Powers

While there are no doubt many more incredible abilities available to ascendant beings, information is currently provided for the following. Those entities with such capabilities can use this reference, below, to better define their own aptitudes and limitations, as well as to more fully understand those that may be wielded by their mortal enemies!

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Ability Boost
Type: Reality Control Power, Personal Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: amplification, karma control, logos, metabolic focus, nimiety, power boost, reassignment.

Ability boost allows its possessor to temporarily augment - significantly - any one ability score of their choice. When activated, its wielder can choose either their Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition, or Psyche, and enhance it to a value that is equal to this power in rank - or the value of the enhanced ability +1 CS, whichever is higher. An ability boost of any kind lasts only for 1d10 turns.

Once it wears off, ability boost may not be used again for an hour - at least, not without degrading its overall capability. For each additional use without a one hour 'cool down', ability boost loses -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This is enough to neutralize its use upon abilities greater than its own rank, while gradually reducing its power in all other instances, if used too frequently.

One's Health or Karma sum should be temporarily recalculated to account for the character's new prowess; this can cause problems if he or she takes severe damage before the power wears off, as a negative Health total upon the power's termination affects a body per a Kill result.

Ability Boost may easily be limited by reducing the number of abilities it can temporarily enhance. Constraining it to either physical or mental ability scores is considered a weak limitation (+1 CS or a one point cost reduction), while allowing ability boost to enhance but one ability score is instead a strong limitation (+2 CS or a two point cost reduction). Fighting can count as either a physical or mental ability for this purpose.

Conversely, one may enhance ability boost by allowing it to bolster more than one ability score at once (enhancing the power by one step for each additional ability score so boosted), or with each doubling of duration (2d10 turns of boost would be a weak enhancement, and so on).

Abstraction
Type: Deific Power
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 16 points (flat cost)

Something of a variation on immortality, abstraction is the ability of a being to embody some concept or another. Just about any idea that a sentient being can imagine may be embodied via abstraction, which grants its possessor a life force that will persist forever. Or, at the very least, for as long as at least one mortal entity continues to hold onto the notion which an abstract being has tied themselves to.

Upon acquiring or being created with abstraction, a character will change dramatically. While immortality doesn't cause extensive changes to what makes a person a person, abstraction does - because it ties its possessor's mind, body, and very soul to the zeitgeist, or spirit of the moment. This subconscious undercurrent beneath the thought of all sentient beings bolsters the abstract's existence, but shapes him, her, or it as well.

How this works is that while they may have an independent, distinct personality, the appearance, behavior, and very thought patterns of an abstract entity are strongly influenced by that which they emblematize. This may be somewhat subjective, depending on the player generating the abstract and the Judge presiding over a game featuring this entity, but should at least reflect some common opinion on the subject.

For example, an abstract representing digital information might be wreathed in ephemeral ones and zeroes, look like some sort of grainy, pixelated image, or perhaps even appear like unto a cloud of electrons. Their behavior could be cold and clinical like scientific data, heated and ignorant like a forum troll, or perhaps just incredibly whip-smart - like the speed of digital data transmission itself!

An abstract may allow themselves to be ruled by the preconceived notions others hold about what they represent, or they may instead strive to not only retain their independent persona, but act contrary to what they embody. However, this can be tricky in the face of their inherent, level 3 Compulsiveness quirk, which is built into the power and constantly compels them to toe the line (and whose ACTIONs are never automatic).

While abstracts share two weaknesses with immortals, namely their vulnerability to death either in their home plane or when slain by immortals of equal or greater standing, they aren't vulnerable to total bodily disintegration. As they embody some concept or another, an abstract can reconstitute themselves after their demise even if their body is annihilated - as long as at least one person shares the idea they emblematize.

Instead, an abstract entity will possess a weakness that is related to whatever it is they represent. Abstract entities that embody the idea of fire might have no immunity to death when subjected to watery attacks or when assaulted while under water, for example, or one who has taken the concept of beards under their wing could be completely vulnerable to assaults with a razor - either conventional or electric!

Finally, the other powers an abstract entity possesses should be used to better represent their pet concept. Not all of them need to do so, mind you, but the more convincing an abstract is in showcasing their adopted notion, the better their ability to cause it to spread far and wide. And the more people that hold truck with it, the more faith an abstract can generate to further their ends - whatever they may be.

Aciurgy
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, resuscitation, regeneration / others.

Aciurgy is the paranormal power to modify living tissues. A sort of super-human medical ability, aciurgy can be used to perform procedures that generally require years of academic study and professional experience to execute competently. On the other hand, since it is of super-human effectiveness, aciurgy can also be used to indulge in medical behavior that is highly irregular - if not normally impossible!

While aciurgy is in use, the life force of its recipients (or victims) will be artificially maintained, its wielder able to engage in all manner of procedures both simple and arcane. Whether simply removing a sliver or temporarily disassembling his or her patient, the character with aciurgy can complete their work with the assurance that the subject of this power will not die in the process of it.

In other words, aciurgy itself doesn't cause damage, no matter how extreme the work done with it is. Of course, if someone with aciurgy completely takes the subject of its use apart and leaves them that way, said subject might be in a bit of a pickle! Such 'abandonment' can indeed cause damage, based on the nature of the work left undone (whether intentionally or otherwise), at the Judge's discretion.

One can perform any conventional medical procedure using aciurgy, from liposuction to a heart transplant, with but a green power ACTION. When engaging in wildly irregular operations, including brain transplants and installing parts where they don't belong, an aciurgeon must pass a yellow ACTION. This power can even be used to engage in cross-species transplants and unnatural modifications on a red power ACTION.

When using aciurgy, most conventional medical concerns are rendered moot. Whether rotating limbs around for fun or even installing body parts foreign to one's anatomy, everything is 'wired' such that it will work as if the end result was one's default state. Tissue rejection is simply not an issue, and an organism can persist and function indefinitely despite this power's use - assuming nothing else kills it, that is.

Aciurgy most definitely counts as a healing power for the purposes of metabolic overload, whether used to heal or to... modify. It requires one be in physical contact with the subject to work. Furthermore, should they wish to, subjects can resist the use of aciurgy by passing an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its power rank (assuming they lack resistance to metabolic or warping attacks).

Additional Limbs
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points per bonus action or speed increase
Related Powers: additional organs, super speed, various physical weaponry powers that provide bonus limbs.

This 'power' is representative of characters that possess more limbs than normal, as is determined by standard human anatomy - or any other abilities they may happen to possess. It is most often used to describe beings that do not fit the bipedal norm, that being two limbs for manipulation and two limbs for locomotion, but can also provide extras of other limbs granted by the various physical weaponry powers.

Extra manipulators grant additional actions with them each turn. This requires a doubling of the limbs in question, whether they are one's standard manipulators or are provided by other powers. A four-armed wrestler gains one extra attack with them via this power, for example, while a mutant with a prehensile tail receives two extra tail attacks if given four such extremities (since that power already offers one).

Similarly, each doubling of locomotive limbs grants characters a +1 CS to their ability scores for the purposes of movement. An extradimensional entity with an extra set of wings would fly +1 CS faster than one with only one pair, for a like value of Strength, while an arachnoid creature with eight legs would gain a +2 CS bonus when determining their movement, whether zipping along the ground or skittering up the walls.

If limbs can double as both manipulators and a source of locomotion, the benefits provided by their supernumerary nature may apply apply to both the number of one's actions and their motions - though not simultaneously. With enough limbs, however, the net bonus provided for each use can be divided up between both purposes if desired, giving a character vastly superior versatility.

An alien featuring eight tentacles, which can handle objects as well as pull one about, would fit this criteria. Having these limbs instead of ordinary arms and legs, and double the normal number at that, would let them use half for motion and half for action, gaining a +1 CS for movement purposes and an extra attack when half are used for each, or double one or the other if all eight were dedicated to a singular purpose.

Additional Organs
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Cost: 2 points per bonus provided
Related Powers: additional limbs, various powers that the bonus parts can provide.

This 'power' is representative of characters that possess more organs than normal, as is determined by standard human anatomy. An extra (or redundant) organ - or set therein - will generally provide its possessor a static bonus, one which is active at all times... unless either the original(s) or the duplicate(s) are rendered inoperable through physical injury or other means.

Common examples of additional organs include the following:

• Brains: an additional brain can give characters a +1 CS to their Reason score - and possibly another personality!
• Ears: spare ears aid both hearing in general (+1 CS to sound-based Intuition ACTION rolls) as well as determining the direction a sound came from. Spare acoustic organs might readily allow a character to manifest a sonar sense (purchased separately).
• Eyes: one can have spare eyes anywhere they'll reasonably fit, really, and can use this for either a +1 CS to visual Intuition ACTIONs or to obtain circular vision. Specialized, light-sensitive pits can often perform this same task - if constantly uncovered.
• Glands: spare glands can amplify the effects of ordinary organs considerably. Multiple pituitary or adrenal glands, for instance, might drastically alter one's biochemistry (or at least justify that Adrenal Boost quirk).
• Hearts: possessing two hearts is a great way to enhance one's stamina, raising a body's Endurance rank by +1 CS - and making one less likely to die of cardiac arrest for any reason.
• Muscles: characters with superfluous muscle tissue enjoy a +1 CS increase to their Strength score - but probably have to eat a lot more than usual to sustain that mass of tissue.
• Redundant Organs: redundant, spare vital organs increase one's base Health point total by fifty percent.

Adhesion
Type: Matter Control Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clinging, friction control.

Adhesion is the ability to bind two or more objects together on the atomic level. This may involve physically gluing them together, altering the molecular structure of each such that they merge into a singular whole, or even engaging in molecular charge suppression to force them to stick. Such stickiness only affects the surfaces of objects, but can hold them together with considerable strength.

To adhere two objects, they must be in physical contact with each other. If adhesion is caused by some sort of chemical (such as a bottle of home-brewed mega glue, or perhaps a secretion of the character's), the agent must first be applied directly to the spot the two objects will be stuck together. If the agency of adhesion is a power of some sort, simply touching both simultaneously will suffice.

Each turn adhesion is applied to two objects, the strength of the binding between them will increase by +1 CS. For example, one turn of adhesion will produce a Feeble (2) strength bond, while ten would make the strength of such Unearthly (100). However, the adhesion power is limited such that it cannot produce a bond with a strength greater than its own power rank.

Adhesion can last for a considerable amount of time. A white power ACTION rolled when using adhesion allows its effects to last for a number of turns equal to its power rank number, while a green power ACTION extends this period of time from turns to minutes. A yellow adhesion ACTION stretches the length of adhesion out to a like number of hours, while a red ACTION makes the effects of adhesion permanent.

Breaking the bond instilled by adhesion requires overcoming the strength of the bond it has created - or undermining the surface of one or both objects glued together. Flesh will yield much easier than concrete, so gluing people to the street means they must peel or cut themselves free if they can't dislodge the bond between them and it. Doing this generally inflicts from Poor (4) to Good (10) Edged Attack damage to someone.

The specific amount, of course, depends on how much of a person's flesh is removed in the process of tearing them away from an object they've been molecularly bonded to.

Adjoining
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Adjoining is one of the thirteen known group spells available to mages. It includes a collection of abilities that allow the caster to communicate with others, in a variety of different fashions, no matter how alien said others may be. Once a day, upon first casting the adjoining spell, a wizard may choose from any one of the following six spell effects, at which point adjoining's outcome will be set for that day:

Animal Sympathy, Empathy, Plant Sympathy, Sending, Telepathy, or Translation.

However, should the caster of adjoining wish to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, adjoining will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though mages achieving a 'bonus' result may choose adjoining's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Admittance
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

This convenient universal spell allows a thaumaturge to focus his or her will upon any lock, door, or container, causing it to open no matter how complex it may be. Whether it is simply a mechanical padlock or some fancy electronic gewgaw, the impediment to the caster's desire will cease to be such. All that is required to make this happen is a successful ACTION roll.

Keep in mind that this spell will only unlock a lock, and open up what it was protecting to the outside world. Any traps or sensors set to trigger upon the opening of said lock or door are not sidestepped by this spell. The wizard using admittance may need an additional spell or capability to bypass them - or simply have a patsy absorb the potential damage, instead.

Adrenal Boost
Type: Metapsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)

This potent ability allows its wielder to release a controlled burst of adrenaline into his or her system at will. This boost of a naturally occurring chemical, when released unnaturally, lets the wielder of this ability momentarily increase their Strength by +1 CS for a short period of time - namely, 1d10 turns. When this ability wears off, the character suffers a -1 CS to their Strength for twice the duration of its enhancement.

Adrenal boost readily works in conjunction with the adrenal surge quirk - they're functionally the same, after all. A character with both capabilities can gain a +2 CS boost while both are active, though when they wear off the character is in for something of a crash. Once the adrenaline is gone, he or she will suffer a -2 CS to their Strength score for quadruple the duration of its enhancement.

One cannot wield adrenal boost while they are still recovering from a previous use of the ability.

Adrenal Vampirism
Type: Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The power of adrenal vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the biochemical energies of those in his or her vicinity. This ability requires physical contact with its target, who is allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION against its intensity to resist the effect. If this ACTION roll fails, the adrenal vampire may temporarily drain a considerable amount of the Strength and Endurance scores of their foes.

This power may consume a number of points from said abilities equal to its power rank, adding them in turn to the equivalent scores of its wielder. There is an upper limit to this enhancement, however, being equal to either their original values +1 CS or the adrenal vampirism power rank - whichever of the two is higher. This boost will last for 1d10 turns, at which point the adrenal vampire's abilities will return to normal.

When drained, a victim's Strength and Endurance scores have a bottom functional limit of Feeble (2) rank. If drained beyond this point, the target of this ability must pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll, at their current, diminished level, or fall unconscious. However, after 1d10 turns have passed, they will recover lost ranks at a rate of +1 CS per turn, until their scores return to normal.

Keep in mind that changes in ability scores affect the Health sum of both the wielder of this ability and the target, each of which will need to be recalculated on the fly as they are changed.

Age Control / Others
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Talent, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: age control / self, cure disease, decontamination, detoxification, healing / others, regeneration / others, resurrection, resuscitation.

Wielding this ability, a character can change the 'clock' on an organism, seemingly altering its age. Age control / others can increase or decrease a target's apparent age by a number of years that is equal to its power rank number. This power only functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, and targets may resist the power if they can pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its rank as an opposing intensity.

Age control / others can modify the age of its target as is desired, though the effects of such sudden, onset aging are rapidly debilitating. On average, a character will lose -1 CS of one physical and one mental ability score for each decade of aging past their 'prime'. If reverting someone to a child-like state, apply this -1 CS for every four years before they reached adulthood.

Of course, there's also the lovely side effects that such extremes of age can bring, including brittle bones, being unable to reach the pedals, etc.

If a character is aged so old that they should be long dead and buried, or is rendered so young that their age would be a negative number, they will simply vanish in a puff of light and smoke. This doesn't actually kill the target, so much as file them and their mass away in another dimension temporarily, their existence having momentarily been rendered moot.

The effects of age control / others generally only lasts for a short period of time. A green power ACTION will let the power's effects last a number of turns equal to its power rank number, while a yellow ACTION roll multiplies this amount of time by ten, and a red ACTION extends it to a like number of hours. It occasionally lasts longer, however, acting to permanently renew, revitalize, or hobble its target.

Occurrences of this stripe are most often accompanied by other weird happenings going on with the character at the same time, such as radiation exposure, Probability Fallout, and the like. They're not the sort of thing one can really bank on in play, they just sort of 'happen'; an instance of permanent age modification is most likely something the Judge will use to advance the plot somehow.

Mind you, this effect can be obtained regularly as an extreme enhancement to age control / others. Such enhancements often take the form of revolutionary, futuristic aging treatments, the weird emanations of 'exotic' matter characters might blunder into, or other such oddities. Aging too far either direction in a 'permanent' state is considered a lethal attack, however - something to bear in mind.

Age Control / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: age control / others, longevity, regeneration, regenerative armor.

The curious ability of age control allows its possessor to, for all intents and purposes, alter his or her apparent age. One may do so, in either direction, by a number of years equal to this power's rank number. There is no upper limit to the age a character can assume, though certain extremes can be increasingly dangerous. Advanced age makes one particularly injury-prone, while a prenatal state makes one helpless.

While at a differing age, one gains all the benefits and penalties of such a change. One might receive a senior citizen discount while roaming around as a centenarian, but they'd be more likely to fall and break a hip. Similarly, being incredibly young might let someone get away with things that an adult otherwise couldn't, though they're also less physically capable at the same time.

If a character possessing longevity uses this ability, their age will be altered as if they did not have that ability in the first place (otherwise, the two powers would be mutually exclusive).

Aggregation
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, device generation, matter absorption, matter duplication, matter generation, organism generation, summoning, teleformation, teleportation, teleportation / others, transmutation.

Aggregation is the ability to summon forth materials from far and wide, collecting them in a single location. Said materials can be just about anything the character desires, as long as they actually exist, at least, ranging from a glass of water to a pile of gold to a mountain of gophers! In lieu of matter generation or transmutation, aggregation is a great way to assemble materials for a given project - and fast!

This power can draw forth all kinds of items or substances, within a few constraints. The first is that aggregation can only aggregate a finite amount of material at a time. Each turn aggregation is used, it may collect its power rank number in pounds from the surrounding environment. If a character wishes to aggregate a larger amount of material, he or she simply has to spend the appropriate number of turns.

For example, let us say Carl the Constructor is attempting to gather materials for a new project he has in mind with his Excellent (20) ranked aggregation. He intends to build a gleaming skyscraper out on his vast plot of land in Arizona. To start with, Carl aggregates the readily available materials required to create the concrete foundation - and can summon forth twenty pounds of it each turn, until he has what he needs.

Aggregation's second constraint is that the substance in question must actually be present within range of this power's wielder for it to function properly; aggregation works on desired items or substances within Middle range of its possessor. If there isn't enough of whatever the character is looking for, the power will 'only' collect every last scrap of the desired material within range.

As Carl's construction proceeds apace, he finds himself thinking that an osmium alloy frame for his building would be awesome. The problem is that there isn't that much osmium on the earth - particularly within his nominal twenty area (half mile) range. Making a ruling, the Judge decides that he collects every last bit of osmium within a twenty area sphere, and generously dumps a few grams of the metal at Carl's feet.

The third limitation of aggregation is that it cannot summon parts of (i.e., disassemble) a continuous object. This can be a problem if the only source of whatever the character is aggregating is in a chunk larger than they can manage in one turn. To agglomerate larger objects, the possessor of this power must focus it on them for a number of turns equal to their weight divided by its power rank number.

When the osmium idea fell through, Carl decided to go with an ordinary steel frame for his modern tower. Luckily, the land he bought was relatively well-populated with iron ore, and he gained a large amount of it somewhat quickly. However, the final chunk of available iron was all lumped together in a one-ton mass. To aggregate this lump of metal, Carl had to focus his power on it for one hundred turns!

The complexity of what the character is attempting to aggregate will determine the difficulty of the required ACTION roll. A green ACTION can conjure forth simple substances, ranging from atomic gold to A+ blood. Yellow power ACTION rolls are necessary when collecting manufactured items, whether they be a pile of pennies or the latest smartphones. Red power ACTIONs can even summon living beings, if the character wants!

Most of the materials Carl was attempting to aggregate for the eventual construction of his tower were inert, mundane compounds, so he only required green power ACTIONs when drawing them forth. However, that last bit of metal was surprisingly difficult to collect, requiring a yellow power ACTION. Imagine Carl's shock when, upon the execution of this power, that lump of metal turned out to be an alien probe buried on his land!

Alchemical Analysis
Type: Alchemy Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding this utility spell, an alchemist can analyze a compound and determine just what it's made of. When used against 'mundane' concoctions, an alchemist can determine what went into making it with a mere green spell ACTION. This allows an alchemist to easily break down the ingredients list of almost anything, even if the spell doesn't explain the process used to produce the final result.

On the other hand, if used on a magical formula, the alchemist must pass their ACTION against the rank that compound provides upon consumption. This is never an automatic ACTION, as magic alters the very nature of a thing it is mixed into, and deciphering what went into a magical recipe is always a bit tricky. If this ACTION is successful, the alchemist will at least know what was used to make a magical formula.

Even if, again, he or she doesn't know how a substance's component materials were enchanted beforehand, much less the specific instructions to reproduce it. However, this often underrated ability makes it a lot easier for alchemists to produce new magical compounds on their own - namely, by seeing what others put into making them.

Alteration
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Alteration is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to change their own body for the better, sometimes drastically so, as the need arises. Once a day, upon first casting the Alteration spell, a mage may choose any one of the following six spell effects, at which point alteration's outcome will be set for the rest of the day:

Contact Absorption, Growth / Self, Healing / Self, Invisibility / Self, Reformation, or Shrinking / Self.

However, should the caster of alteration wish to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, alteration will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though sorcerers achieving a 'bonus' result may choose alteration's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Amplification
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, attenuation, buttress, karma control, power amplification, psionic amplification, sorcerous amplification, theonic amplification.

Amplification is a power which lets its wielder enhance - significantly - the performance of another person's ability scores. When activated, the amplifier can choose to boost the Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason, Intuition, or Psyche of their target, and enhance it to a value that is equal to this power in rank - or the value of the enhanced ability +1 CS, whichever of the two is higher.

The effects of amplification last only 1d10 turns, unless specifically concentrated upon. Once it wears off, amplification cannot be used on the same ability score of the same target for an hour - without degrading its overall effectiveness, that is. For each additional use without this 'cool down' period, reduce the effective boost that amplification can provide by -1 CS - until it offers no further benefit.

One's Health or Karma sum should be temporarily recalculated to account for the character's bolstered abilities. This can cause problems if he or she takes severe damage before the power wears off, as a negative Health total upon the power's termination affects a body per a Kill result.

Amplification may easily be limited by reducing the number of abilities it can temporarily enhance. Cutting it back to either physical or mental ability scores is considered a weak limitation (+1 CS or one point cost reduction), while allowing amplification to enhance but one ability score is instead a strong limitation (+2 CS or two point cost reduction). Fighting can count as either a physical or mental ability for this purpose.

Amplification works within Very Near distance of its possessor.

Anchor
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: space control, temporal static.

By means of the anchor ability, a character binds themselves to their current trajectory in seven-dimensional space. What this means is that, once anchor is invoked, its wielder will continue to move as he or she was before, and cannot easily be dislodged from said movement. Typically, this is used to root a body in place, on say a floor, wall, or ceiling, to hold them steady for other purposes.

So what's all this business about trajectory? No matter where you are in the world, you're always moving. While standing motionless, your body is still on a planetary body that is rotating while orbiting a star that is itself circling a galactic core, etc. You're also continually moving through time, albeit at the same rate everyone else usually is.

Anchor merely ensures you don't stray from this path, as the ability sees it, from its point of activation. This means that upon being invoked, anchor will prevent you from being swayed from your current course, whether you were stationary or on the move. It also keeps you from being shifted in time or space - or through other dimensions. Defeating an anchor requires overwhelming its power rank.

While using anchor in a (relatively) stationary position is a simple proposition, using it while on the move can be fraught with peril, especially if you encounter items in your path. Loose objects, like water, bowling pins, or even people, will simply be shoved out of the way. But a larger object, such as a concrete bunker, will not. Resolve such collisions per a charging attack, based on the anchor power rank.

If the MS of this object or structure exceeds the rank of the anchor ability, it will disrupt the anchor and cause it to immediately fail. Either way, the anchored character is immune to the damage caused by such attacks, which allows them to (with an anchor power of high enough rank) inflict serious damage on large and inanimate objects ranging from trees to battleships.

Animal Control
Type: Biological Control Power, Empathic Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, biological sense, empathy, organism generation, plant control, summoning.

While animal sympathy allows one to 'speak' with non-sentient animal life forms of various kinds, animal control enables its wielder to actually direct their actions! This generally requires but a green power ACTION roll, since defeating an animal's Psyche score is most often child's play, though such an ACTION is never considered automatic in nature. Special considerations might make this action considerably more difficult, however.

A pet, for instance, will not readily turn against its owner - assuming it is treated well. The act of turning such animals against their friends, however temporarily, requires a yellow power ACTION. A special animal companion, one which engages in battle alongside its owner, can only be turned against that person on a red power ACTION roll - these animals are highly disciplined and especially attached to their human.

Alternately, an animal controller can attempt to take control of a large number of animals at once (a swarm of insects, a school of fish, and so on). This also requires a yellow power ACTION roll, as touching the minds of that many animals is rather involved. This ACTION must be repeated each turn, or else the grouping of animals will rapidly resume control of their own destinies, such as they are.

At any rate, once control is achieved, an animal controller can direct his or her thrall(s) to perform any action desired. Controlled animals will perform these tasks to the best of their ability, and do not creatively interpret their instructions. This is why it's important for an animal controller to plainly explain, usually with small words, what he or she wants the animal to do. They're not intelligent, after all!

Control of an animal generally lasts for 1d10 turns per application of this power, unless its wielder specifically focuses on maintaining his or her influence for longer. It can affect any animal within Near distance of its possessor, unless said animal is some sort of special companion of their own; if this is the case, the range of animal control is extended to Middle distances.

An animal controller can significantly enhance this ability with limitations, if desired. A weak limitation might involve constraining animal control to a general animal class (birds, mammals), a strong limitation would restrain the power further (primates, spiders), a very strong limitation would only work on specific species (osprey, red frog crab), and an extreme limitation would work only on a specific animal (or group of such).

Animal Hybridization / Others
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / self, animal control, gestalting, growth / others, plant hybridization / others, shrinking / others, topological control, transformation / others.

This potent ability allows its wielder to modify other life forms, namely by combining their inherent characteristics with that of animal life! When this power is first gained, one can only add the characteristics of one form of animal to others. This represents a deep familiarity with the physiology of said animal type, and additional familiarities (i.e., animal forms) can be obtained as power stunts.

Any living creature can be the recipient of such hybridization, whether it is a human, a dog, or even a tree. Such a transformation can be either partial or total, depending on the whims of this power's possessor. This can either give an affected life form the abilities of the new animal type, or change them fully into the chosen animal form (altering their physical ability scores, if applicable, appropriately).

Abilities gained by the target of this power will typically function at a maximum rank that is equal to its own. They may operate at less, depending on the nature of the transformations it can cause, but are limited in such a fashion to represent the ability of this power's possessor to emulate their chosen form of animal life. Physical weaponry isn't normally affected by this limitation, however, since it usually uses set modifiers.

A vital consideration is the both the size of the target and the nature of a transformation, if it is complete. Turning a redwood tree into a fly would make for an immense fly, while transforming a cricket into a tyrannosaurus rex would create an absolutely tiny dinosaur. This problem cannot be bypassed without use of the growth / others and shrinking / others abilities (either as separate powers or as power stuns).

Another thing to bear in mind is that the target will retain whatever cognitive abilities it usually possesses, even if such a characteristic would normally be different in its final form. A tree transformed into a dog will be quite clueless about almost everything, at least at first, while a dog given opposable thumbs may take some time to figure out how to properly use them.

Wielding animal hybridization / others requires physical contact with the target. The target can avoid the effects of this power by preventing physical contact with its wielder - or having resistance to metabolic attacks. The effects of changes, whether partial or complete, take place almost instantly; the target of this power can be an attack dog one second and a sheep the next - which may confound it considerably!

Generally, the transformative effects of this power are transient in nature. On a green power ACTION, it will last for a number of turns equal to its power rank number, yellow successes raise this to a number of minutes equal to the power rank number, and a red ACTION roll will extend the time such a transformation lasts a number of hours equal to the power rank number!

On rare occurrences, this power's effects can be permanent. The wielder of animal hybridization / others has no control over this; it's simply something that just 'happens' sometimes. Perhaps something occurred to that fern you turned into a rodent that caused it to remain in that state, or the tusks you gave that kid to amuse yourself agreed with their physiology so well that they just sort of 'stuck'.

The Judge is the final arbiter of such instances, which occasionally gives him or her a tool to introduce quirky additions or alterations to the campaign.

Animal Hybridization / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, animal sympathy, plant hybridization, shape change.

Animal hybridization is the process of transforming oneself into another creature. This involves an innate familiarity with the biological processes of said animal, which lets the character with this ability mold their bodily functions and anatomy until it changes from its original state into the new one. Such transformations may be partial (adopting some traits of the animal) or complete (adopting the full form of the animal).

Complete transformations allow the wielder of this ability to use all of the creature's ability scores and special powers - including its Health points. Visually, the character will appear to be a perfectly normal specimen of the animal species, though they'll retain the same scent, still being genetically human (or whatever their original form is). The character will also retain their original intellect while transformed.

Even if this power involves changing one's form into a non-sentient creature as a general matter of course.

Partial transformations allow the wielder of this ability to pick and choose which facets of his or her anatomy are changed. One might simply want the claws of a lion, instead of changing into one outright. This allows one to use animal hybridization more discreetly if desired, either adopting specific physical capabilities or simply changing one's appearance for purely cosmetic reasons (like wearing a mane).

