Crystalline Barrier Cosmic light bent into a sacrificial shell

1
Requires Seasoned
The power to create a protective barrier.
Used by Jessica Laolu, Created by donniecesar.
(This Effect is obviously Alien when used. The target and source of this Effect are obvious to bystanders.You must actively and obviously be using up a handful of glass beads.)

Jessica summons a barrier of collapsing light crystals, their unnatural glow reflecting a mixture of eerie blues, purples, and unsettling hues that defy earthly color. As the crystals form, they twist and bend the light, creating a translucent, razor-thin wall. The effect is both mesmerizing and disturbing—the light distorts her image within, stretching her form to strange, twisted proportions. The diffraction of light warps everything behind the barrier, giving it an almost otherworldly, impossible geometry. The barrier feels like a beautiful anomaly, yet its very presence suggests something unnervingly wrong, as though reality itself is bending to Jessica's will.


Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up a handful of glass beads in order to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you create a Barrier extending out 15 feet from yourself, which absorbs 2 times the next (Outcome +4) Damage. Only applies to attacks which originated outside the 15 foot radius, and protects anyone who is within that radius. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.

You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds. As long as it does not fall, the barrier regenerates back to full strength at the end of each Round of combat.

  • Effects which circumvent Armor completely also circumvent your barrier.

Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Any Injury you receive heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level each Round. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active automatically count as a successful Proper Stabilization and do not deteriorate further. Any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will heal with the Injury.

As long as at least half your body remains intact, you cannot die and remain at Incapacitated, regardless of how many Injuries you take. It is clear to observers that you are still alive.

If you do die, as long as a piece the size of a finger remains, you may fully regrow back to life from it. This takes a full month and you must be in a habitable environment.

You may choose to heal any Battle Scar on yourself that is not caused by an Injury. Recovery takes one day, and the Battle Scar affects you fully until that time.

On heat exhaustion:
Zephyren's experienced it before, but at first he didn't understand what it meant or what it was supposed to feel like. He felt foggy - nothing really made sense, he couldn't register what was being said or what he saw or even count numbers. Simple tasks were overwhelmingly difficult as everything looked far too clear and bright, yet he couldn't see at all. At times he was on the brink of passing out. He couldn't even stand upright. His brain was getting cooked from the inside out. This gift won't necessarily harm someone the way real heat exhaustion would. It's... the one form of kindness he can give.

On glares:
He feels a shiver down his back whenever someone glares at him too intensely. It never ends well, so Zephyren's body instinctively prepares him for the worst. Sometimes it even feels as if he's shutting down completely, and it scares him. Yet here he is, doing it to someone else.

On sleep:
When was the last time Zephyren's had a good night's sleep? He's inclined to use this on himself each night just so he could quell the thoughts of everything he could've done. But that would be giving him an easy way out - this is something he has to deal with on his own, without the help of magic gained from fulfilling heartless jobs.

Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 30 feet. Roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, your target becomes drowsy for the next 30 minutes, during which time they suffer an additional -2 dice Penalty to all Actions. At the end of their drowsiness, they fall asleep for Contested Outcome x 3 rounds.

Sleeping targets will not prematurely wake up on their own, but may still be woken up by sudden loud noises, being jarred or splashed with water, taking Damage, or similar rousing events. They will also awaken before dying of hunger, thirst, or suffocation. Drowsy targets always fall asleep, regardless of what happens while they are drowsy.

When an affected target wakes up, they remain drowsy for the next minute, and suffer a -3 dice penalty. If an affected target successfully resists being put to sleep, they will still become drowsy for the next minute, and will suffer the same penalty.

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

  • For targets where "sleep" does not make any sense in terms of flavor, they will power down, freeze, etc, whatever state they can be in which is analogous to sleep.
  • 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.

As they fly, the Psalm Swarm emits a soft glow, creating an ethereal and calming presence. Despite their elegance, they are highly efficient and can quickly assimilate various objects, bringing them under Eden’s control with remarkable precision

Spend an Action. Select a Inanimate target within arm's reach which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters). You must actively and obviously use I must use my smart watch to activate this Effect.

Your target will become Animated for three hours. You may choose to end the effect at will, as a Free Action. You can maintain a max of 4 targets animated at once.

Animated Objects have the following restrictions and capabilities:

  • Awareness: Animated targets are capable of perceiving the world around them within reasonable limits. They cannot communicate in a clear or coherent way.
  • Movement: Animated targets can use an existing method of locomotion (wheels, etc); otherwise they can move across the ground or hover up to a height of 7 feet in the air at 40 feet per Round.
  • Combat: Animated objects cannot take offensive actions in combat.
  • Artifacts: Animating an Artifact does not grant the animated object access to any Effects built in to that Artifact.
  • Ability Use: If an action requires a roll, Animated objects have a dice pool of 7 when performing a task for which they were designed, and a dice pool of 4 for taking any other actions.
  • Toughness: Animated targets are as easy to destroy as they were prior to being animated. If destroyed, the effect ends.
  • Following Orders: Animated objects are controlled by the GM, and will follow any commands you give them, as long as they don't require problem-solving.

