EPIC DEXTERITY KNACKS
Cat’s Grace
This Knack imbues a Scion with the uncanny ability to remain on his feet despite treacherous terrain or an enemy’s best attempts to knock him down. For instance, a character with this Knack never suffers knockdown (see p. 198) from an attack. The player need not even roll. The character still suffers the damage, but he remains on his feet. Furthermore, a character with this Knack ignores all difficulty penalties based on unstable footing and treacherous terrain. He still suffers speed penalties for moving through ankle- to knee- deep water or mud, but his dice pools for actions taken on such terrain suffer no penalties.
Divine Balance
Prerequisite Knack: Cat’s Grace (Scion: Hero, p. 127) In addition to the benefits of Cat’s Grace, the Scion can now balance on surfaces that shouldn’t even be able to support his weight. He’s as light on his feet or his hands as a gentle breeze. He could run across a drooping clothesline between two tenement buildings without knocking the clothespins off. He could leap onto the haft of a zombie warrior’s out-thrust spear and punt the brute’s rotting head off. He could even carry on an epee duel atop a lake of poisonous water, stepping on nothing but the bobbing backs of the dead men floating in it. (He could not, however, step on the water’s surface without sinking.)
Lightning Sprinter
The Scion is a lightning bolt on two legs, zooming past in a blur, trailing leaves or grit or loose debris from the ground he’s already covered. This Knack doubles the amount of distance he can cover in a Dash action, after calculating the new Dash distance based on his Epic Dexterity. What’s more, it negates the movement penalties a character should accrue for dashing through water or mud that is from between ankle- to shoulder- height in depth as long as A.) the character began his Dash action on terrain with no such penalty, and B.) the character continues to perform consecutive Dash actions. As long as he keeps dashing, his feet skim the surface of the water or muck like a skipping stone. If he should slow down or stop, however, he sinks into the sucking terrain to suffer the normal penalties. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend.
Fast As Thought
Prerequisite Knack: Lightning Sprinter (see Scion: Hero, p. 127) A Scion who possesses this Knack becomes extraordinarily fleet of foot. She can outrun nearly anything that lacks divinely empowered speed and has a good chance of winning most races against such opponents as well. This Knack doubles the distance she can cover in a Dash action, after calculating the bonus for Epic Dexterity and the prerequisite Knack. Her long term running speed is similarly increased, allowing her to cross large distances on foot quickly. In addition, the Scion’s prodigious speed enables her to defy gravity for short periods. She can run across short gaps, up steep inclines and even over low walls without pause. With this knack, a Scion can traverse any incline of less than 60 degrees for any distance and travel up a wall or across a gap of (Legend x 5) feet. She must already be running to traverse these obstacles. If she should slow down or stop, she falls or otherwise cannot scale the wall or pass the obstacle. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend, and its effects last one scene.
Monkey Climber
As long as she has sufficient hand- and footholds, the Scion scuttles up vertical surfaces with cavalier ease. Where a normal climber can cover only half the distance she could cover in a normal Move action on a successful climbing roll (see p. 180), a Scion with this Knack suffers no such restriction. Furthermore, as long as the Scion has at least one hand (or both of her feet) on the surface she’s climbing, she can take a second action at the same time (per the multiple action rules on p. 179) while still moving along the climbing surface. The Scion cannot “Dash” while climbing, but the bonus to her movement granted by her Epic Dexterity still applies.
Spider Climber
Prerequisite Knack: Monkey Climber (Scion: Hero, p. 128) In addition to the benefits of the Monkey Climber Knack, the Scion can now climb a vertical surface with sufficient hand- and footholds as quickly as she can dash—taking into account her increased movement rate from Epic Dexterity. Her player doesn’t even have to roll to keep her from falling unless she takes a second action while she’s climbing (per the multiple action rules in Scion: Hero on p. 179). What’s more, the demigod can now scale sheer surfaces with no handholds, such as the slick glass face of a skyscraper, and climb upside down across the bottom of horizontal surfaces at her normal Move rate. She cannot take Dash actions on such surfaces, but her Epic Dexterity bonuses apply to her Move rate as usual. She’s still subject to gravity, though, so she has to make it a point to hang on while she’s climbing thus. Therefore, she cannot take multiple actions while climbing such surfaces. A point of Legend must be spent for the character to use this Knack for one scene.
