Viroware

## Arcane Background (Viroware)

Gain 10 power Points & Begin with 3 Powers Known.

Viroware, like cyberware exerts strain on the body.

## Aggravator

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 1

On cue, you emit pheromones stimulating another humanoid being’s aggression responses. The subject must be within 4m of you when you first initiate the effect. If the subject sometimes responds violently when angered, the effect provokes the subject to attempt a physical at tack on you. If you are not available to safely attack, the subject attacks someone else he associates with you. Otherwise, he releases his aggression by lashing out at an object, preferably something spectacularly breakable.

## Heighten PreFrontal Cortex

Power Point Cost: 1

Strain: 1

When cooperating, you can donate points from any of the following general abilities to another PC without losing an additional point from that pool: Helm Control, Medic, Naval Tactics, Sense Trouble, Battle Console, Systems Design, Systems Repair, Viro Manipulation.

## Keratinized Epidermis

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 1

Once per episode, you can harden your skin into a thick, resistant hide. The first instance of Scuffling damage you take after activation is ignored. For the remainder of the interval, all Scuffling damage is reduced by 2. Once activated, the effect lasts until the end of the current interval.

## Chameleon

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 1

Once per episode, you may activate the ability to change your skin coloration to match your surroundings. The effect lasts until the end of the current interval, or until you choose to drop it, whichever comes first. Your coloration may change any number of times as you move through different surroundings. When activated, you gain 6 points, which you may apply to your Infiltration and or Surveillance pools in any combination. Unspent points leave your pools when the chameleon effect ebbs.

## Dominator

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 1

You emit pheromones provoking the instinct of intelligent beings to obey high-status individuals in a social hierarchy. When an interaction with a supporting character has turned against you, spend 4 points from your Bureaucracy, Cop Talk, Downside, Interrogation, and/or Intimidation pools. The GM then plays the character, subtly or overtly, as if you have gained the upper hand. The subject must be within 4m of you when you first initiate the effect.

## Mr. Grey

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 2

While within 4m of another sentient humanoid, you can emit pheromones that interfere with the subject’s memory processing faculties. Afterwards, the subject may remember having spoken to someone but will be unable to accurately describe you or recall the substance of your conversation.

The effect doesn’t work if you:

* touched the subject or violated his sense of physical space
* activated another viroware alteration while he could see you
* engaged in or arranged a transaction resulting in
* the exchange of goods or services for money
* made an Interpersonal spend in his presence
* used Inspiration, Interrogation or Intimidation on him
* told him blatant lies
* made jokes or said anything amusing

You may use this effect once per episode.

## Peacepipe

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 1

On cue, you emit pheromones suppressing another humanoid being’s aggression responses. The subject must be within 4m of you when you first initiate the effect. If your chosen subject is attacking you or anyone else, he ceases physical hostilities. If not, he loses the will to initiate them. The effect remains active until you leave the subject’s presence, or until someone physically attacks him, whichever comes first.

Activating this ability costs 3 Reassurance points. You may use it on multiple subjects at one time by making multiple expenditures.

Depending on the creature, this pheromone enhancement may also work on animals. The Zoology ability tells you whether a given beast will respond to it.

## Proprioception Booster

Power Point Cost: 1

Strain: 1

Your ability to sense your position in space in relation to the altitude and direction of a craft has been enhanced. Once per episode, you gain 6 points, which you may apply to either Helm Control, Ground Craft, or Shuttle Craft. Points left unspent when the current interval ends disappear.

## Regenerate

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain : 1

Your body tissues quickly repair themselves when damaged. When you activate this enhancement, take note of your current Health pool value. Until the end of the current interval, your Health pool regains 2 points at the beginning of each combat or space combat round, up to a maximum of your Health pool value at the time of activation. (In other words, you don’t regain Health lost in previous incidents, only in a current set-to.)

Regenerate may be activated once per episode, and lasts until the end of the current interval.

## Scrambleface

Power Point Cost: 3

Strain : 2

Once per episode, you can reconfigure your facial features to appear unrecognizable. You still look like a member of your species and gender, but can alter your jawline, cheek bones, facial proportions, nose, lips and ears. You may make yourself more, less or equally attractive, according to your species’ prevailing standards of physical beauty.

(Exception: Balla can make themselves look completely different, but they’ll still appear as striking as they do normally.) Scrambleface allows you to change your skin and hair coloration, provided the results are genetically natural to your species.

You can’t change your appearance to look like a specific other person; for that, you need Scrambleface Ultra (below).

You may maintain the effect without cost for a single interval. To sustain it for additional intervals after that, pay 2 points from either Athletics or Health, at the beginning of each new interval.

