Apr 16, 2020 6:08 am
Every Hunter has a psychic gift. A psychic power that they can use to hunt. Where that power comes from is up for debate among those that care to debate it. Some say it is the next stage in human evolution. Others proclaim them gifts from the gods. For the Directors that give the Hunters' marching orders, their tools to getting the job done.
Below, you will find a list of common psychic abilities. These are the ones recognized by the Directors and accepted as non-demonic right now. At this stage in development humans can only have one power. Sometimes they overlap and look like one thing, but by adult hood they have developed into one of these types.
After picking a power, you will choose one card from the standard deck of 52 playing cards without Jokers. This will be your "Ace in the Hole" card. It does not have to be an Ace. It can be literally and number or face of any of the four suits. More on "Ace in the Hole" below.
Each power comes with a Trick that its users can perform. This is an action you can take that is a minor use of your psychic power. It does not require any special effort other than to take the action. Not even a die roll is required. Below each power lists a common trick that is associated with that power. Copy the trick to your character sheet. Or...not everyone with a particular power has the same trick. If you can think of a minor, non-direct damaging effect that a power could have, the Directors are willing to consider it as an alternative.
In order to use your power at any level beyond the Trick, you must use your action for the turn focusing on the desired affect, describe what you want to happen then name a card suit. (Note, not a specific card...just the suit of the card.)
Once you have posted your action, the Directors will draw a card and determine how successful you were. There are five possible outcomes.
#1. The draw matches the declared suit resulting in you achieving the stated goal without any significant unintended consequences. (But come on...if you blow up a car with mind bullets...there probably will be SOME less than significant unintended consequences.)
#2 The draw matches the color of the declared suit. You achieve what you want, but at a price. Something doesn't quite go your way. Nothing to bad, but a significant complication.
#3 The draw does not match the color of the declared suit, but is not the trump suit. You do not achieve your goal, but do not suffer any other ill effects.
#4 The draw is from the trump suit to the one you declared. There are significant unintended consequences of a supernatural or psychic nature.
#5 The draw is your Ace in the Hole. You get everything you could possibly want and more. In addition to describing how you achieve your goal even more spectacularly than you imagined, you can roll a d20 and recover a number of Attribute points equal to the result.
Powers & Tricks
Apportation - The ability to move people and objects with your mind, commonly referred to as teleportation. You must know the location at both "ends" of your transport and your range is limited to one mile.
--Trick: In My Pocket. You may summon a specific object you have seen and that can fit into your pocket, as long as you know it's current location
Aura Reading - The ability to glean information about a person based on the "energy" they give off. Can overlap with telepathy often. Such information might be: their current state of well being and health, if they are lying or telling the truth, if they are possessed or under the influence of some other power. This is not an exhaustive list of the information, but Aura Reading is not Telepathy, it's closer to an art form than a science.
--Trick: Empath. You can always know the general emotional state of a person by reading their aura. You will get one word descriptions such as Angry, or Nervous, or Happy. You will have no insight as to why they feel that way, but through further use of your power or creative social interactions you can learn more if desired.
Bilocation - The ability to be in two places at once. This power calls forth ectoplasm from the aether and imbues it with a portion of your life force. The duplicate is short lived and has no will of its own. In game terms you gain three rounds of extra actions. Any damage taken by your duplicate during those turns is subtracted from your totals.
--Trick: ???
Clairvoyance - The ability to see and hear what is happening in a location other than your own. You send your mind to a location of your choosing and can see and hear everything as though you were standing in that location. Other individuals with supernatural abilities may be able to detect your presence while you are viewing in this manner.
--Trick: Heightened Senses. You can focus and 'zoom-in' on an area that you have direct line of sight on. In essence this is your Clairvoyance power but
Dowsing - The ability to find objects. You can sense the general direction and distance of an object. This can be in general or specific. For example, the nearest natural water source will take you to a well or stream. It is possible that this power will return a null result, you will know the difference between the power failing and the lack of what you seek. This power does not work on living entities, only objects that cannot move without external influence. If you seek a specific object you are not the owner of (see Trick), it can be described to you by the owner and you have a chance of getting a read on the specific object (like a stolen car, or a missing ring).
--Trick: Find your Keys. You can always find your things. Objects which you own can always be easily located with this power. Using this trick requires your action, but for the next few moments you will be able to sense the location and direction of an object. You have to be careful though, giving an object to a person can transfer ownership. If they think it is theirs and use it in some significant way, or use the object to commit an act of violence.
Energy Medicine The ability to heal injuries with psychic energy. With time and focus the user can heal even severe, life threatening injuries. The user transfers their own life essence into the target, closing any wounds and restoring energy. In game terms this is a one for one stat point exchange.
