Shroud in lies. I'll make you forget the rest

2
Requires Seasoned
The power to catch and hold a target's attention.
Used by Leon Vanderblight, Created by leonvanderblight.
(This Effect is not obviously Alien when used. When activating this Effect, it is obvious you are interacting with the target. You must actively and obviously be using A musical instrument.)

Leon enhances his illusions with a few somber-plucked strings, energy flowing from the instrument in question as, for a moment, you can see the moon in the object's reflection. As he does so, the moon's reflection shifts from brilliant white to impossible pink; it bathes them in the magenta light that has come to him in his dreams. The morning of the hateful sun wreaths the object in question, and like a vacuum of sensation and knowledge it draws viewers in. An iota of the genuine unknown as what was is changed and twisted. The dark hunger of curiosity draws the viewer in: what is this, who is this, why is it? The pain of never knowing compels the onlooker to pursue, to ask after more, and to see to the exclusion of all else as their mind is trapped by the curse that comes with this enchantment. They have to know, and even those things with only the barest semblances of consciousness are introduced to this pain, though they cannot satiate it, doomed to pursue forever this new feeling that without the light of the moon, they will never know again.

Spend an Action. Select a Animate target within 1000 feet who can perceive you through. This Effect cannot be used unless An illusion is within cast range and in line of sight of both you and the target. You must actively and obviously use A musical instrument to activate this Effect. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If you succeed, the target will keep their full attention focused on you for as long as you maintain Concentration. 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 may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking. The target does not roll to resist, and beating their Outcome does not fascinate them. This interrupts Concentration.

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

  • You must retain Concentration to keep up the effect; if your Concentration is interrupted, the effect will end.
  • 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.
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from Earning commission in Consensus spent on improving power: Shroud in lies.
Revision purchased with:
Improvement from answering questions for their questionnaire spent on new power: In your mind's eye    (since refunded)
Gift from playing in Hostages spent on new power: In your mind's eye
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Community Targeted Gifts

On the usage:
In the past, this artifact had activated upon contact with any skin. At some point Delphyrion was using it as a paperweight, only for it to activate when they tried to move it. Soaked documents were not fun to replace, but thank goodness there weren't any water-reactive chemicals exposed. Delphyrion also intended to use this artifact as a hand warmer or cooler during winters and summers respectively, but their indecisiveness led to the artifact being both warm and cool.

On dihydrogen monoxide:
Portable water is always useful especially when traveling by plane, though at some point people have started to think that Delphyrion is carrying an extremely deadly poison called dihydrogen monoxide. Often they decide to play into this, though it has gotten them into trouble at the airport.

On impracticality:
Normally people tend to choose more immediately useful gifts, perhaps for healing or damage. Delphyrion, upon being asked about what power they'd need, was thinking about the amount of times they'd wished it was raining outside. It isn't for work-related reasons; clear days are much better for outdoor experiments and camera exposure. In fact the extra moisture would mess up certain reactions instead. Basically, Delphyrion sometimes wants it to rain so they could sit by the window with a book and a warm beaker of tea to romanticize life. It is a little odd to do so in a lab, not to mention they haven't needed rain in their contracts so far.
However, everything Delphyrion does is inefficient anyway; what's one more inconvenience?
At least they are now saved from a long and grueling trip to the sink.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 60 feet of you. Choose a 3-D shape that will define the borders of your Effect.

You create a zone of rain in the chosen shape, originating at the chosen Location, with a radius of 60 feet. and lasting for 5 minutes. The area inside your zone is affected in any number of the following ways:

  • Slippery: All movement distances are halved within the zone. Anyone who wishes to move further than their Free Movement within a Round must roll Dexterity + Athletics. If they fail, their movement is limited to their Free Movement and they fall down.
  • Suppressed Hearing: The zone is rendered completely silent. No one inside of the zone can hear any meaningful sound, and no meaningful sound escapes the zone. Rolls that rely on hearing fail automatically, and rolls that benefit from hearing are at -3 dice.
The zone expands immediately to its full size from the chosen Location, but will be stopped from spreading in a particular direction by any barriers or cover, and can only fit through openings large enough to fit a grown adult. If a new opening appears while the Effect is still active, it will finish spreading in that direction.

