Scythework

2
The power to enhance your tools beyond mundane limits.
Used by Marcus Vale, Created by jwesley123.
(Anyone who witnesses you activate this Effect or for its duration is very likely to be disturbed to see He bathes the items in hell portals. )

Marcus sets the item down, draws his gun, and presses the barrel to its surface like he’s taking its temperature. With a slow breath, he pulls the trigger—not to fire, but to open a thin, red slit in the air that hisses like steam and smells of rust and burnt paper. Without hesitation, he dips the object into the glowing wound, guiding it like a craftsman at work, his face unreadable. When he pulls it back out, the item looks exactly the same—no runes, no glow, just ordinary steel or plastic—but people still step back, uneasy, because they saw what it went through.


Exert your Mind and spend an hour. Select a non-Alien Device within arm's reach. Can be used on Armor.

Lasts the next day. Your target receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. While it is upgraded, the item cannot be destroyed. Upgraded Armor is shredded by half the normal amount. If it is a piece of Armor, it instead receives half that amount as bonus armor rating, rounded up. If an upgraded shield and armor are both worn, the upgrade bonus does not stack with itself.

You may choose a second valid Device target while activating this Effect and splice both targets into a single new Device. The newly created item has the same size as the larger of the two initial targets, and can be used to perform the same actions as either of the original items. It receives 2 to those actions for the next day.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see He bathes the items in hell portals.

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.

  • "Destroyed" in this context means "prevented from functioning for its primary purpose", so for instance, an upgraded land mine would still explode as normal if triggered, even though it cannot be "destroyed" and a car's windows may still be broken.
  • When Splicing, you must be in possession of both devices. The resulting object behaves exactly as if both devices occupy the same space and do not gain any new functionality at all.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • Exhaustion penalties and duration stack. If you activate this Effect or another Effect with Exhaustion, your penalty will worsen, and the duration is increased by one hour.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used. The same is true for extra dice.
  • Extra dice from this Effect do not apply to Gift activation rolls.
  • 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 Targeted Gifts

Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Living target within arm's reach.

You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects. Your patient is required to eat and drink nothing but plain bread and water for the next month. If they violate this rule, your treatment is immediately reversed.

  • The patient is aware of this requirement.
  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.
  • 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.

After facing the storms, Mike was forced to confront his weakness in information gathering, and delved into studying ways to reveal hidden information. the quality of what he gleans is tied to how well the runes are drawn, as a crisp, superlative rune provides detailed information, so does a crude, deformed rune give a murkier view.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 500 feet You must actively and obviously use some type of eyeglasses to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Dexterity + Crafts at Difficulty 6.

You learn a single specific piece of information, chosen from the following list, about the area:

  • You can locate the source of any Alien energy or the presence of any Alien effects on the area. Specific information about the function of these effects beyond their general type is not forthcoming.
  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend 10 minutes. Select a Non-Living or Animate target within arm's reach that is of any size. You may target Alien technology, so long as you have an understanding of its intended function. More than half the target object must be present in order to begin repairs. Roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 6 (or 8 for Sapient targets).

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. If your target only requires fuel or power and is otherwise in working order, this Effect costs no Exertion, and the target is fueled/powered for the next 24 hours.

If you are successful in repairing a Sapient Object, a single Injury on the target is reduced in Severity by your Outcome.

Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: a compulsion to protect the environment. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next 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.

Spend an Action. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire).

You may start a new fire as large as a torch's flame at your target. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.

Lighting a target on fire deals 2 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.

You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.

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

  • Your fires may be extinguished with appropriate Actions and materials. Stop, drop, and rolling to extinguish requires spending an Action and making a Dexterity + Athletics roll, with an Outcome of 2 putting out the flames.
  • If the target is larger than your flame size, the Armor destruction creates a weak point instead of applying to the entire 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 an Action. Select a Human target within 20 feet. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8. If they are incapacitated or unconscious, they fail automatically.

If they fail, your target will take 2 points of Mind damage and gain two new Traumas selected by the GM. these Traumas may be removed by Effects or mundane therapy, as normal. Affected targets are aware that they are being attacked and can generally tell who did it.

When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water."

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.

  • A given target can have a maximum of one Suspended Effect on them at a time. The selected triggering Action cannot be used to reveal information about the target (e.g. no "activate when they are a vampire"). It must be an Action they take, not a thought or something that happens to them.
  • Exhaustion penalties and duration stack. If you activate this Effect or another Effect with Exhaustion, your penalty will worsen, and the duration is increased by one hour.
  • 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 2 Actions. Select a Location within your line of sight , and which is directly adjacent to water. You must be within arm's reach of water to activate this Effect.

You are transported directly to the chosen Location. You must wait an hour before activating this effect again.

  • 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 Location within 75 feet.

You may perceive things as if you were standing at that Location. The effect lasts indefinitely but you must maintain Concentration to keep it up. You cannot perceive anything at your physical location while the effect is active.

You create a visible manifestation at the Location where your senses are projected which looks like a ghostly image of yourself meditating.

  • This does not satisfy the Line of Sight requirement for targeted Effects.

Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless the targeted lock or door is being used to restrain or imprison you.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • 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. 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.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Select a target Object within arm's reach. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • You learn the object's highest material value and why it is worth so much.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same target 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.