Occult 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 hours. 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 and a conditional request. 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.
The lifeform possess immense strength, thanks to its large size and bizarre biology. Though it may not know its own strength as it causes collateral damage whenever it utilizes its brawn, or perhaps it doesn't care.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Brawn rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Brawn (cannot be used on combat rolls or Effect activations).
You weigh at least 2500 pounds. All rolls to swim, jump, climb, or fly are made at +2 Difficulty. Many vehicles, structures, and similar have trouble supporting your weight and might break or not operate properly.
You also gain the following effects:
Unimportant characters just can't seem to hit our hero with their attacks. Injuries that are sustained from underlings are conveniently non-severe.
You gain the following benefits as long as the attacker isn't important enough to have a name.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
The mobster presents a reasoned, logical case to the target: there's a lot of dangerous folks out there, and only they can offer safety... for a price.
If they agree, they will pay the mobster a monthly fee for protection. If they stop making their payments... well, let's just say, the mobster can't be held responsible for any unsavory types that might pay them a visit.
This Effect cannot be used unless you are making a deal to exchange money for protection.
You may make an oath with a physically-present, Sapient target. Communicate the oath's terms to the target, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must shake hands to seal the deal.
Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.
When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:
The target cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the target, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.
The Vampire was cursed to forever be a vile creature of the night! Their skin has faded to a deathly pale, only regaining something close to human complexion in the immediate aftermath of feeding on human blood. They are weakened when exposed to direct sunlight or when they have been unable to feed in the past day, but otherwise has gained inhuman strength, speed, and irresistibility from their devil's bargain.
You gain the following benefits as long as you have fed on fresh human blood in the past 24 hours and you are not in direct sunlight.
You are permanently and visibly transformed: a seductive and powerful humanoid, with pale skin and wicked fangs. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1, your Dexterity is increased by 1, and your Charisma is increased by 1.
Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.
The Severity of any Injury caused by fire and heat is increased by 2.
Years of scouting in dangerous areas has left the survivalist hyper-vigilant. They are impossible to catch in a trap.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Perception rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Perception (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
You also gain the following effects:
The Soldier has spent a healthy ten thousand hours training with the weapons of their military. They are deadly when wielding any firearm made in their home country. Drawing their standard issue at the start of a confrontation is pure reflex, and they may plan their shots to deal collateral damage to those behind their target.
You gain the following benefits as long as engaged in combat with firearms made in your home country.
+2 dice to all firearms made in your home country rolls.
You also gain the following effects: