At your touch, the remains of a creature dead no longer than seven days appears as a manifest (and apparently physical) spirit, whose level is the same as it had in life. The raised spirit persists for up to a day (or less, if it accomplishes something important to it before then), after which it fades away and cannot return again.
The raised spirit remembers everything it knew in life and possesses most of its previous abilities (though not necessarily its equipment). In addition, it gains the ability to become insubstantial as an action for up to a minute at a time. The raised spirit is not beholden to you, and it does not need to stay near you to remain manifest.
Action to initiate.
A guard, doctor, technician, or hired thug in the employ of or allied with a foe is secretly your ally or owes you a favor. When you call in the favor, the target does what they can to help you out of a specific fix (unties you, slips you a knife, leaves a cell door unlocked) in a way that minimizes their risk of revealing their divided loyalties to their employer or other allies. This ability is a difficulty 3 Intellect task. Each additional time you use this ability, the task is hindered by an additional step. The difficulty returns to 3 after you rest for ten hours.
You summon a spirit creature that manifests for up to a day (or less, if it accomplishes something important to it before then), after which it fades away and cannot be summoned again. The spirit is a creature of level 6 or lower, and it can be substantial or insubstantial as it wishes (using an action to change). The spirit is not beholden to you, and it does not need to stay near you to remain manifest.
Action to initiate.
If you are outside or in a location that has a ceiling at least 300 feet (90 m) above the floor, you summon a boiling layer of lightning-lit, rumbling clouds up to 1,500 feet (460 m) in diameter for ten minutes. During daylight hours, natural illumination beneath the storm is reduced to dim light. While the storm rages, you can use an action to send a lightning bolt from the cloud to attack a target you can see directly, inflicting 4 points of damage (you can spend Effort normally on each individual lightning bolt attack).
When a dead spirit is called, it is likely to have a unique personality, a name, and perhaps even unfinished business that it might relate to the character.
Three actions to initiate; action to call down a lightning strike.
Are they bluffing or can they back up their claim? It doesn't really matter when you fix your stare on a target within long range. If your Intellect attack succeeds, the target suffers 2 points of ambient damage each round for one minute or until the target can throw off the effect (PC targets suffer Intellect damage). If you use your action on a subsequent round to fully concentrate on the target, their attempts to throw off the effect are hindered and they take 4 points of ambient damage that round.
Action to initiate.
If you're in a location where it's possible for the creatures from your Influence Swarm ability to come, you call a swarm of them for one hour. During this hour, they do as you telepathically command as long as they are within long range. They can swarm about and hinder any or all opponents' tasks. While the creatures are in long range, you can speak to them telepathically and perceive through their senses.
Action to initiate.
You call a creature or person of up to level 3 from the recent past, and it appears next to you. You can choose a creature that you've previously encountered (even if it is now dead), or (no more than once per day) you can allow the GM to determine the creature randomly. If you call a random creature, it has a 10 percent chance of being a creature of up to level 5. The creature has no memory of anything before being called by you, though it can speak and has the general knowledge a creature of its type should possess. The time-shifted creature does your bidding for as long as you concentrate on it, but you must use your action each turn to direct it; otherwise it returns to the past.
In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to call a more powerful creature; each level of Effort used in this way increases the creature's level by 1. For example, applying one level of Effort calls a specific creature of up to level 4 or a random creature with a 10 percent chance of being up to level 6.
Through jokes, song, or other art, you prevent a living foe from attacking anyone or anything for one round.
ErrataOnce each round, you can cause a PC ally to ignore the effects of a GM intrusion. The PC must be aboard the same spacecraft and in communication with you. Enabler.
You can cause one intelligent creature to remain calm as you speak. The creature doesn't need to speak your language, but it must be able to see you. It remains calm as long as you focus all your attention on it and it is not attacked or otherwise threatened. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to calm additional creatures allied with your initial target, one additional creature per level of Effort applied.
Calming a stranger with words might rely on pure training, a way with people, or, if the setting utilizes magic or psionics, a more fantastic manipulation of reality.
This ability has two different options.
If you activate this ability and apply a level of Effort, you can gain the benefit of both options at once.
Action to initiate.
Your attacks deal 1 additional point of damage.
