Rust & Redemption
Rust & RedemptionYou gain a level 3 follower (initiative, stealth, and defense as level 4). The follower does as you say and, generally speaking, isn't someone who makes the other PCs in your group feel uncomfortable because of their presence.
You cry out, blow a battle horn, or otherwise signal to everyone within very long range that you require aid. All allied creatures who respond by moving to within an immediate distance of you within the next few rounds gain one asset on any one attack or defense task within the next hour that you suggest, such as “Hold the gate,” “Charge that group of orcs,” or something similar
Action to initiate.
Ranges for you increase by one step. Immediate becomes short, short becomes long, long becomes very long, and very long becomes 1,000 feet (300 m).
Once per round, you can make an additional attack with your chosen weapon.
You or a target you touch experiences a higher level of mental and physical reaction time for about a minute. During that period, all Speed tasks (including Speed defense rolls) are eased. In addition, the target can take one extra action at any time before the ability's duration expires.
You can make most recovery rolls faster than normal. You can make your one-action recovery roll as part of another action or when it isn't your turn, your ten-minute recovery roll takes you only one action, and your one-hour recovery roll takes you only ten minutes (your ten-hour rest is unchanged). If you make a recovery roll when it isn't your turn, until the end of your next turn all of your tasks are hindered.
You project a grey beam of confusion at a creature within short range, inflicting 1 point of damage that ignores Armor. In addition, until the end of the next round, all tasks, attacks, and defenses the target attempts are hindered.
If a creature you attacked on your last turn with a melee attack uses its action to move out of immediate range, you gain an action to attack the creature as a parting blow, even if you have already taken a turn in the round.
Thanks to a remarkable enhancement of science, magic, psionics, or something even stranger, you now have a force field that radiates 1 inch (2.5 cm) from your body and provides you with +2 to Armor. In addition, if struck by a melee attack, the field creates a backlash that inflicts 4 points of electricity damage to the attacker.
Old Gus' Daft DraftsYou focus your mind on a sample of blood, gaining insight into the creature it was spilled from. Choose two of the following pieces of information, which the GM provides:
You examine an area and learn precise, useful details about the past (if any exist). You can ask the GM up to four questions about the immediate area; each requires its own roll.
You gain knowledge about an area by reading energy released by decomposition and decay. You can ask the GM a single, matter-of-fact question about the location and get an answer if you succeed on the Intellect roll. "What was the last ritual performed in this room?" is a good example of a simple question. "Why was this room used for a ritual?" is not an appropriate question, because it has more to do with the mindset of whoever performed the ritual than with qualities of the room. Simple questions usually have a difficulty of 2, but technical questions or those that involve facts meant to be kept secret can have a much higher difficulty.
Unless an environment is absolutely sterilized, there are enough microbes, fungal spores, and other organic debris in an area to allow you to use Reading Decomposition.
You gain knowledge about an area by speaking with dead spirits or reading residual energies from the past. You can ask the GM a single, matter-of-fact question about the location and get an answer if you succeed on the Intellect roll. “What killed the cattle in this barn?” is a good example of a simple question. “Why were these cattle killed?” is not an appropriate question because it has more to do with the mindset of the killer than the barn. Simple questions usually have a difficulty of 2, but extremely technical questions or those that involve facts meant to be kept secret can have a much higher difficulty.
You gain a level 4 follower. They are not restricted on their modifications. Alternatively, you can choose to advance a level 3 follower you already have to level 4 and then gain a new level 3 follower.
All manifest cypher you use function at one level higher than normal. In junk from the Junk table a helmet.
Old Gus' Daft DraftsYou have an asset to Might defense rolls you make to resist the effects of poisons and diseases, and your body fights off the effects of such maladies in half the usual amount of time.
Your ability to heal (whether from a potent spell, unique mutation, or cybernetic graft) continues to function even if you die from violence, as long as your body is mostly intact. One minute after your death, this ability activates and brings you back to life; however, you come back with a permanent 2-point deduction from your Intellect Pool.
A character might discover that Regenerate is both a blessing and a curse, because relying on it too much leads to a kind of malaise that vitality alone can‘t fix.