--Trick: Novocaine for the Soul. For the rest of the scene you can temporarily prevent someone from feeling pain. In game terms this freezes their Stats at the number it is when the Trick is used. Stress and wounds are still tracked as normal, but the number they need to roll is static for the scene. You can only affect someone with this Trick once per day.
Exorcism The ability to sense and expel outside influences on a target. The user can take a moment to study a willing or incapacitated individual and drive out any supernatural forces possessing or working against their mind or free will. The user can also end addictions in chemically dependent persons if the target desires it.
--Trick: Sense Influence You can tell when someone is under an outside influence after a brief interaction. If it is a chemical addiction, you learn the nature of the addiction and whether or not they are currently are under the influence.
Mesmerism The ability to hypnotize and stupefy the hapless. Using the power of suggestion you can convince people to do things they might not otherwise. Typically this ability will not allow you to tell someone to kill themselves if they aren't already suicidal, but you could say, convince a bank manager to leave the vault open and go make an important phone call. Or cause someone to forget something they saw or know.
--Trick: Daze You can daze a small number of individuals long enough to make a quick escape or cause a distraction. They will realize something happened or is different but it will take a turn or two.
Psychokinesis The ability to channel energy that would normally be dangerous to humans. The user can generate and discharge electricity either in a steady controlled flow or dangerous "bolts" at close ranges.
--Trick: Jump Start. You can generate a small amount of energy, a spark. It isn't enough to do much more than shock a person, but it could jump start a car or short out unprotected electronics.
Psychometry - The ability to "read" objects. With this power you can see the past of an object. Violence acts leave strong impressions, continuous use next and so on.
--Trick: Know Owner. You must handle the object for a minute. You then get a psychic impression of the owner, the person who most recently/regularly used it. If you have met the owner, you will clearly see them. If they are unknown to you at the time the trick is used, you will recognize them upon meeting and interacting with them.
Pyrokinesis - The ability to create enough heat to ignite objects and harm people. The user can create and channel heat in objects they can see or touch. If the material is flammable it will catch fire. If the material conducts heat, they can cause it to glow with heat, or even melt. It may take a few turns to do this depending on the material.
--Trick: Spark You can create a flash of fire that will ignite easily flammable material
Telepathy - The ability to communicate mentally, without a sound and read minds. The user can do basically any of the classic things a telepath can do.
--Trick: Sender/Receiver. You can send thoughts to any psychic or supernatural creature you are aware of, as in you must know where the target is. They have the option of responding if they wish.
Telekinesis - The ability to manipulate objects and people with your mind.
--Trick: Mage Hand You can manipulate up to 5 pounds of material you can see. This control is not super fine, imagine a hand wearing a mitten.
Below, you will find a list of common psychic abilities. These are the ones recognized by the Directors and accepted as non-demonic right now. At this stage in development humans can only have one power. Sometimes they overlap and look like one thing, but by adult hood they have developed into one of these types.
After picking a power, you will choose one card from the standard deck of 52 playing cards without Jokers. This will be your "Ace in the Hole" card. It does not have to be an Ace. It can be literally and number or face of any of the four suits. More on "Ace in the Hole" below.
Each power comes with a Trick that its users can perform. This is an action you can take that is a minor use of your psychic power. It does not require any special effort other than to take the action. Not even a die roll is required. Below each power lists a common trick that is associated with that power. Copy the trick to your character sheet. Or...not everyone with a particular power has the same trick. If you can think of a minor, non-direct damaging effect that a power could have, the Directors are willing to consider it as an alternative.
In order to use your power at any level beyond the Trick, you must use your action for the turn focusing on the desired affect, describe what you want to happen then name a card suit. (Note, not a specific card...just the suit of the card.)
Once you have posted your action, the Directors will draw a card and determine how successful you were. There are five possible outcomes.
#1. The draw matches the declared suit resulting in you achieving the stated goal without any significant unintended consequences. (But come on...if you blow up a car with mind bullets...there probably will be SOME less than significant unintended consequences.)
#2 The draw matches the color of the declared suit. You achieve what you want, but at a price. Something doesn't quite go your way. Nothing to bad, but a significant complication.
#3 The draw does not match the color of the declared suit, but is not the trump suit. You do not achieve your goal, but do not suffer any other ill effects.
#4 The draw is from the trump suit to the one you declared. There are significant unintended consequences of a supernatural or psychic nature.
#5 The draw is your Ace in the Hole. You get everything you could possibly want and more. In addition to describing how you achieve your goal even more spectacularly than you imagined, you can roll a d20 and recover a number of Attribute points equal to the result.
Powers & Tricks
Apportation - The ability to move people and objects with your mind, commonly referred to as teleportation. You must know the location at both "ends" of your transport and your range is limited to one mile.