When this ability is first gained, its possessor may originally only transform into one specific kind of animal, but may adopt additional transformations (into different animals) as a power stunt for each. Typically, 'powers' gained by the use of this ability are limited to the animal hybridization rank in effectiveness - save for powers such as physical weaponry, which have no specific rank.

Animal Sympathy
Type: Biological Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal control, animal hybridization / self, animal hybridization / self, biological sense, device sympathy, empathy, linguistics, object sympathy, organic circuitry, organism generation, plant sympathy, summoning.

Animal sympathy is the ability to mentally communicate with non-sentient animal life forms. One can usually tell whether or not this power will work on a given creature by the presence or absence of a Karma score - Karma denotes free will, the presence of a soul, and all that business. The target of this power, then, can include beings ranging from amoebas to dinosaurs, though the more complex they are, the better.

More empathic than telepathic in nature, animal sympathy lets its wielder get inside the head of its target, to have a conversation of sorts with it. Since they aren't intelligent, animals will generally prove to be somewhat simplistic in communication. They can definitely share their impressions of the world and everything in it, such as they are, as well as pass on information about things they've experienced.

The quality of such recollections depend on how advanced an animal form is. Mammals of any stripe, being similar to one's own biology, can be communicated with on a green power ACTION. Yellow ACTION rolls are necessary to speak with somewhat different life forms, whether they're birds or reptiles. One can even talk to insects and amoebas and the like, though such 'alien' life forms require a red ACTION with this power.

Animal sympathy generally functions within Near range of its wielder. Furthermore, it usually requires that the wielder of this power and its target can sense each other through mundane means as well. This is not necessary if the character with animal sympathy knows the target of this power, and its range is extended to Middle distance in the event of communications with a trusted animal partner.

Annulment
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

This handy enchantment allows a sorcerer to negate the effects of a spell, disrupting the matrix of energies that keep it active and causing it to fail. This is not an explosive failure, at least not directly; by annulling a spell, a wizard simply causes it to stop functioning. Of course, if said spell was preventing something calamitous from occurring, explosions may very well result.

Annulment works by comparing its spell rank against the spell to be canceled. This functions per the normal intensity rules, though no annulment will ever be automatic - negating sorcery is always a bit complicated, no matter its strength. Whether or not this ACTION is successful, the thaumaturge whose spell was attacked by annulment will know what happened, if it is a spell they are actively maintaining.

While this effect is permanent on ordinary spells, it is not so on magical objects. An annulment spell can temporarily prevent the magic portions of items from working for 1d10 turns, a duration that applies to both regular items and alchemical concoctions. If an annulled potion (or whatever) is imbibed, its effects cannot start until the annulment expires.

Anonymity
Type: Entreatism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

This spell offers exactly what is described on the tin, so to speak, for the enterprising entreatist. What anonymity does is generally 'mask' the caster's identity to make him or her appear to be no one special. By seeming nondescript, an entreatist can avoid being noticed by whatever entities they call on for power, which is a good thing when you have to lean on one source of power excessively.

When cast, anonymity will last for 1d10 turns by itself, though a mage may continue to keep this spell going after this time by actively maintaining it. Assuming a successful spell ACTION, nothing that readily identifies the caster will be 'given up' when entreating any particular entity or place of power, which does assist a caster in keeping themselves off the hook with said entities.

This can be done for proactive or reactive reasons. An entreatist may want to avoid generating notice in the first place, or alternately may have already gained such notice, and is trying to avoid building more notoriety with a given source of power. Either way, it works rather well as long as it is used intelligently; sometimes, even when this spell is in play, an entity may take notice of the person drawing power from it.

This is a situational problem more than anything else. For instance, an entreatist may try to draw power from an odd locale the entity has never heard of before, or perhaps he or she tries to do so from ground actively hostile to their source. When this occurs, that power source may also take notice of the anonymity spell, which can cause further complications for the caster down the line.

In the end, it comes down on the entreatist to decide when the best time to be anonymous is, and when he or she should instead broadcast their identity for the whole multiverse to see.

Antideionic Attack
Type: Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A singularly potent way to assault a deific being, this ability allows its possessor to draw forth a negatively charged bundle of the evolved life force which marks a deific being as such. This bundle takes the form of an energy attack, one which inflicts power rank Deionic (De) damage with each devastating use, a type of assault that few individuals have the capability to withstand for long.

While few mortal defenses are proof against an antideionic attack, this power is also quite effective against those that are deific in nature. When wielded against any protection that has its basis in deionic energies, like as an aura of such or perhaps a god-forged armor suit of some kind, an antideionic attack will take on an Armor Piercing component. Antideionic attacks function within Near distance of this power's possessor.

Direct exposure to antideionic energy prompts a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its power rank, the failure of which will prevent the use of one's theonic powers for 1d10 turns. This represents the mutual annihilation caused by deionic / antideionic energy interaction, and the time required for one to replenish their supply of deific energy afterwards - along with a bit of radiation-induced fatigue.

Antigravity
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: damage reduction, deflection, flight, gravity control, hostility screen, super flight, space control.

With gravity being defined as the attractive force that all matter exerts on other matter, antigravity is thus a repulsive force, working instead to push all matter away. In its basic form, antigravity can be used to apply this repulsive force to any objects its wielder desires, as long as they are within Near distance of their person. This force overcomes gravity and acts to separate these objects with power rank strength.

Antigravity can be applied in a field effect, covering everything within range, or simply made to work on discrete objects. This lends itself to a wide variety of uses, from violently pushing an attacker away from oneself to casting all loose objects in the area far into the sky! Moving targets can avoid this effect with a dodge maneuver, if specifically targeted, as this power requires an Agility ACTION to affect them.

In addition to the basic effects of this power, antigravity can be used to develop the following (and more) power stunts:

* Antigravity Well: instead of making the repulsive power of antigravity work between two or more objects, the wielder of this power can simply craft an antigravity well. This is one object that exerts antigravity on everything around it, thus acting as a repulsion field of power rank strength. Depending on relative masses between objects involved, the antigravity well may be caused to 'bounce' all over the area.

* Damage Reduction / Deflection: by projecting antigravitational waves, the character with this power can blunt both the accuracy and intensity of damage delivered through a physical medium. This applies to most physical attacks, save for perhaps Force damage, unless it is delivered by a material medium (such as a column of air). This stunt usually applies 1 CS of both forms of mitigation (unless bought at a higher level, that is).

* Flight: by making one's body emit antigravity until it overwhelms local gravity conditions, the character with this power can achieve flight! This effect works at the power rank -1 CS, as some energy is lost simply resisting the tug of the earth (or whatever surface is close by). A character with antigravity can steer by projecting antigravitational energy in the direction opposite their intended destination.

* Repulsor Beam: refining one's antigravity into a concussive pulse, the possessor of this ability can simulate the effects of the force blast power. This blast of repulsive energy inflicts Force damage on whatever it hits, and is also quite likely to inflict a Slam result as well. If the damage inflicted is higher than the weight intensity of the target, he or she must check against a Slam even if such a result was not rolled!

Antimagic Generation
Type: Psimantic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Antimagic is a curious, normalizing phenomenon which acts to prevent spellcasters from manipulating the probabilities around them that allow magic to manifest. When cast into the environment, antimagic may be used to inflict power rank Sorcerous damage, damage which carries an Armor Piercing component against magical defenses - since antimagic is the natural opposite of all magical abilities.

Furthermore, a character struck with antimagic must pass a Psyche ACTION against the antimagic damage suffered or lose the ability to wield magic, for up to 1d10 turns after exposure to the stuff. Antimagic is thus a favorite form of attack for those who dislike sorcerers and their ilk, as it may weaken them enough that mundane foes can make short work of them - either due to the direct damage antimagic causes or its side effects.

This negation effect cuts both ways. While generating antimagic, a character cannot wield any sorcery of his or her own. Any spell the antimagician is currently maintaining is negated upon using this power. On the other hand, a clever use of this limitation is to negate the effects of other magic wielded against oneself by making use of this ability after being subject to hostile sorcery.

Antimagic generation functions within Near distance of its wielder.

Antimatter
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: force field, matter generation.

A specialized form of matter generation, the antimatter power allows its wielder to create minute amounts of antimatter (hence the name). The amounts created are small because of the tremendous energy consumed in performing this feat, and each turn this ability is used, its possessor loses one Health point in exchange. But once the cost is 'paid', the wielder of this power will have some antimatter for their own, personal use.

The problem with this is that antimatter annihilates spectacularly upon contact with conventional matter. This annihilation involves an explosive discharge of energy in the form of gamma radiation, which blankets the detonation area fully. This blast inflicts power rank 2x AP Energy damage, and carries an SD radiation effect, which inflicts Metabolic damage as long as it persists.

To generate significant amounts of antimatter, one must make use of protective, vacuum-sealed force fields, which prevent antimatter from coming into contact with ordinary mass of any stripe. This allows one to build up enough antimatter to perform more practical tasks with it, ranging from a study of the properties of such bizarre matter to creating fuel to power reactors or even to serve as the payload for weapons!

For every doubling of time used to generate antimatter, one can improve the intensity of such (for the purposes of explosive annihilation) by +1 CS. Each turn this is done, however, the space affected by such a blast is increased by one area. For example, making antimatter in a protective vacuum bubble for eight turns increases the damage caused upon its collapse by +3 CS, and said blast would cover eight areas!

The difficulty in doing this, however, is that the force field must match the intensity of the potential resultant explosion to contain such large amounts of the volatile antimatter. One with a Feeble (2) ranked antimatter power could conceivably generate enough material (with time) to produce a Shift Z (500) intensity blast, but they would require a force field of like power to contain it beforehand.

The creation of such force fields is not an inherent function of this ability, and must be wielded separately - either as a technological aid or a distinct super-power. Antimatter itself only functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, making it difficult to use offensively without negatively affecting oneself - particularly when creating very large amounts of the material for destructive purposes.

Antipsion Generation
Type: Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A specialized form of energy generation, antipsion generation allows its wielder to emit raw antipsions. Antipsions are similar to psions, save that they hold an opposing psionic 'charge'. They thus operate in the same basic fashion, and when used by this ability can be emitted in a raw, unshaped form. Thus, one can typically only use antipsion generation in one specific manner - as a devastating attack!

When invoked, antipsion generation allows its wielder to fire a blast of raw mental energies at anything within Near distance. This beam acts like an energy attack, but affects the protection of its target (if said target has any) per Karmic damage. Thus it can even be used to damage inanimate objects, possibly wrecking them in the process.

The trick is such energies tend to cut through defenses comprised primarily of psionic energies quite handily. If used against such a defensive ability, an antipsion blast will carry an Armor Piercing effect, drastically increasing the damage it can inflict. This might also prevent the target from using psionic powers, as the antipsions saturating his or her body eliminate their own, stored energies on contact.

Direct antipsion exposure in a blast form prompts a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the antipsion generation power rank, the failure of which will prevent the use of one's psionics for 1d10 turns. This represents the nuclear annihilation caused by psion / antipsion interaction, and the time required for one to replenish their supply of psionic energy after such - along with a bit of radiation-induced fatigue.

This is a double-edged sword, however. You see, while generating antipsions, a psi cannot wield any of his or her ordinary psionics themselves - save for this one. The only exception to this rule is if they have polarized any of their psionics beforehand. This requires the polarization ability, of course, and usually blocks up most of one's maintainable powers at any given point in time, but can be a devastatingly effective strategy.

Apotheosis
Type: Theonic Art, Deific Power
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)

A character may work hard to garner the faith of mortal beings, and might even be able to avoid death now and then thanks to their powers - or sheer luck. However, this alone does not make him or her an immortal being. Ascending from the mortal to the immortal takes an evolution of one's life force, prompting it to change from one state to the other, and is rarely an easy task to manage.

Apotheosis, the process of becoming divine, can occur through a variety of different methods, as our fiction readily demonstrates. On occasion, one can find that which is divine within themselves through intense introspection and soul-searching. Alternately, this can happen as a result of interaction with items or energies beyond mortal ken. Other deific beings may even awaken one's divinity for reasons all their own.

No matter how one manages it, an apotheosis marks an individual as more than mortal. However, this does not necessarily render them immune to death. When a character's spark of divinity is first ignited, they become a demigod, a being who can still die permanently - but has one 'extra' life. What this means is that, if their other powers don't spare them from death, a demigod has at least one 'do-over' ready to bail them out.

After acquiring this 'extra' life, a demigod may work hard to acquire more. Each additional life is acquired through the completion of a grand quest, though a would-be immortal may not know what such quests entail at first. In fact, he or she may have to do research to determine which tasks they must complete to improve their bid for immortality, before actually going through with each quest in question.

Through hard work and intense dedication, a demigod can eventually pile up enough lives to ascend to true immortality. The tipping point is thirteen extra lives; once this amount is reached, the demigod is therefore considered a god, and subsequently has an infinite amount of lives to lean on. This may seem the zenith of one's career, but it is most often just the end of the beginning for most immortal characters.

Apotheosis itself has no rank number to speak of; one either possesses a degree of immortality or they do not. During character generation, apotheosis costs a player either one power slot (when generating a character randomly) or four points (when generating a character systematically). If a character acquires this ability after character generation, simply calculate its Karma costs normally.

Artificial Power Source
Type: Technopsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

One of the major weaknesses of advanced technology is the incredible power requirements involved. Whether you're talking about the immense energy necessary to fire a practical laser weapon or to propel a vehicle through the inky depths of space, high tech toys need a lot of juice to function properly. And on occasion, when one runs out of said juice, it's not all that easy to go and pick up more.

Enter the artificial power source ability.

Using this ability, a character can provide the energy a device requires to function. It can fuel technological effects that are less than or equal to its power rank, in addition to the normal amount of power drawn when the device is operational. An Incredible (40) ranked power, for instance, could provide for up to similarly ranked ground speed in a car, or like Armor Piercing Energy damage from a laser cannon.

The ability can be used to power a device that possesses a higher functional intensity, but it cannot fuel the item to its full potential. That Incredible (40) ranked artificial power source ability, indicated above, could move a car at up to its rank in ground speed (105 MPH), but if the car were capable of even greater speeds (any number of race cars fall into this category), artificial power source could not push it any faster.

Assimilation
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: device sympathy, matter absorption.

The power of assimilation allows its possessor to physically absorb a device into themselves. When absorbing items, an assimilator can take an amount of techno matter into his or her body that is equal to their own weight, storing the material in the spaces between their own atoms. If one attempts to absorb more devices (whether by a little or a lot), the excess mass will protrude from their body in an obvious fashion.

In addition to serving as a great way to stow items when not in use, assimilation allows its wielder to use any absorbed item as if it was an extension of their own body. This works whether a device is digital in nature (like a smartphone) or mechanically triggered (like a Zippo ™ lighter). All one needs to do to wield assimilated devices thus is to extrude them from their body - while retaining physical contact.

If an opponent attempts to forcefully remove an assimilated item while it is in an extruded state, he, she, or it must pass an ACTION roll, with whatever ability or power they are using against the assimilator, opposed by this power's rank first. Once an assimilated device is no longer in contact with its assimilator, it is no longer considered to be assimilated, and will behave normally.

A sentient device may be assimilated by this power, but it is allowed an Endurance (res) or Psyche (will) ACTION to resist such an affront. It is allowed another such resistance ACTION roll each time it is extruded for use by the assimilator, though it is by no means inert in the interim; assimilated sentient objects are fully aware of their predicament while being 'stowed away' inside someone, and can plan accordingly.

As an example of this power in action, let us look at the Swiss Army Arsenal, a technopsi who weighs in at 165 pounds. For convenience, he stores all manner of tools, weapons, and other miscellaneous devices (like his 3DS ™) in his body, which is handy for preventing theft. He carries about ninety pounds of stuff within him, and may thus add seventy-five pounds more before the excess begins to 'stick out'.

While adventuring, the Swiss Army Arsenal happens upon a more powerful beam weapon than one he absconded with last month; ejecting the older, weaker model, the Swiss Army Arsenal simply assimilates the new one and calls it a day. He could've kept both objects, of course, but he likes to retain a versatile roster of equipment on (or rather, in) his person at all times, to live up to his assumed name.

Later on in his adventuring career, the Arsenal finds himself on an alien craft, his only means of escape being to take it over. Not trusting the shifty aliens to take him home after defeating them, and lacking the ability to control technology from a distance, he decides to assimilate it. As it weighs several hundred tons more than he, he cannot absorb the ship, so his body merges with the ship's frame only to his ankles.

Even though he sticks out of it like a sore thumb and lacks mobility, he can control the craft as if it were a natural part of his body, using it to fly himself home. Were the craft intelligent, it could attempt to resist the Swiss Army Arsenal's assimilation of it with a Psyche ACTION (since ships usually lack an Endurance score), but if this ACTION failed, it would have to do his bidding until he released it from his grasp.

Astral Projection
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clone projection, dimensional interface, dimensional transit, dream projection, energy projection, object projection, possession, psychic invisibility, soul control, spectral flame control, spectral freedom, spectral sense, telepathy.

This potent ability allows a character to separate his or her consciousness from their physical body. This consciousness then moves into the astral plane, a realm of the mind adjacent to most other dimensions. From there, the character's mental projection, or astral form, can move about freely at great speed. Unencumbered by mass, a consciousness moves through the astral plane as if it were interplanetary space.

This allows a body to rapidly project their mind anywhere on earth, and often far beyond, to observe events. As it is adjacent to our reality, the astral plane can be used to spy upon others with ease, doing so invisibly. Unless a body has the ability to see into the astral realm or otherwise sense minds in their vicinity, he or she won't be aware that they're being observed from another plane.

Projecting astrally is an action which must be maintained consciously, but this may be done for quite a while; astral projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank in hours. For example, a projector with Amazing (50) astral projection may shed his or her consciousness and let it wander the earth for just over two days at a time. Food and water become an issue during longer projections, however.

This is because, while astrally projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance talent). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. After this point the astral projector, if they've been gone for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

While astral, the character effectively has no body - a seemingly obvious fact - which may cause complications in the event of astral combat. While astral, one's Fighting remains the same, though they must substitute Intuition for Agility, Reason for Strength, and Psyche for Endurance when necessary. Any magic, psionic, or deionic items a projector possesses will 'make the trip' with them, as a part of their self-image.

Mind you, unless sentient themselves, such implements function on the astral plane at a -1 CS.

While astral bodies can fight each other directly, they cannot exert physical force on the 'real' world. They may wield abilities of the psionic sort against those on the material plane, such as telepathy or mind control, and they can control magic, psionic, or deionic items on their person from afar if necessary. But working against the physical world directly requires the use of the dimensional interface ability.

This allows astral effects to be wielded against physical targets normally, though the reverse is also true; an astrally projecting character who has interfaced his mind with normal reality can attack targets within, but those targets can attack back as well.

Atomic Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Alchemy Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, environmental sense, microscopic vision, object sympathy, super senses, transparent vision.

Atomic sense is an ability which allows its wielder to 'sweep' a given area for atoms. It works within a space as described on the Middle range table, giving the character with this sensory ability a very wide radius with which to find what he or she is looking for. For example, a hero with Excellent (20) ranked atomic sense can scan anywhere within 20 areas of his or her person for all kinds of matter.

Finding pure, uncombined elements simply requires a green atomic sense ACTION roll, while locating a specific kind of molecular compound takes a yellow ACTION. Red ACTION rolls are usually only necessary when trying to uncover matter of a non-standard sort, such as campaign-specific super-materials, or those which behave differently due to being saturated by magical, psionic, or deionic energies.

Attenuation
Type: Power Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: amplification, karma control, nimiety, power attenuation, psionic attenuation, sorcerous attenuation, theonic attenuation.

Attenuation is the power to reduce one or more ability scores of another, often a great means of containing whatever damage they can cause. Attenuation works within Near range of its wielder, and an application of attenuation lasts for 1d10 turns, unless the power is specifically maintained on a target for longer periods of time - often a good idea with particularly powerful opponents.

A character with attenuation can reduce a targeted ability score by 1 CS for each rank of attenuation they possess, to a minimum of Feeble (2). For example, consider the Wet Blanket, a villainess who makes herself seem more impressive by dampening the capabilities of others in her presence. Having Monstrous (75) ranked attenuation, she can reduce an ability score by -9 CS - which can seriously ruin someone's day!

Attenuating an ability score works if said ability fails a resistance ACTION against this power's intensity.

The Wet Blanket's foes, then, would find themselves automatically attenuated if the ability score she targets is of Incredible (40) rank or less, could resist with a red ACTION if of Amazing (50) rank, on a yellow ACTION if of like (Monstrous (75)) rank, and with a green ACTION if ranging from Unearthly (100) to Shift Y (200) in rank. Shift Z (500) or higher ability scores could shrug her power off automatically, without dice.

A versatile power, attenuation can be wielded against more than one ability score - whether they belong to one character or many. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of ability scores so dampened will reduce the effective rank of attenuation by -1 CS - both for the purposes of overcoming the ability scores it is used against, and the maximum number of Column Shifts it can inflict upon them.

Returning to our Wet Blanket of an example, let's say she always likes to be the smartest person in the room. Upon entering her night classes, she uses attenuation against all twelve of her fellow students, targeting their Reason score. This reduces her effective attenuation power rank by -4 CS (one doubled four times is sixteen), to Excellent (20). However, she can still reduce the Reason of her 'foes' by -5 CS.

An attenuator can reduce this penalty somewhat by attempting to hamper less of an ability score than their maximum. For each -2 CS he or she chooses not to apply to the ability scores they are attacking, an attenuator can prevent the operating rank of their power from losing -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This may not completely neuter their foes, but allows an attenuator to 'even the playing field' considerably.

Later that night, when attempting to extend her territory, the Wet Blanket is faced with a rival's thugs. Attacking the four physical ability scores of her eight foes, she would suffer a -5 CS penalty (one doubled five times is thirty-two), which would reduce her to Good (10) in rank, and allow for -4 CS in ability score attenuation. By choosing only -2 CS of such, the Wet Blanket can force resistance ACTIONs against Excellent (20), instead.

One can limit attenuation by tying it only to physical abilities (Fighting, Agility, Strength, or Endurance) or mental abilities (Fighting, Reason, Intuition, or Psyche). Note that Fighting, being both a physical and a mental ability score, shows up in both lists. Doing this is considered a weak limitation, raising the rank of attenuation by +1 CS (or lowering the cost by one point).

Alternately, attenuation can be limited such that it works on just one ability score (for example, Strength). Doing this is considered a strong limitation, raising the rank of attenuation by +2 CS (or, similarly, reducing the cost by two). A similarly potent limitation involves allowing attenuation to work on only one person at a time.

Augury
Type: Personal Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: encounter
Cost: 1 point per rank

By performing an augury, characters can gain limited insight into the immediate future. After studying a target (or targets) for a total of three turns (not necessarily sequential), the augur can invoke this ability. He or she will then gain a solid inkling regarding the actions of said target(s). What this allows them to do, then, is to put off deciding on their actions until his or her opponents have declared their own.

This benefit functions regardless of who has the initiative, and for the duration of a fight, giving the augur a significant advantage as he or she never has to worry about changing actions. After all, they already knows what's going to happen... at least, unless a foe changes his or her actions after declaring them. The only time the augury rank comes into play is if two augurs are duking it out against each other.

A player character must pass an ACTION roll against the intensity of an NPC opponent's augury ability to gain the normal benefit. If two player character augurs are slugging it out, go with the higher rank of the two to determine the advantage, and if they are equal, have each roll a d100. Whoever gets the higher die roll wins and gains the benefit of augury for the duration of that fight.

Aura
Type: Physical Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Philosophical Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: various energy and matter generation powers.

An aura is a protective sort of shell that a character may produce around their body. It can be comprised of either matter or energy, as is desired, but a character typically only begins play with one form of aura. To acquire more auras, a character must either purchase them as weak enhancements to this power during character generation, reducing its power rank by -1 CS for each, or develop them later as power stunts.

If material, an aura can consist of any form of matter desired, though the power cannot produce a protective coating with a material strength greater than its own power rank. For example, a Typical (6) ranked aura could readily concoct an ice or wood cocoon around its possessor, but could not do so with titanium steel. An aura can simulate materials of a higher MS than its power rank, but its MS is capped at this intensity.

An energy aura, on the other hand, can be any form of such extant in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine. An energy aura can be comprised of anything, from lightning to darkness to spectral flames to antideionic life force! Such an aura will inflict its power rank in damage, of the appropriate type, upon direct physical contact with others - which makes an energy aura a great aversive defense.

The form of matter or energy that comprises an aura will determine any additional effects the power can provide, if necessary. Fire, for example, will have a tendency to cause things in the character's vicinity to ignite, while buckyballs will make someone almost impossible to grapple. Effects that would neutralize or commandeer an aura (a fire extinguisher, or perhaps the appropriate matter control) must defeat its power rank to work.

Characters with an aura can move normally while it is active. The possessor of this power subconsciously shapes their aura around their body when movement is required, preventing it from harming them (if applicable). Alternately, the power can produce uncontrolled, 'jointed' auras, resembling a suit of armor made out of whatever the aura is comprised of, though this creates holes in the protection it provides (weak limitation).

If made of energy, an aura will offer its possessor power rank protection from assault per a personal force field (possibly modified by its energy type). On the other hand, a character with a solid aura will receive like body armor - if their aura is at least two inches thick. If one's aura is smaller in thickness, it cannot fully protect its possessor from injury, and thus provides -1 CS protection from attack instead.

If an aura is destroyed, the character may simply make another one, which takes up a full action. This may not be immediately possible if the cause of the previous aura's demise is still present (a character with an aura of fire being doused in fire retardant foam). If taken over by other powers, one must either build their aura anew or reclaim control of it from whoever stole it.

Auscultation
Type: Mental Power, Entreaty Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, lie detection, telepathy, sensory reception, thought projection.

Engaging in conversation with others psionically involves telepathic contact between two or more individuals, allowing for proper, back and forth communication for all parties involved. Simply eavesdropping on the thoughts of others, however, is a much simpler affair. People are always thinking things all the time, and aren't really attempting to hide or cover up what's going through their heads at all.

Auscultation involves opening up one's mind to the random radiation of thoughts from all individuals within one's immediate area, as is defined by Very Near range. While auscultation is active, its wielder can 'hear' all the thoughts occurring within this ability's range, which can often be a very large jumble of gibberish; think of all the random thoughts that occur to you in a given moment, and multiply that by many people at once.

However, auscultation has a variety of uses. For one thing, the wielder of this ability can 'scan' all of these ambient thoughts when trying to find a singular person in a crowd. By listening in on every thought everyone present is inadvertently broadcasting, the wielder of auscultation can pick out the thought (or range of thoughts) that belong to the person he or she is looking for, even if they're not sure who that person is.

A passive power by nature, auscultation requires no ACTION roll if the persons being listened in on are unaware of this ability's use, or are not guarding their thoughts any. If someone suspects their minds are being listened in on, however, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll versus this power's intensity to shield their thoughts from its use. If successful, the wielder of this ability won't know anything has been 'covered up'.

If this action fails, though, they'll realize someone's trying to hide something from them, and can then try to narrow down just who it is - and why!

Avatar
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous when building an avatar, maintenance when driving one
Cost: 2 points per rank

An avatar is a sort of surrogate body, a spare self that one can create to perform a variety of functions - without actually being present in a given area. A deific being may only have one avatar active at any moment in time, but may build as many as he or she desires - the better to guide their flock to greater glory... or perhaps to simply avoid placing oneself at risk of serious harm or death.

To craft an avatar, deifics must first spend one point of faith energy to fashion the core of their new, secondary body. After this, he or she must then pay one point of faith energy for each rank in each physical ability above Typical (6) - as well as one point of faith energy for each rank in every ascendant power the avatar will have access to, multiplied by the point cost of the power in question.

These powers need not be those the deific being normally possesses.

An avatar's physical ability scores and powers can be 'bought' at any rank a deific desires - with an upper limit of the avatar power rank, that is. On the other hand, a deific being need not spend faith to equip an avatar with mental attributes, nor are they limited to avatar's power rank. This is because it is the deific's own mind that animates an avatar; when not in use, an avatar is simply inert matter.

If destroyed, no harm will come to the deific being animating an avatar - the only disadvantage of losing an avatar is the loss of the faith energy used in creating it... and the expenditure one must make to craft another (if necessary).

When building a new proxy body for themselves, deifics need only roll a green power ACTION. However, it takes time to forge a new physical body for oneself. One can only generate an amount of bodily matter with this ability, in pounds, equal to their power rank number each turn. Thus, building a three hundred pound body with an Amazing (50) ranked avatar power would require six full turns.

When first generating an avatar's body, one's own frame suffers serious strain. The personal energies lost on each turn of an avatar's creation is equal to one Health point, which isn't such a big deal when building small bodies for oneself to inhabit, but can add up fast when you're trying to make monstrously large forms. This Health loss must be recovered in whatever fashion is normal for the wielder of avatar.