You can confer your Regenerate ability on another creature that you touch and attempt to return it to life, as long as its body is mostly intact. (If you don’t have the Regenerate ability, you gain it, but can use it only on yourself.) The difficulty of the task is equal to 3 plus the number of days the target has been dead. (If the body has been perfectly preserved in stasis or through some other non-damaging preservation mechanism, no time limit applies.)
You restore points to a target’s Might or Speed Pool in one of two ways: either the chosen Pool regains up to 6 points, or it is restored to a total value of 12. You make this decision when you initiate this ability. Points are regenerated at a rate of 1 point each round. You must remain within immediate range of the target the whole time, either touching them or conversing with them. In no case can this raise a Pool higher than its maximum.
You can reinforce any object or structure by infusing it with a force field for one hour. The force field increases the level of the object or structure by 2 for tasks related to durability and withstanding damage and destruction
Action to initiate.
You release 1 point of energy you've absorbed with your Absorb Kinetic Energy ability, magnifying and focusing it into a blast of energy that strikes a single foe within long range for 4 points of damage. (If you don't have any kinetic energy absorbed, you can still use this ability, but it requires that you transform a
Neon RainChoose one of your weapons. If you roll a natural 1 when attacking with that weapon, you can ignore or countermand the GM Intrusion for that roll. If it isn't an embedded weapon, you can never be disarmed of it, nor will you ever drop it accidentally. If it is an embedded weapon, it can't be damaged or destroyed unless you allow it or you deliberately attempt to do so (such as sticking it in molten steel).
When using a weapon that normally requires an action to reload, such as a heavy crossbow, you can reload and fire (or fire and reload) in the sameAction.
Choose one creature or object within immediate range. You instantly transport it to a new position within long range that you can see. The new position can be any direction from you, but it cannot be inside a solid object.
You can use a starcraft's communication and sensor arrays to launch an attack that briefly renders an enemy starcraft within 20 miles (32 km) inoperative for up to a minute.
Remote Control is a masterful attempt to jam or hack an enemy spacecraft, a task normally requiring multiple rolls, and you only succeed if you roll a total of three successes before rolling a total of two failures. However, all such tasks are hindered by at least two steps due to hardened spacecraft electronic security.
You use an active telephone, cellular, internet, or closed-circuit video connection to slap a creature. The target must be actively using a device making use of this connection, such as being on the other end of a phone call or text message, browsing the same social media website or app you’re using, or monitoring a closed-circuit camera that is recording you. Make an Intellect-based attack against the creature; success means the creature takes 1 point of damage, as if they had been telekinetically slapped in the face by the device they’re using. Each additional remote slap against that creature is hindered by an additional step (resetting after one hour).
In The Axial setting, the person who invented the Remote Slap spell sold the rights to it for a very large sum of money and now lives on a remote vacation island without phone or internet.
Distance is an illusion, as all space is one space. With great concentration, you can see another place. This ability can be used in one of two ways:
Either application takes anywhere from one action to hours of concentration, depending on what the GM feels is appropriate due to time, distance, or other mitigating circumstances. However, you don't know in advance how long it will take.
Action to initiate; action each round to concentrate.
When you touch an impaired or debilitated character, you can move them up one step on the damage track (for example, a debilitated PC becomes impaired, and an impaired one becomes hale). Alternatively, if you use this ability on a PC during a rest, you grant them a +2 bonus to their recovery roll.
It's Only MagicYou automatically repair one broken device of up to level 4 that you touch, restoring it to full working condition. This ability works only if at least 80 percent of the original device is still on hand. The device may still need fuel, oil, or other substances that aid its operation but are not part of the electronics or mechanism. This ability only reliably works on human-crafted devices and tends to fail when used on alien, high-technology, or otherwise mysterious machines. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can use Effort to increase the target level that can be affected by 1.
You can control the functions of any machine, no matter how far from you it is, that you've previously exploited using Hack the Impossible, as long as it is networked to your current location. This effect lasts for ten minutes.
If you've successfully completed a ritual in the past, tasks for performing that ritual again are eased by two steps.
By manipulating magnetism, you are trained in Speed defense tasks against any incoming attack that uses metal.
You reshape matter within short range in an area no larger than a 5-foot (1.5 m) cube. If you use only one action on this ability, the changes you make are crude at best. If you spend at least ten minutes and succeed at a hindered appropriate crafting task, you can make complex changes to the material. You can't change the nature of the material, only its shape. Thus, you can make a hole in a wall or floor, or you can seal one up. You can fashion a rudimentary sword from a large piece of iron. You can break or repair a chain. With multiple uses of this ability, you could bring about large changes, making a bridge, a wall, or a similar structure.
