Mortal Stunts

Stunts List Here you will find a list of the Stunts used at Tenebrous Isles along with a description of what they're used for. Athletics  The following are stunts available for use with the Athletics skill: Sprinter. You move two zones for free in a conflict without rolling, instead of one, provided there are no situation aspects restricting movement. Hardcore Parkour. +2 to overcome actions with Athletics if you are in a chase across rooftops or a similarly precarious environment. Dazing Counter. When you succeed with style on a defend action against an opponent’s Fight roll, you automatically counter with some sort of nerve punch or stunning blow. You get to attach the Dazed situation aspect to your opponent with a free invoke, instead of just a boost. Fleet of Foot: When sprinting, gain a +2 to Overcome barriers. Human Spider: Difficult surfaces aren’t much trouble to scale; gain +2 to all climbing rolls. Mighty Leap: Any barriers that your character tries to overcome by jumping gain +2 to the roll. Burglary  The following are stunts available for use with the Burglary skill: Always a Way Out. +2 on Burglary rolls made to create an advantage whenever you’re trying to escape from a location. Security Specialist. You don’t have to be present to provide active opposition to someone trying to overcome security measures you put in place or worked on. (Normally, a character would roll against passive opposition for that.) Talk the Talk. You can use Burglary in place of Contacts whenever you’re dealing specifically with other thieves and burglars. The Big Picture: When casing a target with a create an advantage roll, you gain the ability to define an additional aspect about the target (such as Broken Window Latch) when you succeed with style on the roll, for a total of two aspects. Cat-Burglar: You’re a thief with catlike tread; you may use Burglary instead of Stealth for Hiding or Skulking (YS142). Hacker: You may use your Burglary skill (instead of Scholarship) to do research with computers. Hairpin Maestro: Poor tools are no trouble when picking locks. Gain a +2 to Overcome actions to remove aspects that hinder your ability to pick locks due to tools. Safecracker: Any lockpicking effort takes place two steps faster than usual on the time table. Contacts  The following are stunts available for use with the Contacts skill: Ear to the Ground. Whenever someone initiates a conflict against you in an area where you’ve built a network of contacts, you can roll Contacts instead of Notice for initiative, because you got tipped off in time. Rumormonger. +2 to create an advantage when you plant vicious rumors about someone else. The Weight of Reputation. You can use Contacts instead of Provoke to create advantages based on the fear generated by the sinister reputation you’ve cultivated for yourself and all the shady associates you have. You should have an appropriate aspect to pair with this stunt. I Know Just the Guy: When you’re looking to gather some information from your network of contacts, you have unerring instincts for finding the right person, fast. When gathering information, your efforts are at a +1 and are 1 time increment faster. Crafts  The following are stunts available for use with the Crafts skill: Always Making Useful Things. You don’t ever have to spend a fate point to declare that you have the proper tools for a particular job using Crafts, even in extreme situations (like being imprisoned and separated from all your stuff). This source of opposition is just off the table. Better than New!. Whenever you succeed with style on an overcome action to repair a piece of machinery, you can immediately give it a new situation aspect (with a free invoke) reflecting the improvements you’ve made, instead of just a boost. Surgical Strikes. When using Crafts in a conflict involving machinery, you can filter out unwanted targets from whole-zone attacks without having to divide up your shifts (normally, you’d need to divide your roll between your targets). Car Mechanic: You know the ins and outs of cars like nobody’s business. Gain a +2 on Crafts whenever dealing with a car or truck and a +1 on other personal vehicles (boats, motorcycles, small aircraft). Demolitions Training: You are trained in the effective use of explosives (this is a new skill trapping; most people can’t handle explosives without training). You may use your Crafts skill to place and set explosives appropriately. This allows you to perform actions against structures, and your skill roll also sets the difficulty for any characters attempting to avoid damage from an explosive that you’ve placed. Note that to hide an explosive you will still need to use the Deceit skill. Junkyard Artiste: You create art by working with your hands and a workman’s tools - works of sculpture, perhaps, or other kinds of modern, “industrial” art. You may use Crafts instead of Presence to create these works of art. Monkey with a Wrench: Sure, building and fixing is