Awe
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

When mortal beings are directly subject to the divine, their minds find the occurrence difficult to cope with. By projecting a wave of godly presence, a deific can interrupt whatever mortals in their vicinity (within Very Near distance) were doing, causing them to behave in a manner that is dependent on the differences in philosophical bent between the immortal entity and said mortals.

Mortal beings subject to divine awe are so interrupted if they fail a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against awe's power rank.

If awed mortals are of the same philosophical leaning (good, perhaps), they will typically go out of their way to help him or her, as if subject to mesmerism. If of opposing morality, however, a deific being will inspire great fear in the mortals before him or her, as if victimizing them with emotion control. Finally, those who are neutral to the deity's cause will typically just stop short, potentially drooling in amazement at him or her.

B

Bands
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: encounter
Cost: 1 point per rank

The bands spell is used as a means of containing a foe. Bands themselves do not inflict damage upon their target, instead wrapping around it to keep it in place, and from being able to act. They need not take the form of actual bands, however; the spell can manifest as rope, thread, nets, rings, vapors, chains, or anything else the caster desires, as long as it is consistent in general.

Bands function with an equivalent Strength (or MS) equal to the bands' spell rank. This is the rank a target must dodge against to avoid the bands spell, or alternately to escape against if already contained by the bands. If the spellcaster has achieved a red result when attacking with their bands, they will have inflicted one means of spellcasting restraint (if those optional rules are in play), depending on their nature.

Bands in the form of rope can tie a target's hands to prevent the casting of spells with gesticular components, for example, or vapors of thick, ashen smoke may blind a foe to prevent them targeting others with spells.

The use of bands do not actually require maintenance, in that a mage need not concentrate on keeping them active. This allows a sorcerer to contain multiple targets with this spell. However, they do require his or her active will to continue functioning. If the wizard who generated a set of bands is knocked unconscious or leaves the area, the bands will dissipate, possibly leaving them vulnerable to retaliation.

Bane of Lies
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

A spell devised by Kittu that he is more than happy to empower for others, bane of lies punishes those who engage in falsehoods before its caster. When invoked, bane of lies prompts a Psyche (will) ACTION against its spell rank, the failure of which subjects the target to its effect. Namely, every time they lie while the spell is active, they will be engulfed in spectral flames, suffering spell rank Karmic damage as a result.

Bane of lies lasts for 1d10 turns when cast, though the spell can be maintained if its wielder desires. Typically, a singular act of prevarication is all that is required to keep the subject of this spell on the straight and narrow over the course of a conversation, so maintenance is rarely necessary. However, extended inquests might require maintenance to prevent deception by the subject for their entire duration.

Banishment
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank

A drastic measure to be sure, banishment involves physically ejecting a body from their current plane of existence. While this may seem extreme, it beats killing someone outright, while getting them out of your hair at the same time - possibly for the rest of your life. To dispose of a target, a banisher must pass a power ACTION against the Psyche (will) of their foe (or an anchor, if its rank is higher).

If this ACTION is successful, the target is flung from the universe entirely - but where to? To determine this, roll a second power ACTION. If this second ACTION fails, the banisher has merely 'skipped' the target out of our realm of existence for 1d10 turns, and he or she will bounce back to cause further trouble as soon as that duration has expired. Not nearly as permanent a solution as promised, which you can see.

A green ACTION, on the other hand, will remove the target from this plane of existence, returning them to their plane of origin. This is a good tool against extradimensional invaders, but what of people who are native to the plane the banisher is on? They will be ejected per a failed ACTION, but will remain out of 'sync' with the current space-time for 1d100 turns, instead. A bit longer, but still less than permanent.

A yellow ACTION roll will achieve a permanent banishing. What this does is bounce the target to another, random dimension. Which one? Nobody knows, really. The whole idea is to simply get rid of a body, not to point them in a specific direction here. Banishment could transport them to an idyllic heaven or perhaps a realm wholly hostile to life as we know it. But, without an actual body to speak of, who will ever know?

A red ACTION, now, this is where the banisher can do specific things. A red banishment ACTION allows the banisher to not only remove a troublesome target from his or her personal space, but also allows them to deposit said target wherever they would like. Maybe he or she knows of a specific universe (or part of one) that is nigh-impossible to escape from, or one that is just too pleasant for their foes to ever want to leave.

Of course, a banisher can 'pull their punches' with this ability, if they don't want to permanently cast someone off into the multiverse beyond. That is rather harsh, after all, and it tends to tick off the banished person's friends - not to mention the actual banished target, who is likely going to be very, very angry at the banisher. And if they can ever find their way back home, you know things are going to get ugly!

Barbs
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the barbs
Related Powers (for the barbs only): corrosion, disease, poison, rotting, tentacles.

Barbs are sharp, pointy areas on a character which are not at the end of their manipulators. In essence, they describe physical weapons that are not claws, fangs, or horns. These will often occur along the side or bottom of one's arms or legs, but may also run the length of one's spine - or perhaps along one's tail for a short distance. Barbs are primarily defensive, but can be used offensively.

In such instances, a character can inflict their Strength (might) rank in Edged Attack damage. On the other hand, a foe attacking the character with barbs will inflict their own Strength (might) in Edged Attack damage on themselves when striking barbs directly (limited to the barbs' MS). This may or may not cause the barbs to break, however, depending on just how resilient they happen to be.

The base MS of a character's barbs is their Strength (might) +2 CS, the idea being that the character cannot easily break them with their own muscle. However, if one wishes to have barbs of a higher MS, they can either gamble on the power (using random character generation) or spend an additional point on barbs above the base cost for each further increase in MS (using point-based character generation).

Ideally, one's barbs are retractable, but a character may take them in an 'always out' form as a strong limitation, which adds +2 CS to their material strength (or just lowers their cost by 2 points).

Bashmu
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank

A highly specialized variant on the summoning spell, wizards can use this magic to draw forth, well, bashmu. Powerful magical creatures, bashmu are crested, horned, winged serpents, which have the forelegs of lions. Originally created by Tiamat herself, the breeding of bashmu has been resumed by Teshub after acquiring a small portion of the power inherent to the Serpent's Mount, situated deep within Irkalla.

Upon mastering this spell, its wielder is presumed to have made an arrangement with Teshub, allowing them the use of his 'children' as is needed, with no risk of being disobeyed by them. When cast, a bashmu appears to do the wizard's bidding, and will generally remain to do so for as long as the spell is maintained. One bashmu can be kept under the caster's control for each instance of the spell they choose to maintain.

Summoned bashmu are generally human-sized, but occasionally this spell draws forth a larger specimen. Upon rolling a red result, the caster has drawn the attention of Teshub, which prompts a second spell ACTION. A white ACTION roll changes nothing, while a green ACTION manifests a bashmu with a +1 size factor, a yellow ACTION materializes a bashmu with a +2 size factor, and a red ACTION produces a bashmu with a +3 size factor!

The only risk in wielding the bashmu entreaty spell is that, should its wielder repeatedly get its summons seriously injured or killed, Teshub may very well pay more attention to their use of the creatures. If Teshub decides that the wizard causing harm to his bashmu is doing so in a careless manner, he just might manifest himself when the spell is cast, and take them to task!

Battle Tail
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers (for the tail only): barbs, corrosion, elongation, kinetic focus, quills, poison.

A battle tail is a large, obvious extremity that extends forth from the character's posterior. It is typically as long as the character is tall, if not a bit longer, and usually ends in a club shape. While it is somewhat flexible (it moves at its possessor's discretion), a battle tail is not prehensile. Characters with a battle tail may use it to inflict their Strength (might) rank +1 CS in Blunt Attack damage.

While a battle tail is itself a respectable melee weapon, it can be combined with any number of other powers to increase its versatility.

Berserker
Type: Combination Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: reassignment, unyielding will, any number of physical weaponry powers.

While many characters lose their cool in battle and get more than a little bit reckless, there are few who can attain a true berserker rage. This super-human level of fury can actually overwhelm its user, causing physical and mental changes within that make them nigh-unstoppable! They accomplish this with a combination of the reassignment and unyielding will powers.

When entering a berserker rage, a character's Reason and Intuition scores will suffer immediate negative Column Shifts, dropping them to Feeble (2) rank. In turn, their Fighting and Strength scores will benefit from like positive Column Shifts. As an example, a body with Typical (6) statistics will lose 2 CS of his or her Reason and Intuition when going berserk, only to see a 2 CS gain on both their Fighting and Strength.

Furthermore, the berserker will also develop the ability to 'store' damage per unyielding will, soaking up an amount of such equal to his or her power rank number - regardless of the form it takes. Any additional damage suffered, whether it occurs in the form of a large number of weak attacks or one overwhelming assault, will affect the berserker normally.

A berserker rage lasts for the duration of a battle, plus the 1d10 turns it takes for a berserker to either mellow out or simply run out of steam. At this point, his or her ability scores will revert to their standard levels, and any outstanding combat damage stored during their frenzy will discharge into their body, albeit at a -2 CS to the original amount inflicted.

Between
Type: Movement Power, Elementalism Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, jeopardy, quarantine, teleportation, time travel.

The seventh dimension is a bizarre place, a location that is both everywhere and between everywhere else simultaneously. At the center of the multiverse and yet seemingly outside it at the same time, this place is the undiluted source of higher principles that are distilled into distinct planes of existence. Such realms include the astral plane, the essence, and various other mindspaces both transient and permanent.

Colloquially known as the Between, this level of reality is the absolute blender of creation. One can find all things within the Between, if they look hard enough, as the seventh dimension is a realm of the mind as much as it is of the body. A mishmash of space, time, matter, energy, and thought, the Between is an ever-changing maelstrom that is never the same from one visit to the next - much less from moment to moment!

The reason for this chaotic existence is that everything that is, was, and ever will be is present in the Between in some capacity or another - since every point in lower, sixth-dimensional space is represented here. Also, as these points are all present and simultaneously occupied when in the Between, it can be used to reach a specific location in lower dimensions - assuming one has the proper abilities to do so.

Thanks to its unique properties, one can extend the range of non-adjacent movement abilities while in the Between to an infinite degree. Teleportation can reach anywhere in the universe. Time travel can visit any moment in existence. Dimensional transit can move a body to any reality that exists - and possibly some that don't yet. In this fashion, Between is something of a meta-power, enhancing others considerably.

But this infinite utility comes with infinite risk. One might find the Between a pleasant park on their first visit, and overrun with incomprehensible tentacular horrors the next. Alternately, one might be whisked away to unknown locations in the multiverse upon arriving in the Between, events there overcoming even the most seasoned traveler and stranding him or her somewhere they can't escape from before they know it.

This is where the actual power rank for this ability comes in. A successful power ACTION is required to access the Between. Then, a second ACTION roll is made - this time, by the Judge. If this supplemental power ACTION is successful, nothing directly untoward will happen to the player - or anyone he or she brought along for the ride. If it fails, however, get ready for the time of your (possibly very short) life!

This power is a doorway to endless adventure, you see, whether one wants it or not. Thus, it is the ultimate 'use at your own risk' ability - though sometimes the staggering advantages of using between almost make up for the risk such use poses to one's body and soul. Sometimes.

Bilocation
Type: Movement Power, Universal Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: chaos shift, dimensional transit, teleportation, time travel.

Bilocation is the ability to appear in two locations simultaneously. This power does not involve actually splitting oneself in two so much as engaging in rapid-fire teleportation, hundreds of times each second, so that it looks like the wielder of this power is occupying two different spaces at once. This process occurs quickly enough that, like the frames of a television image, the character seems to be fully present at each.

When bilocation is activated, the character's 'other self' can initially manifest anywhere within Far distance of his or her original location. When the power is terminated, the bilocator may rest at either their original location or the area their 'other self' was last in when deactivating this ability. This makes bilocation a great power stunt off of teleportation - or vice versa, really.

A bilocated character may act in one location primarily, or alternate actions between the two, depending on the situation(s) at the time. Either way, he or she does not receive additional actions simply due to being in both areas simultaneously - there's still just one of the character. Without other abilities added to the mix, the bilocator is merely allowed the same amount of actions they would normally be allotted.

When engaging in bilocation, a character will perceive sensory input from both locations simultaneously, the two (usually) differing forms of data overlapping and allowing the character to multitask. If things are particularly hectic in one (or both) locations, a bilocator may need to pass an Intuition (alt) ACTION roll to keep events at the two different places distinct in his or her head.

Multitasking is difficult enough to begin with, even before adding the specter of deadly combat into the mix.

Biological Invisibility
Type: Empathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

While all living beings cast a shadow of sorts in the Essence, the plane from which all life force flows forth, a character with this ability has the power to mask this essential shadow temporarily. This has the benefit of granting its wielder power rank invisibility to senses which can detect living beings, such as the biological sense, but has the curious effect of masking one from empathy as well.

Biological invisibility also makes it difficult for powers which specifically manipulate organic matter to 'connect' with its possessor. When wielding such abilities, their possessor affects the target at a -4 CS penalty, as if invisible, whether or not the power in question has a 'to hit' roll.

Biological Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Skill, Metapsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal control, animal sympathy, danger sense, environmental sense, macro sense, microscopic vision, origin sense, plant sympathy.

This sensory ability allows its possessor an awareness of other life forms in his or her vicinity. Unless entities are cloaked somehow, this sense will automatically pinpoint every living thing within its range, as determined on the Middle range table. This use of the biological sense does not discriminate at all, and while it requires no roll it also provides no specific information about the huge amount of life forms so noted.

Attempting an ACTION allows the wielder of this power to fine tune what they're perceiving, however.

A green biological sense ACTION indicates the types of biological forms present, such as plants, animals, and fungi, and allows the character to 'screen out' unwanted forms of life. A yellow ACTION roll allows the inspection of individual life forms, determining particular and specific data about each one and how it functions. A red biological sense ACTION even allows the character to pick out a specific entity amongst similar life forms.

Biological Vampirism
Type: Biological Control Power, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological sense, decontamination, energy vampirism, psionic vampirism, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

A variant on the standard vampiric ability, biological vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the living cellular matter of other beings, to rapidly recover his or her own, lost Health points. These tissues need not be physically connected to their source still, as can be the case with blood bank stores or organs freshly removed for transplant purposes, but must still be biologically functional.

For each ounce of living biological matter consumed (solid or fluid), a biological vampire can recover one lost Health point. This requires physical contact with the target, unless one is feeding on dislocated but still-living tissues, at which point a biological vampiric attack may begin. Upon the activation of this ability, the target must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power rank, or they will be unable to resist its use.

This inability to resist most often takes the form of paralysis, or perhaps a mesmerized state. This is necessary because most rational beings will object to being bodily consumed in any manner. A biological vampire can process an amount of cellular matter equal to their power rank number in ounces each turn, though they may require accessories (such as fangs, or perhaps steak knives) to properly rend it from its source.

Many biological vampires prefer to feed upon the blood of their targets, for this is much easier to separate from them. A human body, on average, has ten pints of blood within, and can safely lose one pint (sixteen ounces) of blood at a time before serious symptoms arise. This means a biological vampire can feed upon others without causing them real harm - assuming they wish to preserve the lives of their prey.

Each ounce of lost biological matter costs the target one Health point, you see, which must be recovered normally (if possible). Luckily, lost blood recovers in the body quickly, and leaves little evidence of its consumption. A chunk of someone's arm, on the other hand, may never quite heal back - and leaves plenty of evidence that a biological vampire (or a cannibal, at the very least) is active in the area.

Once a biological vampire has begun to feed upon a target, he or she may continue to do so as long as they like, though their prey is allowed another ACTION roll to resist this ability each turn. If the target ever succeeds in this action, or the biological vampire is ever forced to stop feeding (instead of doing so of their own volition), the target will immediately acquire subsequent immunity to the biological vampirism of this attacker.

However, this immunity doesn't extend to the biological vampirism of other characters - or any other vampirism power the attacker may have.

When a biological vampire at full Health consumes his or her power rank number in ounces of their target's tissues, they receive a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all of their power ranks save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the biological vampire will return to his or her normal capability. Gaining another boost requires another feeding.

The risk in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the danger of contagion. Killing a victim with this power (either through a loss of Health points or a killing blow caused by the location of feeding) will cause them to eventually arise as an undead creature, a biological vampire that cannot sustain its own physical processes without fresh infusions of flesh from many, many victims.

Secondly, if a biological vampire kills with this ability (either accidentally or on purpose), they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the intensity of this power rank. If this ACTION roll fails, the biological vampire becomes addicted to the flesh of others, and will require it to function as well. While addicted, the character with biological vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon the living tissues of others.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to his or her Strength, Endurance, and Psyche scores, as well as all of their power ranks (save for the biological vampirism, of course). To avoid this loss, the addicted character must consume a number of ounces of cellular matter equal to his or her biological vampirism rank each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost to such abilities.

The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the living meat of others causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0 levels. This prompts an Endurance ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a biological vampire themselves. If it succeeds, he or she may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or manages to get clean.

If a biological vampire has ever been addicted to the tissues of others, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses biological vampirism afterwards, he or she must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into vampiric addiction. If they pass this ACTION roll they'll be fine - at least, until the next use of this power.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the living cellular matter of others to persist cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of biological vampirism, and not its many victims.

Wielders of this ability have been documented in fiction throughout human history, and emulating them can allow for a variety of limitations to give it more 'flavor'. While any living tissue can fuel this power, limiting it to the same kingdom (animals) can be considered a weak limitation, while constraining it to but one species of life forms is considered a strong limitation - very strong if it's one's own species.

Similarly, limiting this power to just one form of cellular matter (like blood) to be consumed is also a weak limitation - or adds one step of limitation to the previous examples. Thus, one can generate the traditional, blood-drinking vampirism at a considerable discount (if solely limited to such), which leaves room for additional abilities to facilitate its use (physical weaponry and the like).

Blending
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: color control, disguise, light control, shape change, vocal control.

The power of blending allows its possessor to match his or her coloration to that of their surroundings, to a precise degree. By matching one's hue to perfectly reflect that which is directly behind them, a blender can achieve a makeshift form of invisibility. While completely motionless, a character with blending will appear to be a perfectly normal component of their surroundings, disguising themselves with power rank skill.

Unless, of course, the background itself decides to move.

Whether the blender or the background shifts, a discontinuity between the character's appearance and the background will arise, allowing an Intuition (alt) ACTION roll at +2 CS to detect the blended individual. Thus, it's ideal to use blending against walls and other flat surfaces, where movement is unlikely - as is something passing behind the blender to betray their presence.

A variant form of blending allows its possessor to make their body almost entirely transparent, instead of merely sinking into the background of a vista. While the outline of a character rendered translucent is still visible if one looks for it, the power allows 'live' updates to the appearance it generates, since the light behind a character passes right through them while blending is active.

A character may adopt either form of blending when beginning play, but may develop the other as a power stunt later on, if desired.

Naturally, blending works better in some environments than others, but a character can limit the power to functioning under only one such condition as a limitation. Only functioning at night or while cloaked in shadow counts as a weak limitation, for example. Similarly, a strong limitation on blending prevents its possessor from applying the power to his or her possessions - only their body blends in with one's environs.

Bless
Type: Clericism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank

A blessing can be used to impart divine good will upon (or into) a target. When used on a living being, this ability will provide a +1 CS to any action attempted by the target, whether he or she is making (or avoiding) attacks, wielding (or resisting) powers, or anything else. Blessings do not add to a character's damage, but do make it a whole lot easier for them to succeed in their endeavors.

When used in such a manner, a blessing will last for a number of turns equal to its power rank number. For example, the recipient of an Amazing (50) ranked blessing will retain the bonuses imparted for 50 turns - five full minutes! Only one blessing can affect a target at a time, but there is nothing preventing multiple blessings being used on a target; if one expires, the second will suddenly kick in for the remainder of its own duration.

Bless can also be used on inanimate objects, as well. By showering an item with deific favor, a character can grant it a +1 CS on both the hit rolls a person wielding it will attempt, as well as the damage it will cause. Blessed items remain blessed for the same duration as characters, but the duration of a blessing does not start counting this time down until the item is actually used.

For example, a sword can be blessed by the Amazing (50) ranked power above and then sheathed, its fifty turns of blessing not expiring until it is wielded in combat. There is no limit to the amount of time that this deific power may sit idle; one may be adventuring and find an object that has been blessed thousands of years ago, which can be a letdown when its seemingly amazing potential degrades after a short while!

Blood of Qingu
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank

After Enlil wiped out the first iteration of humanity, save for a scant few stragglers, he found himself in a bit of a pickle. You see, he'd ordered their creation to quell the uprising of the Igigi, who were tired of the unsafe and unfair working conditions the Anunnaki subjected them to, and wanted someone else to do their jobs. And now, he'd undone that effort by drowning mankind in a vast, world-spanning flood.

Thus, it fell to Ninhursag to create humanity anew. Needing to assemble a large number of humans in a hurry, far faster than they could reproduce on their own, she utilized a catalyst to speed up the creation of fully grown, fully sentient laborers: a drop of divine blood. The quantity of blood she needed required the exsanguination of a deity, but as luck would have it, the Anunnaki had the perfect candidate.

Imprisoned for his crimes against them, Qingu was going to be executed by the Anunnaki anyway, so this seemed as good a means as any to rid themselves of the troublemaker. Thus, the gods drained Qingu of his blood slowly, over many years, stockpiling vast amounts of the stuff for use in their effort to repopulate humanity. And for anything else that, over the eons, the blood of a dead god might come in handy for.

When casting blood of Qingu, the sorcerer doing so implores Ninhursag to part with a drop of the precious blood of her great-granduncle, which she retains to this very day. Once acquired, this drop of blood can be used on any inanimate matter, as long as it is approximately human-shaped and -sized. Once applied, it will begin to form said matter into a human, per reformation, with spell rank ability.

This newly formed human (or any other comparable species the caster is familiar with) will come into being with any knowledge desired, as long as the caster of blood of Qingu has access to it. This allows for the instant creation of fully sentient beings with the ability to speak, read, and write, possibly in numerous languages, utitlize any number of talents, and perhaps even wield sorcery or psionics, if desired!

Once they have been made, humans (or, again, whatever) crafted via blood of Qingu are permanent creations, and should be treated as such for the purposes of Karma. This applies whether creating a crowd of innocent bystanders as a distraction to stymie one's foes, or a legion of mystical clones with which one can vastly increase the amount of things they can get done over the course of a given day.

Body Armor
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: damage reduction, deflection, various invulnerabilities and/or resistances (regular or greater).

An inherent protection from damage, body armor serves to prevent injury to characters. Body armor comes in a variety of forms, whether it involves hardened skin that deflects damage from the soft tissues beneath, a fluid physiology that lets damage pass through instead of tearing it apart, or any number of other permutations on this theme. All forms of body armor, regardless of their nature, function in the same way.

Body armor works best against direct physical damage. This includes anything which inflicts Blunt Attack, Edged Attack, Blunt Throwing, Edged Throwing, Force, or Shooting damage, as well as subtler physical attack forms like crushing pressure. Against such assaults, body armor will provide its full rank in protection. On the other hand, other forms of attack are more effective against 'basic' body armor.

Body armor is -2 CS effective against Energy attack (fire, electricity, etc.), -4 CS effective against Sorcerous (magical) damage, -6 CS effective against Karmic (psionic) assault, and -8 CS effective in the face of Deionic (godly) forces. The idea is that these damage forms are less deterred by mere material protections such as body armor, and operate on an increasingly higher (and/or dangerous) level.

This variation in protection can be represented as a simple line beneath body armor in power listings, showcasing the individual resistances body armor provides. Most defensive powers in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine list the protections they offer in the order of physical attack, energy attack, magical attack, psionic attack, and deionic attack. The basic format body armor follows is shown here:

Power Rank / Power Rank -2 CS / Power Rank -4 CS / Power Rank -6 CS / Power Rank -8 CS

For example, a Remarkable (30) ranked body armor would provide the following protections:

Rm 30 / Gd 10 / Pr 4 / Sh 0 / Sh 0

For the most part, conventional body armor provides minimal, if any protection against psionic or deionic assault, but this matches up with the vast majority of fiction that involves such things. Protection from psionics most often comes in the form of one's own training or special devices / powers which act to counter such, and usually only the gods themselves possess defense against their own assaults.

On the other hand, 'special origin' armor covers its own type of damage differently. Were that same, Remarkable (30) ranked body armor produced by magic instead of, say, a physical mutation, it would defend against Sorcerous damage at its full power rank, not the -4 CS described above. In other words, the protection that mystical body armor offered its possessor, likely thanks to a potent spell, would break down like so:

Rm 30 / Gd 10 / Rm 30 / Sh 0 / Sh 0

Body Armor can be limited in any number of fashions. While the 'ideal' body armor is indistinguishable from ordinary skin, one can make theirs clearly visible. One can appear to have rocky skin, bubbly burnt flesh, an elephantine hide, or whatever else. Another option is to have the armor transient in nature; while the 'default' body armor is always on, the transient armor will only function when consciously maintained.

Each of these count as weak limitations, and thus add a +1 CS to the power's final value (random generation) or subtract 1 point from its cost (point generation). Both limitations can be taken at the same time, if desired (and if one's armor makes them particularly monstrous, this may in fact be preferred). Body armor as a spell or psionic is inherently transient in nature, and thus so limited 'out of the box'.

Body Control
Type: Biological Control Power, Voodoo Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: integral control, mind control, pain, sleep.

A perverse form of puppetry, body control allows its wielder to directly control the physical motions of a target within Near distance. This involves manipulation of the actual 'meat' of its victim, which means said victim must resist this power with his or her Endurance (res), instead of their Psyche (will). If the target fails a resistance roll against body control, the wielder of this ability may control their motions however they like.

Victims of this power may find themselves dancing, possibly in ways they never thought possible (or desirable), running away as fast as they can, beating themselves senseless, freezing in place, unable to talk or move, or anything else the body controller wishes. Those under the sway of body control may attempt another ACTION roll to resist this ability each turn it is applied to their person.

A character using body control may manipulate the actions of more than one person at a time. Of course, each person added improves both the difficulty of manipulating everyone involved as well as the possibility of their breaking free of such insidious control. Apply a -1 CS for each person after the first that a body controller attempts to manipulate with this ability.

Body Doubles
Type: Physical Control Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 4 points per rank
Related Powers: energy doubles, imaginary doubles, matter duplication, mental doubles, organism generation.

This quirky ability allows its wielder to create duplicates of themselves. As opposed to other, similar abilities, body doubles are not illusory or energy-based; no, each double this power creates is identical to his, her, or its creator! At any one time, this power may support a number of doubles equal to its power rank number. An Excellent (20) ranked body doubles power, for instance, could create twenty clones of its wielder.

Creating a body double counts as one action, but the power may function in one of two distinct fashions. It may either require that all doubles come from the character possessing this power, or doubles may create still more of themselves. The latter is considered a weak enhancement of the power, and gives its wielder the ability to geometrically increase his or her numbers (until reaching their maximum amount, that is).

When building body doubles, a character can also duplicate some additional matter alongside their bonus selves; this is why body doubles don't show up naked, you see. The maximum amount of matter a body doubler can generate alongside his or her clones is a number of pounds equal to their power rank. That Excellent (20) ranked body doubler, above, could copy up to twenty pounds of material with each clone!

Body doubles are semi-permanent creations. Once made, they can persist indefinitely if desired, though feeding that many versions of oneself may take a considerable amount of resources. Thus, doublers may reincorporate a copy into themselves at will, though this generally requires physical contact. On the other hand, a body doubler can acquire this ability within Very Near distance as a power stunt or strong enhancement.

One tricky point when doing so is the fate of any matter duplicated when a body double is first created. If this material is in contact with a double upon its reincorporation into the character's body, it is simply nullified. However, if such material cannot be reabsorbed, it is rendered permanent per the matter duplication power, and will cost the wielder of this power one Health point (as would normal matter duplication).

Speaking of Health, when a character reincorporates a living double into themselves, his or her Health will assume an amount equal to the average of the two. Thus, a heavily wounded character absorbing a perfectly healthy body double will see an immediate increase in their Health. In fact, with enough such doubles handy, one could easily erase almost any harm that has befallen them using this technique!

This does not occur, however, when a body double has died. When one's double shuffles off this mortal coil for whatever reason, reintegrating it will not change one's Health any - this would likely kill a character each time they tried it! A body doubler can nonetheless 'clean up' his or her messes, though, saving them the trouble of disposing of a corpse that is seemingly them each time a double dies.

Finally, one issue with body doubles is the retention of whatever experiences they may have had. Though precisely the same as their creator upon their creation, body doubles experience things differently from that point on. When a character and a body double reunite, their memories will overlap, potentially causing confusion until these differences are all ironed out in one's head.

At the same time, however, sending a number of one's doubles through differing college courses is a great way to acquire a large number of talents quickly!

Boon
Type: Power Control Power, Theonic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: empowerment, investment, link, power transfer.