You can use this ability in one of two ways. Either your words keep the attention of all NPCs that hear them for as long as you speak, or your words inspire all NPCs that hear them to function as if they were one level higher for the next hour. In either case, you choose which NPCs are affected. If anyone in the crowd is attacked while you're trying to speak to them, you lose the crowd's attention.
Action to initiate.
For as long as you speak, you keep the attention of all level 2 or lower NPCs who can hear you. If you also have the Enthrall ability, you can similarly captivate all level 3 NPCs.
Action to initiate.
You can alter a magical ability you cast so it also affects the vehicle you're driving, as if it were a part of you. For example, if you're driving and you cast Hover on yourself, you and the car begin to float; if you cast Invisibility on yourself, you and the car turn invisible. Spells cast on a car this way tend to last only a few rounds before expiring (although the spell still lasts its full duration on you). The cost of Car Magic is added to the cost of the spell you're casting. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can use Effort to affect other creatures within the car; each level of Effort used in this way affects up to two additional creatures in the car.
The main reason to cast Hover on a moving car is to make awesome-looking jumps that would be impossible without ramps, magic, or Hollywood special effects.
You can stand or move about on a moving vehicle (such as on the hood, on the roof, in the open door well, etc.) with a reasonable expectation of not falling off. Unless the vehicle veers sharply, stops suddenly, or otherwise engages in extreme maneuvers, standing or moving about on a moving vehicle is a routine task for you. If the vehicle engages in extreme maneuvers like those described, any tasks to remain on the vehicle's surface are eased.
The more you gamble, the sharper your mind becomes. You gain +5 to your Intellect Pool.
When the Cardsharp rolls for a task and succeeds, they roll again. If the second number rolled is higher than the first, they get a minor effect. If they roll the same number again, they get a major effect.
You are trained in attacks with all weapons that you throw.
You can spend points from either your Speed Pool or your Intellect Pool to apply levels of Effort to increase your gun damage. Each level of Effort adds 3 points of damage to a successful attack, and if you spend a turn lining up your shot, each level of Effort instead adds 5 points of damage to a successful attack.
You are trained in stealth and tracking tasks.
You can increase the range at which you create and maintain your immediate-range illusions (such as from Minor Illusion) to anywhere within short range that you can perceive.
You intimidate any opponent within long range who understands speech (even if it is not your language) so much that they lose their next action and all the rest of their actions are hindered for one minute. Each additional time you attempt this ability against the same target, you must apply one more level of Effort than you applied on the previous attempt.
You gain CatsPaw cybernetics that replace your organic feet.
You are trained in two of the following areas: writing, journalism, a particular style of art, a particular sport, chess, science communication, acting, news presentation, or some related noncombat skill that led to your celebrity.
A literal (or metaphorical, depending on the genre) beam of pure radiance descends from on high and spotlights you. All creatures you choose within immediate range fall to their knees and lose their nextAction. Affected targets cannot defend themselves and are treated as helpless.
You and your allies can step into a chamber of dreams, decorated as you wish, that contains a number of doors. The doors correspond with other locations that you have visited or know reasonably well. Stepping through one of the doors delivers you to the desired location. This is a difficulty 2 Intellect-based task (which could be modified upward by the GM if the location is warded).
Action to step into chamber; Action to move through a door in the chamber.
You sway the worldview of a creature you spend at least one round speaking to, as long as it can understand you. The creature changes its mind on a significant belief, which could include something as straightforward as helping you instead of trying to kill you, or it could be something more esoteric. This effect lasts for at least ten minutes, but it can last longer if the creature wasn't previously your foe. During this time, the creature takes actions in accordance with the wisdom you have imparted to it. The target must be level 2 or lower. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase the maximum level of the target by one for each level of Effort applied.
Action to initiate.
Path of the PlanebreakerElemental Chaos blooms within long range, filling an immediate area and inflicting 3 points of damage on all affected targets. The attack inflicts a combination of acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic damage; targets in the area take damage according to whichever of these damage types they have the least protection against. For example, if a creature has no Armor against acid, has 1 Armor against electricity, and is immune to fire, the bloom harms them as if it were entirely acid. Effort applied to one attack counts for all attacks against targets in the area of the bloom. Even on an unsuccessful attack, a target in the area still takes 1 point of damage.
