Shortwave Signals

1
The power to learn new information about the area you are in.
Used by Eins, Created by Bidlink.
(This Effect is not obviously Alien when used. During Effect activation, you are obviously investigating the area. You must actively and obviously be using Radio.)

Eins fiddles with her radio, tuning it to a incomprehensible signal as she stares into the digital display of it, a red light casting onto her face from the screen.


Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must actively and obviously use Radio to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Alertness at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You learn how heavily trafficked the area is, what sorts of Animate beings have moved through the area and when.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • 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.

Community Power Gifts

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You are permanently and visibly transformed: Vampire. You are considered to be a Sapient, Non-Living being when targeted. Your Brawn is increased by 1 and your Perception is increased by 1.

Your Injuries no longer degrade with time. You do not age naturally, and supernatural attempts to age you fail.

You may make a +2 Weapon Damage Bite/Claw attack without additional equipment.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Large Bite Marks on her neck.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Thirst For Blood.

The Severity of any Injury caused by Silver is increased by 2.

  • You must still perform some equivalent of eating, sleeping, and drinking unless other Effects allow you to ignore that requirement.
  • The increase in Injury Severity stacks with any similar effects, such as the Silver Bullets drawback on Regeneration.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Toxic Codependency: You have every faith in your capabilities and everyone should know best to have you along. Roll trauma when someone denies your offer to accompany them into a potentially dangerous situation.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

Your Perception rating is increased by 2. 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).

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Toxic Codependency.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Clear-Sighted: If you see an illusion, disguise, or other false reality, you recognize it as such but cannot immediately see through it.
  • Compensate: If any of your senses are suppressed, they may still be used for rolls at +2 Difficulty.
  • Constant Vigilance: You may React to surprise Attacks, and you do not automatically lose initiative if ambushed or caught-flat footed. +2 dice to Initiative.
  • Gut Feeling: You may roll Perception + Alertness Difficulty 7 to detect when someone is watching you remotely, even through supernatural means. Requires Outcome 4 or higher.
  • Saw it Coming: Any time you attempt to dodge an Attack from someone lower than your position in Initiative, you may Exert your Mind to automatically succeed without a roll. You may use Source to make a Desperate Defense. There is still a maximum of one Desperate Defense per Round.

  • You can still be ambushed if you are incapacitated, stunned, or being kept unconscious supernaturally.
  • Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Exert your Mind and spend eight hours. 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 Trauma 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.

You gain the following benefits at all times.

You get +2 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make.

  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

On the name:
A term that Zephyren has learned in his Engineering classes, which is just a really roundabout way of saying something has blown up when it wasn't supposed to. A lot of things aren't supposed to explode, but does it stop Zeph from trying anyway? Not really.

On destruction:
He's the burnt aftermath of a blaze. He's the ashen trail left behind - always to be abandoned, always to be harmed and tossed away. He has to change that. He can't just let people get away with this. He'll take their place just so they can't do it to him willy-nilly anymore.

On anger:
Zephyren is a ball of anger. From the beginning he's got an intense anger for the world that he's just been keeping at the back of his mind, shelved for later use. It's melting down in the archives, it's overheating in the engines. He was never meant to hold it back. Now it's just a source for more anguish from the things he destroys out of spite. He tells himself that he feels horrible about it, but in the long run, he thinks he's better off taking out his anger on lifeless items. Unfortunately, it seems that channeling his anger in any way still has consequences...

On expletives:
Something is stopping Zephyren from saying something truly unforgivable. This power does it for him. It screams and wallows over all the stupid decisions people have made, all the ways they could've solved all their problems if they weren't [insert slurs here]. He's heard other people say these things all the time back home, so why couldn't he? He knows why. He only hopes that social convention isn't the only thing that's holding him back.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Sapient Object or piece of an Object or structure within 20 feet no larger than a purse (5 liters). Roll Perception + Occult 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.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see a firebird forcefully expanding from within and mutilating itself so it could escape the object.

  • The shape of the destroyed material must be simple, such as a box or sphere. Bringing down large buildings requires an Intellect + Crafts roll to analyze the structure and may also require multiple activations. Buildings that are destroyed usually fall slowly or in pieces, creating an environmental hazard for a few Rounds prior to collapsing.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • The penalty from an object being damaged will stack with itself if a target is hit multiple times, but the object is destroyed when it reaches a total penalty of -4.
  • 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.

Stock Power Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. A number of Sapient, Living targets within 50 feet who can perceive you through no greater than your Charisma rating are affected. Audiences or mobs with a singular focus count as one target. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. All affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If you succeed, the targets will keep their full attention focused on you for Contested Outcome in Rounds. They will automatically fail any rolls related to noticing anything other than you.

If you pass from their perception and they are unable to pursue you, the Effect ends. If they can follow you, they must do so for 2 Rounds or the Effect will end. The Effect ends early if the target is Injured or violence occurs nearby.

This does not affect the target’s opinion of you or their mood, and they may take any Actions while affected (including attacking), as long as that action centers on you. Fascinated targets cannot Concentrate.

  • 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.

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.

  • If targeting a Sapient target that counts as a Creature due to an Effect, you must succeed a contested Mind roll. You roll at Difficulty 6, and the target rolls at Difficulty 8.
  • 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.

This Effect activates whenever you receive a Severity 2 or higher Injury from an attack. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Living target within 45 feet. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, for the next minute, your target will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by remorse for hurting such a pure soul. 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.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
  • Common emotions and the actions they inspire
    • Anger (shouting, cruelty, denying requests, attacking)
    • Pity (stopping an attack, executing an injured target)
    • Happiness (generosity, dancing, joking, socializing)
    • Sadness (finding solitude, openly crying, demotivation)
    • Fear (running, attacking)
  • If you succeed, the target MUST take at least one Action they otherwise would not have. Hey, GM who is reading this, I'm talking to you. You have to enforce this. Remember: Gifts must feel powerful.
  • 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 you are in werewolf form.

You have 4, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except silver. Armor from multiple sources does not stack. This Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.

Any Injury received from Damage that was reduced by this Armor is considered Makeshift Stabilized and will not degrade further, and any Battle Scar caused by them is reduced by 1 level. You may attempt a single Proper Stabilization on such Injuries.

  • This Effect’s Armor rating cannot be increased by any other Effects.
  • When shredded, it returns to full potency in one hour.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien Creature within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is a terrestrial animal.

For the next day, you may issue specific commands to your target which they will be compelled to follow.

Your commands can be complex and multi-layered, though they must still be specific. You cannot make them obviously endanger themselves or violate their instinct for self-preservation. The effects of the command will fade after a day has passed.

  • Your commands must be directly communicated to your target in some way, though this does not require a shared language.
  • If targeting a Sapient target that counts as a Creature due to an Effect, you must succeed a contested Mind roll. You roll at Difficulty 6, and the target rolls at Difficulty 8.
  • 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.
  • 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.