A variant form of the link ability, boon allows its possessor to share his or her ascendant power with others. The difference between boon and link, however, is that the former is more of a one way transaction. Boon can only be used to lend power to others, not to receive it in turn, and the wielder of this ability cannot actually control how said power is to be used... only whether or not it is to be granted.

How boon works is that, while active, it is constantly listening for requests for power from others. There is no range limitation on such entreaties, and a character with boon may lend his or her power to anyone - no matter where in the multiverse they happen to be. Furthermore, the power to be granted only works once per request; to wield a boon-granted ability again, an entreater must entreat the wielder of boon for it anew.

The use of boon is a great way to enhance one's reputation as a being of power, and granting might to others can imbue them with great respect for the giver of boons. This is one reason that entities wishing to encourage the veneration of their person may keep boon active at all times; the more they can aid others, the more that word of their might - and generosity - will spread throughout all reality.

While boon is functioning, its possessor can grant the use of any power he or she possesses to anyone who entreats them for it. This power will function at any intensity up to the power rank of boon itself - regardless of its actual level of power. The only problem is that while one is in the process of granting a boon, they will suffer a reduction in the power of an ability being lent out to others.

If a character is lending out a power to but one person, this reduction is a mere -1 CS. However, for each doubling of individuals making use of a power boon, this negative Column Shift increases by one; granting four persons a specific power would incur a -3 CS penalty, while giving sixty-four an identical boon of power would inflict a -7 CS penalty on the power in question.

This drain of power is why most possessors of boon usually don't grant their power to just anyone. They often require those who entreat them for power to perform some sort of ceremony or perhaps even a specialized spell to gain the use of their prowess. This serves both to extend the mystique surrounding the granter of boons, as well as the ability to better filter out power requests from the 'unwashed masses'.

When such precautions are not taken, a character can be drained, however temporarily, of his or her power completely. A power drained to Shift 0 intensity cannot be lent out any further - which will cause additional entreaties to fail. And for those who are using the ability to build up their credibility with those who they wish to be worshiped by, that may be a fatal error.

Buttress
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: amplification, nimiety, power amplification, psionic amplification, sorcerous amplification, theonic amplification.

Buttress is a power with which one can nurture the capabilities of others. While active, buttress creates a field of favorable probabilities around its possessor, one which extends out within Near distance of their person. This field can apply beneficial Column Shifts to rolls attempted by those they consider allies. These rolls can take the form of any ACTION, including Resources and Popularity checks!

However, this bolstering of probabilities comes with a cost. For each positive Column Shift the character with buttress grants their compatriots, they in turn suffer two negative Column Shifts applied to every action they attempt. This penalty is incurred whether one is dodging attacks, making an Endurance check against a Kill? result, or rolling the ACTION necessary to maintain this ability, which is required every turn.

It is important to note that one cannot benefit from another occurrence of the buttress power while wielding it themselves. The warping of probabilities that buttress utilizes to produce its unique effect is extremely complicated and delicate, and attempting to add a second (or more!) source of such manipulation ultimately causes overlapping buttress fields to cancel each other out.

Overall, buttress is an ability fraught with peril. On the one hand, buttress greatly strengthens the efforts of one's teammates, while on the other it makes its wielder particularly vulnerable to the efforts of their enemies. Those who can balance out the positives and negatives of buttress are often vital members of whatever group they happen to belong to, not to mention the cause(s) they champion the most!

C

Caesura
Type: Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding caesura, a character may introduce tiny pauses, or breaks, in the conscious function of one's brain. These pauses do not interrupt whatever actions the target is undertaking, so much as slow them down... considerably. When invoked, caesura reduces the target's effective initiative by five (5), as well as preventing them from attempting more than one attack or defensive maneuver per turn.

The target of caesura may resist this ability every turn it is applied to his or her person, doing so with a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the caesura ability's rank. Caesura only functions within Very Near range of its wielder.

Cancer
Type: Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

An aggressive and offensive form of healing, cancer allows its wielder to target specific portions of his or her foe's body, instead of the whole thing. Namely, the power supercharges the regeneration and growth capabilities of cancer cells, cells that everyone carries within their bodies to some extent. This causes such cells to form immediately visible tumors, which swell all over the target's body.

As these rogue cells rapidly expand as far as they can, they induce extreme strain on the body of their host, causing power rank Metabolic damage. This damage has an SD component, the tumors growing for an additional period of time as they leech every last bit of nutrients from the body that no longer contains them. When this SD damage ceases, these massive, artificial tumors will simply drop off the target's body.

A painful experience, to be sure, the use of cancer nonetheless reduces its victim's chances of developing cancer at a later date, most of his or her damaged cells being removed in the process of this power's use. This translates into a +1 CS bonus to one's Endurance for such purposes, which also applies to future uses of the cancer power against the same individual, considering that they have less errant cells to latch onto.

Mind you, this works the other way, as well. This power inflicts +1 CS damage to its target if they're currently suffering from a form of cancer, for highly developed tumors are already extant on their body (they have more room to grow).

The target of cancer can resist this power's use by passing an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its power rank when it is first used against them, and on subsequent turns by rolling against the current intensity of its SD effects. If a victim fails an initial resistance roll but shrugs off the SD effects, the growths will then fall off as if they had swollen to their fullest extent, as detailed above.

This power functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, and ironically counts as a healing effect for the purposes of metabolic overload.

Carrier Wave
Type: Movement Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: jelling, various energy generation and/or control powers.

Characters who can generate a carrier wave have the ability to produce a special concentration of energy that supports their weight against gravity - and allows for full movement in three dimensions! The exact form of energy the creator of a carrier wave can generate may be about anything available in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, as long as it remotely makes sense for the character wielding it.

When maintaining a carrier wave, a character can move through the air as determined by their power rank, on the air speed table. A carrier wave can automatically support the weight of its wielder, and can bring along additional mass as if it were an equivalent Strength score. A fiery carrier wave of Incredible (40) intensity, for instance, could haul ten tons of matter along with its generator - if he or she could hold it!

The energy that comprises a carrier wave is not primarily harmful, though it can be wielded as such by forcing other characters into it - often by running them over. Such instances inflict power rank damage of the appropriate type, though one's own carrier wave will never cause them harm. Unless, that is, another character with the appropriate energy control ability can take command of the energies that comprise it.

If such an individual achieves this (with a power rank ACTION against the carrier wave's intensity), they may redirect its creator's path or turn the energies that allow it to work against him or her!

Casting
Type: Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

This is the root ability of the psimantic discipline of power.

Casting is the psionic ability to wield spells. When this power is mastered, its possessor acquires the instinctive ability to shape probabilities such that he or she can reliably reproduce magical effects. This includes a natural affinity to one of the known schools of magic (even if the eclectic non-school of magic is chosen), which the character may study in addition to their psionic efforts.

When this ability is first acquired, then, the character with casting will also know one spell from his or her chosen school of magic. Though this power unlocks the ability to cast spells as well as access to one's chosen school of magic, its possessor usually has to locate a mystic tutor to fully take advantage of it, lest they suffer the penalties for going without one. Luckily, most psimantic upsilons can fill this role, as well.

While casting allows the use of magic by its possessor, it also limits him or her somewhat. A psychoturge may not cast spells at a rank greater than their casting intensity. To improve his or her mystic prowess, they must first increase the rank of this psimantic art. This is a relatively small price to pay for the ability to pursue two distinct paths of power, however.

Catalysis
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cold generation, corrosion, heat generation, rotting, stasis, time control, transmutation.

In chemistry, catalysis is a change in the rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of, that's right, a catalyst. A character with this power may act as a substitute catalyst for chemical reactions, whether increasing the rate at which they happen or by inhibiting them in part or in full. Anything that has active chemistry can be subjected to this power, ranging from a car battery to a human body.

When manipulating endothermic and exothermic chemical reactions, one can increase or decrease the heat or cold such generate by an amount equal to this power's rank number. Similarly, a battery can either be neutralized or have its output greatly increased, putting out an amount of electricity equal to this power's rank number. Bear in mind that the destruction of items involved in such manipulations might occur!

Living targets can resist the use of this power by passing an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its power rank. But if affected, their chemical reactions can be halted, simulating stasis or suspended animation, or increased, improving their Strength and/or Endurance by +1 CS. One can also reduce (or accelerate!) the effects of poisons within a body when present, either saving a life or ending it quickly!

Alternately, items can be temporarily proofed against rotting and corrosion while this power is applied to them... or subjected to the same forces instead, if desired.

Catalysis functions within Very Near distance of its targets.

Causality Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimantic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points per rank
Related Powers: grace, lethality, luck, override.

Causality control is the power to manipulate reality itself! The power works by giving its possessor the ability to simulate, at its own intensity, any other super-human skill that has the word 'control' in its name. Thus, the character with causality control is capable of anything ranging from fire control to mind control to time control, whenever they see fit - depending on their mastery of this power, that is.

When one first acquires this power, they can manifest any one of these control effects of their choice - but only one. For instance, let us assume that Big Bang Boris picked up this power after the Chernobyl incident back in the 1980s. Wishing the radiation around him would 'go away', and then watching it happen before his very eyes, Big Bang Boris got the notion that he had developed radiation control.

Once a character realizes that he or she has this ability, and not some 'lesser' control power, they can develop additional controls as power stunts - one for each control. Thanks to freak happenstance, Big Bang Boris got the idea in his head that he was more than just a radiation controller, and attempted to bend various other forms of energy to his will. And, since he was correct, he eventually developed a large array of new powers!

There is no limit to the amount of different and disparate control abilities one can manifest through causality control - it simply requires one develop the power to gain even more. Big Bang Boris, in time, managed to ultimately master twelve different control powers, allowing him to manipulate almost every aspect of his environment. Hence his code name: he thought himself capable of creating entire universes!

In a similar vein, when one first acquires causality control, he or she can only exert one form of control at a given point in time. Since the character only knows one such control to begin with, this isn't a big deal initially. However, they can expand their control over causality in a like fashion, developing the ability to maintain more than one variety simultaneously as a power stunt - one for each concurrent 'power' added.

But how many facets of causality can one manipulate at once, you wonder? This is determined as is the case for the maintenance of spells or psionics. Each control that the possessor of causality control wields against the universe counts as one 'maintained' power, and is ultimately constrained by the character's Reason (mem) score - which determines how many concurrent things one can concentrate on.

Looking at Big Bang Boris one more time, it was known that he could only control one aspect of the world around himself to begin with, and his opponents took advantage of this 'weakness' by overwhelming him with multiple attack forms at once. Tiring of this, Big Bang Boris worked hard to resolve this deficiency (such as it is) by first mastering the use of two simultaneous controls... and then finally three.

With an Excellent (20) ranked Reason (mem) score, that's about all he can hope to manage... unless he ever gets smarter!

Celestial Light Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, celestial light generation, energy cohesion, theonic sense.

Celestial light control is a strange ability which allows its wielder mastery of an unusual form of energy. Unlike most other energy types, one can't easily squeeze celestial light out of readily available sources in one's environment, for it does not occur naturally in conventional spaces. Without a source of celestial light, whether it be the celestial light generation power or some deific artifact that creates it, this power is useless.

Once celestial light is uncovered, however, the character with this power may manipulate it as he or she sees fit - assuming they can pass a power ACTION roll against its intensity, that is. Once this is done, a celestial light controller can increase the intensity of mastered celestial light up to a level equal to this power rank, reduce it by a like amount, or shape and contour its flow and very form in any fashion desired.

The easiest application of this shaping allows a celestial light controller to simulate power rank resistance to such, preventing it from coming into contact with him or her. This makes a controller of these energies much more potent in the realms of the gods, as the minions of such deific beings, as well as many divine beings themselves, make ready use of it to awe their followers as well as to combat their enemies.

Of course, the creation of constructs made from semi-coherent celestial light can also be mastered, as power stunts for each general type. Anything one can construct out of mundane light can also be created with celestial light, though again, such constructs inflict devastating Deionic damage with each attack they are used to make - often enough to give even the most powerful ascendant humans pause!

Celestial light control functions within Near distance of its wielder.

Celestial Light Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (celestial light), carrier wave, celestial light control, theonic sense, transformation / self (celestial light).

Celestial light is a form of energy more at home in realms of existence above and beyond our own. It is a phenomenon that generally occurs in planes that are more commonly thought of as afterlives - spaces that the souls of the adherents of some faith or another travel to upon the demise of their corporeal forms. In fact, individuals suffering near-death experiences often report seeing this otherworldly illumination!

In appearance, celestial light invariably appears as ordinary light would, albeit when shone through beautiful gemstones with nothing less than a perfect cut. The color of celestial light is variable, however, seeming like that which has passed through a ruby, sapphire, amethyst, or maybe even a diamond - its hue depends on the nature and inclination of the deific beings who created the realms in which it is encountered.

While beautiful and complex in appearance, celestial light can nonetheless be mistaken for conventional illumination - at least, at a glance. When subjected to this empyrean form of energy, however, the differences between it and ordinary light will rapidly become apparent. Celestial light, when used offensively, inflicts its power rank in Deionic damage with each and every deadly attack!

Thus, those who wield this penetrative form of energy are most often deities or their servants, not that other, random souls don't occasionally acquire the ability through other circumstances. Of course, once it is revealed, such an ability almost invariably complicates one's life, the very power it generates attracting the attention of any number of immortal agencies who covet - or despise - it!

Celestial light generation functions within Near distance of its wielder.

Chaos Shift
Type: Movement Power, Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 8 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: bilocation, dimensional transit, teleportation, time travel.

Chaos shifting is a specialized movement ability one can directly use to great effect in combat. In battle, the chaos shifter can rapidly pop in and out of either space and/or time around his or her foe, depending on their power set and the player's desire. This has the practical effect of making him or her much harder to target by others, while at the same time giving them something of an advantage against their opponent.

In game terms, this translates into a +1 CS bonus to hit against the foe one chaos shifts around, while inflicting a -1 CS penalty on others' attempts to strike him or her. The former only applies to a targeting roll by the chaos shifter, while the latter applies to any ACTION made against them. This is because, after spending half of the turn outside this space-time, a chaos shifter is harder to grasp with most powers.

Charm
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: emotion control, mesmerism, telepathy.

A charm is a powerful, aversive psychic aura that its wielder may use to avoid undue harm. It works by generating a field of 'good will' towards the wielder that affects everyone within range of this ability, as is determined on the Near range table. Those within the area effect of this power will become positively disposed towards the charmer, if they fail a Psyche (will) ACTION against this ability's rank.

What this means is, though they can't quite put their finger on the reason why, affected targets will find they have a deep liking for the charming individual. This prevents them from harming or acting against the character maintaining a charm in any fashion. Furthermore, they will remain unconvinced that they have been affected in any manner, and will actively resist arguments to this effect.

Charm counts as one spell or psionic for the purposes of maintenance. It has no 'grace period' like some abilities do; once cast, the character producing the charm must actively keep it going or it will cease. Of course, maintenance may not be necessary, as affected targets will remain charmed until they can eventually pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against charm's power rank, which they may attempt each turn.

This ACTION is never 'impossible', but if the power rank is high enough, it can usually keep charmed individuals 'friendly' most of the time. Once charmed targets have shaken off the charm, they may then behave normally, but will not be aware that their behavior has been modified. Subsequent attempts to charm a target in a given encounter, once a charm wears off the first time, are at a -2 CS.

All of this assumes that the charmer has not, in turn, harmed those affected by this ability. If a charmed target is attacked by the person who charmed him or her, the power will no longer affect them for the duration of this encounter - and the target so attacked will be keenly aware that their mind has been tinkered with!

Circular Vision
Type: Sensory Power, Entreaty Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: light control (depending on the type), super senses, unusual sensitivity.

This curious sensory ability allows its wielder to see in a full 360 degrees. Whether this is an arc in the horizontal, vertical, or both depends on the physiology of the character in question. It can be achieved in a number of fashions, from the obvious physical placement of optical sense organs to more subtle means, up to and including the actual bending of ambient light waves.

Circular vision that is the result of passive abilities (inherent to one's anatomy) cannot be negated, being a function of one's physiology. It can be provided by either curiously placed optical sense organs, the presence of light-sensitive pits on one's skin, or other, more specialized methods. If the method of attaining circular vision alters one's appearance, compared to the norm, the character suffers a -1 CS to their Popularity.

Or, alternately, should adopt the Abnormal Attribute quirk, instead.

As an active ability, circular vision can come in a variety of forms, from a specialized trick of light control to a sort of psionic sense which lets you see in a bird's eye view, as if watching oneself from the vantage point of a video game. While these provide the advantage of hiding one's circular vision from obvious detection, they can be negated by various means, depending on their nature.

The 'game' advantage of circular vision, aside from being surprised less, is a general increase in one's Fighting score (+1 CS). Of course, if one loses their circular vision for some reason (power negation, etc.), this bonus will transform into a -1 CS penalty to one's Fighting rank for the duration of the negation.

Clairalience
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairaudience, clairgustance, clairtouchence, clairvoyance, finding, super tracking, teleport, teleport other.

Clairalience allows its wielder to smell things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate noses (or whatever) in the area a clairalient wishes to smell. These 'pretend' noses are disembodied from the wielder of this ability, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. The nature of clairalience allows it to defeat most methods of disguising one's scent, as the surrogate olfactory organs can quickly move about to determine the source of would-be countermeasures - and then disregard them.

While using clairalience, the character with this ability can smell anything that they otherwise could in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, events occurring in the observed area cannot directly harm the clairalient, though sensory overload (from, say, noxious odors) can happen. No damage or poison can transfer through this link, but a particularly nauseating scent can temporarily sicken a clairalient.

The activation of clairalience 'mutes' one's normal olfactory sense, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairalient's other senses function just fine, however, so while one cannot smell imminent danger approaching them while this ability is active, they can still hear, see, feel, or even taste it, whichever of such may be applicable in a given instance.

Clairaudience
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairalience, clairgustance, clairtouchence, clairvoyance, finding, teleport, teleport other.

Clairaudience allows its wielder to hear things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate ears in the area a clairaudient wishes to hear. These 'pretend' ears are disembodied from the wielder of this ability, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. The speed of sound is no detriment to clairaudience, and in fact, with a high enough clairaudience rank, the wielder of this ability could eavesdrop upon events occurring on other planets - live, right as they are happening!

While using clairaudience, the character with this ability can listen in on anything that they could otherwise hear in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, events occurring in the area listened to cannot directly harm the clairaudient, though sensory overload (from, say, loud noises) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but effects such as hypnotic music can function via clairaudience.

The activation of clairaudience 'mutes' one's normal audio sense, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairaudient's other senses function just fine, however, so while one cannot hear imminent danger approaching them while this ability is active, they can still see, smell, feel, or even taste it, whichever of such may be applicable in a given instance.

Clairgustance
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, clairalience, clairaudience, clairtouchence, clairvoyance, finding, teleport, teleport other.

Clairgustance allows its wielder to taste things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate tongues (or whatever) in the area a clairgustant wishes to sample. These 'pretend' tongues are disembodied from the clairgustant, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. While a sense of taste is generally restricted to physical contact with one's person, clairgustance allows one to vicariously sample the flavors of items and substances (and even people) without physically interacting with them!

While using clairgustance, the character with this ability can taste anything that they could otherwise sample in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, materials in the remote area cannot poison or harm the clairgustant, though sensory overload (from, say, intense flavors) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but particularly disgusting tastes can temporarily sicken a clairgustant.

The activation of clairgustance 'mutes' one's normal sense of taste, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairgustant's other senses function just fine, however, so while they may be tasting cakes on the other side of the planet, a clairgustant may not readily be ambushed while using this ability - unless, of course, the flavors they experience are just that engrossing.

Clairtouchence
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psikinetic Skill, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairalience, clairaudience, clairgustance, clairvoyance, finding, telekinesis, teleport, teleport other.

Clairtouchence allows its wielder to touch things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate fingers (or whatever) in the area a clairtouchent wishes to feel. These 'pretend' digits are disembodied from the clairtouchent, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. While a sense of touch is generally restricted to physical contact with one's person, clairtouchence allows one to vicariously feel items and substances (and even people) without resorting to physically interacting with them!

While using clairtouchence, the character with this ability can feel anything that they could otherwise touch in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, materials in the remote area cannot harm the clairtouchent, though sensory overload (from, say, complex textures) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but particularly extreme tactile input can momentarily distract a clairtouchent.

Activating clairtouchence 'mutes' one's usual sense of touch, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. A clairtouchent's other senses function just fine, however, so while they may be dipping 'pretend' fingers into the sun or running them along monowire, a clairtouchent isn't easily ambushed while using this ability - unless they're so engrossed in what they're touching that they aren't otherwise paying attention, that is.

Clairvoyance
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairalience, clairaudience, clairgustance, clairtouchence, finding, teleport, teleport other.

Clairvoyance allows its wielder to see things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate eyes in the area a clairvoyant wishes to see. These 'pretend' eyes are disembodied from the wielder of this ability, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. The speed of light is no detriment to clairvoyance, and in fact, with a high enough clairvoyance rank, the wielder of this ability could spy upon events occurring on other planets - live, right as they are happening!

While using clairvoyance, the character with this ability can view anything that they could otherwise see in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, events occurring in the viewed area cannot directly harm the clairvoyant, though sensory overload (from, say, bright lights) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but effects such as hypnotic lights can function via clairvoyance.

The activation of clairvoyance 'mutes' one's normal visual sense, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairvoyant's other senses function just fine, however, so while one cannot see imminent danger approaching them while this ability is active, they can still hear, smell, feel, or even taste it, whichever of such may be applicable in a given instance.

Clarity
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: mental repair, telepathy.

Clarity is a tool that allows its possessor to free others from various effects that prevent clear thinking. When invoked, clarity can cleanse the effects of emotion or mind control, or even possession - if it affects how a target might behave, clarity can usually help. When attempting to clear the head of a target, the wielder of clarity must pass an ACTION roll against the intensity of the outside influence.

If successful, clarity will remove the taint of such powers, and will protect the target from further manipulations, at its power rank, for 1d10 turns. Optionally, the user of clarity can maintain this ability, providing a target (say, an ally) with continuing protection from external influence if desired. Clarity only works within Very Near range of those it would help.

Claws
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the claws
Related Powers: (in general) super digging, super climbing; (for the claws only) corrosion, disease, poison, rotting.

Claws are sharp, pointy implements that a character may have on the end of their extremities. These are most often present on the hands, but can just as easily be on one's feet (or perhaps on both). Claws usually come in the form of elongated fingernails (or toenails), though they can also protrude from the space between one's digits. Of course, there are many other forms that claws, or claw-like protrusions, can take.

A character wielding claws may inflict his or her Strength (might) rank in Edged Attack damage against living targets.

On the other hand, claws get interesting versus non-living targets. In such circumstances, the material strength of one's claws comes into play. When attempting to slice and/or dice an inanimate object, the bearer of claws may wield them as they may any other sharp, pointy implement, and can cut through items with a successful claws MS ACTION against an intensity equal to the MS of the item to be cut.

The base MS of a character's claws is their Strength (might) score +2 CS. This ensures that the force of one's own blows should not break their claws. This MS can be increased, however, either by spending one point per additional MS (in the point-based character generation system) or by subjecting the base MS to the gambling table of one's choice (in the random character generation system).

Claws are generally retractable, but a character may take them in an 'always out' form as a strong limitation, adding a +2 CS to their material strength (or just lowering their cost by 2).

Clinging
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional +1 CS
Related Powers: adhesion, friction control, super climbing.

Clinging is the ability to directly adhere to someone or something in one's environment. The primary example of this ability in nature is the gripping ability of an octopus or squid, using their evolved suction cups to aid in the grappling of their prey. However, numerous other techniques, ranging from microscopic molecular hooks to even molecular charge suppression can produce this effect as well.

This power, when invoked, allows its possessor to stick to other matter that comes into physical contact with him or her. The only property of an object that may cause this power difficulty is its relative slickness; a clinging character must pass a power ACTION roll against that property of an object to stick to it. If successful, a clinger may cling to something until it is destroyed or they are forced to let go somehow.

Using clinging, a character can readily climb most vertical surfaces with ease - even more so if they possess the climbing talent or super climbing power. With their ability to stick, however, a clinger can actually walk up walls or even along ceilings and other upside down surfaces - something those other abilities cannot manage whatsoever - at least, not without the aid of special equipment or other powers.

In its basic state, this power grants a character the ability to cling with an intensity equal to their Strength (might) rank. However, the player behind a character with clinging may increase this base value by either gambling on it (when using the random character generation method) or by spending an additional point beyond its standard cost for each +1 CS to its raw intensity.

Clone Projection
Type: Matter Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, dream projection, energy doubles, energy projection, imaginary doubles, psychoplasm animation, object projection.

A variant form of energy doubles, clone projection allows its possessor to create a singular duplicate of themselves, comprised of the imaginary matter known as psychoplasm. Once this copy is created, the wielder of this ability may project his or her mind into it, and then 'drive' this avatar of themselves as if it were their own body. If blocked from such projection somehow, the psychoplasmic double is unable to act on its own.

This projected clone has the same physical and mental statistics of its creator, as well as their super-human capabilities (whether inherent or knowledge-based). It also has the same Health score, and if said score is reduced to zero, the projected clone will dissipate, the energies used to create it rent asunder. When this happens, the clone projector's mind will simply return to its normal habitat, Stunned for 1d10 turns.

The power rank of clone projection determines both how long the created duplicate will exist and how far it can wander from its creator. A projected clone can operate anywhere within Middle distance of this power's wielder, and can last for a maximum number of hours that is equal to this ability's power rank.

Cold Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (cold), carrier wave, catalysis, ice generation, infravision, temperature control, weather control.

Cold generation is the opposite, both mechanically and physically, of heat generation. It does not fire bursts of cold 'energy', so much as it creates a virtual thermal variance that induces an immediate flow of heat away from its target. This flow of heat away from the target of cold generation acts to instantly and dramatically cool it, to varying effects.

This power can be used on a single target, or affect everything around its wielder. The former can be used against foes within Near distance of the cold generator, though this requires an Agility ACTION to hit in the first place. The latter, on the other hand, affects those within Very Near range of a cold generator, and does so automatically if they remain within range of its effects.

Attacks with cold generation inflict power rank Energy damage with each application. If the target is alive, it may well suffer from hypothermia if exposed for long enough. Inanimate matter subjected to cold generation will be potentially weakened by the change in temperature, and resists breakage when struck by rolling against the intensity of cold or the physical force applied to them, whichever of the two is greater!

Cold generation is an excellent counter to abilities which produce large amounts of thermal energy. Fire and heat generation are such abilities, though many powers (such as catalysis) may cause heat as a side effect under certain conditions. The intensity of cold generation will act against the heat such abilities cause to directly neutralize them - or at least reduce them in intensity by this power's rank number.

Matter subject to cold generation will quickly resume its normal temperature, the 'energy' involved rapidly dispersing into the environment. To keep something much cooler than its surroundings, one must continue to inundate it with the cold caused by this power's use, lest it eventually return to room temperature - whatever that happens to be.

Color Control
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: blending, invisibility / others, light control, transduction, transmutation.

Color control is the ability to alter the hue of anything in one's environment. Surprise!

The color control power works by transforming the properties of a thing such that its coloration changes, whether it is matter or energy that is being affected. The basic nature of things altered by color control remains unchanged, though how they interact with the environment may not be. For example, a lake of blood red water might be refreshing to swim in, but most people wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

In addition to inducing color changes, the wielder of this power can also affect the transparency of its subject. Such changes involve making a wall completely transparent or turning the air positively opaque. This opens up the possibility of performing all manner of misdirection with color control, usually because people so readily believe what their eyes tell them, instead of what their other senses are saying.

The power can even work on colors that others cannot readily see. Transforming ambient infrared light into ultraviolet light, for example, might just stymie those who can track others via infravision. Such efforts are considered to function per transduction, reducing the intensity of photonic energies by -1 CS, but otherwise allowing them to behave in the fashion that they were before being affected.

Color control automatically functions against inanimate matter and energy, regardless of either its material strength or intensity. Using this power against living targets requires an Agility (dex) ACTION, however, as they are allowed to avoid the effect with defensive maneuvers such as a dodge. Mind you, those with resistance to metabolic attacks can apply such against the use of this power.

The difficulty of changing something's color depends on how complicated a change one wishes to induce. Singular color changes (making an object neon pink) requires a green power ACTION, while introducing multiple color changes (making a tie-dye shirt without the dye) necessitates a yellow ACTION, and intricate alterations of color (giving oneself 'natural' eye shadow) would demand a red power ACTION.

The duration of a color change is determined with a second power ACTION, made after a change is successfully completed. A white ACTION makes a color change last for 1d10 turns, while a green ACTION will allow it to last for a number of turns equal to the color control power rank number. Yellow duration ACTIONs extend this amount of time to a like number of minutes, while a red duration ACTION expands the time involved to that many hours.

Though in the case of inanimate objects, red results can generally be considered permanent in nature.

Color control operates within Near distance of its wielder.