Anti-Gravity Climber
Prerequisite Knack: Spider-Climber (Scion: Demigod, pp. 56-57) If the surface can withstand the pressure of his touch, the God can climb it. As with Spider-Climber, the character can climb freely on any vertical surface, regardless of how many hand- and footholds it has. He can do this as fast as he can dash, even accounting for the increase in speed granted by his Epic Dexterity. What’s more, he can walk on the vertical surface, standing out from it at a right angle, and remain as stable as he would be on solid ground. Climbing no longer counts as a separate action for him, so he can take multiple actions while climbing, just as he could standing on the ground. If he doesn’t have at least one part of his body in contact with the surface he’s climbing, however, he is once more subject to the standard orientation of gravity. Attacks that inflict knockdown or knockback call for a (Dexterity + Athletics) roll for the character to maintain contact with the climbing surface. A character must spend a point of Legend to use this Knack for one scene.
Trick Shooter
Not only do the Scion’s Epic Dexterity bonus successes add to (Dexterity + Marksmanship) dice rolls, he now doubles the bonus he receives from taking an Aim action (see p. 190) as well. What’s more, the player ignores the difficulty penalty for the character to either disarm an opponent with a ranged special attack or mark his opponent without causing damage. (See “Special Attacks” on p. 199.) A character must take an Aim action in order to be able to ignore such penalties, though. If a character fires from the hip or blazes away in a cordite-reeking, brass-raining, muzzle-strobing gunfight, only the regular bonus successes from his Epic Dexterity apply.
Shot To The Heart
Prerequisite Knack: Trick Shooter (Scion: Hero, p. 128) When fighting against fearsome titanspawn with armored hides, scaly skin or chitinous shells, sometimes a Scion has to aim for a very precise spot. Indeed, it was just such a weak spot that was the downfall of Achilles. Naturally, that sort of precision can be hard to achieve in the heat of battle, especially against a target with a supernaturally impressive defense. With the steady aim provided by Shot to the Heart, though, a Scion never needs to worry about hitting a small patch of exposed flesh, a vulnerable tendon or an eye between blinks — his attacks excel at finding the weak point. While Shot to the Heart is active, the Scion reduces any penalty for attacking a specific weak point by an amount up to his Epic Dexterity score. That is, if a giant turtle-like titanspawn has a weak spot in its soft underbelly, but striking the unarmored area has a difficulty of 5 and the attacking Scion has an Epic Dexterity of 3, then the Scion reduces the difficulty of making such a targeted shot to difficulty 2. Shot to the Heart can’t reduce the added difficulty of a targeted shot to less than zero — making an attack on a vital spot is never easier than just hitting the damn thing. Also, Shot to the Heart doesn’t give the Scion any innate knowledge of where a vital spot might be; it just lets him target the spot more effectively if he knows where to find one. While Shot to the Heart requires a Knack typically used with ranged combat as a prerequisite, this Knack can be used with any of the Scion’s attacks. Activating this Knack costs three points of Legend. Its effects last for one scene.
Untouchable Opponent
The Scion might as well be a ghost for all her enemies can lay a hand or a weapon on her. The Scion doubles the benefit that her Epic Dexterity dots add to her Dodge DV. She also ignores an amount of DV penalties due to unstable terrain equal to her Epic Dexterity dots. Only the normal Epic Dexterity bonus applies to the character’s Parry DV, though, and this Knack’s bonus to Dodge DV doesn’t apply if the character is merely hiding behind cover or tucked in behind a scutum like a lowly turtle. Only if the character is physically dodging the attacks that are coming her way does this Knack help her out. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend. Its effects last for one scene.
