He lights a cigarette, the smoke curling like script in a language he doesn’t know—yet.
When he speaks, the words come out clean, like he’s been saying them all his life. Spanish, Russian, Cantonese—it doesn’t matter. For the next hour, every phrase lands smooth, like jazz on a rainy night.
Spend enough time chewing the fat with a local—really listen—and something clicks behind those wolf-eyes of his. It ain’t just language he picks up, it’s meaning, rhythm, the heartbeat of a dialect.
One good hour, one hard pull on the mind, and it’s his. Accent and all. Like he was born under that tongue’s moon.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You may understand and communicate to humans 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.
The symbiote has repurposed some of the Hosts flesh to form flexible tendrils made from tendon & muscle fiber & the alien's own fungal, plant-like fibers. These tendrils have an array of sharp, thorn like edges that allow them to easily part flesh, as well as moist, sucking organs that both assist in grasping prey & gorging on blood & fluids.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand. Lasts one hour.
Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Any Battle Scars that affect or remove your additional limb will heal in a single week.
Your extra appendage can be used to attack in exactly the same manner as a Thrusting Sword.
Your appendage is capable of bending and squishing in normally-impossible ways. It may fit through any gap that is not water-tight and retain its functionality.
Your appendage has a grip that is hard to shake. You may attempt a grapple with only your Extra Appendage at no penalty.
Your extra appendage is not connected to your nervous or circulatory systems, and you will not take damage if it is hit by an attack or destroyed.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Thorned tendrils burst from your body.
Your appendage has its own agenda (Spread the spores!), which it will attempt to follow. You must roll Mind, Difficulty 7 to re-assert control when this occurs. If it chooses to act counter to your desires in combat, controlling it costs your entire Action.
Your Extra Appendage is incapable of fine object manipulation.
Her hair being whipped around akin to a hurricane, water droplets form around Brooke and coalesce around her body, encompassing her. The water buckles and glows, then finally spreads out to release Brooke as it swirls around her, glowing eyes and whiskers forming from the water. The Lake Lord has awoken.
The Lake Lord is a spirit. It is bound to its lake, but it learned how to split off fragments and send them far away, then reabsorb them when they return. After a terrible accident renders the Puddlings unable to return to the main body to join the whole, Brooke must take up the task of finding and returning them all so that the Lake Lord may become whole again.
The Lake Lord counts as a Construct, being both Sapient and Non-Living. The Puddlings, being lesser in mind than their larger form, count as Animate Non-Living Creatures.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action.
Summon the one and only Sapient Lake Lord at your location. They last until they are destroyed They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Conduit - Your minion may only be understood by you, not by anyone else unless they have a Commune power targeting Sapient beings. Additionally, whenever your minion takes a severity 3 or higher injury, roll Mind at difficulty 8. On a failure, take one mind damage.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
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You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Brawn rating is increased by 1. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Brawn (cannot be used on combat rolls or Effect activations).
You also gain the following effects:
Carter is one of the rare Gurahl, werebears of the natural world. While he was never taught his true power, he has learned his more natural form.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into Polar bear 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 cannot use your Active, Targeted, or Trap Powers. However, you can use your Passive 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.
When she is learning comprehending, glowing green runes in an alien language appear across her body, from head to feet. The runes flicker randomly, emitting a faint hum and a soft light that feels alive, subtly distorting the air around her.
The runes are a testament to the alien knowledge embedded within her, remnants of the Skrallaka scientists' ambitious experiment to create a being capable of transcending intelligence and evolution. These glowing sigils, alive with shifting energy, represent the vast wisdom of a civilization condensed into one form. When activated, they bridge the gap between mind and cosmos, channeling a higher understanding that feels as alien as it is awe-inspiring.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Intellect rating is increased by 0. You may Exert your Mind to automatically gain an Outcome of 5 on any roll that uses Intellect (Cannot be used on combat rolls or Power activations).
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Never trust Humans and A higher entity.
You also gain the following effects:
The time-twister spins a dial on one of her watches, slowing time for everyone but her and one other person.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch or clock to activate this Effect.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
Outside of Combat, any non-Gift, non-movement Actions you attempt take drastically less time to complete, as long as your personal speed is a factor in the Action. Total time reduction is determined by the GM and capped at 90% (executing the Action takes no less than 1/10th the normal time).
While using this Effect, you may carry one other being without affecting your Encumbrance, so long as you maintain contact with them for the duration and they consent or are grappled.
The Thief has a stash in which they can store a few objects. It can be accessed through any burlap sack.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a burlap sack 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.
Driving rugged vehicles in a combat situation is second nature to the Soldier. They measure their shots and navigate obstacles with a subtle timing that doesn't affect the steadiness of their own or their passengers' weapons. Firing a few shots through the windshield or window while performing dangerous driving maneuvers is also no problem.
You gain the following benefits as long as Must be driving a rugged vehicle such as an SUV truck or armored car. and you are piloting any vehicle.
You receive +2 dice to any rolls to pilot a vehicle.
You also gain the following effects:
The musician assumes a powerful stance and strums a mighty power chord on their guitar. A blast of sound waves radiate outwards, destroying all who dare face the power chord directly.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use your instrument to activate this Effect. The area within 25 feet of you immediately and obviously becomes imminently dangerous. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Targets inside the radius may attempt an appropriate Reaction at GM’s discretion. Finding a physical barrier to use as cover will cut total Damage taken in half (applies after Reaction roll but before Armor).
If the Outcome is positive, your blast hits everything within 25 feet of you with Damage equal to your Outcome + 4. If you botched the activation roll, you will also take full Damage from the blast, otherwise it will not hurt you.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The mobster's been through tougher scrapes than this. A few cuts and bruises won't stop them.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries is reduced to 0. Does not reduce Stress from Mind Damage.