Combat Edge
Type: Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill, Psipathic Skill
Duration: encounter
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)

By means of this ability, a combatant can gain an uncanny insight into the actions of his or her foes. Once invoked, combat edge will begin to 'read' its target, and after three turns of combat in an encounter, its wielder will have a 'good idea' just what their opponent will be planning at any given moment. Once the target is read, the combat edge ability will provide its wielder a +1 CS on all ACTION rolls made against said enemy.

This particular bonus only lasts for one combat session, but if the character using combat edge has wielded the ability on an antagonist in a previous encounter, he or she can 'read' them after only one turn on subsequent activations.

Combining Powers
Type: Reality Control Power
Duration: permanent effect
Cost: varies
Related Powers: various, depending on the powers combined.

The process of combining powers is one in which a character permanently merges two or more of their super-human capabilities into a singular power. This is often done to create abilities which require more than one ascendant power in their execution. Common examples of such abilities include everything in the combination powers category, like plasma generation or regenerative armor.

Combining powers can also be used as the reverse of power stunts, tying seemingly disparate abilities together into a cohesive whole. The effect of this is that the combined powers cannot be used discretely; both component abilities in a combined power are an all or nothing affair. Depending on the powers so combined, this can serve as either an enhancement or a limitation.

In the simplest sense, combined powers have a cost, either as a number of powers or as a number of points per rank, that matches its component abilities - plus one point. If powers are combined more as a limitation, subtract that point instead. This is not set in stone, however; if a combined power approximates an extant ability (such as missile generation closely matching quills), the net cost can be reduced accordingly.

Combining powers can occur later on in a character's life, not just during character generation. This can be the result of the bizarre occurrences that are so common in comic books, ranging from inadvertent radiation exposure to someone 'punching time.' Such a combination may come with an additional ability (or abilities) which acts to enliven a character's power roster - or just might saddle a powerful ability with new limitations.

After a fashion.

No matter how they come about, combined powers all operate at a like intensity. During character generation, this is a simple matter, but if one's powers are combined after this point, their net intensity must be recalculated based on what it would cost to purchase the powers in a combined state during character generation. This balancing of power won't affect abilities which lack a rank proper (such as an invulnerability).

Commandment
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Essentially the reverse of the commune spell, commandment allows a deific being to directly communicate with those who venerate him or her. Naturally, the worshiped need not go through the same hoops a worshiper must to achieve communications, though sometimes it may be difficult to convince the faithful that what they're hearing is the true voice of their god.

When invoking this power, a deionic entity can exploit the channel of faith energy a follower generates, doing so to make contact with a member of their flock. Once this connection is made, the immortal can communicate in any way he or she wishes, whether merely transmitting empathic impulses, verbal instructions (hence the name of this power), or actually engaging in a two-way conversation.

Conversing with a follower that is either on their home plane or within the deific being's realm requires but a green power ACTION roll. If a follower is in neither location but is still within the same time frame, a yellow power ACTION is necessary to communicate with them. Red power ACTIONs are typically only required if a follower is out of their normal, defined place in time - or within the realm of another deity.

Commune
Type: Clericism Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per rank

Casting the commune spell, clerics may attempt to speak directly with what they worship. A simple spell ACTION roll is required to open a channel to communicate with one's patron(s), allowing the priest to query said patron(s) in regards to just about anything. This can be a great way to acquire information when all else fails, as entities of great power often have access to avenues of data that mere mortals can only dream of.

The trick is getting their attention.

You see, the great powers of the multiverse are used to being petitioned for all kinds of things all the time, and often have an entourage of minions to deal with this sort of hassle. Some handle dispersing the gods' powers to various followers, some listen for prayers and such, and still others answer the questions asked by pesky priests. This frees these entities from 'mundane' matters to do... whatever it is they do.

Sometimes, casting commune will get a god's attention directly, but most often such queries will simply fall into the hands of its underlings. And said underlings, while they serve the same power as the cleric, often have their own agendas. They may answer in riddles or other cryptic fashions, or just give incomplete answers. They'll never deceive a priest of their master, but they're not necessarily very helpful.

For many things, this is sufficient. A cleric may only need the answer to a question that isn't too difficult to handle (such as 'are there people hiding on the other side of that door?'). On the other hand, a priest may need a much more important question answered, and wants to cut out the middle-men in the process. This can be done by making a sacrifice to his or her patron entity - the bigger the better!

One can boost the effective rank of this spell depending on just how inconvenient the sacrifice is to the caster. For instance, giving up one's favorite deck of trick cards to their patron god of gaming may provide a paltry +1 CS, but going to the gambling house of a rival god, fleecing the staff blind, and then sacrificing the proceeds to their own deity is much more impressive, and may grant as much as a +4 CS!

The nature of one's relationship with his or her deity will also affect the column one rolls this ACTION on. If the follower has gone out of their way to further the boss' agenda, a considerable positive CS boost may be in order, while if they're 'on the outs' with the powers and principalities, this may be a negative modifier. Once a final CS is settled on, simply roll the spell ACTION to determine the nature of the response.

Once the dice have settled, the Judge (acting as your powers that be) will answer the question. The color result of this roll will determine just how useful this answer may be, but the Judge should at the very least be sporting. If a player spends an entire adventure preparing a suitable sacrifice for his or her god, that says a lot about how serious they are about this effort!

At the same time, Judges should be careful in balancing the answer against both the character's efforts and the campaign as a whole.

Compass Sense
Type: Psimotive Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)

A character with a compass sense can determine the direction they are headed relative to the space they currently occupy, in a full seven dimensions. This is slightly different from the locational sense in that it is not based on an arbitrary point chosen by the character, so much as whatever structures surround his or her person, either on the local or the macroscopic level.

The simplest uses of a compass sense involve determining which directions are north, south, east, west, up, or down on a planetary body when necessary. This focus can be narrowed, however, to find if one is headed towards port or starboard on a ship (not easy when one is inside it), whether one is headed towards the front or rear of a structure, or even what direction in time one is headed!

Componentry
Type: Technomancy Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The process of altering the nature of a technomantic object is complicated, in that it involves changing the physical or magical nature of its existence - if not both! Using componentry, a technomage may analyze how a true technomantic device functions and, using that information, attempt to manipulate it. The difficulty of doing this depends on just what the technomage is trying to accomplish.

If a technomage is attempting to merely repair a slightly broken or malfunctioning technomantic device, or similarly change it in a fashion that does not prevent it from working as it did before, he or she only needs a green componentry spell ACTION. Alterations of this nature often involve maintenance work, such as efforts to keep an item working right in the face of heavy use or the wear and tear caused by combat.

On the other hand, making a more drastic modification to a technomantic device, whether it be an extensive repair job or an alteration of its specific capabilities (either physical or magical) requires a yellow spell ACTION. Such changes in capability involve a modification from one function to another within the item, as long as said capabilities are within the same cost range and/or rank.

Finally, making an extreme change in a technomantic item, one which completely alters it into something else, or otherwise gives it an ability of increased rank or price, requires a red componentry spell ACTION. Furthermore, this may incur significant Karma costs as well, since the item is essentially being improved above and beyond the original Karma total paid when it was first built / acquired.

This is the basic process used in modifying a technomantic item, but all of these rules assume that the technomage can alter it in the first place. To even change such an item in this fashion, the caster must first overcome the magic which was used in its construction. While a technomage need not do this when altering a device of their own creation, they do have to 'master' a device when it was built by anyone else.

This involves passing a spell ACTION against the intensity of magic originally used to create the item. Of course, some items also have additional safeguards against their modification as well, and the would-be technomantic tinkerer must overcome those, as well. These can be anything from a specific resistance to magic to booby traps set into the device to prevent unwanted customization.

Computer Link
Type: Mental Power, Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: device sympathy, linguistics, radio wave control, radio wave generation, technical intuition.

A computer link is a mental interface with a digital system. This may be granted by either a physical connection to one's body (like a data jack), or perhaps a remote networking with the computer in question (either with conventional wireless technology, or perhaps psychic prowess). While connected with a computer via this link, a character may communicate with it directly, using digital code.

This makes a computer link the opposite of device sympathy after a fashion, as the latter ability is almost empathic in nature, while this one is grounded in just what the computer can do (and whatever information it houses within). While this power is active, the linked character can understand the digital impulses the computer they're linked to makes - as if it were talking to them in their native tongue!

How well one can make this link work depends on the ACTION rolled when the link is initiated. A green ACTION lets one understand the active programs a computer is running, as well as what it is currently doing. A yellow ACTION lets one monitor and make transmissions with the computer and anything it is, in turn, networked to. Red ACTIONs are only required if the computer so linked is beyond the character's understanding.

If the information a linked character attempts to interact with is encrypted, he or she must pass the above ACTION roll at a negative column shift, ranging from -1 CS to -4 CS depending on its complexity, as the time spent decrypting the information makes it much harder to interact with data in real-time. This penalty can be reduced, if not transformed into a bonus, if the character also possesses the linguistics ability.

Computer link works within Very Near distance of the computer in question, though if delivered by a physical connection, contact is required (counting as a weak limitation).

Conflagrant Chariot
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Something of a fanciful variant on the carrier wave power, this spell produces a two-wheeled bullock cart for its wielder to ride when cast, complete with four powerful oxen to pull it. This cart and its attendant beasts of burden are comprised of solar plasma drawn directly from the nearest star, condensed into a coherent form so that it is quasi-solid when it first manifests in the world.

Once its occupants board and start driving the cart, the coherent plasma oxen emit plasma from their feet, applying enough force when doing so that they will not only pull the cart forward, but can take to the air! This burning plasma will not harm those riding upon the cart, but definitely inflicts spell rank Armor Piercing Energy damage upon whoever or whatever they come in contact with.

Furthermore, the cart can fly with spell rank speed, haul weight with spell rank Strength, and can do so for a number of turns equal to its spell rank number. Unless actively maintained, the conflagrant chariot will slowly expend the energy that comprises it as it is utilized, discorporating at the end of its duration as it consumes the very power utilized to originally bind it together into a coherent state.

One of the advantages of crafting a conflagrant chariot is that it can be operated by anyone, not just the caster of this spell. This allows its wielder to generate a quick ride for someone else when desired, or even to let others drive while they engage in other activities.

Confusion
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A powerful means of sowing chaos in the ranks of an enemy, the confusion spell has unpredictable effects on everyone it affects. When cast, confusion will blanket an area with chaotic energies, energies which will affect every target who fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its spell rank. Those who fail will be affected as follows for 1d10 turns (roll 1d10):

1. The target has a seat, and contemplates his or her current existence.
2. The target has an extreme emotional response. Uncontrollable laughter, inconsolable tears, etc.
3. The target is seemingly lost. He or she wanders about, not knowing how they got there, much less why.
4. The target becomes obsessed with one action or item, which consumes him or her for the duration.
5. The target attacks the nearest person - whoever it is.
6. The target attacks everyone - one different person per turn.
7. The target attacks the nearest object. Whether a car or a building, they'll try to destroy it utterly.
8. The target becomes enamored with the nearest person, and can't help but go on about how great he/she/it is.
9. The target is disoriented; he or he can act as they wish, but suffers a -2 CS penalty.
10. The target's mind is overloaded, and he or she falls asleep.

Conjuration
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

Conjuration is a specialized form of teleport others that summons forth an object, whether it be an inanimate item or a living entity, to the caster's location. Conjuring forth simple things, plants, or animals (such as a coin, a tulip, or perhaps a gopher) requires no actual ACTION roll under most circumstances; the thaumaturge simply casts the spell and the desired item(s) appear in a puff of smoke (or whatever).

If attempting to draw forth something more complicated or dangerous (a firearm, a television, or even a wolf), the conjurer must pass a spell ACTION roll against the highest rank the target possesses. A conventional handgun would require an ACTION against Typical (6) intensity, then, while that wolf would require a spell ACTION versus Excellent (20) rank - a wolf's highest ability score, which is its Fighting.

On the other hand, if an item to be conjured is complex but has no readily apparent rank (such as our television in the above example), a mere green ACTION is necessary to make it manifest.

All of this assumes no sentience in the object to be conjured forth. If it possesses a Psyche rank, the spell must instead defeat this to function. When a sentient being is the subject of a conjuration spell, they will know what is going on and who is casting the spell, and may choose to resist or not as they see fit; if masked somehow, the identity of a conjurer is subject to an Intuition ACTION by his or her target.

The odd thing about conjuration is that it has a restorative effect on the things it summons forth. For instance, if one attempts to summon an item that is broken somehow, the conjuration spell will reassemble it in the midst of transport from one location to another. This can be used to instantly repair broken devices or other items, and can even restore or recreate the bodies of the dead!

Conjuration will not actually return a dead person to life; it merely brings forth their (seemingly freshly) deceased body, and does not provide the 'spark of life'. Of course, if the astral form of the decedent (or someone else for that matter) is still available, they can make use of the fresh, perfectly good body.

Conjuration works on anything within Far range of its caster.

Contact Absorption
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank

This powerful spell allows a wizard to imbue his or her very body with the properties of anything they touch. With a successful spell ACTION roll, their body will attempt to assume a Strength, Endurance, and body armor rating that is equal to the material strength of whatever it is they're touching when casting contact absorption. While the first two are limited to this spell rank for an upper limit, the body armor provided is not.

Furthermore, any characteristics of the material being touched will also be adopted by the wizard casting this spell. Grabbing a red hot, spiky steel ball will imbue the caster with spikes as well as a searing temperature. Superfluous energies absorbed along with everything else will last for up to 1d10 turns before dissipating into the environment around the caster, for good or ill.

On the other hand, operating at an excessive material strength has a deleterious effect on one's speed; absorbing the properties of a Shift Y MS material may make you nigh-invulnerable, but you'll be nigh-immobile. For each rank of body armor a character using contact absorption has above this spell's rank, reduce their Strength (vgr) for motion purposes and Intuition for initiative purposes by 1 CS, to a minimum of Feeble (2).

Furthermore, when in such a hardened state, a sorcerer cannot cast more than one spell per turn, no matter how many extra actions he or she would otherwise have.

Contingency
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: while maintained (for each contingency)
Cost: 2 points per rank

On occasion, a spell caster may wish to benefit from his or her magical prowess while not actually having the ability to cast spells. By making use of a contingency, they can make this happen no matter what situation they find themselves in. This works by first invoking contingency, and then the spell one wishes to hold 'in reserve'. The contingency ability will then prevent the spell from taking effect.

At least, until a specific condition is met.

This condition may be anything the thaumaturge or psychoturge wishes, from being forced unconscious to a specific time of day, or perhaps upon exposure to any particular external stimuli. For instance, a mage may arrange to be teleported to their lair upon being knocked unconscious, to give off an eldritch wave when uttering a chosen word, or even a dose of flight upon falling more than a story at a time.

A character may support one contingency per rank in this ability, though each counts as one spell or psionic for the purposes of ability maintenance. This requires one to strike a balance between preparing for the unexpected and leaving room for day-to-day spellcasting. Of course, if conditions change, he or she can always stop maintaining one or more contingencies to deal with whatever chaos has broken out.

Corporeal Gestalt
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: gestalting, link, spectral gestalt.

A corporeal gestalt is a composite entity formed by the physical merger of several individuals. When this power is activated, it will combine its wielder's very form with that of one or more people. While this can generally be any number or variety of folks, the power can be curtailed to specific participants as a strong limitation. Such a constraint is a common limitation of this ability, but by no means a constant.

The corporeal gestalt will possess ability scores, both physical and mental, that are based on the average of those who comprise its being. If one person combines with the possessor of this power, these averages will be increased by +1 CS. Each subsequent doubling of participants in the gestalt will boost this ability score average by another +1 CS (eight merged individuals, for instance, function at a +3 CS).

A corporeal gestalt can wield whatever powers its creators possess. It may do so at the listed rank for each (or at an average, if more than one component of its being has the same ability), modified as its ability scores are, above. For example, if one of the four people participating in such a gestalt has the ability of flight, the corporeal gestalt could use that power at its possessor's rank +2 CS.

At the same time, corporeal gestalts often possess additional powers above and beyond those of its constituent entities. When this ability is first gained, its possessor has the option of placing one or more of their powers within the gestalt; they can't use them by themselves, but must merge with others to wield the ability. Such placement counts as a strong limitation to the powers so constrained, and raises their final ranks by +2 CS.

The appearance and personality of a corporeal gestalt can take on one of two different configurations. The first assumes that the combined bodies and minds of the individuals involved in its creations add up to create an all-new being. This corporeal gestalt has an all-new appearance and personality, one which may recall aspects of its component beings but may have entirely new traits.

The second is a direct amalgamation of the bodies and minds of its participants, which might get a bit awkward when multiple genders and species are involved. The minds which make up the gestalt may merge into a singular personality, showcasing all of their tendencies (both good and bad), or simply manifest as all of their personalities in one body - which can either represent ultimate teamwork or abject confusion.

Most often the latter.

When a corporeal gestalt is defeated in battle but not killed outright, its component beings will usually separate immediately, which may be quite a sight. They will awaken in 1d10 turns as if defeated individually, but will be otherwise okay. If a gestalt is actually slain, those who comprise the gestalt must pass a Kill check or begin to lose Endurance ranks, on top of the effects of simply being defeated in battle.

Corrosion
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: barbs, battle tail, catalysis, claws, disintegration, horns, poison, quills, razor skin, rotting.

Corrosion is the ability to induce rapid degradation in the chemical structure of primarily inorganic matter. This can work through a variety of mechanisms, the end result being damage to or the destruction of such substances. Matter affected by corrosion, whether living or dead before the power is used on it, will show signs of advanced wear. Metals will rust, paint will fade, and so on.

Against living entities comprised of such matter, this ability will cause power rank SD Metabolic damage, which its targets may avoid by preventing physical contact (it requires such to function). When used against unliving substances (which is usually the vast majority of the time), whether glass or steel or uranium, this ability will destroy them if they fail a material strength check against this power's rank.

This power can be avoided with resistance to metabolic attacks - or just resistance to rotting or corrosion. Corrosion inflicts -3 CS damage against organic targets (it works, just less effectively). On the other hand, it is less limited when used on organic substances that have been heavily processed in some fashion. Plastics are such a material, and corrosion can affect them at a mere -1 CS.

Crowd Control
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: mesmerism, mind control, psychic invisibility, sleep, telepathy.

An advanced form of mesmerism, crowd control can sway the actions of a large array of people simultaneously. When invoked, crowd control will prompt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this ability's intensity upon everyone within Very Near range, save for exceptions of its wielder's choosing (such as allies or whatever). Those who fail this ACTION fall into a suggestive, hypnotized state immediately.

Once this state is achieved, the targets may be forced to do anything in regards to their immediate behavior (leave the building now), or instead suffer the implantation of a post-hypnotic suggestion (you want to vote for me this November).

If in the form of a command, crowd control will last only as long as it takes the targets to complete the chosen directive, at which point individuals so affected will resume control over their actions. A suggestion implanted by crowd control, on the other hand, will last for a number of days equal to this ability's rank number, and can even override the target's normal ethics and beliefs on a red ACTION roll.

Although victims of crowd control are usually zombie-like and unresponsive while under the influence of commands, they will behave perfectly normal while suffering from a suggestion - at least until they act on it. Afterwards, they will resume normality, though such controlled individuals may wonder just what got into them to make them act so out of character.

Cure Disease
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aciurgy, age control / others, decontamination, detoxification, healing / others, integral control, mental repair, recovery, regeneration / others, resurrection, resuscitation.

Essentially the opposite of the disease power, one can use cure disease to eradicate harmful micro-organisms in its target. This power only works on physical contact with its subject, at which point its wielder can detect and eliminate any undesirable microbes, viruses, or fungal colonies. This requires a power ACTION roll made against the intensity (if any) of the offending biological invaders.

Upon the successful use of this power, its target is cleansed of such agents, though lingering damage they've caused must be healed normally. This can be done through natural means, or with the use of the healing / others or regeneration / others powers. The cure disease power does not count as healing for the purposes of such, since it technically works against the things in one's body, as opposed to their body proper.

This allows the immediate use of healing powers on the cured individual without Endurance penalty.

Furthermore, with all these dead micro-organisms floating around in their body, targets of this power have an improved ability to form an immunity to whatever infections were cured inside them. Though cure disease doesn't instill automatic immunity to plagues, it offers its target a +2 CS to develop it on their own, simulating the effect a normal vaccine has on its recipients.

On the other hand, it's important to note that this ability does not work as well against inorganic invaders of the nanoscopic sort. Cure disease functions at a -2 CS against tiny creatures of the inorganic variety, whether naturally evolved or those that come in the form of atomatons. A powerful enough version of this ability can competently fight such invaders off, but they're much more difficult to combat.

Curse
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A curse is a means by which a thaumaturge may indicate his or her distinct displeasure with another. By creating a special magical weave around their target, the wielder of the curse spell will apply a probability field around them that acts to hinder everything they do. This hindrance most often comes in the form of a -1 CS to every ACTION or action the target attempts, though the specific form it takes may vary.

This penalty may come from the effects of temporary aging, painful warts and boils, and so on.

A curse will last for a number of days equal to the spell rank number; for instance, an Incredible (40) ranked curse spell may zap its target with ill will for up to forty days. Every day the target is affected (including the first, upon its application), the target of a curse spell may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this spell rank to shake off the curse prematurely.

No matter the nature or duration of a curse, its target will not inherently know who cast it on him or her. The cursing wizard may reveal themselves if obvious in its application, however, say by binding the target before them while casting it, or when leaving a taunting note after the fact. This allows the wizard behind a curse to be as discreet or as overt about his or her actions as they like.

Cyberspatial Projection
Type: Technopsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Cyberspatial projection allows one to insert their mind into a digital stream of data, and interact with it environmentally. Functioning on equipment within Middle distance of its possessor, cyberspatial projection will extend the consciousness of its wielder into any computer or computer network within range - whether or not it is equipped to receive external communications.

Once they're in, the cyberspatial projector can then interact with whatever data is present in the accessed computer - whether it is resident or just passing through. This interaction is possible thanks to an environmental overlay the cyberspatial projector creates upon entering a computer system. This environment is a mentally created construct, and will generally behave consistently from one use of the power to another.

However, both the environment itself and the avatar the cyberspatial projector has assumed might change based on the nature of the infiltrated computer system - particularly if one interacts with a program especially suited to this ability. For instance, inserting oneself into an MMO game might cause a cyberspatial projector to assume the appearance of a standard character within that simulation.

While immersed within a digital environ, the cyberspatial projector can act normally, though the lack of a physical body means that one must resolve Agility ACTIONs with their Intuition score, Strength ACTIONs with their Reason score, and Endurance ACTIONs with their Psyche score. Such ACTIONs usually come into play when combat is initiated in cyberspace, most often as security programs try to eliminate the cyberspatial projector.

Or when dealing with the avatars of other cyberspatial projectors while in the 'net.

To better protect oneself while projecting into a cyberspace, one can develop the use of their other powers while their mind is in the digital realm. Each power so modified counts as a power stunt of this ability - and functions at the cyberspatial projection power's rank - not their own. Furthermore, if the character has cybernetic enhancements, they can make use of specialized programs while projecting, too.

A cyberspatial projector can generally maintain a number of such abilities, keeping an amount of such translated powers or c-space programs active equal to the normal amount of tasks they can manage thanks to their Reason (mem) score - minus one (for the cyberspatial projection itself). If one is maintaining other abilities in their 'real' body while projecting, this number is reduced accordingly.

Cyclone
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: gliding, levitation, telekinesis, vapor animation.

Upon activating cyclone, a character spins the air (or any other matter) in their immediate vicinity at reckless speeds. Though he or she stands at the eye of this artificial whirlwind, and is at no risk from it at all, the area around someone using cyclone is subject to intense destruction. Loose objects will easily fly into the character's whirling matter stream, and anyone touching them will take considerable damage.

An aversive power more than anything else, cyclone does not provide direct protection from injury like body armor or a force field. However, it does reduce the intensity of incoming damage slightly, offering 1 CS of damage reduction against all physical and energy attacks. The true defense that cyclone offers, though, is that it readily discourages others from closing into melee range of its creator.

Anyone adjacent to a character wielding cyclone will suffer power rank Blunt Attack, Edged Attack, or Force damage, depending on what, if anything, is suspended within their whirlwind at any given moment. This damage can be used in either a passive (against anyone entering the cyclone generator's personal space) or an active (by walking into someone or something and chipping away at them) fashion.

The materials one can draw into a cyclone are generally somewhat small. Normally, it can support objects with a maximum weight equal, in grams, to its power rank number. Even at a relatively low rank, cyclone can readily pick up enough refuse to scour an area, ranging from dirt to pebbles to glass to needles to anything else scattered about. Such material in an area is usually drawn into a cyclone if remotely unsecured.

On the other hand, the wielder of a cyclone can expel the items floating around him or her as a devastating attack on everyone within their current area. Such items will fly out at considerable velocity, inflicting damage equal to either the cyclone ability's power rank or the material strength of the items in question - whichever is less. Carrying thrown weapons for such purposes can be particularly deadly.

D

Damage Reduction
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points per CS (or one power slot per 2 CS)
Related Powers: body armor, deflection, force field, hard points.

Damage reduction is a potent super-human skill that allows its bearer to easily shrug off large amounts of damage. How it actually works depends on the character described; damage reduction may be a result of kinetic dampening, a negative energy field, complex composition, or any other number (or combination) of traits. The trick is that it tends to blunt the impact of incoming attacks by a serious margin.

Unlike most super-human abilities, damage reduction is rated not in ranks, but in Column Shifts. For every CS of damage reduction a character has, he or she will impose a -1 CS upon incoming damage before it even affects their person, regardless of its type. As long as said attack inflicts damage to any extent, damage reduction will affect it negatively, no matter what form (or origin) it takes.

For example, let us say that Gunter the Hunter has 2 CS of damage reduction. When being struck by an attack that would otherwise inflict Remarkable (30) Blunt Attack damage, he instead suffers that damage -2 CS, only taking Good (10) Blunt Attack damage instead. Note the subtle, yet startling difference in function and effect between damage reduction and body armor (or a force field).

While the cost of damage reduction is great (four points per CS worth of such), it can be reduced with limitations. Every category of damage that damage reduction does not affect (per Greater Resistance or Invulnerability) will reduce its cost by 1/8. Similarly, if damage reduction is provided in a non-permanent fashion (as is the case with talent-equivalent abilities like spells or psionics), reduce the cost by 2.

Let us look at Gunter the Hunter again. His 2 CS of damage reduction has no 'holes' in its defense, and it is always on. This causes all incoming damage that affects him to suffer a -2 CS penalty, at a base cost of 8.

On the other hand, Peter the Psi wants a power giving him 4 CS of damage reduction. He gives it vulnerability to deionic and warping attacks. Since this is a psionic, it counts as 'temporary' protection. 4 CS of 'base' damage reduction has a base cost of 16, but both his missing resistance categories reduce that by 4, and his 2 point limitation for its transient nature, reduces Peter's final cost to a 'mere' 10.

During character generation, this may wind up being his only initial power, but if learned later, it may simply cost him an arm and a leg (figuratively speaking) in Karma rewards. Better head out on patrol more!

Danger Sense
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, auscultation, biological sense, empathy, fortuity, macro sense, precognition, self control, telepathy, zest.

Vastly improving one's performance in combat, a danger sense automatically alerts its possessor to imminent harm. While the wielder of a danger sense may not be aware just what kind of threat awaits him or her, they will usually know the direction it is coming from, and about how long they have until it strikes. Danger sense can 'see' a number of seconds into the future equal to its rank number.

This allows for a number of useful effects in battle - whether in melee or ranged combat. For one thing, a character using his or her danger sense may substitute its rank for Intuition when determining initiative and surprise, their Agility for dodging or weaving attacks, their Fighting while evading or feinting, their Strength for the purposes of escaping holds or blocking attacks, and their Endurance if attempting bracing maneuvers.

If one's danger sense is possessed of a smaller power level than the rank of these abilities, it will nonetheless improve them by +1 CS for the purposes of the above uses.

Darkness Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, darkness generation, dimensional interface, dimensional transit, emotion control (fear), energy cohesion, teleportation.

The ability to control darkness isn't a direct means of negating light, so much as the power to manipulate this otherworldly form of energy. Darkness control does not, in and of itself, give a body the ability to generate darkness, only the power to manipulate such once it is extant. This control is typically achieved by passing a power ACTION against the intensity of darkness, where available, in the environment.

Darkness control functions within Near distance of its wielder, being capable of increasing any ambient darkness up to its power rank in intensity, or reducing it by a like amount - and likely extinguishing it as a result. A darkness controller can also shape ambient darkness as is desired, simulating resistance to such by making it flow around themselves, or otherwise moving it about in any way they see fit.

Making specific constructs out of mystical darkness is also possible, though a darkness controller must master a power stunt for each general type of such they wish to produce. Darkness can come in a variety of different consistencies, after all, from wispy and smoky to strongly resembling tar. This allows for the easy creation of darkness restraints, barriers, or even semi-sentient (and transient) creatures of blackest night!

Mind you, one can also just direct extant darkness at a foe, inflicting its current intensity in Sorcerous damage, as well.