You have 1 point of Armor against any kind of physical damage, even physical damage that normally ignores Armor.
Increase the health of any duplicate you create (such as with Duplicate) by 5.
The sheen of ice you generate using your Ice Armor ability gives you an additional +1 to Armor.
You resist heat, cold, and similar extremes. You have a special +2 to Armor against ambient damage or other damage that would normally ignore Armor.
You're trained in solving puzzles and recognizing tricks from years of game playing.
Whether you're resisting crushing waters while exploring the depths or a sting from a poisonous fish, all defense tasks while submerged in water are eased.
Faint lines in a color you choose form a tracery over your entire body and emit faint light. The effect lasts for one minute. Whenever a creature within immediate range makes an attack against you, the pattern energizes to block the attack. You can make an Intellect defense roll in place of the defense roll you would normally make. If you do so and you get a minor effect, the creature attacking you takes 1 point of damage. If you get a major effect, the creature attacking you takes 4 points of damage
Action to initiate.
You can infuse an item of up to level 7 that you can hold in one hand with a special vibration generated from your core. The object then functions as if two levels higher for one minute. At the end of that minute, the resonant frequency ramps up exponentially until the object finally shatters from the energy buildup. Anything within immediate range of the detonation suffers 5 points of damage
Action to initiate.
You can infuse the ground beneath you with a special vibration generated from your core. This creates a small quake whose epicenter you can select within a very long distance. Everyone within short range of the epicenter is subject to 8 points of damage (from shaking and being struck by toppling objects, crumbling walls, and so on). However, you are dazed for a round afterward yourself, during which time all your tasks are hindered. If you have the Move Mountains ability, both abilities cost 3 fewer Intellect points to use.
When you are looking for a specific inexpensive item you'd like to scavenge from nearby ruins, such as a candle, an aspirin, or a can of preserved chili, you can focus your attention on it so that you are more likely to find it. For the next ten minutes, if what you are seeking is within long range, you find it if you succeed on a difficulty 2 Intellect roll. Each time you use this ability again in the same area, the difficulty is hindered by one additional step. For each level of Effort you apply, you can attempt to find an object of one higher expense category, but the base difficulty of the Intellect roll also increases by 1 per higher expense category.
Action to initiate.
Creatures who make a recovery roll within short range of you add +1 to their roll.
You can attempt to restore life to a dead creature of up to level 3, as long as the corpse is no more than a day old and is mostly intact. You can also attempt to restore life to a corpse that is much older but is especially well preserved. The difficulty of the Intellect task is equal to the level of the creature you're attempting to restore to life. For each additional level of Effort applied, you can attempt to restore the life of a creature whose level is 1 higher. When first restored to life, a creature is dazed for at least a day, and all tasks they attempt are hindered.
One minute to initiate.
When Wooden Body or Great Tree is in effect, you produce a flower, acorn, fruit, or similar plant-based edible item. A creature that eats this food is nourished for a full day and restores their Might Pool, Speed Pool, and Intellect Pool to their maximum values, as if they were fully rested. Eating a second food produced by this ability in a day has no effect. If the food is not eaten within ten minutes, it spoils.
Action to produce, action to eat.
You can resuscitate a character who is up to two steps down on the damage track as your action. The target ascends one step on the damage track. If a character has dropped all three steps on the damage track (dead) but is otherwise in one piece and less than a minute has passed since they descended to the third step, you can resuscitate them if you succeed at a level 6 healing task. If you use this ability on an NPC who has no health but has been dead for less than a minute and is otherwise in one piece, the NPC is resuscitated with 1 health.
Four level 2 followers join you (and your first follower, if you have one). One of their modifications must be for tasks related to serving as your personal assistants. In addition to other tasks they might individually take on your behalf, they can also work together to run interference if you're trying to avoid someone, help hide you from the attention of others, help you muscle through a crowd, and so on. If a situation becomes physically violent, they provide an asset to your Speed defense tasks and, if you command it, try to hold a foe's attention while you escape.