Path of the PlanebreakerYou inflict an additional 1 point of damage when using your Chaos Weapon. Each time you attack, you choose whether this extra damage is normal for its type or special damage like acid or fire.
At the GM's discretion, other effects that increase the damage of your chaos weapon attackcan also be acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic.
Path of the PlanebreakerDrawing upon Elemental Chaos, you create any one. or two.handed weapon you are practiced with, which appears in your grip as a weapon made of roiling chaotic energy. The weapon remains until you let go of it, in which case it disappears at the start of your next turn. If the weapon uses ammunition (such as a bow or crossbow), it automatically creates ammunition for each shot when you make an attack with it. Alternatively, you can use this ability to sheathe an existing weapon (including an unarmed attack such as a punch or kick) with chaotic elemental energy. This persists until you let go of the weapon (causing the chaos to dissipate at the start of your next turn) or until you dismiss it as part of your action.
The weapon (whether made of or sheathed in elemental energy) inflicts normal damage for its type (slashing for an axe, bashing for a hammer, and so on). If your weapon inflicts extra damage from a minor or major effect or by applying one or more levels of Effort to damage, you can choose to have the additional damage be acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic (you may choose a different kind of additional damage each time this occurs).
You can charge an artifact or other device (except a cypher) so that it can be used once. The cost is 1 Intellect point plus 1 point per level of the device.
As part of making an attack with your enchanted weapon, you charge it with magical power, inflicting 2 additional points of energy damage. If you make more than one attack on your turn, you choose whether to spend the cost for this ability before you make each attack.
You and two or more of your followers next to you can act like a single creature to make a charge attack. When you do, all of you move up to a short distance, during which time you can attack anything that comes within immediate range along your path with an asset to the attack. Targets that take damage take an additional 3 points and are knocked prone.
You convince an unintelligent machine to “like” you. A machine that likes you is 50 percent less likely to function if said function would cause you harm. Thus, if a foe attempts to detonate a bomb near you controlled by a detonator that likes you, there is a 50 percent chance that it won't explode.
Action to initiate.
You can telepathically reach out to up to ten creatures known to you, no matter where they are. The individual creatures must be willing and able to communicate. You immediately know their current status—eating, driving, sleeping, angry, injured, fine, great, frightened, worried, and so on, generally in the form of a short sentence or a few words.
These creatures don't have to share anything they don't want to, including acknowledging that you checked on them, but they can't lie through this connection. For example, one person might let you know that they're upset, but that doesn't mean you know why (they're dealing with a recent breakup) or what they're doing about it (drinking to cope).
You automatically succeed at using this ability; no roll is required. Only you receive the status information. Other people affected by the spell do not get a sense of each other's statuses, nor do they know who else you're checking on.
If you spend 5 Intellect points, you can check on twenty creatures at once, and for every 1 Intellect point you spend above that, you can check on an additional ten creatures.
Old Gus' Daft DraftsYou are trained in cooking and all related tasks, for example, identifying, sourcing, and determining the quality and nutritional qualities of ingredients. While you are cooking, you gain an asset to intimidation tasks.
You set small objects from the environment (rocks, broken items, clumps of dirt, and so on) swirling about you for up to ten minutes, which grants you +2 Armor.
Cloak of Opportunity can be quite flashy and intimidating to others, especially before they know its purpose.
Action to initiate.
You are trained in Intellect defense tasks and have +2 Armor against damage that selectively targets your Intellect Pool (which normally ignores Armor).
If you interact with or study a target for at least a round, you gain a sense of how its mind works, which you can use against it in the most blunt fashion possible. You can attempt to confuse it and make it forget what's just happened. On a success, you erase up to the last five minutes of its memory.
Action to prepare; action to initiate.
You boost the power or function of a machine so that it operates at one level higher than normal for one hour.
Action to initiate.
You can spend points from either your Speed Pool or your Intellect Pool to apply Effort to hit a target with a gun or increase the damage inflicted doing so.
During combat, your brain shifts into a sort of battle mode where all potential attacks you could make are plotted on vector graphs in your mind's eye, which always provides the best option. Your attacks are eased.
You emit a burst of cold in all directions, up to short range. All within the burst (except you) take 5 points of damage. If you apply Effort to increase the damage rather than to ease the task, you deal 2 additional points of damage per level of Effort (instead of 3 points); targets in the area take 1 point of damage even if you fail the attack roll.