But what if a darkness controller has no darkness handy, and lacks the ability to create it, you ask? That's where the mystical properties of this power comes in handy. As either a strong enhancement or as a power stunt, a darkness controller can learn how to manipulate regular shadows, shaping them as if they were actual darkness - despite the fact that a shadow, in and of itself, has no magical properties.

Darkness Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (darkness), blending, carrier wave, darkness control, emotion control (fear), transformation / self (darkness).

Darkness is an otherworldly power, something that does not occur naturally within our own space-time. This mystical form of energy can manifest as a sinister version of other energy types, appearing like blackened lightning, flame, or light, or possibly as a tarry sludge, vaporous tendrils, or even 'living' shadows. Regardless of its appearance, however, darkness generally behaves in the same basic fashion.

Darkness generation can be wielded either offensively or defensively, operating within Near distance either way.

Defensively, darkness can be used to blot out sources of light within its possessor's sphere of influence with power rank ability, doing so to either everything within the character's range or just inside a designated portion of such - or even around a specific character! Offensively, darkness can be wielded as a ranged attack, used to inflict its power rank in Sorcerous damage against one's foes.

Those exposed to darkness are often affected in a psychic fashion, as well as physically. Something about this alien energy has a deleterious influence on sentient minds, and often instills uncontrollable fear within them. Characters directly exposed to darkness, whether it inflicts damage or not, should make a Psyche (will) ACTION against its intensity. Failing this ACTION will inflict a fear-induced Stun for 1d10 turns.

Daybreak
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Invoking the might of Aya, the goddess of the dawn, this spell momentarily channels that deity's signature power through its caster. Emitting light in a cascade of beautiful pastel colors, the wielder of daybreak will fill the area within Near distance of their person with illumination equivalent to conventional daylight. In other words, for all intents and purposes, the affected area suddenly experiences daytime conditions.

For the most part, this light does not inflict direct damage, though it can blind those within the area of effect if they fail an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its spell rank. However, the light of the daybreak spell is considered sunlight for both conventional and metaphysical purposes, and will affect entities susceptible to exposure to such if they fail the Endurance (res) ACTION described above.

Daybreak only lasts for a short period of time, the light its wielder broadcasts being reduced by -2 CS each turn after it is invoked. This continues to prompt checks against blinding, even if its diminished intensity quickly becomes easier to overcome, while those who suffer damage simply by dint of being exposed to direct sunlight will still withstand the full effects of such while it is being emitted.

Daydreams
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: fugue, mesmerism, mind lock, sleep, telepathy.

Wielding this useful power, one may drop the mind of his or her target into a relatively blank, daydreaming state. If affected by this ability, an individual is not quite asleep, but isn't really awake, either. They may be thinking about nothing at all, or may give in to flights of fancy, possibly envisioning any number of pleasant fantasies to pass the time. In this state, a daydreamer won't be all that aware of their surroundings.

A character may inflict a daydreaming state on anyone within Near range who fails a Psyche (will) ACTION against this power's rank. Typically, this mental state will last for 1d10 turns, and unlike most telepathic influences, one does not gain an additional resistance ACTION each subsequent turn. This is because one can normally be 'snapped' out of a daydreaming state with a bit of effort - a good slap is usually sufficient.

Otherwise, one might spontaneously drop out of a daydream if assaulted by similar, intense sensory input - anything from bright lights to noxious odors will do.

Death Ray
Type: Biological Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: reanimation, vampirism.

The death ray, a popular attack in many forms of fiction, readily slays any living target it strikes. This is because it is a focused burst of entropic, anti-life energy that literally cancels out the life force (if any) of whatever it strikes. Death rays can function within Near distance of their wielder, and inflict their power rank in Metabolic damage with each deadly, deleterious strike.

This entropic damage can be resisted as if it were Karmic in nature, which means most conventional protections do little against death rays - assuming their user can successfully hit with them. However, resistance to metabolic attacks protects against this power quite well; barring that, one might adopt specific resistance against essential attacks to avoid it, instead.

As a strong limitation, one can limit the effects of a death ray to contact only. This is then considered a death touch, and is also popular in fiction. Such an ability often denotes entropic alien beings, who wither flora and the like in their passing, but need not be always active in such a fashion.

Decontamination
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: age control / others, biological vampirism, cure disease, detoxification, energy vampirism, psionic vampirism, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

Decontamination works to purify a life form in the event that it is sullied by the taint of anti-life energies. This is most often the case when a body is subjected to one of the various vampiric abilities. Upon a successful power ACTION roll made against the offending anti-life power, decontamination can prevent the target from rising as an undead itself, whether it was slain by such abilities or just severely weakened.

When wielded against actual undead creatures of any stripe, decontamination inflicts direct Metabolic damage against them, its power acting to literally cancel out the energies that animate such beings. The only downside to this use of the power is that decontamination only works within Very Near range of its possessor, which means one must usually be directly exposed to such entities to combat them with it.

Defensive Portals
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Defensive portals are just that, one-way rifts in space-time created for the express purpose of protecting oneself from injury. Only energy can pass through these unidirectional holes in the universe, not matter. Thus, a burst of radiation directed at this power's wielder would be completely shunted elsewhere, while only the energy from a hail of bullets would be, the actual projectiles landing in a pile at his or her feet.

A defensive portal provides power rank protection against incoming attacks that are comprised purely of energy, though this protection is reduced by -1 CS if the damage from an attack is delivered through a physical medium (whether from bullets, a hammer, or even a fist). The wielder of this power must perform a shield maneuver with it to acquire the indicated protection.

But where does all this energy go? It's hard to say, really. It may be shunted into a realm of potential energy, or perhaps into a large mass such as an asteroid or even the Sun. Or something even stranger may occur, and a defensive portal may redirect the energies it blocks into the offensive portals wielded by others now and then (possibly making for a highly random string of attacks with that ability).

Deflection
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points per CS (or one power slot per 2 CS)
Related Powers: body armor, damage reduction, force field, hard points, turnabout.

Deflection is a powerful ability which allows its wielder to casually shrug off attacks to a small extent. How exactly it works depends on the character described; it may involve slippery force fields, carefully crafted angular design, or any other number (or combination) of special tricks. The idea is that deflection tends to 'bounce' incoming attacks off of its possessor at oblique angles, acting as an always-on minus to hit.

Unlike most super-human abilities, deflection is rated not in ranks, but in Column Shifts. For every CS of deflection a character has, he or she will inflict a -1 CS upon other characters attempting to hit their person with an attack. As long as said attack requires a roll to hit (instead of providing, say, a resistance roll), deflection will affect that incoming attack no matter what form (or origin) it takes.

On the other hand, deflection does nothing for an attack which does connect with its wielder. While it acts to keep incoming attacks from hitting a body, deflection doesn't attenuate their damage any if they do manage to strike him or her.

While the cost of deflection is great (four points per CS worth of such), it can be reduced with limitations. Every category of damage that deflection does not affect (per Greater Resistance or Invulnerability) will reduce its cost by 1/8. Similarly, if deflection is provided in a non-permanent fashion (as is the case with talent-equivalent abilities like spells or psionics), reduce the cost by 2.

For example, let us look at Gunter the Hunter. He opts for 2 CS of deflection with no 'holes' in its defense, and wants it to always be on. This inflicts a constant -2 CS penalty on anyone ever trying to strike him, at a base cost of 8.

On the other hand, Samuel the Sorcerer wants a spell giving him 4 CS of deflection. He gives it vulnerability to metabolic and vampiric attacks. Since it's a spell, it counts as 'temporary' protection. 4 CS of deflection unaltered would have a base cost of 16, but his missing resistance categories reduce that by 4, and his 2 point limitation for its transient nature, reduces Samuel's final cost to a 'mere' 10.

During character generation, this may wind up being his only spell, but if learned later, it may simply cost him an arm and a leg (figuratively speaking) in Karma rewards. Better head out on patrol more!

Degeneration
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: harm, regeneration / self, regeneration / others.

A slow but sure means by which one can dismantle their enemies, degeneration causes its target's very body to turn against itself! Should the target of degeneration fail an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against this ability's power rank, they will begin to lose Health points every round as their body breaks down. Degeneration continues for 1d10 turns, plus whatever additional time its wielder spends maintaining its effect.

The specific amount of Health lost is calculated in the same manner as regeneration. In other words, it's a number of Health points equal to the degeneration power rank each minute, or one tenth that sum each turn. For example, a hapless villain afflicted with Amazing (50) rank degeneration will suffer five points of Health loss each turn, for a grand total of fifty if it lasts for the full duration!

The victims of degeneration may attempt a new ACTION to resist its deleterious effects, after failing the initial roll, each time they suffer an amount of degeneration damage equal to its power rank number. If out of Health points while under the effects of degeneration, a character must pass an Endurance ACTION as if affected by a Kill result, or will alternately lose a like amount of Negative Health points.

The only time degeneration gets tricky is when its target also possesses regeneration. In the event of such an occurrence, the higher power rank between the two determines if one is stitching themselves back together or tearing themselves apart. Furthermore, the difference between the two powers' rank numbers will determine the rate at which the subsequent regeneration or degeneration is occurring.

Deific Impersonation
Type: Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

The process of deific impersonation is a technique through which a character may interpose themselves between a person, place, or thing of great power, and those which would entreat them for mystical assistance. This ability will reveal who is attempting to entreat the targeted source for power, the location from where they are doing so, and what they're specifically requesting (the anonymity ability aside).

Armed with this information, they can attempt a deific impersonation ACTION to hijack an entreaty, an ACTION rolled against an intensity equal to the boon a petitioner is requesting from this supposed higher power. If successful, the wielder of this ability may handle that purloined request as they see fit. This is all well and good, you say, but why would someone bother to do this, you wonder?

A character can use this technique to help out others if he or she wishes, fueling entreaty spells with their own power, helping them to avoid the dreaded 'attention' that entreaty overuse can cause. The deific impersonator can use any of their powers (aside from this one) to provide the requested result, with an upper limit of this power rank. This can even offer the Column Shifts requested on some entreaties.

On the other hand, if he or she wishes to sabotage an entreater, the deific impersonator may perform a few nasty tricks. With control of the entreaty that was made, our deific impersonator may alter a requested positive Column Shift into a negative one, or even transform the requested effect into something else entirely; imagine making an entreaty to blast a foe, only to find yourself suddenly teleporting on top of them!

Or, of course, the deific impersonator could just do nothing, forcing the entreaty to fail outright.

This can be a handy boon for the deific impersonator's allies, not to mention a hobble for their enemies, but the use of this ability is fraught with peril. You see, if enough people start to have problems drawing magic from a particular person, place, or thing of great power, they'll simply stop trying. Some entities may be indifferent to this, but others are working very hard to increase their influence, and may retaliate.

Whenever an ACTION roll to subvert another's entreaty fails, the Judge should make a die roll of their own, using this power rank. If the Judge achieves a red result, the entity so impersonated will learn not only that he/she/it has been impersonated, but who has been doing so. And this is very bad news for the impostor, as the entity they've been targeting just might take them to task for their perfidy!

Deionic Attack
Type: Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding this potent attack capability, a deific being can summon forth a high intensity pulse of power, comprised of the evolved life force which marks him or her as such an entity. This pulse takes the form of an energy attack, one which inflicts power rank Deionic damage with each deadly use, a type of assault that few individuals have the capability to resist in any manner.

A deionic attack functions anywhere within Near distance of its wielder, causing grievous damage to whatever it strikes - whether animate or otherwise. Furthermore, when wielded against any form of defense that is comprised of antideionic energies (a rarity, but still possible), a deionic attack will take on an Armor Piercing component, which further improves its effectiveness against the foes of a deific entity.

Deionic Control
Type: Power Control Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: power control, psionic control, spell control, theonic absorption, theonic amplification, theonic attenuation.

Deionic control is the powerful ability to actively manipulate the form and function of divine powers. These can be the actual powers of gods or demigods, theonic powers wielded by psis, or even abilities granted by a deity to his or her followers, such as priestly spells or holy boons. Deionic control can only affect the deific powers of others - not those wielded by its possessor.

If someone with deific powers or the effects of such are present within Near range of the character with deionic control, he or she can attempt to seize control of them. If attempting to use this ability on a deific power effect free of its creator's body, this only requires an ACTION roll against its intensity. If the power is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, its possessor is also allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist.

Once the possessor of this ability has taken control of another person's deific power, he or she or she can do any number of things with it. However, deionic control actions require a second ACTION roll, based on how complicated its wielder's intentions are. Redirecting the target of a deific power (pointing an antideionic attack away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the fortuity of another) requires a green deionic control ACTION roll.

Activating or inactivating a functioning deific power requires a yellow ACTION. This can range from being a nuisance to downright lethal, depending on how vital the power being tinkered with is to the survival of its possessor at the moment. Yellow ACTIONs also allow one to change minor details of a power's nature somewhat (perhaps turning that antideionic attack into something the deionic controller is more resistant to, like apples).

A red power ACTION roll grants the deionic controller the ability to drastically alter the nature of a deific power, being able to turn it from any one divine ability into any other. This might transform a deionic attack into theonic amplification, or nature resistance into a theonic sense (possibly guaranteeing a spectacular demise for the target). Such applications are by far the most dangerous uses of deionic control - and the most lethal.

Luckily for the opponents of a deionic controller, the effects of this power are highly transient in nature. They only last as long as the deionic controller is actively concentrating upon his or her changes. Furthermore, each turn someone is subject to deionic control (perhaps the deionic controller is 'borrowing' their abilities for a while), they may attempt another ACTION roll to resist its use on their person.

Deliverance
Type: Clericism Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank

On occasion all else fails, and one is simply out of earthly options with which to succeed. When this is the case, a cleric may implore their patron deity for deliverance, and ask him/her/it for a miracle! These miracles can take almost any form, limited only by the scope and nature of the entity of power the cleric serves. Gods of fire are excellent at razing one's foes, for instance.

The miracles provided by the deliverance spell are limited to this spell's rank in effect, but can be far-reaching in scope. The spell itself works within Far distance, and it can affect a rather wide area if necessary - though the effect can be narrowed down to one person, as is the case with miraculous resurrections. Of course, the first thing to consider when casting deliverance is if it will even work in the first place.

To receive a miracle from one's patron, a cleric needs to be in good standing with them. Granting a deliverance spell costs a deity some of their hard-earned, faith-based power, so they're not likely to do so lightly. They typically reserve this kind of boon for their most faithful and/or dependable followers, so they won't hand out miracles willy-nilly.

Assuming this is not a problem, the second question is how often does the cleric in question ask for a miracle? On average, it's probably bad form to use this spell more than once per game session, as the deity in question may begin to wonder if this follower is worth the hassle. This is a danger that can be avoided with prodigious sacrifices and other efforts that further the interests of one's patron.

If everything seems in order, it's perfectly all right for a Judge to allow deliverance to, well, deliver the cleric from whatever hassle he or she is currently in. It is important to keep in mind that the deity in question typically won't offer 'services' counter to its nature, no matter how important a cleric may be; death gods don't do resurrections often, nor do gods of love generally smite one's enemies.

Density Control / Others
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: maintenance plus 1d10 turns
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: density control / self, gravity control.

Wielding this ability, a character may alter the density of other individuals or objects, either by increasing or decreasing their effective mass - all while retaining their volume. Contact is not required to achieve this effect, but targets of this ability are allowed an ACTION roll to resist unless, of course, they're willing. This is an Endurance (res) ACTION for living targets, or an MS check regarding inanimate objects.

Increasing the density of a person or object increases its weight by a multiple equal to this power's rank number. Weapons may become too heavy to lift or hold, while individuals will find themselves pinned down by their own, sudden bonus weight. A living entity must pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to remain conscious in the face of their increased density, the failure of which prompts a second ACTION - against a Kill result.

Even if one can remain conscious under their staggeringly increased weight, movement may be impossible. This is because, to even move, one must pass a Strength (vigor) ACTION roll against their bolstered weight. This ACTION must be passed every turn the target is subjected to increased density if said target wishes to move at all. On the plus side, a higher density gives the target power rank body armor for the duration.

Decreasing the density of a person or object can be resisted in the same manner as a density increase - with an Endurance (res) or MS check against this ability's intensity. Failure causes the target to lose a percentage of their total weight that is equal to this power's rank number. An Unearthly (100) rank density control / others power can render things weightless, while greater ranks can cause them to float off!

Persons in a state of lesser density can move easier than normal, though with a negative mass they have the problem of drifting away. Similarly, such characters are far more susceptible to Slam results, rolling against the density control / others rank or the actual attack rank that scored one to resist such, whichever of the two is higher.

Density manipulations (either way) last for 1d10 turns after the ability is no longer maintained, and can work on anything within Near distance of its wielder.

Density Control / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: density control / others, flight, gravity control, intangibility.

This versatile ability allows its possessor to manipulate their body's mass. One does not gain or lose volume as a result of this power's use, but their apparent density will dramatically change when it is in play. Wielding density control, a character can either increase or decrease their total mass; limiting it to either counts as a strong limitation, while making the power permanent (in either direction) is an extreme limitation.

When increasing one's mass, treat the power rank of this ability as a multiplier. For example, a man with this ability at Amazing (50) rank who weighs 200 pounds can increase their weight to ten thousand pounds - five tons! This allows a character to readily pin down almost anyone who lacks super-human Strength, and can often be enough to immobilize some vehicles - or at least slow them down dramatically.

A character with increased mass may move normally despite their added weight. This ability cannot be used to inflict more damage with weaponry and the like, but it can substitute its rank for Endurance when charging. Similarly, in a state of heightened mass, a character with this ability develops body armor of the equivalent rank, their seemingly denser frame acting to shrug off damage much better than before.

On the other hand, the character has a deleterious effect on their environs. Concentrating this much mass into the size of a human being (or whatever) often does a number on artificial structures, most of which are not designed to withstand such weight. If at a state of increased mass, the surface one is standing on, if artificial, must pass a material strength check or the character just might fall through it!

When decreasing one's mass, treat the power rank of density control as a percentage to subtract from one's weight. The above, Amazing (50) ranked power could reduce that two hundred pound man's weight by half! Once a character reaches Unearthly (100) rank with this ability, he or she effectively has zero mass while the power is active, and higher ranks actually apply a negative mass to their person, allowing them to float.

The advantages of lowering one's mass are numerous. This ability can dramatically improve travel efficiency, causing one to expend less energy when walking, improving one's jump height, and so on. Furthermore, one can approach the speed of light more easily with a decreased mass, eventually reaching it with this power at Unearthly (100) rank, and even exceeding it if at all possessed of negative mass!

Consider that justifying 'permanent' density alterations as a spell or psionic would be tricky, and possibly involve a 'flawed' mastery of the effect. It would absolutely require immunity to normal negation or subsequent mass changes, or else it wouldn't be all that much of a limitation to speak of. Without such 'immunities', this condition would be semi-permanent at best, and only count as a 'weak' limitation.

Detachable Parts
Type: Physical Control Power, Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dyad, flight (for the detached bits or overall), reformation, shape change, telereformation, transformation / self.

As the name of this ability implies, detachable parts allows its possessor to disconnect one or more portions of his or her anatomy, without undue harm to themselves. When such parts are detached from one's body, the wielder of this ability retains a neurological link to the disembodied bits, allowing control of them anywhere within Near distance of their person. Even better, these parts are primarily self-sufficient.

Detachable parts includes something akin to environmental independence, allowing disconnected body parts to persist despite a lack of oxygen, sustenance, and the like. This self-sufficiency also functions at detachable parts' power rank, meaning that one's disembodied chunks can last quite a while if they have a high enough rank in this ability - which can be a good thing if you misplace your hand somewhere inconvenient.

Parts of the character which have been detached operate as if they were still in their proper location. Disconnected eyes still let the character see normally, if at a strange perspective compared to the norm, and so on. The trick is that one's parts, in and of themselves, do not acquire any other abilities as a result of this power's use - those disconnected eyes aren't going anywhere unless they're placed on something that can move.

Which leads to strange mental visuals of detached eyeballs mounted atop detached hands via Sticky Tack ™, and so on.

Mind you, if one has access to other powers, he or she can readily couple them to this ability. Flight is a great option for this power, since it lets disconnected parts float around willy-nilly. Shape change allows any part to transform into any other part - or any other thing, really. In fact, one could transform their body into a cloud of things if desired, ranging from interlocking machinery to an insect swarm to a pile of loose change.

Detoxification
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aciurgy, age control / others, cure disease, decontamination, healing / others, integral control, mental repair, recovery, regeneration / others, resurrection, resuscitation.

Wielding the power of detoxification, its possessor can cleanse a living target - whether themselves or another - of impurities. The toxins so removed can be natural to the body or foreign materials. Thus, with this ability, one can remove fatigue poisons (allowing a person to bypass exhaustion ACTION rolls for a time) or otherwise toxic materials (to save someone's life).

The difficulty of such an ACTION depends on how much deleterious material one has inside their body. Green ACTIONs can take care of minute amounts of toxin (regular or fatigue poisons come to mind), a yellow power ACTION roll is called for with considerable material (critical amounts of cholesterol), and red power ACTIONs are necessary when overwhelming amounts of foreign material are present (lungs full of sludge).

While it's great against regular chemicals, this ability doesn't work well against invaders of the electromechanical sort. Detoxification functions at a -2 CS against active foreign materials such as molecule-sized robots (atomatons). A powerful enough version of this ability can competently fight such invaders off, but they're much more difficult to combat than inanimate poisons.

Device Generation
Type: Matter Control Power, Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, device sympathy, disintegration, eidetic memory, kit-bashing, matter duplication, matter generation, nanotechnology generation, object sympathy, organic circuitry, organism generation, super invention.

A specialized form of matter generation, device generation gives its wielder the ability to spontaneously create, from seeming nothingness, a vast array of electronic and/or mechanical implements. Said implements are built using ambient subatomic particles, which permeate the environment around oneself in limitless numbers. The trick is that one can only generate so much material with each use of this incredible ability.

Device generation can create mass equal to its power rank, in pounds, each turn. Building something larger requires that one spend more than a single turn generating the desired object. For example, Incredible (40) ranked device generation can produce forty pounds of gear per turn. To make something that weighs two hundred pounds, that Incredible device generation would have to spend five full turns creating it.

Spontaneously generating devices is extremely stressful on the body. Wielding this power costs its possessor one Health point each turn it is used, Health that must then be recovered normally. This strain can be alleviated entirely with the use of the disintegration power, using it to transform external matter into fuel for device generation to bypass the staggering physical costs involved.

This power differs from standard matter generation in that it cannot produce matter willy-nilly; anything it creates has to come in the form of memorized patterns, technological matter that can be used in some fashion. In other words, the possessor of device generation can create a pair of handcuffs or a laser blaster with it, but they must commit designs for the components involved to memory first.

One can recall a number of distinct designs that is equal to their Reason (mem) score. Furthermore, the components of a sufficiently complicated device may actually require the memorization of multiple designs; a robot's 'brain' may necessitate one design, while its frame and moving parts require another, each kind of sensor consumes yet another, and any weapons involved might take even more.

One strategy to work within this system may involve developing common parts for the power to make use of, saving design 'space'.

Once a character has memorized his or her maximum amount of design patterns, they must either raise their Reason (mem) score or forget older designs to acquire more. The latter option is often the easiest, as not everyone can get smarter on demand. Of course, if one acquires the eidetic memory power during character generation (or at a later point), they can bypass this restriction on design memorization entirely.

When creating a device, the wielder of this power must first pass an ACTION roll of a difficulty determined by the form of materials they are generating. Devices made from a simple elemental material or alloy (such as chrome or bronze) require a green ACTION roll, while yellow ACTIONs are necessary when producing complex chemical compounds or artificial elemental material (such as semiconductors or bohrium).

A red power ACTION is only required when attempting to generate items out of fictional elements or compounds - these are most often materials that are campaign specific, or exist only within one's preferred fictional setting (things like Promethium, which is also a real element, but has fantastic fictional variants). Generating items out of such substances is incredibly hard, but not entirely impossible.

The amount of time such spontaneously generated devices persist is determined by a second ACTION roll, made after an initial success. A white ACTION makes it last for a number of turns equal to this power rank number, a green ACTION lets a device exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows an item to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

Finally, a red power ACTION creates devices from nowhere that last indefinitely.

Device generation functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, and then only within one's direct line-of-sight. Wielding this power at Unearthly (100) ability, for example, would allow its possessor to generate matter anywhere within 100 yards of their person - assuming nothing lies between them and where they would like to create it. Created items have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately.

Typically, a 'to hit' roll is not necessary when wielding this ability - it just makes something, approximately where one would like it to manifest. However, if one is attempting to create matter in a fashion that is opposed somehow, such as generating an armed stun grenade over someone's head, an Agility roll is required. Targets who are aware of such attempts may do everything in their power to avoid them.

Device generation is a bit expensive, but may be taken with a variety of limitations to reduce its cost somewhat - on top of those that are already indicated above, that is. One can easily limit it by reducing the kinds of materials it can generate; curtailing device generation to one kind of material (wood, plastic) is a weak limitation, while reducing it to a specific substance (ice, ytterbium) is a strong limitation.

Similarly, allowing a body to only build one item with this power - perhaps a trusty accessory - counts as a very strong limitation, extreme if it can only be made out of one substance, as well. Finally, removing permanence from the power also counts as a weak limitation; this reduces a red ACTION roll to a duration equal to the power rank number in days. This is still quite a while, but can be inconvenient nonetheless.

Device Sympathy
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal sympathy, computer link, device generation, jury rigging, kit-bashing, linguistics, plant sympathy, object sympathy, organic circuitry, super invention, technical intuition, technological sense.

Device sympathy is the ability to mentally communicate with non-sentient artificial devices. One can usually tell whether or not this power will work on a given item by the presence or absence of a Karma score - Karma denotes free will, the presence of a soul, and all that business. The target of this power, then, can include anything from a wristwatch to a smartphone, though the more complex it is, the better.

Mentally communicating with items driven by complex electronics (personal computer, industrial robot) requires a green power ACTION, devices controlled by simpler electronics need a yellow ACTION roll (digital alarm clock, stun gun), and machines that are mechanically programmed but lack electronics (player piano, music box) can be spoken with on a red device sympathy ACTION.

In many ways, this power is similar to object sympathy. Both interact with non-living objects and materials, after all, which means one must work with the personality (such as it is) of an item to squeeze any information out of it. On the plus side, the items this power can speak to generally enjoy being used - function follows form, after all!

Thus, it's usually not all that hard to redirect a conversation with a wristwatch from telling the time to, say, describing unique details about its surroundings a few hours ago. This still requires at least a little bit of clever role play, however, lest one wind up with a chatty wristwatch going on and on about how it kept its owner on schedule for years!

Generally, one must be within Near range of a device to communicate with it in this fashion, though handling a device, or even wielding it, may offer the best results.

Diagnosis
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Diagnosis is the ability to extend one's awareness into the workings of any device, whether mechanical, electronic, or both, to get a feel for how it functions. While standard visual cues might tell a body what is wrong, whether due to obvious physical damage or perhaps the readings an oscilloscope provides, diagnosis cuts out the 'middle man' and saves a body from hauling heavy test equipment around.

Usually, a green power ACTION roll is all one requires to determine whether or not a device is functioning properly - and if it isn't, what's gone wrong. A more difficult ACTION may be called upon when attempting to diagnose a highly intermittent problem, or perhaps when attempting to determine how to optimize or even overclock a system beyond what its design specifications would normally (and safely) allow for.

Dimensional Attunement
Type: Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Using the power of dimensional attunement, one can alter their molecular structure such that they appear to be native to whatever plane of existence they presently occupy. This ability, while active, thus presents its possessor as a natural-born resident of his or her current space-time. While most people can't tell the difference just by looking at a body, certain specialized powers can.

What this primarily does is give the character power rank resistance to abilities that will affect extraplanar entities negatively. This is mainly the banishment power, though certain other effects are contingent on one's 'outsider' status. Furthermore, exposure to temporal static is neither Armor Piercing nor able to bump someone back home if they have this ability active at all.

Seeing through the dimensional attunement power requires passing a successful ACTION roll against its rank with an ability that is designed to do so, such as nativity sense or nonapparent vision.

Dimensional Displacement
Type: Physical Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, teleportation, time travel.

Dimensional displacement is the ability to shunt one or more of a body's dimensions into the Between.

Most often, this is used to displace one's spatial dimensions (length, width, or height). When one of these dimensions is so displaced, the character with this ability can easily slip through conventional matter, as they're actually far thinner than mere atoms. This can have a devastating effect on matter, however, the passage of the character with a displaced dimension downgrading its structural integrity.

When moving through something with displaced spatial dimensions, a character will inflict AI Edged Attack damage on it. Furthermore, inanimate objects may be destroyed if they fail an MS check against this power's rank (a check which is never automatic), while living targets will usually suffer SD damage as well; this is caused by the disruption of biological systems by this power, excessive bleeding, and so on.

