Dumpster Divers

Penicillium Germs focus on the cycle of decay and rebirth, as well as circumstances around that decay and rebirth. They are most associated with overlooked and “left to rot” parts of society as well as the Finesse Attribute (♠). To Penicillium, the cycle of decay is never an expression of dominance and strength, but instead a scalpel applied in tune with the needs of the environment.

One of the Few
Type: Active (Signature)
Effects: So long as you make a token attempt to appear to be a part of an often overlooked or undesirable group (such as ‘the help,’ or ‘homeless.’) people will actively ignore you and up to four allies for the rest of the scene. If any of you attempt to interact with someone, or take an action someone else must acknowledge, then this power ends. Supernatural entities may attempt to resist this power.

Beauty in Rot
Type: Royal (A)
Effects: Offer an explanation for something you or an ally has done in the scene, or for something about you or an ally’s appearance that is unusual. Even if it is a grave faux pas, mortals will consider what you did charming and excuse it away as normal and not worth fretting over. You will not suffer penalties or consequences from mortals regarding the thing you explained away. This power will not cover outright acts of violence, but anything less is fair game. Supernatural creatures are able to respond normally.

Cultured: Supernatural Creatures must spend 1 Card or 2 HP to react normally. Otherwise, they are affected as though they were mortal. This Germ also now covers you and your allies' appearance in addition to an action. If the action is something you and/or your allies participated in, one use of this Germ covers all related actions.

Glimpse the Cycle
Type: Royal (J)
Effects: When someone performs a Simple Test, after you see the number they are testing against, you may play your Jack to support them. The value of their test becomes 10. You receive a prophetic vision of their failure, and are able to provide some last second advice or other intervention.

Cultured: You may use this Germ on Tension Tests performed with you in the scene. You must guess whether the next card is higher or lower than a Jack rather than the number that the ST pulls. This effect lasts the entire test, with you always guessing whether the next card is higher or lower than a Jack.

Mycos Mass Transference
Type: Royal (Q)
Effects: You may play a Queen to discorporate yourself into spores, travel to a location within 20ft that you could see, and then reform into your body. Mortals will briefly look away, concocting some logical reason for your sudden disappearance.

Cultured: You may use this power on up to four other entities transformed by the Mycos or the Blight, in addition to yourself. This includes most things you find in the undergrowth, other sporebound, controlled and consumed. Both the start and end point for everyone transported must be within 20ft of where you used this power. You may not have someone reform into an area that would be imminently harmful to them. This power may be resisted if it is used against someone unwilling, which stops the teleportation only for that person.

Shroom Shield
Type: Royal (K)
Effects: Fungal growths sprout from your bodies, serving as a temporary shield. They only appear for only a moment to deflect blows before disappearing. You and up to two allies gain 5 Defense. People affected’s Defense is not removed at the end of the current round.

Cultured: This Germ affects up to four allies, rather than two.

Burden of the Sarcophage
Type: Active (♠)
Effects: With a touch, a character begins to decay from the inside out. For the rest of the scene, at the end of every Round in combat, the target takes 1 Damage, which may not be reduced. Out of combat, they take damage once every five minutes. The target will instinctively know you are the source of their misery, and you will be unable to hide from them. This power applies its damage up to five times, and then the Germ ends. It also ends if the user of the Germ is incapacitated. Multiple applications of this Germ do not stack.

Cultured: The damage is increased to 2 at the end of each Round.

Deimatic Spores
Type: Active (♠)
Effects: Leave a small amount of fungal material, no larger than a penny somewhere with a touch. It releases spores that trigger a fear response in mortal humans and animals. They won't willingly stay within 20ft of the spot. This does not stop them from noticing and reporting what is happening there, nor does it stop cops from firing into the area from outside it. The fungal material dissolves into nothingness at the end of the scene. Mortals don't find their sudden aversion odd. Mortals Influenced or Controlled by the Blight are immune.

Cultured: By placing the fungal material on a person instead of an object, you can trigger fear response that erases the events of a single scene from their memory. You can offer a simple, general explanation for what happened during the lost time, and the target will believe it. Supernatural creatures can resist this effect.

Exposure
Type: Active (♠)
Effects: With a touch, you remove an opponent’s Defense, setting it to 0. Armor and barriers decay into nothingness, while the target’s nervous system is dulled. This power works against people with Defense.

Cultured: In addition to removing Defense, this power then deals damage equal to the card’s value. This damage can not Flinch.

Observe the Cycle
Type: Active (♠)
Effect: By touching a person, animal, or food item you may perfectly diagnose anything mundanely medically wrong with them and assess what mundane medical problems consuming them may cause. You also learn if the target is supernatural by diagnosing the changes caused by the Blight or Mycos. You also learn their current and maximum HP.

Cultivated: You may additionally identify supernatural effects, both beneficial and malicious with this power. When detecting if someone is supernatural, you also determine what type of supernatural creature they are (Sporebound, Sporebeast, Influenced, Controlled, etc). Food items may additionally be purified such that they will not cause mundane medical issues from being consumed.

Supernormal Reaction
Type: Active (♠)
Effects: With a touch, you leave trace amounts of undetectable fungal material on a person's skin for the rest of the scene. The target will have exaggerated responses to stimuli for the rest of the scene. Examples include when they are insulted, to lash out physically or verbally; when scared, scream and run away; when something is funny, give it your heartiest laugh. Having a subdued response to something, or failing to lash out at a perceived challenge, requires you to discard a card or take 2 damage.

Cultured: The target's experiences become so overwhelmed, they reverse. Instead of the above effect, you may force the target to act contrary to their relationships and values for a scene. The boss they respect will become the one they despise. Instead of valuing profits, they will value the people working under them. Of course, the opposite is also true. The player of the target decides what this looks like. When this power wears off, the target will explain away their strange behavior.

Touch of Decay
Type: Active (♠)
Effects: Touch an object and use this power. An object about the size of a regular person dissolves into nothing. Larger objects get a hole in them large enough for a person to fit through. This only works on organic materials, and does not work at all on objects covered in the Blight, nor on objects with supernatural power.

Cultured: This power now works on metal, stone, and similarly durable materials. Even reinforced walls decay into nothing with your touch. It still can not affect objects covered in Blight, or objects with supernatural power.

Walking the Green Trail
Type: Active (♠)
Effect: Commune with the fungal material in the local area, which is presumed present in all but the most sterile environments, while focusing on an individual. If you haven't met and held a conversation with this person, you may discard an additional card to focus on their name or something they did in the place you use this power. So long as that person has been in this location within the past 24 hours, a faint glowing green line will appear leading from your current spot to their current location by the shortest safe route. This trail lasts until the end of the night, but may need to be used again if the person moves from the area after you use this power. The green line does not appear in or pass through areas that are perfectly sterile, or areas controlled by the Blue Blight.

Cultured: This power works so long as they have been in that area within the past month. Further, you can use this power to track individuals from damage they have caused to people or objects, rather than places they have been.