When you use Enlarge, you can choose to grow up to a base height of 60 feet (18 m). When you do, you add 5 more temporary points to your Might Pool (plus any from Gargantuan and Bigger), and you deal an additional 2 points of damage with melee attacks (plus any from your Huge ability). For each level of Effort you apply to increase your height further, your total height increases by 10 feet (3 m), and you add 1 more point to your Might Pool. Thus, the first time you use Enlarge after a ten-hour recovery roll, if you apply two levels of Effort, your base height is 80 feet (24 m), and you add a total of 17 temporary points to your Might Pool.
All attempted tasks that draw an attack to yourself (and away from someone else) are eased by two steps.
You add +1 damage to one type of weapon attack of your choice: melee weapon attacks or ranged weapon attacks.
You speak to a non-hostile creature within short range, telling them exactly what they need to hear to have a better day. You don't know what these words are until you say them, but you know they will help the creature's attitude. If the creature spends a round or two thinking about what you said, they gain an asset on one task of their choosing within one hour. Alternatively, if the creature has an ongoing penalty to tasks (such as having a hangover, sadness from a recent fight with their romantic partner, an injury, or a stressful situation at work), they can ignore that penalty for the next hour. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can use Effort to affect more creatures; each level of Effort affects one additional creature.
Action to initiate; up to one minute to complete.
Through sheer force of will, you can issue a simple imperative command to a single living creature, who then attempts to carry out your command as its nextAction. The creature must be within short range and able to understand you. The command can't inflict direct harm on the creature or its allies, so “Commit suicide” won't work, but “Flee” might. In addition, the command can require the creature to take only one action, so “Unlock the door” might work, but “Unlock the door and run through it” won't. A commanded creature can still defend itself normally and return an attack if one is made on it. If you possess another ability that allows you to command a creature, you can target two creatures at once as your base effect if you use either ability.
Claim the SkyYou can command a nonhostile, nonhuman beast (such as one that you've made calm with Soothe the Savage) of up to level 3 within short range. If you are successful, for the next minute the beast follows your verbal commands to the best of its understanding and ability. The GM has final say over what counts as a nonhuman beast, but unless some kind of deception is at work, you should know whether you can affect a creature before you attempt to use this ability on it. Aliens, extradimensional entities, very intelligent creatures, and robots never count.
In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase the maximum level of the target. Thus, to command a level 5 beast (two levels above the normal limit), you must apply two levels of Effort.
Action to initiate.
If you've charmed an unintelligent machine or have spoken telepathically with an intelligent machine, you can attempt to command it to take one action within its capabilities on its next turn. (If you use this ability to command an intelligent machine, it likely becomes hostile to you afterward.)
You reshape a metallic item as you desire. The item must be within sight and within short range, and its mass can be no greater than your own. You can affect multiple items at once as long as their combined mass falls within these limits. You can fuse multiple items together. You can use this power to destroy a metal object (as the Destroy Metal ability), or you can craft it into another desired shape (crudely, unless you have the proper crafting skills). You can then move the new object anywhere within range. For example, you could take a few metal shields, fuse them together, and use the resulting shape to block a doorway. You can use this ability to make an attack—causing a foe's armor to constrict, rendering a metal item into shards that you fling across the battlefield, and so on—against one target within short range. Regardless of the form of the attack, it is an Intellect action that deals 7 points of damage.
You can command a spirit or animated dead creature of up to level 5 within short range. If you are successful, the target cannot attack you for one minute, during which time it follows your verbal commands if it can hear and understand you.
Action to initiate.
You can convey a basic concept to a creature that normally can't speak or understand speech. The creature can also give you a very basic answer to a simple question.
When speaking to others in a community you have a strong connection to, you are trained in persuasion and intimidation tasks about topics that directly relate to the community.
If you've invested yourself in a community and have spent at least a few months living there, you can learn things about it through a variety of methods. Sometimes contacts slip the information to you. Other times, you're able to draw conclusions simply by what you can see and hear. When you use this ability, you can ask the GM one question about the community and get a very short answer.
Abilities that rely on the character being a part of the community give the GM additional material for scenarios. For instance, even as the character gains benefits from those in the community, other NPCs in the community might call on the character to help them solve some of their issues, too.