Shunting temporal dimensions is trickier. By displacing one's fourth dimension, a character can skip forwards in time, as if using a highly constrained time travel power. While bereft of the fourth dimension, a character experiences no time, instantly traversing the temporal gap they have created. In other words, one must decide how much time to skip in advance - and they better be sure, because this is a one-way trip!

A fifth-dimensional displacement is even stranger, as it suppresses the mooring one has to a specific timeline. When shunting one's fifth dimension, a character will slip out of his or her timeline entirely, usually landing in another - which may not be an improvement in their situation. Furthermore, the character has no control over this travel, and must develop such if they ever wish to find their way back.

Finally, a sixth-dimensional suppression has the effect of dislodging a character from the universe they currently occupy. This aspect of the power may drop someone in another plane entirely - though again, the character has no control over precisely which reality they'll manifest within. Without developing such control (as a power stunt, perhaps), the dimensionally displaced character must find another way home.

Mind you, this all assumes one is displacing only one of their physical or temporal dimensions. One can compress their existence into naught but a single point if desired, though this is considered a power stunt. When in such a state, one cannot interact with anything else in the multiverse save for other entities that have achieved a zero-dimensional state - making it a great way to hide from everything!

Dimensional Interface
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, intangibility, internal universe, teleportation, various matter or energy control powers (depending on the interface).

This potent ability allows a character to literally transform his or her very body into a hole in the space-time continuum. What this means is that they become a walking, talking opening between our universe and somewhere else. While the dimensional interface is active, the character using this ability is equidistant between the connected planes, and is technically resident upon both at the same time.

This allows them to perceive events on both simultaneously, and they can perform actions on one or the other, as they see fit. Furthermore, they can use this ability to naturally cross from one to the other entirely; this just involves 'leaning' into the second plane when terminating the power, even if it was initiated on the first. While this is a creative way to cross the planes, one may ask just what the benefit of this ability is, otherwise.

Its main purpose is to allow passage from one plane to another. Others can step 'through' the character maintaining a dimensional interface, as if he or she were a living, breathing doorway between the planes. Furthermore, the interfaced character can move materials and energy between the two realms they're connected to at will, doing so with an intensity equal to this ability's rank.

What this means is, a dimensionally interfaced character can channel 'stuff' from one realm to another, wielding this ability as a versatile attack. They can project whatever matter or energy is available from one side to the other, using this ability to inflict its rank in damage, of a type that is dependent on what is hurled through. This can be almost anything, depending on the nature of the dimensions interfaced.

For instance, if connected to the astral plane, a character could emit spectral flames from their very body. Alternately, if interfaced with a realm that is naught but solid matter, they can project that instead, inflicting Blunt or Edged Attack damage, depending on its shape. This action can work either way, and an interfaced character can draw things from the 'real' world into this new plane, though this requires physical contact.

An important thing to keep in mind is that a character that is interfaced between two dimensions is only 'material' on one at a time - the one they're presently acting upon. Our hero interfacing with the astral plane, above, would be intangible there (per that ability) when channeling spectral flames into the 'real' world, but would be easily touched (or attacked) in our own space-time while they're emitting said flames here.

He or she can achieve intangibility on both as a power stunt, but cannot act on either in such a state (though people and matter can pass through them still, albeit at a non-damaging velocity / intensity). Additional power stunts involve connecting to additional universes. When a character begins play, they can only interface with one other dimension to start with, and an additional dimension may be acquired with each stunt.

Dimensional Static
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

This potent power allows its wielder to generate ripples of mystical force, waves which act to distort the probabilities inherent to the casting of dimensional magic spells. These waves can extend out into the space within Very Near distance of this ability's wielder, thus acting to prevent the use of spells and spell-like powers which wield dimensional energies while they are present.

For such abilities to work, they must pass a spell or power ACTION roll against the dimensional static power rank. If they cannot manage this, such powers are impossible to use while dimensional static is active, making this ability a great way to curtail the most dangerous tricks in a spellcaster's arsenal - entreatists in particular are especially vulnerable to dimensional static.

Dimensional static also has the effect of preventing access to an area via powers which breach the dimensions - it can act as a stabilizing agent in regards to the local space-time. Powers such as dimensional transit, portal, and even planar control must pass the ACTION described above to acquire access to an area in which dimensional static is active.

Dimensional Transit
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, between, bilocation, chaos shift, dimensional interface, jeopardy, locational sense, mind walk, nativity sense, planar control, portal, quarantine, teleportation, temporal static, time travel, vibration control.

When wielding this ability, a character may move from the universe he or she is currently occupying to another. Dimensional transit functions almost identically to teleportation, except that it utilizes more physical axes; after using this ability, a character may actually occupy the same three 'classical' dimensional coordinates, but their location in either the fifth or sixth dimension has shifted.

Changing one's 5th axis allows a character to access variant timelines, while altering their 6th axis lets them move to different universes sharing the same timeline. When a character with this ability begins play, they may initially access two universes: their home plane and another realm of their choosing. They may add further planes of existence down the line as power stunts, one for each new universe they wish to visit.

When a character is attempting a stunt to 'learn' a new universe, follow the basic procedure here. A red ACTION roll is necessary when accessing a universe intentionally for the first time, yellow ACTIONs are required when traveling to realms experienced intentionally more than once, but less than six times, and green ACTION rolls are needed to access a plane for the sixth through the tenth time.

Once a character has attempted to stunt a new universe ten times, it is considered familiar, and they only require a green ACTION to access it thereafter - as is the case with their two initial planes. On the other hand, accessing a completely random universe requires no ACTION roll; the character will appear in any other plane the Judge desires, but at least they're no longer where they were (great for emergency escapes).

A character may transit from one dimension to another with passengers and/or cargo if they wish, but is limited in how much matter he or she may move. This limit is based on the power rank, as if it were a Strength score. In other words, a hero with Excellent (20) ranked dimensional transit may carry up to 800 lbs. with them, while a villain possessing this ability at Incredible (40) rank can bring up to ten tons along for the ride.

Disease
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: barbs, claws, edges, fangs (teeth), horns, organic circuitry, organism generation, quills, razor skin.

This dreadful power allows its wielder to create and transmit microscopic organisms. It works similar to organism generation, though on a much smaller scale. One isn't creating pounds of pathogenic bacterium, after all, just enough to achieve the desired effect. As such, wielding disease does not cost its possessor Health points when in use, as (relatively) little energy is consumed while doing so.

To craft such diseases, one must study the organisms to be created. This process is similar to the memorization of blueprints one must perform with matter generation; one can 'memorize' an amount of microscopic life forms equal to their Reason (memory) rank number. This can be done either academically (learning about them via reading) or empirically (learning about them by drawing them into oneself).

Once a character with the disease ability has 'learned' a plague, they can transmit it at will. This requires physical contact for the most part; while some diseases can be transmitted through the air, this power is only effective on touch. Upon contact with others, the disease carrier can infect their target if said person fails an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against this power rank. The effects of such failure are immediate and dramatic.

While the symptoms of disease take time to manifest in real life, this ability bypasses that inconvenience, inflicting the full force of a plague upon its victim instantly. This causes power rank Metabolic damage, as well as whatever problems said plague inflict (a nasty cough when infected with whooping cough, for instance). Similarly, such plagues will quickly run their course, and 'burn out' within 1d100 turns.

This has the effect of preventing further contagion. You see, the diseases created by this power are for all intents and purposes the real thing, but only have a transient existence. They, and any additional microorganisms that are created through their reproduction, will simply die off when the allotted time has expired. Even if one victim manages to infect another somehow, the disease is limited to the 'clock' set when first administered.

A curious side effect of this power's use is that there is a chance that the target, as a result of being exposed to the character's version of a plague, can develop immunity to the 'regular' variety of such. This can be achieved with a successful red Endurance (res) roll, though such immunity can only come after the disease has run its course.

Speaking of immunity, the benefit of this power is that its wielder acquires power rank resistance to disease. Its very nature entails the character analyzing microorganisms and figuring out how they work. As long as he or she can wield this power on any disease they're exposed to, they can make themselves immune to it - though if caused by another disease power, this may require passing an ACTION roll against its power rank first.

Disengagement
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Essentially the opposite of the omnipresence ability, disengagement is an ability immortals can use to extract themselves from a situation, no matter how dire it may be. The power, when activated, will remove a deific from wherever (or whenever, if time traveling) he or she currently happens to be, and will deposit them within their place of power - all with a simple green power ACTION roll.

Unless powers such as dimensional static or space control are acting to block it, that is, in which event disengagement requires an ACTION roll made against the offending ability in question.

The place of power that disengagement whisks a deionic entity to will default to the possessor of this power's most potent locale. A sanctuary will be first in line, followed by a realm, and finally the character's home plane if they lack either of the two previous destinations. Mind you, if a character is at risk within their sanctuary, this ability may not help them all that much!

Disguise
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: blending, eidetic memory, power duplication, prehensile hair, prehensile skin, shape change, vocal control.

A specialized form of shape change, disguise allows characters the heightened capability to assume the forms of other, similar beings. A human could, for instance, take on the appearance of other humanoids, while a dog with this skill could imitate other quadrupeds. Any similarly sized being can be replicated by this ability, within the limits of one's own volume - this power alone can only shift such by fifty percent either way.

When using disguise, one can imitate all the physical characteristics of another being, from raw physical appearance to their voice, their scent, and even their very mannerisms! This requires a bit of study first, equal to 1d10 turns of intense scrutiny, during which time the entity to be duplicated must be seen, heard, and smelled, all while in action to some extent, no matter how minimally.

Fooling others requires a power ACTION roll against their Reason, Intuition, or Psyche, whichever is less - or their nonapparent vision. Disguise is excellent for a variety of clandestine purposes, from gathering information to appropriating favor and resources on the fly. Of course, the person so imitated may eventually figure out that they've been copied, and investigate just who is tarnishing their image!

Disintegration
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: corrosion, device generation, matter generation, object weakening, organism generation, nanotechnology generation, rotting.

Disintegration is the ability to transform matter into energy, and to subsequently disperse that energy into the environment - utterly destroying it in the process. This is easiest against inanimate matter, as it (rarely) fights back against a disintegrator. In practice, the possessor of this power may disintegrate an amount of matter, in pounds, equal to its power rank number squared each turn.

Disintegration functions within Near distance of its wielder. When this ability is first acquired, the player may alter the mass limit or the range of the power, raising one by +1 CS by lowering the other by -1 CS, within an overall limit of 6 CS in either direction. This allows one to either disintegrate small amounts of matter at a ludicrous range or to eliminate large masses at a very close distance... or anywhere in-between.

Wielding this ability against inanimate matter is a relatively simple process, only requiring an ACTION roll if one attempts to disintegrate an amount of matter in any one instance that is close to their weight limit. Animate targets are a bit trickier, however. For one thing, they can move to avoid the power's effect entirely. A disintegration beam is easy to avoid, as it eliminates all gaseous matter between its wielder and the target.

Unless used in a vacuum, this will create a highly visible energy trail.

The other difference when using this power on living matter is that its mass isn't what limits its effects, so much as the Health score of its target. Disintegration will inflict power rank Metabolic damage against its target, which may or may not be enough to vanish them in just one shot. However, even one point of disintegration damage is considered a lethal attack, and the victim must make a Kill check against its intensity.

Surviving such an attack means that the disintegrated matter was spaced evenly across one's volume, but the more one suffers such assaults, the faster their structural integrity will fail. Once one's Health and Negative Health are destroyed in this manner, whether by Endurance loss due to successful Kill results or simply by multiple successful applications of damage, the target is vaporized.

Disintegration can be readily resisted by force fields, which prevent the disintegration beam from contacting the target matter - even if only at a strength of Feeble (2). Similarly, resistance to Energy or Metabolic damage (or perhaps disintegration in particular) will blunt or potentially neutralize disintegration effects entirely. This on top of the ability to dodge a disintegration beam, that is.

Dissolution
Type: Alchemy Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: corrosion, electronics generation, matter generation, mechanical generation, object weakening, organism generation, rotting.

The means by which an alchemist can neutralize mystic items of power, dissolution allows him or her to permanently remove the magic inherent to an object. In the event that an alchemist wishes to annul sorcery invested into a transient, one-shot magical item, such as a potion or pill or cigar, they need only roll a spell ACTION against the intensity of the magic held within; success indicates that it has been neutered.

Successfully disenchanting a more permanent magical item is a bit more difficult, though. This involves the alchemist first studying the object to be neutralized for 1d100 turns, at which point he or she will discover how the sorcery within it can be deactivated. In the event of lesser magical items, this can merely involve rolling an ACTION against the intensity with which it was enchanted in the first place.

More powerful magical objects and artifacts may also require special steps or ingredients to safely disarm them, however. This can be the impetus for an entire adventure, or alternately just an 'excuse' to relieve the alchemist of something rare and/or powerful they have been hoarding. Usually details of this nature will be up to the Judge, but should be of a level of difficulty / hassle equal to their relative power.

Why go through all this effort when you can just smash the blasted thing, you ask? The problem with physically destroying enchanted objects is that doing so can explosively release the sorcery within, which may cause considerable damage to both the alchemist and the surrounding area. And that's before you even consider the inevitable Probability Fallout that results from unshaped magic lingering in an area.

It can be more of a pain to dispose of an item in this fashion, but it's a definite means of safely removing it from the playing field, without it coming back to haunt the alchemist at a later date. Which can happen if they, say, simply pitch it through the nearest dimensional portal.

Distraction
Type: Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

When in a state of distraction, a spellcaster has a much harder time producing the energies their schooling taught them to gather. When using the distraction ability, one can generate waves of mystic energy that serve to induce such a state in a wizard - well, in just about anyone, really. It's hard to concentrate on just about anything while exposed to all the random mental 'noise' that this ability causes - much less spells!

The use of this ability amounts to an all-out sensory assault on a spellcaster, thus rendering him or her distracted. While in this condition, the mage in question has to pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the intensity of this ability to retain their focus enough to cast spells properly. This ACTION must be made each turn a spellcaster is within Very Near distance of the possessor of this ability while it is active.

Dream Projection
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, energy projection, illusion projection, mesmerism, mind walk, object projection, telepathy.

Dream projection is an ability which allows its possessor to send their consciousness into the dreaming mind of another being. Doing so allows the dream projector to interact with the subconscious mind of his or her target, avoiding conscious attempts at subterfuge while communicating with them, and lets them directly interact with the mindspace generated by a dreaming state.

When a character projects their mind into the dream of another, they behave as if astrally projecting; they must use Reason in place of Strength, Intuition in place of Agility, and Psyche in place of Endurance. This is because the dream projector can actually combat the consciousness of the dreamer while present in their mind, though said consciousness can indeed fight back in the same fashion.

While this is a potent ability in and of itself, dream projection can be particularly devastating when wielded with several related powers. In particular, illusion projection gives a dream projector control over the flow and content of a dream, as it directly overrides what the dreamer would otherwise experience. Furthermore, such imaginary threats can inflict actual psychic harm to a dreamer's mind, since they originate from within!

Which brings up the prospect of a dreamer's demise while a character's mind is projected into their dream. Such an occurrence will typically cause an amount of Karmic damage to a dream projector that is equal to the dreamer's Psyche (presence) rank. This may or may not be enough to kill a dream projector outright, though if he or she has been tussling with a dreamer beforehand, this might bode ill for them.

Dream projecting is an action which must be maintained consciously, but this may be done for quite a while; dream projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank number in hours. For example, a projector with Excellent (20) dream projection may send their consciousness into the dreams of another for almost a full day - assuming their target could actually dream for such an extended length of time.

This is because, while dream projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance talent). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. At this point, the dream projector, if they've been 'out' for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

Dream projection can send its wielder's mind into the dreams of anyone within Middle range of his or her location.

Drones
Type: Alchemy Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The Essence, fount of all life force, intersects with every known point in space and time. As such, it technically overlaps with objects both animate and otherwise. While the living are usually the recipients of the Essence's boon, the truth is that there's always a bit of life force permeating everything to some extent. By using this ability, one can amplify that life force in inanimate objects, giving them seeming life!

By granting non-living objects life, the possessor of this power allows them to act - usually as he or she wishes. This at first sounds similar to the object animation ability, but the difference is that this power does not allow conscious control over an item. No, while the wielder of drones can instill life into a thing, and even tell it what to do, the item operates under its own discretion while so infused with such energy.

Each drone created by this power can be given general directions, and will carry those directions out to the best of its ability. A character with drones can generate a large amount of this power's namesake, producing an amount equal to its power rank number. They will remain animate for a like number of hours - unless one specifically concentrates on keeping them going longer.

Drones created by this power have all the sensory abilities their creator possesses, despite lacking the proper organs for such, which can be accessed by their maker. This acts like a momentary sensory link, replaying anything of interest the drone experienced to their life giver. Such access, as is the case with creating a drone in the first place, requires physical contact with the object in question.

Though animated by life force, the drones created by this ability are not actually alive - or even sentient, really. When the power wears off, a drone will revert to its original state. If destroyed, it will be neutralized prematurely of course, the only additional effect of such being that the creator of a wrecked drone will immediately know of that destructive act - and may come running!

Dual Respiration
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: resistance to pressure variance, sonar sense, super swimming, universal digestion, unusual sensitivity.

While most characters are primarily adapted to existing in but one environment, a select few have more flexible physiologies. Such individuals can often inhale and exhale substances vital to their continued existence (such as oxygen and nitrogen) from two distinct mediums. This trait is referred to as dual respiration, and can be a vital boon to those who have to function in multiple realms.

Most often, this power grants water breathing, allowing an otherwise normal human the ability to persist both on land and beneath the waves. The two mediums involved can include any substances, however, and is a great way for an alien who comes from a place antithetical to human life to survive in our world as well - assuming that one of the two forms of respiration it may use complements our atmospheric composition.

This power may be strongly limited, essentially cutting its cost in half, by restricting one of the respiration forms to a finite duration; perhaps a character can only breathe underwater for an hour, or while concentrating? On the other hand, it can be strongly enhanced by introducing even more mediums through which the character can breathe, adding one more point for each substance a character can breathe.

Dual respiration has no power rank; one either has the ability or they do not.

Dyad
Type: Combination Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: shape change, detachable parts.

A curious combination of both detatchable parts and shape change, dyad allows its wielder to divide themselves into two distinct components. These components are typically of equal mass, each comprising half of the character's total volume, though exceptions to this rule are not uncommon. Once split, the character's masses each change shape to assume a more functional, semi-independent configuration.

When divided in two, the bodies of a character with dyad can take almost any form. They can be two smaller versions of the character, a normal and a fantastic version of them, two bodies that are completely different from their original, or anything else that works for them. These forms generally remain consistent from one use of dyad to another, though variable bodies can be acquired as either enhancements or power stunts.

If one of the character's dyad-granted forms are to be given super-human characteristics, these may be other powers determined via the character generation process, or those purchased later in the event of character advancement. Such abilities, only accessible while dyad is active, are considered weakly limited if both forms have access to them, or strongly limited if only one of their two bodies can utilize it.

Their consciousness split between two distinct bodies, the wielder of dyad receives one additional action each turn, though their total number of actions are split between their forms. Generally, this only becomes complicated if dyad's possessor can attempt more than one action each turn before taking it into account, the character having to divvy up a sum of actions that are not divisible by two wherever they best fit over time.

While active, the two bodies of the character with dyad may range anywhere within Near distance of each other and still be effective. Exceeding this distance causes dyad to quit functioning, the two bodies it formed for the character snapping back together again. Most often, this occurs at a point halfway between the two masses that previously comprised the character, but can vary if their dyad forms have differing volumes.

Finally, should they be so inclined, characters may enhance dyad when first acquiring it, spreading their mass over even more bodies. Triad, breaking oneself down into three distinct forms, is a strong enhancement of this power. Tetrad, on the other hand, would be considered an extreme dyad enhancement, allowing its wielder to divide themselves into four, much smaller bodies with which they can interact with the world.

E

Edges
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the edge(s)
Related Powers (for the edges only): disease, hard points, missile generation, poison.

Edges are areas of a character's body that are sharper than the rest. They're something of a catch-all for any means of inflicting Edged Attack damage with one's body that aren't covered by other physical weaponry powers. Edges can come in many forms, ranging from the sharpened surfaces of a pair of pincers to sword-like growths (or grafts) coming out of one's arms - or anything else that trips a player's fancy.

In melee, a character may use their edges to inflict, well, Edged Attack damage. Their location will determine how they can be used. For example, a character with sharp pincers instead of hands must 'grasp' a foe to inflict this kind of damage, while another with lethal surfaces on their wings must perform a 'flapping' attack with those appendages to gain the benefit of their deadlier damage.

The base MS of an edge is most often the character's Strength (might) +2 CS. The idea is that this generally prevents a character from dulling them with his or her own Strength. Generally. But one may add to the MS of their edges by gambling on the table of one's choice (random character generation) or by spending one point per increase in MS (point-based character generation).

On the other hand, if one's edge(s) are tied together with hard point(s), simply use their MS instead.

Edges are ideally retractable, to keep a character from inadvertently harming themselves. However, they may be taken in an 'always out' form as a strong limitation, which adds +2 CS to their material strength (or lowers their cost by 2 points, instead).

Ego Suppression
Type: Faerie Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous or maintenance (see below)
Cost: 1 point per rank

Ego Suppression is an ability that shuts down the portion of one's brain which allows it to properly interact with reality and society. When this happens, one's subconscious desires, or their Id, are allowed to run rampant. The effect of this is that a character so affected will lose all impulse control, a state compounded by an utter lack of morals or conscience.

In this state, a character will typically do the first thing that occurs to them in a given instance, as if they possessed the Impulsiveness quirk - at as high a level as is possible for them. Enemies will be immediately attacked, desires instantly acted upon, and so on. While the person so affected may well ruin their lives or standing in the community thanks to this power, they won't care - at least, not until ego suppression wears off.

One must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the rank of ego suppression to avoid its effects in the first place, and must pass a like ACTION against their current Impulsiveness to avoid doing something totally out of character if desired, or alternately, to avoid doing something the player would rather not have their character do. The effects of this power last 1d10 turns, unless specifically maintained by its user.

Ego suppression works within Near distance of its would-be victims.

Eidetic Memory
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank beyond one's Reason (mem) score
Related Powers: device generation, disguise, matter generation, organic circuitry, organism generation, ultimate talent.

Representing a super-human level of recall, eidetic memory allows its possessor to recollect sights, sounds, and other experiences with vivid clarity. Without outside influence, such as brain damage, drugs, or certain psionics, eidetickers are literally unable to forget that which they have experienced in the past. It may take them a while to recall the specific details of something obscure, but in time they can remember anything.

Eidetic memory should have a minimum rank that is equal to one's Reason (mem) score +1 CS. One can either roll a rank for it in the standard manner or 'gamble' off of their Reason (mem) score to determine the eidetic memory power rank. Alternately, when using the point-based character generation system, simply add one point for every +1 CS eidetic memory has above its possessor's Reason (mem) score.

For the most part, one's power rank is incidental; if time is not critical, an eideticker will eventually dredge his or her mind for any memory they need. To recall anything when time is of the essence, however, the character with eidetic memory may need to make a power ACTION roll at the Judge's discretion, its difficulty dependent on how much one was concentrating when experiencing the data in question.

A green ACTION roll is necessary concerning most standard personal memories, while a yellow ACTION is required when recalling less direct, knowledge based information (something read once in the distant past). Red ACTION rolls are only needed when drawing up incidental data, such as the faces one saw in a certain crowd months ago. Failed ACTIONs, if time is important, may be attempted again once per turn.

Eldritch Attacks
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Eldritch attacks is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to wield his or her magical energies in any number of offensive forms, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the eldritch attacks spell, a wizard may choose any one of the following six spells, at which point eldritch attacks will be set to reproduce that effect during that day:

Eldritch Barrier, Eldritch Blast, Eldritch Bolt, Eldritch Palm, Eldritch Wave, or Energy Absorption.

Mind you, should the caster of eldritch attacks want to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, eldritch attacks will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though thaumaturges rolling a 'bonus' result may choose eldritch attacks' effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Eldritch Barrier
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Eldritch barriers are large constructs a caster can produce to surround or block off an area of their choosing. They are transient in nature, only existing as long as they are maintained, but while present they will either bar passage to (or from) an area or inflict spell rank damage upon anyone crossing through them, depending on the form they take. And they can take the form of almost anything in the CASE.

While the nature of an eldritch barrier must be determined when the spell is first learned / generated, it can come in any form the player desires, though his or her school and their other spells may help to shape this some. For instance, a geomancer may produce a giant wall of solid rock, while an entreatist might summon forth mystic hellfire with which to surround an area (albeit with possibly serious consequences).

The maximum amount of space an eldritch barrier can cordon off is determined by the Very Near range table. For example, a wizard with an Excellent (20) ranked eldritch barrier can produce one that can surround a radius of space twenty yards wide, or can otherwise contain some of the area in that space as is desired. This is great for either keeping people out or keeping people in!

Eldritch Blast
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The eldritch blast spell allows the caster to detonate with magical power, affecting everyone within his or her area equally. An all-encompassing explosion, the eldritch blast will strike everyone present (friends and foes alike) unless they engage in a covering maneuver, and even then, this may only partially mitigate the damage caused. This damage inflicted is equal in power to the eldritch blast spell rank.

An eldritch blast can take the form of almost any attack in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, though its specific nature must be determined when the spell is first obtained or generated. This means it can inflict damage in almost any manner, ranging from mere Edged Attack damage (a shower of sharpened, elemental earth) to PF Sorcerous damage (a burst of deleterious, philosophical chaos).

The form it takes is limited only by the player's imagination, though his or her school and other spells may help to shape this some. When this spell is first mastered, its wielder can only produce one form of eldritch blast - additional forms of destruction must be learned either as duplicate spells or as stunts off of the original. Finally, an eldritch blast only affects targets within Very Near distance - it cannot reach further.

An eldritch blast will typically issue forth from the caster's entire body - mostly to prevent him or her from being caught up in their own explosion. Changing its emission point under special circumstances (say, to one's fist for dramatic effect) requires a yellow spell ACTION... and may possibly expose its caster to harm of their own devising.

Eldritch Bolt
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

An eldritch bolt is a focused, applied attack generated by the caster. Eldritch bolts inflict their spell rank in damage upon successfully hitting their target. An eldritch bolt can take the form of almost any material or energy attack in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, though its specific nature must be determined when this spell is obtained; multiple forms of eldritch bolts can be learned as power stunts or separate spells.

While eldritch bolts will function almost universally within the Near range table, the kind of damage they inflict depends entirely upon their nature. A fiery eldritch bolt will inflict SD Energy damage, while bolts of pure psychic energy will instead inflict Karmic damage. An eldritch bolt can even inflict conventional damage, if it is used to project matter of any kind (such as elemental water (Force damage) or earth (Blunt Attack)).

Eldritch bolts can issue forth from any location the caster chooses, though they are normally consistent in their execution; eye beams usually remain eye beams, after all. Changing their emission point under special circumstances requires a successful yellow spell ACTION.

Eldritch Palm
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

A powerful tool for melee combat, the eldritch palm spell encases part of the caster's body in an offensive mystic aura. This aura inflicts spell rank damage upon successful contact with its target, and can take the form of almost any material or energy attack in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine. A mage may wield one form of eldritch palm when the spell is first mastered, and may master more as power stunts or new spells.

The kind of damage it inflicts depends entirely upon its nature. An electric eldritch palm will inflict Stunning Energy damage, while an eldritch palm made from pure philosophical evil will instead inflict PF Sorcerous damage. An eldritch palm can even inflict conventional damage, if comprised of matter of any kind (such as elemental air (Force damage) or sharpened rock (Edged Attack).

Eldritch palms can be focused on any location the caster chooses - not just the palm - though they are usually consistent in their execution; fist auras normally remain fist auras, after all. Changing their focal point under special circumstances requires a successful yellow spell ACTION.

Eldritch Wave
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The eldritch wave spell functions similar to the standard eldritch bolt in many fashions. It inflicts its spell rank in damage upon striking something, and can take the form of almost any attack in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine - though each iteration of the eldritch wave can only take one attack form; multiple eldritch wave forms can be learned as either new spells or stunts on the original, existing eldritch wave.

The difference is the number of targets an eldritch wave can hit. You see, an eldritch bolt, by design, will only strike one target. An eldritch wave, on the other hand, is a cone-shaped attack that can strike multiple targets. They only function within a range which is determined on the Very Near range table, but eldritch waves can strike anything within a sixty-degree arc in front of the caster, friend or foe.

The normal accuracy penalty for multiple targets (-4 CS) applies to everyone in the path of this attack.

The kind of damage an eldritch wave inflicts depends entirely on its nature, as determined when the spell is first acquired. A wave of sonic energy will inflict Stunning Force damage, while a stampede of elemental animals will inflict Blunt Attack damage, and possibly incur knockback per a charging maneuver. The limit is really the player's imagination - though his or her school and other spells may shape this some.