Whirlwind Shield
Prerequisite Knack: Untouchable Opponent (Scion: Hero, p. 128) Normally, no mortal or Scion can parry thrown attacks without a stunt, nor can one parry bullets at all. When a Scion has this Knack, however, he becomes the whirlwind for which it is named and can defend himself better than mortals or even his Scion peers. Upon activating the Knack, the Scion can apply his full Parry DV to attacks made with thrown items (javelins, chakrams, sling stones, etc.) or with bows or crossbows. He can knock the projectiles aside or snag them out of the air armed or unarmed, almost without thinking about it. With a stunt, the character can even try to parry bullets. He can do so only with some sort of object that can actually withstand a bullet’s impact, though—such as an iron skillet, a Birthright gauntlet or the side of his own gun’s barrel. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend. It lasts for one scene.
Escape Artist
The Scion can somehow slip out of the tightest bonds, the most cunning snares and even her opponents’ very fingers. Whether she’s tied up and left to stew in her own juices or she’s wrapped in a clinch with a snarling berserker, she rarely remains bound for long. When someone attacks her character with a successful clinch, the Scion’s player not only adds her Epic Dexterity automatic successes to her contested (Dexterity + Brawl) to escape, but she also adds an additional automatic success for every dot of Epic Dexterity her character has. Should the Scion victim’s player succeed on this resistance roll, the Scion slips free of her opponent’s grasping limbs and well out of his reach. Also, should a character be physically restrained—tied up, handcuffed, strapped down, whatever—she can slip her bonds with a divine grace that is nothing short of baffling. The player need only spend a point of Legend, and her character’s handcuffs come undone, her straightjacket’s buckles come loose, or her ropes slough off like a snake’s dried-out skin. The Scion can’t escape thus in view of witnesses, however, unless said witnesses are members of her own heroic Band or are Fatebound to her. Remote witnesses watching via camera transmission don’t hinder the effect, but even close scrutiny of such footage doesn’t reveal how the Scion escaped her bonds. She just did.
Ricochet Symphony
If someone is trying to hit a target with a thrown object, the best thing for the target to do is get down behind cover or tuck in behind a shield. If the person trying to hit the target is a Scion with this Knack, however, not even such measures guarantee total safety. Before he lets loose, the Scion reflexively takes in the contours of the surroundings (as the player spends a point of Legend). He then throws his item in a seemingly random direction that nonetheless sends it ringing and bouncing off nearby surfaces to completely circumvent the target’s cover or shield, thus negating its DV bonus. The Scion’s throw can incorporate a number of ricochets equal to his Epic Dexterity dots, and each ricochet negates a point of DV modifier that comes from cover or a shield. If the Scion is trying to not only hit the target but also disarm him or otherwise show off (more so), each ricochet can mitigate the penalty for doing so as well if he has ricochets left over. The general rule here is that one ricochet takes away one point of penalty on the throw’s roll due to cover, a shield, showing off or attempting to disarm the target. When the thrown item finally hits the target, it does so at its full force, regardless of how many times it bounced off walls, floors, light fixtures, other enemies’ helmets or what have you. This Knack works only with thrown objects, and it is not to be combined with the effects of Trick Shooter.
And the Crowd Goes Wild
By the luck of the divine genetic draw, the character is superbly suited to athletic pursuits. She excels at any sport she plays, even if she’s never so much as heard of it before. Running, jumping, climbing, swimming… any athletic pursuit is second nature to her. As a result, any dice the character has in Athletics are considered to be automatic successes when the player rolls a dice pool that includes Athletics. Bonus dice granted by an Arete (see Scion: Hero, p. 149) are also counted as successes automatically if the player spends a point of Legend when her character performs the action. Values that derive from a character’s Athletics rating (such as Dodge DV or the feats of strength total) are not affected by this Knack, nor are any Boon activation rolls that might call for Athletics.