You are trained in using (and exploiting) computer software, you know one or more computer languages well enough to write basic programs, and you are fluent in internet protocol.
You cause a pulse of concussive force to explode out from a point you choose within long range. The pulse extends up to short range in all directions, dealing 5 points of damage to everything in the area. Even if you fail the attack roll, targets in the area take 1 point of damage.
You release a beam of pure force that smashes into a creature within short range, inflicting 5 points of damage and moving it back an immediate distance.
When you're hacking into a computer system, running a con, picking a pocket, fooling or tricking a dupe, sneaking something by a guard, and so on, you gain an asset on the task.
You spew a stream of nonsense to distract a foe within immediate range. On a successful Intellect roll, your defense roll against the creature's next attack before the end of the next round is eased.
Through a clever bit of misdirection involving a flourish of your coat, ducking at just the right moment, or a similar stratagem, you can attempt to redirect a physical melee attack that would otherwise hit you. When you do, the misdirected attack hits another creature you choose within immediate range of both you and the attacking foe. This ability is a difficulty 2 Intellect task.
You produce, as if from thin air, a level 5 creature of a kind you have previously encountered. The creature remains for one minute and then returns home. While present, the creature acts as you direct, but this requires no action on your part.
Old Gus' Daft DraftsA level 1 creature accompanies you and follows your instructions. This creature is no larger than a large cat (about 20 pounds, or 9 kg). You and the GM must work out the details of your creature, and you'll probably make rolls for it in combat or when it takes actions. The familiar acts on your turn. As a level 1 creature, it has a target number of 3 and 3 health, and it inflicts 1 point of damage. Its movement is based on its creature type (avian, swimmer, and so on). If your familiar is reduced to 0 health, it becomes banished until you conjure it again. Action to initiate, 10 minutes to complete.
You know people who get things done—not just respected people in positions of authority, but also a variety of online hackers and regular street criminals. These people are not necessarily your friends and might not be trustworthy, but they owe you a favor. You and the GM should work out the details of your contacts.
It used to be easier to be lucky all the time. Now, it takes a toll. When you roll a 1, you can reroll. If you reroll and roll a 1, 2, or 3, you must reroll again, this time expending a level of Effort plus the base Pool cost to activate this ability (5 Intellect points). If you roll a 1–5 on the second reroll, you must reroll again, expending a level of Effort and spending the base cost again (5 Intellect points), too. This progression of forced rerolls coupled with an increasing failure range continues until you roll higher than the failure range or you run out of Intellect points. (If the target number you roll is below the failure range, you might succeed on the task, but the forced rerolling continues.)
When you use either Drain Creature or Tap Currents to drain energy, you can transfer it to another creature within short range, restoring points to their Might or Speed Pools (or health for an NPC). This occurs seamlessly, as part of the same action.
You can wriggle free from bindings or squeeze through a tight spot. You are trained in escaping. When you use an action to escape or move through a tight area, you can immediately use another action. You may use this action only to move.
This melee attack inflicts 1 less point of damage than normal, and regardless of whether you hit the target, you maneuver it into a position you desire within immediate range.
You can attempt to control the functions of any machine, intelligent or otherwise, within short range for ten minutes.
You can control a calm nonhuman beast within 30 feet (9 m). You control it for as long as you focus all your attention on it, using your turn each round. The GM has final say over what counts as a nonhuman beast, but unless some kind of deception is at work, you should know whether you can affect a creature before you attempt to use this ability on it. Aliens, extradimensional entities, very intelligent creatures, and robots never count.
Your swarm creatures from your Influence Swarm ability within short range do as you telepathically command for ten minutes. Even common insects (level 0) in large enough numbers can swarm about a single creature and hinder its tasks.
Action to initiate.
You change the weather in your general region. If performed indoors, this creates minor effects, such as mist, mild temperature changes, and so on. If performed outside, you can create rain, fog, snow, wind, or any other kind of normal (not overly severe) weather. The change lasts for a natural length of time so that a storm might last for an hour, fog for two or three hours, and snow for a few hours (or for ten minutes if it's out of season). For the first ten minutes after activating this ability, you can create more dramatic and specific effects, such as lightning strikes, giant hailstones, twisters, hurricane-force winds, and so on. These effects must occur within 1,000 feet (300 m) of your location. You must spend your turn concentrating to create an effect or maintain it in a new round. These effects inflict 6 points of damage each round. If you have this ability from another source, the cost for the ability is 7 Intellect points instead of 10. If you already have the Storm Seed ability, you can immediately replace it with a new ability of the same tier.