You touch the remains of a recently killed creature and make an Intellect-based roll to restore its mind to life long enough to learn information from it. 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 awaken the corpse, causing its head to animate and perceive things as if it were alive. This enables communication for about one minute, which is how long it takes for the creature to realize that it's dead. 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 brain dissolves to mush and cannot be awakened again.
If you succeed at a Speed defense task against a melee attack, you can make an immediate melee attack against your foe. You can use this ability only once per round.
You transfer your body and personal possessions into a crystal of any size that you can touch, and you exit from another crystal of any size, including any crystal obelisks that you are aware of. You must know of the crystal you are going to use as an exit before you enter the first crystal. You can take one additional creature with you for each level of Effort applied.
You adjust a creature’s eyesight so that it can see normally in areas of dim light and darkness. You can affect one willing creature within immediate range for one hour. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to affect more targets; each level of Effort applied affects two additional targets. You must touch additional targets to affect them.
Action to initiate.
Your grasp on life and death energy means that you can heal—even from death—as long as your head, heart, and hands remain intact. One minute after descending a step on the damage track, you regain 2 Pool points. However, if you return from death, it is with a permanent 2-point reduction in your Intellect Pool.
For the next minute, dark matter condenses within an area within long range that is no bigger than an immediate distance in diameter, manifesting as swirling ribbons. All tasks attempted by creatures in the area are hindered, and leaving the area requires a creature’s entire action to move. You can dismiss the dark matter early as an action.
Action to initiate.
You can ride your mount to an open location on the planet that you're familiar with almost instantaneously. If you apply a level of Effort, you can attempt to penetrate covered locations that you're aware of as long as a route exists from the open air to the area you want to reach.
You are trained in riding any kind of creature that serves as a mount, such as a noble warhorse.
When you succeed on a Speed defense roll against an attack from a creature within immediate range, you can immediately make an attack on that creature, or you can gain an asset on the next attack you make on it before the end of the next round.
When you participate in a magical ritual with two or more members of your coven, ritual tasks for all participants are eased by two steps. >
When you use your Third Eye ability, you can place the sensor anywhere within long range. In addition, until that ability ends, you can use an action to move the sensor anywhere within short range of its starting position.
A level 2 robot of your size or smaller (built by you) accompanies you and follows your instructions. You and the GM must work out the details of your robot. You’ll probably make rolls for it when it takes actions. A robot assistant in combat usually doesn’t make separate attacks but helps with yours. On your action, if the artificial assistant is next to you, it serves as an asset for one attack you make on your turn. If the robot is destroyed, you can repair the original with a few days’ worth of tinkering, or build a new one with a week’s worth of half-time labor.
You are trained in tasks related to building and repairing robots. For the purposes of repair, you can use this skill to heal robots that use similar technology.
You use your knowledge of robot command and control (and possibly devices that transmit on the proper frequency) to affect any mechanized system or robot of level 2 or lower within short range. You can render several targets inactive for as long as you focus all your attention on them. If you focus on just one target, you can attempt to take active control of it for one minute, commanding it to do simple tasks on your behalf while you concentrate. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase the maximum level of the mechanized system or robot. Thus, to affect a level 4 target (two levels above the normal limit), you must apply two levels of Effort
Action to initiate.
Your first artificial assistant from the Robot Assistant ability increases to level 5, and each of your level 2 robots from Robot Fleet increases to level 3. Instead of choosing this option, you may instead choose one upgrade from the Robot Upgrade ability.
When fighting a robot or intelligent machine, you are trained in attacks and defense.
You build up to four level 2 robot assistants, each no larger than yourself. (They are in addition to the assistant you built at first tier with Robot Assistant, which may have seen a few upgrades since then.) You and the GM must work out the details of these additional robots. If a robot is destroyed, you can build a new one (or repair the old one from its parts) after a week of half-time labor. Instead of this ability, you can select one of the following abilities: Expert Follower, Robot Control, or Robot Upgrade.
Your artificial assistant from the Robot Assistant ability increases to level 4.
You modify your artificial assistant from the Robot Assistant ability with one new capability. Standard options include the following. Work with your GM if you prefer a different capability.
Action to reconfigure; action to return to normal robot configuration.
You are trained in scavenging, which means you're more likely to find useful things, and junk that can potentially be turned into useful things in the ruins of what came before.
You can move a short distance and make a melee attack that inflicts 2 additional points of damage.
Your standard movement increases from short to long.