Harold Polk’s Forensic Intuition is a unique extension of his mastery of Speech Act Theory, enabling him to interpret traces of past actions as though they were lingering “speech acts” left behind. By focusing his mind, Harold attunes himself to the silent “statements” made by evidence of crimes, interpreting each item as a residual expression of intent and action. To him, every piece of evidence is a fragment of an unspoken story, a series of “acts” that reveal themselves under his scrutiny.
For an hour after activating this ability, Harold senses the presence, distance, and direction of all evidence of crimes within 50 feet, as if these traces are calling to him, revealing their locations and the intent behind their concealment. His understanding of Speech Act Theory allows him to “read” the manner in which each piece of evidence was hidden or secured, making him instinctively aware of the techniques used to disguise it and the steps required to access it. Harold’s mind treats these traces as hidden messages, piecing together actions and motives to uncover truths buried in silence. Through this heightened awareness, Harold becomes a linguistic detective, reading evidence as if it were the remnants of a conversation between crime and concealment.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute.
You automatically detect all Evidence Of Crimes within 300 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You do not learn any details about the detected items.
If no Evidence Of Crimes targets are within 300 feet of you, and then one enters range, you automatically detect it, even if this Effect is not active.
The means by which any Evidence Of Crimes are hidden or disguised is made clear to you, as well as how to access them if they are secured. This includes objects secured via the Stash Effect.
Remus lay unresponsive on the floor; enshrouded in a cloud of psychoactive gas, his trusty oversized cross laying besides him as always. In spite of his condition, some semblance of a sentence managed to slur its way out of his unconscious lips.
"...Goddamnit, gotta get back to the fuggin' job-"
Still fully unconscious, one hand reached over in a slow and practised movement that had by now reached some sort of muscle memory: hefting up the large cross and slapping himself harshly across the side of the face with the enormous thing.
Bringing him back to the land of the living.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0. Lasts three hours.
If you are Stunned, asleep, drugged, or otherwise made unconscious for any reason other than being Incapacitated, you may Exert your Mind to wake up. Any penalty which was caused by this condition is removed.
When preparing this Power, Julio writes down in paper whatever comes to mind, usually poetic descriptions of what he sees or one-off tales.
Being a writer sucks. Pushing deadlines, the vultures of media, the pressure of expectations. So, to make things easier, the writer pretends everyone around them is a character, that if forced/written enough, will help them.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. You must use up a pen's worth of ink and paper in order to activate this Effect.
You may understand and communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.
This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.
While active, you may choose to use glib tongue. When you do, anything you say (even gibberish) will be exactly what the target wants to hear. You gain no understanding of what that might be.
Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action.
You transform into the last Creature you touched until you transform into something else or choose to return to your original form. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you do not have access to any of your Powers. The equipment you are wearing does not transform with you.
Injuries and Wound Level are carried over between forms. However, transforming can never kill you; you merely remain Incapacitated until your Injuries are sufficiently healed.
While transformed, you are obviously unusual, unnatural, or alien, and the average person will take a special interest in you.
By focusing, the Thief may shroud their hands in shadowy tendrils that seek nearby objects like static-charged hairs. They cast themselves across any surface the Thief touches, acting as anchors that allow the Thief to scale even the sheerest walls.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations. Lasts 2 hours.
When Ringo is about to be hit by an attack, his golden eyes begin to glow as he calculates the vector(s) of the attack(s). The attack is then (somehow) deflected back towards the attacker or towards another direction.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Roll Intellect + Science (6 dice) at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome + 2 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of the Barrier Strength Parameter’s bonus. Their Armor applies in full. 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.
This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is when your eyes begin to glow. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.
The magician reaches into their hat and focuses. Inside, light wells and flows like a viscous liquid. Then, they withdraws the item of their choosing.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. You must actively and obviously use a top hat to activate this Effect.
Choose an Object which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You may create firearms.
Roll Perception + Occult (3 dice) to fabricate your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.
The Future Soldier's PSG is capable of briefly supercharging its effectiveness with a jolt of Omega Cell energy. While active, the future soldier glows with an extremely bright golden light.
While the shield is supercharged, the Future Soldier cannot move or see the outside world, but they are completely isolated from anything that occurs outside the shield.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction.
You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.
When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.
You leave a golden glow shaped like yourself at your location.
The vampire sucks a copious amount of blood from a human and replenishes their own cursed flesh.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. This Effect cannot be used unless you drink blood directly from a human until it injures them. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Brawn + Occult (2 dice) 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 your Outcome is greater than the Severity of the Injury you were attempting to treat, you may apply any excess Outcome to other Injuries on yourself.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see you drink blood directly from the vein.
The toon shouts a catchphrase, strikes a pose, and then zips away at a high speed, leaving a cloud of dust behind. While moving, they look like a blur.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
The magician waves a handkerchief over an item, and it disappears! They may produce the object later by fluttering a scarf.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a scarf, sheet, or handkerchief to activate this Effect.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Objects in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.