--Trick: In My Pocket. You may summon a specific object you have seen and that can fit into your pocket, as long as you know it's current location
Aura Reading - The ability to glean information about a person based on the "energy" they give off. Can overlap with telepathy often. Such information might be: their current state of well being and health, if they are lying or telling the truth, if they are possessed or under the influence of some other power. This is not an exhaustive list of the information, but Aura Reading is not Telepathy, it's closer to an art form than a science.
--Trick: Empath. You can always know the general emotional state of a person by reading their aura. You will get one word descriptions such as Angry, or Nervous, or Happy. You will have no insight as to why they feel that way, but through further use of your power or creative social interactions you can learn more if desired.
Bilocation - The ability to be in two places at once. This power calls forth ectoplasm from the aether and imbues it with a portion of your life force. The duplicate is short lived and has no will of its own. In game terms you gain three rounds of extra actions. Any damage taken by your duplicate during those turns is subtracted from your totals.
--Trick: ???
Clairvoyance - The ability to see and hear what is happening in a location other than your own. You send your mind to a location of your choosing and can see and hear everything as though you were standing in that location. Other individuals with supernatural abilities may be able to detect your presence while you are viewing in this manner.
--Trick: Heightened Senses. You can focus and 'zoom-in' on an area that you have direct line of sight on. In essence this is your Clairvoyance power but
Dowsing - The ability to find objects. You can sense the general direction and distance of an object. This can be in general or specific. For example, the nearest natural water source will take you to a well or stream. It is possible that this power will return a null result, you will know the difference between the power failing and the lack of what you seek. This power does not work on living entities, only objects that cannot move without external influence. If you seek a specific object you are not the owner of (see Trick), it can be described to you by the owner and you have a chance of getting a read on the specific object (like a stolen car, or a missing ring).
--Trick: Find your Keys. You can always find your things. Objects which you own can always be easily located with this power. Using this trick requires your action, but for the next few moments you will be able to sense the location and direction of an object. You have to be careful though, giving an object to a person can transfer ownership. If they think it is theirs and use it in some significant way, or use the object to commit an act of violence.
Energy Medicine The ability to heal injuries with psychic energy. With time and focus the user can heal even severe, life threatening injuries. The user transfers their own life essence into the target, closing any wounds and restoring energy. In game terms this is a one for one stat point exchange.
--Trick: Novocaine for the Soul. For the rest of the scene you can temporarily prevent someone from feeling pain. In game terms this freezes their Stats at the number it is when the Trick is used. Stress and wounds are still tracked as normal, but the number they need to roll is static for the scene. You can only affect someone with this Trick once per day.
Exorcism The ability to sense and expel outside influences on a target. The user can take a moment to study a willing or incapacitated individual and drive out any supernatural forces possessing or working against their mind or free will. The user can also end addictions in chemically dependent persons if the target desires it.
--Trick: Sense Influence You can tell when someone is under an outside influence after a brief interaction. If it is a chemical addiction, you learn the nature of the addiction and whether or not they are currently are under the influence.
Mesmerism The ability to hypnotize and stupefy the hapless. Using the power of suggestion you can convince people to do things they might not otherwise. Typically this ability will not allow you to tell someone to kill themselves if they aren't already suicidal, but you could say, convince a bank manager to leave the vault open and go make an important phone call. Or cause someone to forget something they saw or know.
--Trick: Daze You can daze a small number of individuals long enough to make a quick escape or cause a distraction. They will realize something happened or is different but it will take a turn or two.
Psychokinesis The ability to channel energy that would normally be dangerous to humans. The user can generate and discharge electricity either in a steady controlled flow or dangerous "bolts" at close ranges.
--Trick: Jump Start. You can generate a small amount of energy, a spark. It isn't enough to do much more than shock a person, but it could jump start a car or short out unprotected electronics.
Psychometry - The ability to "read" objects. With this power you can see the past of an object. Violence acts leave strong impressions, continuous use next and so on.
--Trick: Know Owner. You must handle the object for a minute. You then get a psychic impression of the owner, the person who most recently/regularly used it. If you have met the owner, you will clearly see them. If they are unknown to you at the time the trick is used, you will recognize them upon meeting and interacting with them.
Pyrokinesis - The ability to create enough heat to ignite objects and harm people. The user can create and channel heat in objects they can see or touch. If the material is flammable it will catch fire. If the material conducts heat, they can cause it to glow with heat, or even melt. It may take a few turns to do this depending on the material.
--Trick: Spark You can create a flash of fire that will ignite easily flammable material
Telepathy - The ability to communicate mentally, without a sound and read minds. The user can do basically any of the classic things a telepath can do.
--Trick: Sender/Receiver. You can send thoughts to any psychic or supernatural creature you are aware of, as in you must know where the target is. They have the option of responding if they wish.
Telekinesis - The ability to manipulate objects and people with your mind.
--Trick: Mage Hand You can manipulate up to 5 pounds of material you can see. This control is not super fine, imagine a hand wearing a mitten.