  • If you select a location at the edge of your range, you will be just outside the zone once the Effect is activated
  • 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 a minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Investigation at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • You determine how many living beings the target has killed, what sorts of creatures they were, and how long it has been since they last killed.
  • You learn a hidden desire of the target. Roll Outcome determines the relevancy / secret-ness of the desire.
  • You may follow the target's trail, no matter where or how they have traveled, so long as the trail is less than a day old.
  • You determine any major weaknesses that the target might have.

The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

Any information you gather is angelic light reveals the information to all and made publicly available.

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

  • Tracker You are not made instantly aware of where they have been in the past 24 hours; you must follow their trail. You may "happen upon" any trail they have made in the past 24 hours.
  • Weakness Must be things that are systemed around. For example, silver for a werewolf. Not general like "she's bad at fighting".
  • 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. Select a number of Living targets equal to your Charisma within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6 -3 dice.

If you succeed, for the next minute, affected targets will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by Joy. They will not necessarily display their emotions in an obvious way. Your own emotions are also shifted in the same 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.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is talking while staring into their eyes a little too hard. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

If any affected target takes or deals Damage, this Effect ends.

  • 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.

Spend 10 Rounds. Select a Object within arm's reach that is no larger than an SUV. You may target Alien technology, so long as you have an understanding of its intended function. When repairing Alien targets, you must Exert your Mind. More than half the target object must be present in order to begin repairs. Roll Intellect + Technology at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, your target is repaired back to a functional state. If you fail, you spend the full time working before realizing you cannot repair the target.

  • 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 at least one Action. Select a Human target within 20 feet. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Influence 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. 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 target must be able to understand you and must receive your communication for the suggestion to work.
  • Allowed Commands
    • Direct Order: The target must take an immediate action (e.g. “Sit down,” "run away," or "tell me your password.")
  • In the case of a failed activation, GMs should consider how bystanders would realistically react to a potentially-outlandish accusation of mind-reading.
  • 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 Targeted Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend one minute. Select a Living target within 25 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless the target deserves it. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6. Your target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 7.

If you succeed, the target is afflicted with a Condition that causes one of the following symptoms:

  • Gross: The target exhibits significant and obvious signs of illness, making them into a social pariah. They will be shunned in public places, and take a -2 penalty to all social actions, which grows by -1 every hour until it reaches your Outcome.
  • Poisoned: The target gains a Severity-1 Injury which ignores Armor and doesn’t heal naturally. For every hour that passes, they receive a new identical Injury. If this new Injury would kill them, they roll 1d10 at Difficulty 6. Success cures the condition; otherwise, they will die.
Symptoms begin to appear immediately, and will remain and continue to worsen until the affliction is cured. The affliction is not contagious and will not spread to others.

The affliction is not treatable by modern medicine. It may be diagnosed by rolling Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6, and can be cured by bathing fully in clear running water.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is you staring at the target, speaking calmly. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

  • Successfully diagnosing an affliction also includes information about the treatment method.
  • The chosen method of treatment must be something that you could obtain in a small town given an afternoon.
  • Curing an affliction removes the Condition, but does not automatically heal any Injuries, Battle Scars, or Traumas which may have been caused by that condition.
  • This Effect’s symptoms do not stack with themselves on multiple applications.
  • 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. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Performance 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.

  • 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 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:

  • You may suspend a targeted Offensive Power which will take effect when the oath is broken. The Power must be able to target all participants the oath indicates it could hit.
  • A Battle Scar up to Severe (deaf, missing limb)
  • The oath-breaker is physically marked as an oath-breaker, and any investigative effect will reveal the terms of the oath they broke.
  • A particular Trauma and a single Mind Damage
  • The oath-breaker goes unconscious for up to 24 hours
  • An Injury up to Severity-6 (cannot be reduced by any means)

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.

  • All Oaths must have at least two participants.
  • The target must be physically present to enter the oath.
  • The terms and penalties of the oath do not need to be equitable and do not need to affect all parties equally.
  • A single action cannot break multiple oaths. You cannot 'stack' oath penalties by having a target sign multiple identical oaths, or similar.
  • 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. 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.

Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.

Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.

The creature lasts 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. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.

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.

Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.

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

  • The creature will die at the end of any 24 hour period gone without consuming their specified diet, and it is important that this growing desperation is reflected in how they are roleplayed.
  • 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.
  • 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.