Action to initiate.
You can try to use your Beast Form ability to change into your beast form on any night you wish (a difficulty 3 Intellect task). Any transformations you make using this power are in addition to the five nights per month that you change involuntarily.
Action to change.
When you fall while you are able to use actions and within reach of a vertical surface, you can attempt to slow your fall. Make a Speed roll with a difficulty of 1 for every 20 feet (6 m) you fall. On a success, you take half damage from the fall. If you reduce the difficulty to 0, you take no damage.
For ten minutes, the Shyster gains +1 to Intellect Edge and eases Intellect defense rolls by two steps. Deception tasks are eased by two steps. Wink, raise an eyebrow, or quirk mouth (part of same action) to activate.
Path of the PlanebreakerYou cast this spell on a mirror that is at least 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter, traveling through it to the Congruent Corridor that allows you access to alternate worlds where other versions of you exist. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to bring other people with you; each level of Effort used in this way affects up to three additional targets, who must be willing and adjacent to you.
The mirror you used for this ability remains behind. As long as the mirror is unbroken, you (and those who traveled with you) can see a glow around the window that leads back to where you used this ability, allowing you to select the correct exit among what would otherwise be a series of almost identical scenes.
When you use this ability, instead of finding
alternate versions of you, you can instead specify
that you're looking for an alternate version of some
other person or being you know to exist. When you
reach the Congruent Corridor, the instances of other
worlds visible along it will be those containing
alternate versions of that person.
Instead of transporting yourself and allies,
you can use this ability to banish an unwilling
creature to the Congruent Corridor. You must touch
the creature you want to affect. The banished
creature arrives in a part of the Congruent Corridor
containing alternate versions of themselves, and they do not see a telltale glow indicating which
window leads back to you (and if the mirror is
broken, that window might disappear for them).
Corridor of Reflections is a
secret spell that only a few
know exists and fewer still
know how to cast.
Action to initiate or dismiss.
When you and your drone from the Drone Buddy ability are within immediate distance of each other, you inflict 2 additional points of damage when you attack and both of you gain an asset to defense actions.
When you and the duplicate from your Duplicate ability would attack the same creature, you can choose to make one attack roll with an asset. If you hit, you inflict damage with both attacks and treat the attacks as if they were one attack for the purpose of subtracting Armor from the damage.
You can copy someone else’s superpower for an hour, performing it as if it were natural for you. Within the past hour you must have touched the creature whose power you want to copy (an attack roll) and must have seen that ability used by them. Choose the power you want to copy, and the GM chooses an appropriate low-tier ability that most closely resembles that power. For example, if you’re battling a supervillain who can create blasts of force, if you copy that ability, you gain a low-tier ability that creates a blast of force. In addition to the point cost of Copy Power, you must pay the Might, Speed, or Intellect cost (if any) of the equivalent ability that the GM chose. For example, if you want to copy a supervillain’s force blast, the GM will probably decide that’s equivalent to Onslaught, so you’d pay 2 Intellect points to activate Copy Power and 1 Intellect point to use Onslaught.
A copied ability must be low tier according to how it is listed in the ability categories. It doesn’t matter if a type or focus makes it available at a higher tier.
If there’s any uncertainty about whether Copy Power could copy a specific ability, the GM is free to say yes and offer a GM intrusion to complicate the situation.
You can copy only one power at a time; copying another one ends any other power you’re copying with this ability.
Copy Power doesn’t copy effects of a power that permanently adds points to your Pools, such as Enhanced Body.
In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to copy an ability you saw longer than one hour ago; each level of Effort used in this way extends the time period by one hour.
You touch the remains of a recently killed creature and make an Intellect-based roll to read data from its brain cybernetics. The GM sets the difficulty based on the amount of time that has passed since the creature died. A creature that has been dead for only a few minutes is a difficulty 2 task, one that has been dead for an hour is a difficulty 4 task, and one that has been dead for a few days is a difficulty 9 task. If you succeed, you can browse the corpse's memories in a virtual environment as if you were speaking to its living self. This lasts about one minute, after which time the environment degrades. The creature is limited to what it knew in life, though it cannot recall minor memories, only big events of importance to it. When the effect ends, or if you fail the roll, the creature's memory data becomes corrupted and you can gain no further information from it.