## Scrambleface Ultra

Power Point Cost : 4

Strain: 3

Once per episode, you can reconfigure your facial features to resemble a specific individual of your species and gender.The process requires a viable DNA sample from the target individual. To pose as this person to people who know him requires an expenditure of Impersonate points. It costs 1 point to fool someone who knows your subject only second-hand, from media appearances or communications contacts. It costs 2 points to fool a glancing acquaintance. It is only possible to fool people who know the subject intimately if you keep your distance and avoid interactions with them; even this requires a 2-point spend. Each person you set out to fool requires an additional spend. You may remain in the form of the impersonated subject until your Impersonate pool drops to 0, or can return to your real form at any time.

The enhancement does not change your body shape. Padding may help you pose as someone significantly bigger than yourself.

## Skeletal Fluidity

Power Point Cost: 1

Strain: 1

You can soften your bones at will, into a semi-fluid internal structure encased in a rubbery outer coating somewhat akin to cartilage. This alteration is useful for getting into and moving through ducts, crannies and other passageways too tiny for regular-sized investigators to enter. Given time to rearrange your suddenly pliable physique, you can slowly flow through openings as small as a 30 cm in diameter. In addition to its investigative uses, Skeletal Fluidity comes in handy when escaping from low-tech prisons and restraints.

## SlickSkin

Power Point Cost: 1

Strain: 1

Your pores secrete an inert nano-oil on command. When engaged in a Scuffling contest, your Scuffling pool increases each time your opponent spends Scuffling, by the number of points spent. If, at the end of the contest, your Scuffling pool exceeds your Scuffling rating, the pool drops to equal your rating.

## Snakehisser

Power Point Cost: 1

Strain: 1

You release pheromones provoking a humanoid subject’s instinctual urge to flee dangerous creatures. Fearful individuals will literally flee from you, if presented with a safe avenue of escape.

Those with greater self-control will overcome their fears but will be distracted for the remainder of your encounter with them. The costs of interpersonal spends on these subjects decreases by 1. In a contest against the subject, your Difficulty decreases by 1. They will attempt to cut their exposure to you short, while minimizing any embarrassment or other negative consequences they might otherwise suffer.

Once per episode, you may activate the effect. Each expenditure targets a single subject. Additional expenditures allow you to target more than one subject at one time. You may continue to target additional individuals for the remainder of the interval.

Especially susceptible subjects may see hallucinatory flashes of spiders, snakes, or other ancestrally feared animals as you provoke the response.

Depending on the creature, this pheromone enhancement may also work on animals. The Zoology ability tells you whether a given beast will respond to it.

## Stimulust

Power Point Cost: 1

Strain: 3

Your adrenal glands emit powerful pheromones triggering the sexual urges of others. The pheromones work only on persons and entities who are normally attracted to beings of your gender and/or species. Subjects must come within 4m of you to be affected. When an individual is affected, you gain any benefit from them that would normally be available on a Flirting spend, regardless of its cost.

Subjects who consider themselves sexually available will either come onto you or succumb to your advances, according to their typical degree of aggressiveness in such matters. Subjects who don’t think of themselves as sexually available may be tempted, and will probably fantasize about you later, but will not violate their emotional or moral commitments.

The Stimulust enhancement ensures that the promises made by your pheromones are fulfilled to the utmost. It reconfigures your sexual equipment for maximum stamina and performance. Advertisements for Stimulust have become a pervasive eye-sore throughout the Bleed.

## Thirdeye

Power Point Cost: 2

Strain: 2

The hairs on the back of your head have been reconfigured to transmit visual information to your cerebral cortex, functioning as a virtual eye on the back of your head. Others find it very hard to sneak up on you. You gain a boost to your Sense Trouble ability. Whenever the success of Sense Trouble depends on your ability to see things behind you, the Difficulty drops by 2.

Early versions of the virus installed a literal third eye on the back of the recipient’s skull. The new version provides somewhat grainier visual information but doesn’t distress onlookers. If it’s appropriate to your character to have this older, weirder-looking version, you can choose it instead.

## Tiresias

Power Point Cost : 1

Strain: 3

You can switch sexes, changing your body shape and facial structure as needed. You retain all of your species traits. In sexually dimorphic species you may gain height, mass and musculature when switching to male form and lose it when switching to female. You are fertile while in your birth sex but infertile in your genetically adopted one. Pregnant women switching sexes suffer automatic miscarriages.

You may switch sexes once per episode. If you were in your adopted sex at the end of an episode, you may specify that you are still in that sex when downtime ends and the next episode begins.

If your upkeep lapses, you return to your birth sex.