Heliomancy Unnatural Phenomena

 

Unknown Armies adept schools sometimes have an associated list of random effects that might fire off if spellcasters overuse or abuse their magickal abilities. Friend of the blog, magnificentophat, is chipping away at making a list of unnatural phenomena for all the published casters. I thought it'd be worthwhile to throw my hat in the ring and assemble such a list for Heliomancy.

MINOR PHENOMENA

1. A sizzling egg suddenly appears on a nearby surface - car hood, sidewalk, park bench etc.
2. A seatbelt, doorhandle, cellphone, firearm or similar small object becomes preternaturally hot, dealing 1 wound to an unsuspecting victim. When someone touches the object for a second time it’s now room temperature.
3. A nearby unfortunate’s eyes swap to infrared, forcing them to perceive the world via thermal signatures for 2d10 seconds.
4. A sunburn swims across skin, curling into bizarre patterns before settling on a different section of the body than it began on.
5. A circle of pure gold catches the sunlight as it strikes the ground nearby. Could be a bullion coin, Olympic medal or Spanish doubloon. Either way, it’s worth $20d100.
6. A heat haze appears nearby, irrespective of weather or geography. The inferior mirage doesn’t fade with distance, you can walk among the weird wavy lines (like you’re wearing beer goggles), until they fade after 2d10 minutes.
7. A few clumps of molten wax and white feathers fall from the sky.
8. Writing appears on nearby walls - “UN. THE SUN. THE SUN. THE SUN. THE S”. The graffiti is either directly burned into a surface or in neon yellow paint.
9. The nearest bottle of prescription medication is transmuted into Vitamin-D supplements.
10. You find a pile of sunflower seeds in a weird place (inside your wallet, pouring out of a locker, in a sealed can of soft drink etc.).

SIGNIFICANT PHENOMENA

1. A flock of birds fall from the sky, their feathers burnt to a crisp.
2. Anyone shitting, vomiting, pissing or jizzing nearby excretes a burst of sunlight instead of the expected bodily fluid.
3. People’s eyes start projecting cones of red light. Their eyesight is strictly limited to these cones, but otherwise remains unaffected. The effect lasts for 2d10 minutes.
4. Nearby fires swell and turn a brilliant gold before shooting off towards the sun.
5. Someone’s skin peels off like biological tissue paper, revealing a fresh layer of healthy, pink-tinged flesh beneath and healing d10 wounds.
6. Plants, fungi and animals that are otherwise photophobic appear in teeming numbers for 2d10 minutes, before suddenly withering away or remembering to flee from the light.
7. Nearby LEDs begin emitting to powerful ultraviolet light for 2d10 seconds, potentially causing photokeratitis to anyone staring at them.
8. A confused Mexica man in a filthy black robe walks on scene clutching a bloodstained chert knife. He says something in perfect Nahuatl and points at the sun. If approached, he strikes out with his dagger (+3 wounds) and flees. If left alone, he eventually wanders off.
9. The hair of nearby blondes and redheads catch on fire. This is only visible to brunettes, the affected people are totally oblivious and unharmed. The phantom flames burn cold, don’t register on recording devices and fizzle out after 2d10 seconds.
10. You hear the hubbub of a crowd somewhere incongruous (abandoned subway, closed gas station, overgrown football field). Upon investigation the sound fades, the only sign anyone was there are nuclear shadows burned into walls and surrounding surfaces.

MAJOR PHENOMENA

1. The sun is occluded by a huge object that plunges the world into darkness for 2d10 minutes. It is invisible to scientific instruments, but perfectly visible to the naked eye.
2. Several smaller suns appear in the sky, their light focused into spotlights that meticulously track the movement of everyone nearby for 2d10 minutes.
3. A random person nearby begins glowing brighter and brighter and brighter until they explode in a flash of sunlight, leaving behind a pile of radioactive ash.

If you know, you know.