You negate a source of potential danger related to one creature or object within immediate distance for one minute (instead of one round, as with Foil Danger). This could be a weapon or device held by someone, a creature's natural ability, or a trap triggered by a pressure plate. You can also try to counter an action (like moving or making a conventional mundane attack with a weapon, a claw, etc.).
Using Counter Danger is usually a matter of the character applying quick thinking in the face of immediate danger. The ability doesn’t rely on supernatural means, but rather a practical act.
If you are affected by an unwanted ongoing magical condition or affliction (such as a curse, paralysis spell, withering hex, and so on) that gives you additional rolls to end it early, your rolls to end it early are eased by two steps until you break free.
You immediately end one ongoing effect (such as an effect created by a character ability) within immediate range. Alternatively, you can use this as a defense action to cancel any incoming ability targeted at you, or you can cancel any device or the effect of any device for 1d6 rounds. You must touch the effect or device to cancel it.
You are trained in Intellect defense tasks and initiative tasks.
Maybe Lady Luck's watching over you and keeping you from harm, or maybe you're just damn lucky. When you would otherwise descend a step on the damage track, make an Intellect defense roll against the level of the foe or effect. If you succeed, you do not descend that step. If the step was because you fell to 0 points in a Pool, you are still at 0 points; you just don't suffer the negative effects of being impaired or debilitated. If you would otherwise descend the final step on the damage track to death, a successful defense roll keeps you at 1 point in one Pool, and you remain debilitated.
Old Gus' Daft DraftsYou gain two skills from one arcana of your choice. can choose this ability multiple times, but you must select a different arcana each time.
You are trained in the crafting of two kinds of items.
You create something from nothing. You can create any item you choose that would ordinarily have a difficulty of 5 or lower (using the crafting rules). Once created, the item lasts for a number of hours equal to 6 minus the difficulty to create it. Thus, if you create a set of sturdy manacles (difficulty 5), it would last for one hour.
You create one dose of a level 2 poison that either inflicts 5 points of damage or hinders the poisoned creature's actions for ten minutes (your choice each time you create the poison). You can apply this poison to a weapon, food, or drink as part of the action of creating it. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase the level of the poison; each level of Effort used in this way increases the poison level by 1. If unused, the poison loses its potency after one hour.
You cause water to bubble up from a spot on the ground you can see. The water flows from that spot for one minute, creating about 1 gallon (4 liters) by the time it stops.
Action to initiate.
When examining any nonhuman creature, you can ask the GM one question to gain an idea of its level, its capabilities, what it eats, what motivates it, what its weaknesses are (if any), how it can be repaired, or any other similar query. This is for difficult or strange creatures beyond those readily identified by using skills.
A level 1 creature accompanies you and follows your instructions. This creature is no larger than a large cat (about 20 pounds, or 9 kg) and is normally some sort of domesticated species. You and the GM must work out the details of your creature, and you'll probably make rolls for it in combat or when it takes actions. The critter companion acts on your turn. As a level 1 creature, it has a target number of 3 and 3 health, and it inflicts 1 point of damage. Its movement is based on its creature type (avian, swimmer, and so on). If your critter companion dies, you can search an urban or wild environment for 1d6 days to find a new one.
A Critter Companion might have an interesting quirk, such as having a thing for chasing bugs, always wanting to be petted by another NPC, getting lost, and so on.
It's Only MagicYou telekinetically move a small creature (no larger than a medium dog) an immediate distance in any direction you wish. You must be able to see the creature, which must be your size or smaller, must not be affixed to anything, and must be within short range. The creature safely arrives at your chosen location without any residual force.
If the creature knows you and you have a free hand, you can automatically grab the creature as part of the action of using this ability. This ability lacks the fine control to move anything with much speed, so in most situations, it’s used to reposition an animal (such as a pet) out of a dangerous or inconvenient location. For example, you could safely pull a scared cat out from under a bed, retrieve a puppy from a storm drain, or relocate a wild bird that got inside your house.
Path of the PlanebreakerBy linking to your tentacled crow, you can perceive through their senses if they are within a long distance of you. This effect lasts up to one minute.