Eldritch waves can issue forth from any location the caster chooses, though they are normally consistent in their execution; fire breath usually remains fire breath, after all. Changing their emission point under special circumstances requires a successful yellow spell ACTION.

Electricity Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, electricity generation, energy cohesion, magnetism control, mesmermechanism, radiation control, transception, weather control.

Electricity control is the power to manipulate electrical potentials in the environment around its wielder. It may affect any active electrical impulses within Near range of its possessor, if he or she can first pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of the ambient electricity to be manipulated - or, alternately, the power rank of a character with electricity generation or control that is currently using it.

Electricity that is under the command of this power can be amplified to an intensity that is equal to its power rank number - or reduced by a like amount. It can also be redirected as desired, the electrons that comprise a given source of electricity moving in any fashion imaginable thanks to modified, ambient electrical potentials. Creating free-standing 'objects' out of lightning requires a power stunt for each kind, however.

While electricity control cannot actually create electricity (that's basically the point of the electricity generation ability), it can easily work with any such energy within its range - even sources as small as the static discharge caused by one's clothing! In a pinch, one can even draw upon the electricity within their own nervous system to attack others - though doing so inflicts power rank Energy damage to their own body.

Similarly, a direct attack on the neurological energy of a target will inflict like power rank damage, though others are always allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to resist such manipulations of their bodies. Of course, resistance to either energy or metabolic attacks, or even just electricity itself, will help a person avoid being damaged in such a tricky manner.

Electricity Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (electricity), carrier wave, electricity control, energy absorption (electricity), magnetism generation, plasma generation, radiation generation, transception, transformation / self (electricity), weather control.

A generator of electricity is an amazing power source, having the ability to create vast amounts of electrical energy - far more efficiently than any other source of such known to man. This energy may then be discharged by directing it at any target within Near range of its wielder, causing it to inflict up to its power rank in Energy damage with each attack.

Furthermore, electrical discharges have a disruptive effect on most living beings. Any entity that makes use of electricity to function, whether it is a robot (to power itself) or a human (its nervous system) will be Stunned for 1d10 turns by the application of electricity to their body, if they fail an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its intensity.

While an overwhelming static discharge (lightning bolt) is by far the most impressive application of electricity generation, the power can be used in a more mundane fashion, supplying energy to any number of electronic or electrical devices. Electricity generation can come in the form of alternating or direct current when necessary, thus fueling its power rank in work for a device (according to its design).

Of course, a character may limit how the power works when desired, if they want to give it a bit more punch. For instance, restricting the range of electricity generation to touch only is a strong limitation, either granting it a +2 CS or reducing its cost by 2 points during character generation (or whenever the power is gained, for that matter).

Electronics Disruption
Type: Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding this ability, a character can induce failure in any one electronic device in his or her vicinity (as defined by Near range). This failure can take any number of forms, though most often it isn't permanent in nature; the effects of electronics disruption usually only lasts for 1d10 turns. Generally, it is induced by overwhelming electromagnetic interference - not a pulse, so much as enough RFI to cause malfunction.

An item subject to electronics disruption is allowed an operations check to resist its effects if non-sentient (such as a laptop computer), or an Endurance ACTION roll to resist its effects if sentient (such as a cyborg soldier). Generally, items so disrupted will resume normal operations once the duration of the disruption has expired, though they may require lengthy reboot sequences, depending on their nature.

Such restart processes often make this ability doubly effective!

Electronics Invisibility
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Electronics invisibility is the ability to render oneself undetectable by sensors of various stripes. While this power is active, its wielder may stand in front of a video camera without being seen, can scream into a microphone without being heard, and can even avoid the awareness of seemingly foolproof devices such as a pressure sensor. To these digital senses, the character is simply not there.

Without additional forms of stealth, this ability may be revealed if 'boots on the ground' spot the electronically invisible individual when their equipment does not. Similarly, the power does not mask things once they leave a character's body (like the steamy breath one exhales on a particularly cold morning), or the effects they leave on the environment (such as a trail of footprints).

Finally, electronics invisibility only functions within Near range of its possessor. Thus, a satellite in orbit might still spot the electronically invisible character from on high, even if much closer opponents can't get a bead on him or her with their equipment.

However, even by itself, electronics invisibility is a great infiltration tool.

Elemental Control
Type: Elementalism Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: special (see below)

Core of the elemental school of magic, elemental control allows its caster the ability to manipulate the thirteen elements that school recognizes. Upon first learning this spell, the elementalist may only wield control over one such element, though he or she may acquire additional forms either as power stunts or as new spells (player's choice). For convenience, the thirteen elements are re-presented below.

Note: some versions of elemental control are much more potent than others, and are subsequently more expensive to purchase... either during character generation or later in a character's life. The cost of each form of elemental control is provided below, along with its description, to give players an idea just how dangerous it can be - both to themselves and to others.

* Antimagic (1): strictly speaking, this element involves the manipulation of improbability particles, which act to dampen or neutralize concentrations of the probability particles which allow most spells to be cast in the first place. This is a powerful, but dangerous ability; mishaps may neutralize one's own magics as well. On the other hand, it's one of the few ways to counter probability-manipulating powers.

* Death (2): elemental forces of death include those strange forms of energy which exist in the planes of the afterlife, as well as those encountered on the way to such. These can include hellfire, celestial light, and spectral flames. Additionally, there are the more direct ways to interact with death, including the inducement of premature death, the forestalling of looming doom, and communion with deceased souls.

* Energy (3): the element of energy is a versatile one, as almost everything contains energy of a sort. This element involves the manipulation of conventional energies, from light to heat to sound to electricity, and its controllers can shape this power in any way they see fit. Keep in mind that unconventional energy forms (those which inflict Deionic, Karmic, or Sorcerous damage) are beyond the scope of this element.

* Faith (2): the forces that the element of faith represent are astoundingly powerful. They are the energies wielded by priests of their respective deities, as well as the raw power generated by the veneration of such. These energies can be produced to perform truly staggering feats, and can even be turned against the so-called gods themselves when wielded properly (if one chooses to do so).

* Fluid (1): fluid elements are those which are of a liquid nature. This can include anything from water to high fructose corn syrup to the most toxic of sludges. If a material is currently liquid, this element holds sway over it. Keep in mind that temperature can alter the state of matter; what was untouchable stone one moment ago can be turned fluid with the application of enough heat.

* Life (2): the flip-side of death, the element of life involves the manipulation of life forms and the life force that animates them. This element can be used to control the behavior of creatures sentient and unintelligent, change their very bodies, or alter the flow and quantity of life force they contain. It is great for healing others, but can just as easily be used to kill.

* Magic (2): the raw aspect of sorcery itself, elemental magic involves the manipulation of probability particles. As can a paraprobabilitist, a master of elemental magic may twist and change the very core of magical effects, whether their own or those cast by others. This element can also be used to alter and manipulate any form of energy which inflicts Sorcerous damage (which may overlap with other elements slightly).

* Philosophy (2): the forces of philosophy are those which govern morality. Good, evil, chaos, order, and balance are the five primary cornerstones of this element, though they can combine with each other to form a total of thirteen different philosophical forces. Masters of this element may amplify or dampen the effects of such, or shape the raw energies they represent to drastically alter their environment.

* Quintessence (3): the element of space, quintessence is the universe all around us. One can use quintessence to shape said space, whether tinkering with gravity or altering the trajectories of objects moving in one's vicinity. Space can alter our own dimensions or the higher ones, allowing one to connect incongruent locations in our universe to one another - or even to places on other planes of existence!

* Rock (1): the simply named element of rock involves the control over all material currently in a solid state. This can be anything from the eponymous rocks in one's environment to the building he or she occupies. Whether natural or man-made, the element of rock may shape all solid materials, either when simply destroying them or using them to create new objects entirely.

* Time (3): the element of time represents both motion and entropy. One can use it to manipulate such to a variety of ends, whether accelerating or decelerating the flow of time around oneself or another, engaging in time travel, or possibly even rapidly aging or de-aging something. The element of time also allows control over temporal static, an energy form generated by those outside of their correct space-time coordinates.

* Unity (4): unity is the convergence of elements, a combination of forces to produce a singular effect. This element allows for the blending of any other elements an elementalist holds sway over, to create entirely new effects. With enough elements in tow, one can use unity to alter reality itself - or at least a small portion of it, as enough elements working together can truly represent our universe in its entirety.

* Vapor (1): the element of vapor is similar to rock and fluid, in that it is used to manipulate one entire form of matter. Vapor, of course, is used to control all gases and vaporous materials, from oxygen to smoke to methane to helium. One with control over vapor can shape and move gaseous matter as they see fit, and can even expel it from an area if they wish, creating a true vacuum.

Whichever element(s) an elementalist holds sway over, he or she can use them in play to inflict spell rank damage with each attack, assuming enough of an element on hand to work with. The exact form of damage this attack will inflict depends on the element in question, and can really be almost anything present in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine - from simple Blunt Attack damage to outright Deionic harm!

On the plus side, elemental controls easily lend themselves to power stunts that can duplicate other spells - or serve as a good reason for having them. Any of the various eldritch attack spells dovetail with elemental controls (and serve as a source of material in a pinch), bands work well with all elements, and so on. The only real limitation in this regard is one's imagination!

Elemental Sense
Type: Elementalism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

An elemental sense is just that, the magical ability to detect elemental energies or masses in one's vicinity. Elemental sense functions on the Near range table, allowing its user to detect the presence and/or use of elemental quantities within a considerable radius of oneself. Nominally, detecting such elemental mass (or power) requires naught but a green spell ACTION, unless it is masked somehow.

If this is the case, roll a spell ACTION against the intensity of whatever agency is masking the elemental source. Occasionally, just detecting an element may not be enough information; an elementalist may detect how much of an element is present with a yellow spell ACTION, while a red ACTION can be used to determine odd trivia like how long it has been there, or if it is naturally occurring or present artificially.

Elongation
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: plasticity, prehensile hair, prehensile skin, shape change.

The power of elongation allows its possessor to extend some or all of their body to a truly fantastic degree. This can be done without a loss of leverage or effective Strength, the elongated body part(s) performing as if they were in their normal state, even at their maximum length. When wielding elongation, a character can stretch their body (or any part therein) anywhere within Near distance of their person.

For example, a hero with Remarkable (30) elongation can extend their arms, legs, or whatever up to eight areas! Such feats allow one to attempt melee combat against non-adjacent foes, as long as they are within range of the elongation power. Foes attacked in such a fashion can only oppose body part(s) invading their personal space, and not the elongating character's main body - unless they approach him or her directly.

Elongated parts, depending on their nature, may be immune to Slam, Stun, or Kill results in combat. Hacking off an extended finger cannot directly kill a character, no matter how much it may smart. Of course, slicing an elongated character in two while their torso is stretched to its utter limit is a different matter entirely. Severed bits immediately return to their normal physical dimensions.

Emotion Control
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: 1d100 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: charm, empathic hammer, empathy, mind control, mood swings.

While empathy merely lets one broadcast their own emotional states, emotion control actually allows its wielder to impose specific emotions upon other life forms. This ability functions on the Near range table, which is less than the scope of empathy, but then it's a much more active skill. Emotion control works against the Intuition of its targets, as opposed to Psyche (as is the case with mind control).

If the would-be target cannot pass an Intuition (awareness) ACTION against the rank of this ability, its wielder may invest any emotion he or she desires within said target, from hate to love to greed to whatever else turns their crank. Emotions tend to simmer, and an artificially induced emotion will last for 1d100 turns after this ability is applied, unless extreme circumstances act to change this emotional state.

Emotion control is otherwise versatile by design, but it may be taken in a limited form if desired. Restricting the character to but one emotion to manipulate (say, fear) is a strong limitation, adding +2 CS to the final power rank (or reducing its cost by 2 points).

On the other hand, a broadcast form of emotion control can be taken. This is considered a strong enhancement to the power, since it normally only affects one person at a time, and adds two points to its cost (or subtracts -2 CS from the final rank). The broadcast version of emotion control can affect multiple targets simultaneously, but each doubling of victims applies a -1 CS penalty to the ACTION to control them all.

Empathic Hammer
Type: Biological Control Power, Philosophical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: emotion control, empathy, mood swings, psi bolt.

While the ability to control emotions is most often used in a subtle fashion to alter the behavior of others, it has other applications. In fact, this knack can be used in an offensive manner, rapidly and randomly altering the emotional state of others to cause general pain and confusion. Such a technique is known as an empathic hammer, and can be considerably debilitating.

If targeted by such an attack, the victim must pass an Intuition (awr) ACTION roll against the empathic hammer power rank, or suffer like Karmic damage. Once struck by this power, the target will demonstrate multiple emotional states, seemingly simultaneously, as the changes roil through their minds. In addition to suffering this damage, the victim will lose the benefit of positive initiative modifiers for 1d10 turns.

The empathic hammer ability can strike any animate target within Near distance of its possessor.

Empathy
Type: Biological Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal control, animal sympathy, danger sense, empathic hammer, emotion control, hostility screen, mood swings, telepathy.

This is the root ability of the empathic discipline of power.

This potent ability allows one to read the surface emotions of other life forms. Though not as immediately direct as telepathy, empathy functions through a completely different process, interacting with the life force of a living being instead of their consciousness. This allows an empath to read the 'feelings' that others experience instead of their thoughts - which is arguably a more honest expression of their targets.

Empathy functions on the Middle range table. For example, an Incredible (40) ranked empath can read the emotions of others within two miles. An empath may attempt to read multiple targets simultaneously, but this reduces the ability's range by -1 CS for each doubling of targets, to a minimum of Feeble (2). No matter how many people they try to read, though, empathy always has at least a one area range.

In addition to reading the emotions of others, an empath may also broadcast his or her own emotional state. This is not emotion control (the feelings are not imposed upon others) so much as a simple notification. This can be to a single person with a green power ACTION, or a crowd with a yellow ACTION roll. Those receiving the empath's message will know who's sending it if they're at all familiar with him or her.

Empowerment
Type: Power Control Power, Universal Spell, Superpsi Art, Technopsi Art
Duration: permanent
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: boon, investment, link, power absorption, power amplification, power attenuation, power block, power control, power transfer, weakness generation.

The process of empowerment is similar to that of investment, for it involves installing super-human abilities within something besides its wielder. It differs, however, in that empowerment does not work on living beings - in fact, it only works on inanimate objects. As long as it is not currently considered alive under any normal definition of the term, empowerment can give an object access to super-powers!

One can begin the task of empowering an object by deciding which object is to receive powers in the first place. It is generally a good idea to go with something that is of high quality workmanship, so that it does not easily break or malfunction. While the powered portion of it may retain usefulness, the mundane portion being non-functional reduces its overall effectiveness. And just looks silly.

Secondly, the bearer of this power must decide which super-human abilities he or she wishes to impart onto the device. In the same vein, they must determine whether the abilities instilled within an item apply to the item or its wielder. As an example, an invulnerability the item possesses might make it immune to being broken by Blunt Attack damage - but if applied to its wielder, would instead make them very hard to defeat.

Powers to be embedded into an item will function at a rank that is equal to that of empowerment itself - or less, if desired.

Third, there is the matter of special requirements. Permanent powered objects require a special requirement for each ability it will be empowered with. An empowerer may embed an entire super arsenal into an object, but this might require months of preparation. Each requirement will be related to the nature of the power to be added somehow, and one should work with their Judge to determine the nature of such.

Finally, there's the matter of actually empowering the device. This begins when the character with empowerment uses it on the item, which prepares it for the process of acquiring power. This often involves a period of special treatment both before and after, to attune the item to the power(s) to be installed within. Then, the power to be imparted within the item must be used upon it.

In the case of passive powers that cannot target others, such as regeneration, they must simply be in use while touching the soon-to-be empowered object.

If the empowerer lacks access to an ability he or she wishes to install within an item, they can usually acquire it temporarily through the use of the link ability, or can have someone else use the desired power on the item to be empowered instead. Once this is done, the new powers of the item must be sealed within with a red empowerment power ACTION.

Sealing super-powers into an item will consume the special requirements (if applicable), and catalyze the creation of the ascendant object from the formerly mundane materials involved. This act also requires 500 Karma points from the empowerer. Additionally, if an item is graced with super-powers that the empowerer cannot access themselves, they must pay the Karma cost for each one.

This cost is the equivalent to purchasing the power at the rank the item possesses it, -2 CS. This represents the empowerer gaining the super-power with a potent limitation (that it's embedded within an item, with all the advantages and disadvantages this entails). This, of course, assumes the creator of a super-powered item is not simply giving it to someone else; if this is the case, the Karma cost is then their concern.

If neither is done, the item is subject to the vagaries of Plot, as is normal.

In addition to super-human abilities, an empowerer may install the following special item powers into any object they empower:

* Enhanced Material Strength: an empowerer can infuse an item with an enhanced MS; after all, a glass sword with seven powers is neat, but is still only a Feeble MS item. An empowerer can increase the MS of their new item by acquiring a special requirement of the desired MS. While this requirement is consumed upon the item's creation, it imparts its MS into the newly created ascendant item.

* Psychic Bond: an empowerer can install this power within the new super-powered item, which allows the device (sentient or not) to psychically link to its owner. This link allows the owner to sense whenever the item is being used, and to know the approximate direction the item lies in relation to themselves (if they are not currently wielding it). Doing this requires something enjoyed by the empowerer as a special requirement.

* Sentience: an empowerer can install a true sentience in the ascendant item they are creating. The item's Reason, Intuition, and Psyche ranks are rolled up randomly on table D. The personality of an item will generally reflect that of its creator, although this is not always the case (particularly if a link was involved in its creation). Anything representing intelligence can serve as a special requirement for this item power.

Energy Absorption
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, kinetic absorption, psionic absorption, thaumaturgical absorption, theonic absorption, various specific energy generation and control powers.

This potent ability makes its possessor something of a sponge, capable of soaking up ambient energy for a variety of different purposes. When this ability is first acquired, its wielder may only absorb one form of energy to start with, though he or she can acquire additional energy forms as power stunts when desired. By soaking up this energy, the absorber can prevent it from harming either themselves or others.

An absorber can internalize an amount of energy equal to this ability's rank number each round; superfluous amounts inflict damage normally. Of course, the character can store more than they can absorb at any one point; energy absorbers can fill a 'tank' of energy equal to their power rank number times five. If one attempts to absorb more than they can contain, this power will function normally, but the excess energies will be lost.

Wielding this pool of power, an energy absorber can produce a variety of useful effects whenever the need arises. He or she can use it to replenish lost Health, doing so on a point-per-point basis. In fact, if one's Health is at its normal maximum, an energy absorber can 'pad' it with absorbed energy, doing so until their Health is at up to twice the sum of their Fighting, Agility, Strength, and Endurance scores.

Likewise, one can use absorbed energy to bolster their physical ability scores, shunting purloined energies into their Fighting, Agility, Strength, or Endurance on a point-per-point basis, raising them either to this power rank in might (if less than the energy absorption rank) or by +1 CS (if equal to or greater than the energy absorption rank). Such enhancements will only last for 1d10 turns.

Finally, absorbed energy can be directly released back into the environment - as a devastating attack! One can emit absorbed energy as power blasts, doing so at an intensity equal to this ability's rank, and consuming that much power with each use. This energy will be the same kind that was initially absorbed, or a mix of them all when multiple forms of energy have been collected, and thus have the same side effects.

Energy Cohesion
Type: Energy Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, image projection, imaginary doubles, transduction, various specific energy generation and control powers.

Energy cohesion is the ability to transform ordinarily immaterial energies into a seemingly substantial power matrix. When so transformed, energy takes on the semblance of solid matter, the shape of which is solely limited by the imagination of this ability's possessor. Such 'solidified' energy will maintain that state indefinitely, unless specifically reverted by the wielder of energy cohesion or if damaged somehow.

To render a form of energy solid, one must pass an energy cohesion power ACTION roll against either the intensity of the energy to be solidified or the power rank of the ability controlling it (if opposing the constructs of an energy controller). Energies so transformed aren't inherently harmful to the touch, but will give hints as to their true nature (cohesive fire will glow orange and flicker, for example).

Once rendered solid, energies will possess an effective material strength equal to this power rank - no matter the solidified energy's original intensity. This makes them great for producing anything from personal body armor to restraints to contain enemies to large, pretend creatures to harass others. The creator of a solidified energy object may manipulate it as if he or she possessed similarly ranked object animation.

If broken by an attack, solidified energies immediately revert to their original state. This process inflicts damage equal to the original intensity of the solidified energy -1 CS, of its normal type, against the person or thing who broke the solidified energy matrix - if they're adjacent to it.

When intentionally reverted, solidified energies are usually dissipated harmlessly - unless such power is redirected by the use of other abilities, or otherwise re-formed into a different solid by this ability.

Energy cohesion can be used against living targets, often by converting the heat permeating their entire bodies into a solid form. This is considered a Metabolic attack, inflicting like damage - and may be resisted by the target's Endurance (res) score. In addition to taking damage from successful attacks of this sort, one must pass a Strength ACTION against the MS of their own solidified heat to even move!

This ability may be used on any form of energy present within Near distance of its wielder.

Energy Control
Type: Psikinetic Talent, Psimantic Talent, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Energy control is a psionic talent that allows one to manipulate the intensity and flow of ambient energy in a variety of useful fashions. While this talent cannot be used to actually create such power, energy control can often draw its subject from a variety of mundane sources - or alternately, can make use of energy manifested by the energy generation art, which bears several similarities to this talent.

Like energy generation, energy control is available to three disciplines: the psikinetic, the psimantic, and the superpsi. When he or she first masters this power, a psi may use any one form of energy available to them from the discipline they learn this power from. If they have access to more than one of these disciplines, they enjoy access to the 'pool' of energy forms that both (or all) such disciplines offer.

This rule applies to either his or her 'starter' energy type or any other forms of energy they learn to control as a later power stunt. Regardless of which form(s) of energy a psi with this talent can manipulate, they can use energy control to achieve a variety of common effects.

A simple use of this talent is to alter the intensity of ambient energy sources. Regarding power sources of lesser rank than one's energy control talent, a psi may either raise such powers up to his or her own power rank in intensity, or negate them entirely. Energy controllers may also attempt an ACTION roll against energy sources of equal or greater intensity than this power rank to affect their strength as well.

Secondly, an energy controller can render themselves resistant, at this power rank, against the forms of energy he or she can control. This requires an active defense maneuver, but when menaced by an energy they hold sway over, the controller can merely shunt the offending power elsewhere. This does not work against ambushes, but can protect the energy controlling psi from select harm under most other conditions.

Furthermore, a controller can control the flow of an energy form he or she wields power over. They may redirect it as desired, simply by passing a power ACTION against its intensity. Such redirected power will obey the controller's whims, whether flowing into one's foes, being grounded in the environment somehow, or otherwise being put to use - though building specific constructs with the purloined energy is often difficult.

Such constructs can be of any nature, but each type counts as a different power stunt (though such stunts apply to every form of energy a psi holds sway over). These constructs can range from energy-based restraints to environmental hazards to protective barriers to auras of some sort, or even free-roaming, semi-intelligent energy creatures that can do the controller's very bidding!

Most forms of energy allow for additional useful tricks and stunts, dependent on their unique properties. Energy control can affect the forms of energy it holds sway over as long as they are within Near distance of its wielder.

Energy Doubles
Type: Matter Control Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: body doubles, imaginary doubles, mental doubles, mental link, sensory link.

An energy double is a duplicate of oneself the possessor of this ability can spontaneously generate. These doubles are constructed from an imaginary form of matter known as psychoplasm, which is similar to the 'stuff' of the astral plane in nature. This material is psi-active in behavior, and readily accepts the imprinting of parts of one's own personality onto it, thus allowing these duplicates to generally do their creator's bidding.

Whether or not they're paying attention to such duplicates... or even conscious.

Energy doubles may or may not precisely match their creator's appearance, but generally all look the same. The principal ability of such duplicates is their knack for intangibility; an energy double may render itself immaterial at will, being comprised of imaginary matter. This can be done to pass through obstacles or to avoid attacks, as long as they are not of a Sorcerous, Karmic, or Deionic nature.

Energy doubles, when coherent, may attack physically as if they possessed ability scores equal to their creator's. Similarly, while tangible, an energy double can share its experiences with those it touches (or who touch it), relaying sensory input it has experienced thanks to the properties of its psychoplasmic makeup. But other than that, they possess no further inherent abilities - unless specifically assigned such.

During character creation, one can place their generated powers (or points) in their energy doubles instead, giving them abilities ranging from flight to energy blasts to anything else that fits their concept, really. Similarly, energy doubles can manifest 'new' powers at a later date, the Karma cost for a new power being paid normally, but the power itself being granted to the energy doubles instead of their creator.

The wielder of this ability can typically generate more than one energy double at any given time. For each rank one has in this ability, they may generate an additional double. Wielding this power at Feeble (2) rank only allows for one, while a character with Excellent (20) ranked energy doubles could simultaneously generate five. The only problem with creating several doubles is keeping track of all their personalities.

A curious side effect of this ability is that different doubles tend to reflect different portions of one's personality - one might be especially surly while another may be a consummate practical joker. Furthermore, these supposedly transient personalities tend to persist. One might generate three energy doubles, only to find their three different personalities are consistent from one use of the power to the next, over time.

Unless destroyed, that is. Energy doubles can be defeated despite their ability to become intangible - much less any other special abilities they have access to. Their Health score is equal to that of their creator's (as are all their other physical characteristics), and if reduced to zero points they may well discorporate if not reabsorbed back into one's body. If this happens, the 'mind' of such a double is gone forever.

Oddly, this has no deleterious effect on their creator, aside from potential guilt at the prospect.

Even if undamaged, energy doubles have a finite shelf life. Generally, they can persist in the world for a number of hours equal to the energy doubles power rank number. If they don't return to their creator to be reabsorbed before this time has elapsed, they will fade forever, as if torn apart in battle. Which is one way to get rid of a double whose negative personality traits remind oneself of their own faults too well!

Energy Generation
Type: Psikinetic Art, Psimantic Art, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The art of energy generation allows a psi to draw forth, from his or her very body, boundless energy. When this ability is first acquired, the psi possessing it has learned how to do this with any one type of energy they have access to. They may acquire more forms of energy to generate over the course of their career, but each of these must be mastered as a power stunt - one for each new type of energy the psi will wield.

The trick is that different psis have access to different forms of energy, based on just what discipline they use to learn this art. A psikinetic, for example, will have access to conventional forms of energy. Anything from sound to light to fire to electricity can be learned by a psikinetic - basically, anything that inflicts Energy damage. But two other disciplines have access to this ability, as well.

Superpsis who learn this power can generate psionic forms of energy. These include things that inflict Karmic damage directly, or alternately forms of energy that still inflict Energy damage, but affect defenses as if they were Karmic in nature. Forms of energy that fall into this category include spectral flames and the like - most often ordinary forms of power enhanced (or tainted) with psionic energies.

A psychoturge who masters this art, on the other hand, can generate magical forms of energy. These include forms of such that inflict Energy damage but affect armor as if they were a Sorcerous attack, or those which inflict Sorcerous damage directly. Energies of this type include darkness, hellfire, and so on - either 'pure' magical attacks or otherwise ordinary power twisted beyond repair by sorcery fall into this category.

If a character with energy generation has access to more than one discipline which possesses this ability, he or she can generate energy forms hailing from any of their power 'pools'. A casual psi possessing energy generation from the psikinetic discipline, as well as a power from the psimantic discipline of power, then, could choose from either of its energy form selections.

Practically speaking, the psi with this art can generate his or her indicated form(s) of energy at their power rank, inflicting like Energy (or whatever) damage with each application. They can project this energy anywhere within Near distance of their person each time they use it, or simply into something they're currently touching. Any other use for this energy, aside from casting it about, must be mastered as a power stunt.

Energy Projection
Type: Energy Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, clone projection, dream projection, object projection, various specific energy generation and control powers (depending on the type of energy projected).

When activating energy projection, the possessor of this ability creates an energy matrix for his or her consciousness to inhabit, and projects their very mind into it. This energy packet in and of itself is not potent enough to inflict damage upon contact; all of its power is initially focused towards housing the consciousness within. Unencumbered by mass, this energy field can fly at speeds determined by the space speed table.

Regardless of its actual energy composition.

Generally, it is assumed that this energy field is visible, typically resembling the character who created it. This is not always the case, however, depending on the form of energy used to create this energy packet that houses one's mind. An energy projection may actually look like anything one wishes, though changing its form (from its original appearance) often requires the mastery of a power stunt to achieve just that.

Similarly, it is assumed that, even if one isn't using sound to house their consciousness, that one has the ability to create such. This allows the energy projector to communicate with others while this ability is active. One can learn to generate more intense levels of sound, as well as other forms of energy (likely that which their energy projection is comprised of) as power stunts of this ability as well.

Energy projection is an action which must be maintained consciously, but this may be done for quite a while; energy projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank in hours. For example, a character with Shift X (150) energy projection may shed their consciousness and let it wander the earth for almost a week at a time. