[FOCI]
The Strange
Your mind is a vessel of psychic potential, where anything is possible, if you can only imagine it. Every sentient creature possesses a capacity for unleashing the power of its conscious thought, but only an elect number can directly tap that potential to fully awaken psychic Talent. As someone with Talent, you’re acquainted with the configurations of mind and imagination that can unleash psychic energy in directed ways. But as you gain more mastery, you choose to “flare,” unleashing all your stored psychic potential like a star going nova.
Clothing, armor of your choice, two weapons of your choice (or a weapon and a shield), a trophy from a competition, and $300.
When you perform moves, revisions, or twists that would normally use force or other energy, they instead use the psychic energy of your mind. For example, a Pierce attack is usually attributed to a vector’s skill, but when you use it, the effect is accompanied by a flash of psychic energy at the point where the penetrating attack is made. This alteration changes nothing other than the type of damage.
You get a glimpse of the surface thoughts of a foe, learning something it doesn’t want you to know.
Your mind pulses with psychic power. Make an immediate attack against that foe (using the same stat as the action that caused themajor effect). If the attack succeeds, it inflicts 2 points of psychic damage that ignores Armor.
Choose a class of Talent from those indicated below. Your Talent class indicates where your strongest area of psychic ability lies.
You can telepathically communicate with creatures within short range that you are aware of. If you spend 2 Intellect points, you can attempt to read the surface thoughts of a creature within short range that has no special defenses; if you succeed on an Intellect-based roll, you can read its surface thoughts for up to one minute.
You can hurl a loose object at a target within short range as an attack that deals 4 points of damage if it strikes the target.
You can cause a flammable object not part of another creature’s equipment within long range to burst into flame. Alternatively, you can target a foe within short range as an attack that deals 4 points of fire damage.
You catch a glimpse of what’s going to happen on the following round. You can use this ability to decrease the difficulty of any task you attempt next round by two steps if any variability is possible (such as finding your way through a dark room, trying to juggle, evading a foe’s blow, or attacking a foe who is trying to avoid you).
You deal 1 additional point of damage with physical attacks.
You channel your Talent into movement. When you move as your action, you move as far as you can see, as long as there is an unobstructed path to the location desired. If you could normally move to a location over several actions, you can arrive in one action using this Talent.
You catch a glimpse of what’s going to happen quickly enough to act on it immediately. The difficulty of any task you attempt with your action is decreased by two steps if any variability is possible (such as finding your way through a dark room, trying to juggle, evading a foe’s blow, or attacking a foe who is trying to avoid you).
You give it your all and radiate your psychic ability in a massive flare that attacks all creatures within short range. This special ability allows you to ignore the normal rules for applying Effort; you can use your points in any Pool in any combination to apply Effort, and you can exceed your normal Effort limit if you choose. If you do exceed your normal Effort limit by any amount, after using this ability you fall unconscious for a minute and the difficulty of all tasks you attempt for the following eight hours is increased by one step.
The flare inflicts a minor wound (2 points) to all creatures or objects within the area except you.
Because this is an area attack, adding Effort to increase your damage works differently than it does for single-target attacks: if you apply a level of Effort to increase the damage, add 2 points of damage for each target, and even if you fail your attack roll, all targets in the area still take 1 point of damage per level of Effort applied.
You control the next action of up to four other creatures in immediate range if they take that action within one round. This effect does not grant you mental contact with the targets or the ability to sense what they sense. Each target must be attacked individually. A dominated creature fully remembers that you took control of it.
While you are in a recursion, your mind’s eye becomes a window to the Strange, allowing you to open a physical conduit at a location you can see (within long range).
You cannot use this power on Earth. You can choose your conduit to have one of the following qualities; some options require you to spend more points from your Pool.
Action to initiate.
GM Intrusions: As a person’s dangerous psychic Talent grows, there’s a chance she will begin to Fall. The first time, the PC’s powers go a little wild. The second time, the PC loses control for a round or two. And for the third one (if the PC stays that long), the PC loses control of herself, running away from her friends and everyone else (like Fallen do) for many hours. After that point, a PC should probably think about getting out of Atom Nocturne. If a PC starts in Atom Nocturne, these sorts of mishaps don’t begin to afflict her until at least Tier 3