Action to establish.
You control the actions of up to five creatures in short range. This effect lasts for one minute. All targets must be level 2 or lower. Your control is limited to simple verbal commands like “Stop,” “Run away,” “Follow that guard,” “Look over there,” or “Get out of my way.” All affected creatures respond to the command unless you specifically command them otherwise. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase the maximum level of the targets or affect an additional five people. Thus, to control a group that has a level 4 target (two levels above the normal limit) or a group of fifteen people, you must apply two levels of Effort. When the Crowd Control ability ends, the creatures remember your commands but don't remember being controlled—your commands seemed reasonable at the time.
Action to initiate.
When you use a bashing or bladed weapon in both hands and apply Effort on the attack, you get a free level of Effort on the damage. (If fighting unarmed, this attack is made with both fists or both feet together.)
Editor's Notes — Crushing Blow grants a free level of Effort to damage, provided the PC uses at least one level of Effort to ease the attack, and pays 2 Might points to use the ability—the same cost as using another level of Effort. Effectively, this ability allows the PC to exceed their Effort score in one way: dealing damage with weapon attacks. This is a powerful ability at lower tiers, but when reaching higher tiers, this ability might be best exchanged for a different low-tier Warrior ability. This ability also would have no place in games using optional rules like Ultimate Damage.
You can focus the inherent energy surging through you from your Crystalline Body ability. This allows you to fire a blast of energy that inflicts 5 points of damage on a target within very long range.
You are composed of animate, translucent crystal the color of amber. Work with your GM to decide your exact form, though it is likely about the shape and size of a humanoid. Your crystal body grants you +2 to Armor and +4 to your Might Pool. However, you're not quick and your Speed defense tasks are hindered. Certain conditions, like mundane diseases and poisons, do not affect you. Your crystalline body repairs itself more slowly than a body of living flesh would. You have only the one-round, one-hour, and ten-hour recovery rolls available each day; you do not have a ten-minute recovery roll available. Any ability you have that requires a ten-minute recovery roll instead requires a one-hour recovery roll.
You're always curious about your surroundings, even on a subconscious level. Whenever you use Effort to attempt navigation, perception, or initiative tasks in an area that you've only rarely or never visited before, you can apply an additional free level of Effort.
Old Gus' Daft DraftsYou are petrified when exposed to sunlight, becoming a solid stone statue. Roll a d6 on the Curse of Stone Provisions table to determine the nature of your curse, or work out more exact details ahead of time with the GM.
While petrified, you gain +5 to Armor against damage of (including mental attacks), you cannot act, and you can't sense what's happening around you—until the curse's provisions allow you to awaken.
| d6 | Curse of Stone Provisions |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your statue awaited removal from where you were turned to stone. Any piece of your homeland might return you to your stony tomb. |
| 2 | Only a descendant of the ones who imprisoned you can set you free. |
| 3 | Other celestial mechanics provide exceptions—maybe even a solution—to your petrification problem. |
| 4 | Righting an ancient wrong can end your curse. |
| 5 | There's something or someone precious you must guard, or something important you must do. |
| 6 | The curse upon you is a hopeless riddle. |
The Curse of Stone presents a significant obstacle for a PC and GM. It might mean the ideal game takes place primarily after sunset. It also might mean that a dramatic events take place while—possibly even momentarily after—the PC is incapacitated by the curse.
As the story continues, consider the following possibilities:
You emit a thin beam of energized light from your hand. This inflicts 5 points of damage to a single foe in immediate range. The beam is even more effective against immobile, nonliving targets, slicing up to 1 foot (30 cm) of any material that is level 6 or lower. The material can be up to 1 foot thick.
GodforsakenYou can cast any of your subtle cyphers on another creature instead of yourself. You must touch the creature to affect it.
GodforsakenWhen you use a subtle cypher spell, as part of that action you can expend one other subtle cypher. Instead of the second cypher’s normal effect, you add one free level of Effort to the first cypher spell.
All manifest cyphers you use function at one level higher than normal. If given a week and the right tools, chemicals, and parts, you can tinker with one of your manifest cyphers, transforming it into another cypher of the same type that you had in the past. The GM and player should collaborate to ensure that the transformation is logical—for example, you probably can't transform a pill into a helmet.