Perfect Partner
The character with this Knack is extremely good at modifying her movements—be they gross or subtle— to coordinate perfectly with other people. This Knack comes in handy in the ballroom, the bedroom, even the thick of battle. The first two applications might not come up as often in play, but they shouldn’t be discounted out of hand. The dance performance of two characters with this Knack would put the best work of Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers to shame. The sexual prowess of a character with this Knack would be legendary all on its own. The third application of this Knack makes coordinating assaults (see Scion: Hero, p. 190) that much easier. Using it, a character can attach herself to any coordinated assault she sees fit, without the player of the person coordinating the assault having to include the character in the dice roll to do so. If the character with this Knack wants to coordinate her attack with only one other person, neither of them even has to make a roll to do so. As long as they act at the same time and attack the same target, they are coordinated by default.
Photographic Penmanship
With the expenditure of a point of Legend and a point of Willpower, the character can draw, paint or otherwise create a two-dimensional image with the clarity of a high-end digital camera. Anything he has seen and can remember clearly enough, he can reproduce on a page exactly as it looks in his mind’s eye. The base expenditure allows the character to create an image (or part of one) that is one yard square. Expanding the image beyond those dimensions costs one additional Legend point per square yard. The character need not add additional square yards to an image as consecutive actions if he runs low on (or out of) Legend points. As long as he continues his work in an adjacent square-yard space, he can pick up where he left off for only a single Legend point. As a side effect of having this Knack, the character becomes a master forger of signatures and works of art.
Roll With It
The character’s body is so lithe and supple or so unnaturally malleable that she can bend like the greenest reed and rarely ever break. In Step Six of attack resolution (see Scion: Hero, p. 194), the player can spend one point of Legend and add a value equal to her dots in Epic Dexterity to any soak value she has that is above zero. That way, even if she can’t get entirely out of the way of an attack, she can dissipate some of the force behind the blow and mitigate some of the damage.
Microscopic Precision
Typically, a Scion can’t manipulate what he can’t see or feel. No matter how much Epic Dexterity she has, a Scion just won’t be able to touch-solder a microchip when she can’t even see the nanoscale connectors. With Microscopic Precision, the Scion’s ability to control fine manipulation becomes so highly attenuated that she can manipulate materials on an absurdly small scale. Armed with nothing more than a pair of tweezers and her own tremendously controlled digits, the Scion can separate dust particles, tweeze out bacteria by hand with a microscope or pluck a tiny corrupting titanspawn hair from a wound, all without disturbing anything around the item. Similarly, the Scion can disable an alarm or a bomb just by teasing out the wires by hand, separate out the threads of the Golden Fleece with her fingers and never lose at the game of Operation. Of course, Microscopic Precision does not equal microscopic vision, so the Scion must still have some way to see what she’s manipulating. Equipped with such a tool — or with an Epic Perception Knack of the appropriate sort — she can perform microscale maneuvers more adroitly than the most advanced surgical apparatus. Such precision requires a good deal of concentration, but if she’s willing to use the usual rules for multiple actions, the Scion can try to manipulate a tiny object with precision while defending herself, running or performing some other ridiculous action. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend. Its effects last for one scene.
Omnidexterity
The Scion functionally has “two right hands”. The Scion can use either hand with equal facility and also suffers no penalties when trying to manipulate an object with his tongue or his toes; even while using some other contorted body part, the Scion suffers only half the usual penalties (rounded down) for the awkwardness of the situation. While the Scion still can’t perform something physically impossible (there’s no way to fit his calf muscle through the trigger guard of a pistol to fire it, for instance), just about any amount of wiggle room is sufficient for the Scion to manipulate objects in surprising ways. The Scion could hang from a tree branch by his toes (perhaps in emulation of Sun Wukong) or could use his tongue to hold a pair of probes and thereby pick a lock. If the Scion manages to gain new and different natural appendages, say by assuming the form of an octopus via the Animal Purview, then his new appendages also benefit from Omnidexterity. Artificial “appendages,” such as a chain or a ruler with a sticky piece of tape on the end, do not gain this benefit, although the Scion could certainly wield such a tool via his hand, foot, mouth or stranger combination of limbs.