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

  • A task for which an object was designed might include a broom sweeping, a gun shooting things, a car driving, a towel rubbing up on stuff, etc.
  • Animated objects may be more or less susceptible to certain attacks at GMs discretion. A scarecrow golem would be easily destroyed by a sword (or fire). An animated suit of armor may not fear bullets but could be smashed to bits with a hammer. A full bronze statue is largely indestructible but might have difficulty standing up if toppled.
  • If an indestructible object is animated, the animation ends in any event where the base object would have been destroyed.
  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a Location which is at most 125 feet away horizontally or 25 feet away vertically.

You jump to the chosen location. If the landing is precarious, the GM may call for a roll to land safely. You will never take fall damage from successfully landing a jump made with this Effect.

  • If you are Encumbered, the maximum range is cut in half. If Encumbrance has reduced your total movement to 0, you cannot activate this Effect.
  • vertical jump height measures to the bottom of your feet, so your total vertical reach is at least a body length greater.
  • Rolls to land safely will generally be Athletics, but GMs may call for a different roll at their discretion if it makes sense for the specific circumstances.
  • You must be on a surface of some kind in order to activate this Effect; it cannot be activated while in mid-air.
  • You may only use this Effect once per Round of combat, regardless of any Enhancements you have taken.
  • 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 bows, crossbows, slingshots, and slings.

You receive +2 dice to all rolls using bows, crossbows, slingshots, and slings. Reloading is a Free Action, and drawing your weapon does not require a Quick Action as long as it is on your person.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: ..

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: , and..

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.
  • Hail Storm: You may Exert your Mind to make an attack with bows, crossbows, slingshots, and slings against all targets within a 120 degree arc in front of you. Your full attack Outcome applies to each of them, but they may attempt to Dodge or Defend if they are aware of the attack.
  • Payload: Your projectiles can carry a payload of up to 3 lbs without a penalty.
  • Pincushion: Any attack or Effect activation roll against a target that already has one of your projectiles stuck into them is rolled at -1 Difficulty.

Stock Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. You must actively and obviously use a watch or clock to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 7.

If you succeed, the target will suffer a dice penalty equal to the Outcome for the next 2 Rounds. Dice pools may be reduced all the way down to 0 by this penalty. This breaks Concentration.

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.

  • This Penalty is not removed if a character Exerts their Mind to ignore penalty.
  • If a character has a dice pool reduced to 0, they cannot attempt that action.
  • 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.

Your Dexterity rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Dexterity (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).

  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations.

  • Amphibious: You are able to move about in liquids using standard Movement rules rather than any special swimming rules.

Exert your Mind and spend eight hours. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you cause a major Battle Scar instead of an augmentation. Your target must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. 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:

  • Specialized: You receive +2 dice to a particular non-combat, non-Effect Action.
  • Environmental Adaptation: You do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in a particular environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.
  • Implanted Tool: You have access to the functionality of some common Device at all times. The selected Device can be no larger than a motorcycle helmet.
  • Armor: You have 2 Armor at all times. As always, Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
  • Pouch: Part of your body functions as a hidden pocket. It can hold no more than a briefcase (15 liters).
  • Zippy: Your Free Movement is increased by 10 feet.
  • Maws and Claws: Your unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage instead of -1.

The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.

  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may not augment targets with pouches or implanted devices that are larger than they are.
  • Targets without Body ratings may have a maximum of 4 augmentations.
  • Example environments for adaptation: space, all saltwater, all fresh water, all water under 50 feet deep, all water deeper than 50 feet, the jungle, radioactive areas, a specific alien world, etc.
  • 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.

Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. You must use up corpse in order to activate this Effect.

Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate zombie at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 3 minions active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat starting the Round after they are summoned.
  • Combat: Minions roll 4 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make unarmed Attacks. Their Attacks are melee range and deal +3 Damage.
  • Body/Mind: Minions have 7 Body. They automatically fail all Mind resistance rolls.
  • Armor: Minions have 3 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 15 feet per Round as Free Movement and double that when performing an all-out Sprint.
  • Intelligence: Minions have dog-level intelligence and cannot communicate back to you. They cannot actively use Equipment.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 4 Brawn.
  • Unusual: Minions are obviously Alien to any observer.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.

  • The sacrificial Injury received from activating this Effect cannot be prevented by any means or healed before 1 day has passed. It is shared with all Effects that use sacrifice. This Injury does not requires Stabilization or cause Battle Scars when it becomes Severe.
  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.