Ionis

Reveal and activate a complex mechanical contraption that you somehow created and placed in advance.

Essence Cost: Mid
Cooldown: Low-High
Paired Action: Gleefully introduce the contraption, explaining at length how it works; activate it only after you finish doing so.

• The contraption’s capacities and location are both Pitched. Unlike normal, plausibility does NOT determine success— the contraption’s presence can be unlikely past the point of absurdity so long as it can be revealed from a hidden location and it fits your character’s established theming.
  ≫ Eg. Opening a closet door to reveal a dangerous robot is completely valid, even if there’s no possible way the robot could logically have gotten there beforehand.
• The contraption’s theoretical potency scales on the size of the audience you introduce it to; it’s actual effectiveness scales on the length of your Paired Action, as does its Cooldown.
  ≫ Eg. A giant death laser could be revealed to a crowd of hundreds but not to a few dozen, and, unless monologued about at about for a few minutes, it would be likely to break, misfire, or similar almost immediately.

Essence Cost

Mid

Max Duration

Low

Cooldown

Low–High

Paired Action: Gleefully introduce the contraption and explain it at length; activate it only after you finish doing so.

• The contraption’s nature and capacities are also Pitched and must be thematically appropriate to the user.
  • The contraption’s actual Impact, once activated, scales Low–High on the size of the user’s audience. (e.g. A giant robot revealed to a large crowd could operate as intended with High Impact but would break or go awry if revealed to just a handful of people, yielding only Low Impact.)
  • After being used, the contraption will break, run out of power, or otherwise be rendered defunct. Duration scales as appropriate to the contraption's intended function.

Order a subordinate to perform a mundane task for you.

Essence Cost: Low
Duration: Low
Cooldown: MidPaired Action: Issue your command in a smug or belittling fashion, reinforcing your position above your target.

• Imposes an Altered State (pg31) of untroubled compliance in the target, making them go along with the command even if normally they’d be opposed to it (or even an outright enemy of the user). The target of this ability is rendered notably less competent and intelligent than normally while this lasts.
  ≫ Scales in potency on how much lower the target’s status is than the user and on how seemingly inconsequential the order is.
  ≫ Ends the moment the task is performed or once the Duration elapses if still unaccomplished.
• The user may Pitch away in which the target’s tasked action wildly backfires; the target themselves will always emerge completely unscathed from this.

Essence Cost

Low

Max Duration

Low

Cooldown

Mid

Paired Action: Issue a command in a smug or imperious fashion.

• Impact scales Low–High on how unimportant the target is (Mid at maximum when targeting an enemy).
• Compliance ends as soon as the task is performed.
• You may Pitch how the attempt to complete the task goes completely wrong for your character while the target remains unscathed; if you do so, this Ability’s Cost and Cooldown are negated.

Pitch a physical weakness or character flaw in an enemy.

Essence Cost: Mid
Cooldown: Mid
Paired Action: Announce the weakness and monologue at length upon how you learned of it and how you plan to exploit it.

• The targeted enemy cannot interrupt you during the Paired Action and their attention will be forcibly held. If you are interrupted or their attention is broken before you finish the Paired Action in full, this ability may have a much weaker result or fail outright.
• If the weakness you Pitch would logically apply to other enemies, you may target up to a small group of them with this ability, increasing its Cooldown to High.

Essence Cost

Mid

Cooldown

Mid

Paired Action: Gloatingly explain for a Low Duration how you learned of and plan to exploit the Pitched weakness.

• If the Pitched weakness would logically apply to multiple present enemies, all of them may be affected by the compulsion, though doing so increases this Ability’s Cooldown to High.
• If the Paired Action is interrupted, this Ability’s Impact is reduced to Low (normally Mid).

Full-body suit of mechanized armor, offering High physical protection. Light weight to the user and boosts their strength, powered by a battery with Mid Duration (ejecting the user when depleted). Has an obvious weak spot that, if struck heavily, will break the suit.

Battery Life

High

Protection

High

Encumbrance

Low

• Pitch a physical Mid Boost for this suit to convey its owner (strength, jumping distance, etc.) as well as a thematically related Mid Impact malfunction incurred in the process, both of which reset when the suit is retracted.
• If damage is sustained to this suit’s weak spot, Pitch a High Impact malfunction (which does not reset).

Small implant in a finger that allows the user to interface with objects through prolonged contact, with potency scaling upon more complex targets. Mid max Duration. Especially vast, hostile, or protected objects may eject and/or mentally strain to the user.

• The owner may interface with technology or comparable objects through prolonged contact.
  • Up to a Mid Duration, scaling on how complex and tamper-proof the target is.

Set of 5 single-use rockets, rapidly accelerating to dangerous speeds and flying for a Low duration. Prone to misfiring, altering course, or even exploding, particularly if damaged or handled carelessly.

Quantity

5x

Speed

High

Flight Duration

Low

• Affixable to any solid object.
• Whenever used, Pitch a Low Impact malfunction.
• Explode upon collision, causing Mid Damage.

A set of mechanical arms, stronger and much tougher but considerably less dextrous than regular limbs, ending in heavy grabbers. Once per mission, Pitch a tool to replace these grabbers (may swap back at will).

Lightness Boost

Mid

• Pitch a tool to replace one or both grippers (1x Use).
  • The owner may freely swap between the two for the rest of the mission.

Set of 5 small, safe-to-handle animals, stashed in indeterminant locations on your person. Pitch the critter as you reveal it while commenting on a behavior commonly associated with it; the critter will then promptly demonstrate said behavior.

Quantity

5x

• Pitch a critter as you reveal it while commenting on a behavior it is known for; it will promptly demonstrate that behavior.