nice, but taking things apart is more satisfying. When using Crafts to take something apart, gain a +1 on the effort and get it disassembled 1 time increment (YS315) faster. Deceive  The following are stunts available for use with the Deceive skill: Lies upon Lies. +2 to create a Deceive advantage against someone who has believed one of your lies already during this session. Mind Games. You can use Deceive in place of Provoke to make mental attacks, as long as you can make up a clever lie as part of the attack. One Person, Many Faces. Whenever you meet someone new, you can spend a fate point in order to declare that you’ve met that person before, but under a different name and identity. Create a situation aspect to represent your cover story, and you can use Deceive in place of Rapport whenever interacting with that person. Document Forging: You are trained in the forging of official documents (such as ID, birth records, and the like) or letters. You can roll Deceive +2 to create these documents, but using them or planting them where they will be of use (like in a library or government office) might require the use of other skills, such as Burglary or Stealth. Anyone exposed to these documents gets a Notice or Scholarship roll to spot the deception. Honest Lies: Whenever incorporating a real, valuable piece of the truth (however marginally valuable it may be) into a lie, you gain a +2 on your efforts to pass off the untrue parts. Make-Up Artist: Given enough time, you can create very convincing disguises, ones that will hold up to deeper inspection (although not to careful scrutiny and magic). Gain a +2 to create advantage rolls when making a disguise. Pick-Pocket: You may use the Deceive instead of Burglary to pick-pockets. This includes the filching of small items from a desk or someplace similar. Sleight of Hand: You gain a +1 on any attempts with Deceive to create quick distractions. This also gives a +1 bonus to rolls to pick pockets. Takes One to Know One: You may use Deceive instead of Empathy to catch someone in a lie. Drive  The following are stunts available for use with the Drive skill: Hard to Shake. +2 to Drive whenever you’re pursuing another vehicle in a chase scene. Pedal to the Metal. You can coax more speed out of your vehicle than seems possible. Whenever you’re engaged in any contest where speed is the primary factor (such as a chase or race of some kind), when you tie with your Drive roll it’s considered a success. Ramming Speed! When ramming another vehicle, you ignore 2 stress of damage. So if you ram and hit for 4 stress, you only take 2 yourself. Rider: Your focus is on animals, not cars. Gain +1 to your Driving when riding an animal; choose a specific kind that you’re best with for an additional +1 when riding that type. Like the Back of My Hand: Your knack for shortcuts gives you a +2 to Driving when using it for street knowledge and shortest-path navigation. Pilot: Your focus is on aircraft, not cars. Gain +1 to your Driving when piloting an aircraft; choose a specific kind that you’re best with (helicopters, jet airliners, personal aircraft) for an additional +1 when steering that type. Shake the Tail: When you are the one being followed in a car-chase, you have a real talent for sudden turns and daring maneuvers to shake off your pursuers. Gain a +2 to Drive in such a case. Empathy  The following are stunts available for use with the Empathy skill: Lie Whisperer. +2 to all Empathy rolls made to discern or discover lies, whether they’re directed at you or someone else. Nose for Trouble. You can use Empathy instead of Notice to determine your initiative in a physical conflict, provided you’ve gotten a chance to observe or speak to those involved for at least a few minutes beforehand during this scene. Psychologist. Once per session you can reduce someone else’s consequence by one level of severity (severe to moderate, moderate to minor, minor to nothing at all) by succeeding on an Empathy roll with a difficulty of Fair (+2) for a minor consequence, Good (+3) for moderate, or Great (+4) for severe. You need to be able to talk with the person you’re treating for at least half an hour in order for them to receive the benefits of this stunt, and you can’t use it on yourself. (Normally, this roll would only start the recovery process, instead of changing the consequence level.) Read the Surface: You can get a sense of someone quickly when trying to “read” them. Your first attempt to read someone takes less than a minute of interaction, instead of the usual ten. Any subsequent efforts with the same person do not enjoy this benefit. The Social Graces: Keen awareness of the ebb and flow of social situations makes you the master of your circumstances. When determining initiative in a social conflict, gain +2 to Empathy. Won’t Get Fooled Again: It only takes once for someone to lie to you before you start to wise up to it. Once you’ve discovered a particular person’s lie for what it is, you gain a +2 on any future Empathy rolls when dealing with that liar for the rest of the session. Fight  The following are stunts available for use with the Fight skill: Heavy Hitter. When you succeed with style on a Fight attack and choose to reduce the result to gain a boost, you gain a full situation aspect with a free invocation, instead. Backup Weapon. Whenever someone’s about to hit you with a Disarmed situation aspect, spend a fate point to declare you have a backup weapon. Instead of a situation aspect, your opponent gets a boost instead, representing the momentary distraction you suffer having to switch. Hurled Weapon. You can use Fight in order to throw melee weapons with a Rating of 2 into adjacent zones. Doing so puts a scene aspect called Disarmed on you, which you have to deal with, but no one gets to invoke that for free. Killing Stroke. Once per scene, when you force an opponent to take a consequence, you can spend a fate point to increase the severity of the consequence that he must take (so minor becomes moderate, moderate becomes severe). If your opponent was already going to take a severe consequence, he must either take a severe consequence and a second consequence or be taken out. Martial Artist: You recognize many different styles of fighting. When you create an advantage based on your targets form, you gain a +2. Redirected Force/Riposte: (Requires Martial Artist) You’re an expert at turning close-combat attacks against themselves. When you succeed with style on a defense roll, you create a situation aspect on your opponent instead of a boost. Lethal Weapon: (Requires Martial Artist) Your hands are lethal weapons. Your bare hands are considered Weapon 2 against unarmored opponents. Off-Hand Weapon Training: You know how to fight more effectively with two weapons in hand. Normally, you may only take the damage bonus from one weapon on a successful hit; with this stunt, you may add half of the second weapon’s bonus as well (round up). Wall of Death: Your skill with your weapon is such that you can attack several opponents at once, creating a veritable “wall of death” around you. This allows you to use the Fight skill to make spray attacks with your weapon of choice against opponents that are in your zone. Investigate  The following are stunts available for use with the Investigate skill: Attention to Detail. You can use Investigate instead of Empathy in order to defend against attempts to use Deceive against you. What others discover through gut reactions and intuition, you learn through careful observation of micro-expressions. Eavesdropper. On a successful Investigate roll to create an advantage by eavesdropping on a conversation, you can discover or create one additional aspect (though this doesn’t give you an extra free invocation). The Power of Deduction. Once per scene you can spend a fate point (and a few minutes of observation) to make a special Investigate roll representing your potent deductive faculties. You may discover or create an aspect for each shift you make on this roll, on either the scene or the target of your observations, though you may only invoke one of them for free. Listening: You can tune out your other senses and simply focus on your hearing, making you able to pick up faint sounds with astonishing clarity. Gain a +4 on your Investigate roll when Listening; however, your Notice drops to Terrible while doing so, due to the exclusion of your other senses. If a conflict begins while you are Listening, it will take a full exchange for your Notice to return to normal once you stop. Pin the Tail: You’re a tough person to shake once you get on someone’s trail. You may roll Investigation in place of Stealth while shadowing someone. Quick Eye: When examining a location for clues, your eye is quick to pick out the visual details. Your first Investigate roll to determine deeper details about a scene is 2 time increments (YS315) faster than usual. Scene of the Crime: You have a practiced eye when combing over a crime scene. In such a circumstance, you gain +1 to your Investigate roll and arrive at your findings one step faster than usual on the time table Hunter: You know how to track game in the outdoors. Gain +2 to use Investigate to track something in the wilderness. Lore  The following are stunts available for use with the Lore skill: I’ve Read about That! You’ve read hundreds – if not thousands – of books on a wide variety of supernatural topics. You can spend a fate point to use Lore in place of any other skill for one roll or exchange, provided you can justify having read about the action you’re attempting. Shield of Reason. You can use Lore as a defense against Provoke attempts, provided you can justify your ability to overcome your fear through rational thought and reason. Specialist. Choose a field of specialization, such as herbology, criminology, or zoology. You get a +2 to all Lore rolls relating to that field of specialization. Occultist (specify): You’re an expert on a particular arena of arcane lore. This must be limited, but it can still cover a fair number of things, such as Vampires or Demons. Gain a +1 to Lore when researching things covered by such a topic. You must also define a sub-category within that category, such as “Red Court Vampires” or “Hunter-Killer Demons” to gain an additional +1 (total of +2) for research. This stunt may be taken multiple times. Multiple bonuses towards the same category stack, sub-categories do not. Nevernever Native: You’re able to survive nearly indefinitely in the spirit world, living off the land. Lore rolls are made at +1, and the time between multiple rolls for a prolonged stay is increased by one increment. Finely Tuned Third Eye: Your “sixth sense” that can perceive the presence of a supernatural “ick” factor (YS135) is unusually sensitive for a pure mortal. Gain +2 to your Lore whenever using it as an Notice substitute to pick up on the presence of the supernatural. Spiritual Navigator: Gain +2 to rolls to find ways into and through the Nevernever. Notice  The Notice skill involves just that - noticing things. It’s a counterpart to Investigate, representing a character’s overall perception, ability to pick out details at a glance, and other powers of observation. Usually, when you use Notice, it’s very quick compared to Investigate, so the kinds of details you get from it are more superficial, but you also don’t have to expend as much effort to find them. Overcome: You don’t really use Notice to overcome obstacles too often, but when you do it’s used in a reactive way: noticing something in a scene, hearing a faint sound, spotting the concealed gun in that guy’s waistband. Note that this isn’t license for GMs to call for Notice rolls left and right to see how generally observant the players’ characters are; that’s boring. Instead, call for Notice rolls when succeeding would result in something interesting happening and when failure would result in something just as interesting happening. Create an Advantage: You use Notice to create aspects based on direct observation—looking over a room for details that stand out, finding an escape route in a debris-filled building, noticing someone sticking out in a crowd, etc. When you’re watching people, Notice can tell you what’s going on with them externally; for internal changes, see Empathy. You might also use Notice to declare that your character spots something that you can use to your advantage in a situation, such as a convenient Escape Route when you’re trying to get out of a building, or a Subtle Weakness in the enemy’s line of defense. For example, if you’re in a barroom brawl you could make a Notice roll to say that you spot a puddle on the floor, right next to your opponent’s feet, that could cause him to slip. Attack: Notice isn’t really used for attacks. Defend: You can use Notice to defend against any uses of Stealth to try and get the drop on you or ambush you, or to discover that you’re being observed. Physique  The Physique skill is a counterpart to Athletics, representing the character’s natural physical aptitudes, such as raw strength and endurance. Overcome: You can use Physique to overcome any obstacles that require the application of brute force, which most often lets you overcome a situation aspect on a zone, or any other physical impedance, like prison bars or locked gates. Of course, Physique is the classic skill for arm-wrestling matches and other contests of applied strength, as well as marathons or other Physique-based challenges. Create an Advantage: Physique has a lot of potential in physical conflict for advantages, usually related to grappling and holding someone in place, making them Pinned or Locked Down. You might also use it as a way of discovering physical impairments possessed by the target—grappling the old mercenary tells you that he has a Bum Leg or somesuch. Attack: Physique is not used to harm people directly - see the Fight skill for that. Defend: Though you don’t generally use Physique to defend against attacks, you can use Physique to provide active opposition to someone else’s movement, provided you’re in a small enough space that you can effectively use your body to block access. You might also interpose something heavy and brace it to stop someone from sprinting. Special: The Physique skill gives you additional physical stress or consequence slots. Average or Fair gives you a 3-point stress box. Good or Great gives you a 3-point and a 4-point stress box. Superb and above give you an additional mild consequence slot in addition to 4-point additional stress boxes. This slot can only be used for physical harm. Provoke  Provoke is the skill about getting someone’s dander up and eliciting negative emotional response from them—fear, anger, shame, etc. It’s the “being a jerk” skill. To use Provoke, you need some kind of justification. That could come entirely from situation, or because you have an aspect that’s appropriate, or because you’ve created an advantage with another skill (like Rapport or Deceive), or because you’ve learned your target’s aspects (see Empathy). This skill requires that your target can feel emotions—robots and zombies typically can’t be provoked. Overcome: You can Provoke someone into getting them to do what you want in a fit of emotional pique. You might be intimidating them for information, pissing them off so badly that they act out, or scaring them into running away. This will often happen when you’re going up against nameless NPCs or it isn’t worthwhile to play out the particulars. Against PCs or important NPCs, you’ll need to win a contest. They oppose with Will. Create an Advantage: You can create advantages representing momentary emotional states in people, like Enraged, Shocked, or Hesitant. Your target opposes with Will. Attack: You can make mental attacks with Provoke, to do emotional harm to an opponent. Your relationship with the target and the circumstances you’re in figure a great deal into whether or not you can use this action. Defend: Being good at provoking others doesn’t make you better at avoiding it yourself. You need Will for that. Rapport  The Rapport skill is all about making positive connections to people and eliciting positive emotion. It’s the skill of being liked and trusted. Overcome: Use Rapport to charm or inspire people to do what you want or help you out, or establish a good connection with others. Charm your way past the guard, convince someone to take you in their confidence, or become the man of the hour at the local tavern. For nameless NPCs, this is just an overcome action, but you may have to enter a contest to sufficiently ingratiate yourself to a named NPC or PC. Create an Advantage: Use Rapport to establish a positive mood on a target or in a scene or to get someone to confide in you out of a genuine sense of trust. You could pep talk someone into having Elevated Confidence, or stir a crowd into a Joyful Fervor, or simply make someone Talkative or Helpful. Attack: Rapport doesn’t cause harm, so you don’t use it for attacks. Defend: Rapport defends against any skill used to damage your reputation, sour a mood you’ve created, or make you look bad in front of other people. It does not, however, defend against mental attacks. That requires Will. Resources  Resources describes your character’s general level of material wealth in the game world and ability to apply it. This might not always reflect cash on hand, given the different ways you can represent wealth in a particular setting; in the modern day, it might mean a number of good lines of credit. Overcome: You can use Resources to get yourself out of or past any situation where throwing money at the problem will help, such as committing bribery and acquiring rare or expensive things. Complex obstacles or contests might involve auctions or bidding wars. Create an Advantage: You might use Resources to grease the wheels and make people more friendly, whether that represents an actual bribe (I Scratch Your Back... or simply buying drinks for people In Vino Veritas). You can also use Resources to declare that you have something you need on hand, or can quickly acquire it, which could give you an aspect representing the object. Attack: Resources isn’t used for attacks. Defend: Resources isn’t used to defend. Scholarship  In the Dresdenverse, knowledge breaks down into two camps: mundane and supernatural. Lore covers the latter and Scholarship covers the former. Scholarship operates as a catch-all skill for most kinds of regular, everyday, “book” knowledge with a few practical applications out in the field as well. Characters with high Scholarship may be adept at technology and research, well-versed in the sciences and liberal arts, and good at performing first aid (provided they have experience with it). They include star students, professors, and game show contestants. This skill also covers knowing how to survive in mundane settings (Urban/Rural) and deal with animals. You may speak an additional languages as your Scholarship score. Overcome: You can use Scholarship to overcome any obstacle that requires applying the knowledge that your character has to achieve a goal. For example, you might roll Scholarship to decipher some ancient language on a tomb wall, under the presumption that your character might have researched it at some point. Frankly, you can use Scholarship as a go-to skill any time you need to know if your character can answer a difficult question, where some tension exists in not knowing the answer. Create an Advantage: Like Investigation, Scholarship provides a lot of very flexible opportunities to create advantages, provided you can research the subject in question. More often than not, you’ll be using Scholarship to get a story detail, some obscure bit of information that you uncover or know already, but if that information gives you an edge in a future scene, it might take the form of an aspect. Likewise, you can use Scholarship to make create advantages based on any subject matter your character might have studied, which gives you a fun way to add details to the setting. Attack: Scholarship isn’t used to attack. Defend: Scholarship isn’t used to defend. Shoot  The counterpart to Fight, Shoot is the skill of using ranged and thrown weapons, either in a conflict or on targets that don’t actively resist your attempts to shoot them (like a bull’s-eye or the broad side of a barn). Overcome: Unless, for some reason, you need to demonstrate your Shoot ability in a non-conflict situation, you probably won’t be using this skill for normal obstacles much. Obviously, contests involving Shoot are a popular staple of a lot of adventure fiction, and we recommend you look for the opportunity to have them if you have a character who specializes in this. Create an Advantage: In physical conflict, Shoot can be used to perform a wide variety of moves, like trick shots, keeping someone under heavy fire, and the like. In cinematic games, you might even be able to disarm people and pin their sleeves to walls - pretty much anything you’ve seen in an action movie. You could also make the argument for creating aspects based on your knowledge of shooting (like placing a Prone to Jams aspect on an opponent’s gun). Attack: This skill makes physical attacks. You can make them from up to two zones away, unlike with Fight. (Sometimes the range will change with the weapon.) Defend: Shoot is unique in that it doesn’t really have a defense component to it - you’d use Athletics for that. You could use it to lay down some covering fire though, which might act as a defense for your allies or a way to provide opposition to someone else’s movement, though it could just as easily be represented by creating an advantage (Covering Fire or Hail of Bullets, for example). Spellcasting  The Spellcasting skill is only available to those with a Spellcraft Power. It allows you to control the power of magic you are able to bring to bear. Overcome: Each spell you cast has a rating in shifts of power which establishes the target number to cast the spell. You must overcome the shifts of power that you put into each Evocation or Thaumaturgy spell. Create an Advantage: While a spell may be designed to create aspects and free invokes, the Spellcasting skill does not, by itself. Attack: Spellcasting is used to attack with magic, which may be physical or mental. Range is usually line of sight. This roll also counts as the Overcome action to control your spell power. Defend: Creating a Personal Shield may allow you to use Spellcasting to Defend. Stealth  The Stealth skill allows you to avoid detection, both in hiding in place and moving about unseen. It pairs well with the Burglary skill. Overcome: You can use Stealth in order to get past any situation that primarily depends on you not being seen. Sneaking past sentries and security, hiding from a pursuer, keeping yourself from leaving evidence as you pass through a place, and any other such uses all fall under the purview of Stealth. Create an Advantage: You’ll mainly use Stealth to create aspects on yourself, setting yourself in an ideal position for an attack or ambush in a conflict. That way, you can be Well-Hidden when the guards pass by and take advantage of that, or Hard to Pin Down if you’re fighting in the dark. Attack: Stealth isn’t used to make attacks. Defend: You can use this to foil any Notice attempt to try and pinpoint you or seek you out, as well as to try and throw of the scent of an Investigation attempt from someone trying to track you. Will  The Will skill represents your character's general level of mental fortitude, the same way that Physique represents your physical fortitude. Will also plays a key part in casting spells (see Spellcraft for more details). Overcome: You can use Will to pit yourself against obstacles that require mental effort. Puzzles and riddles can fall under this category, as well as any mentally absorbing task, like deciphering a code. Use Will when it’s only a matter of time before you overcome the mental challenge, and Lore or Scholarship if it takes something more than brute force to get past it. Many of the obstacles that you go up against with Will might be complex, to reflect the effort involved. Contests of Will might reflect particularly challenging games, like chess, or competing in a hard set of exams. Create an Advantage: You can use Will to place aspects on yourself, representing a state of deep concentration or focus. Attack: Will isn’t used to make attacks. Defend: Will is the main skill you use to defend against mental stress attacks from Provoke, representing your control over your reactions. Special: The Will skill gives you additional mental stress or consequence slots. Average or Fair gives you a 3-point stress box. Good or Great gives you a 3-point and a 4-point stress box. Superb and above give you an additional mild consequence slot in addition to 4-point additional stress boxes. This slot can only be used for mental harm.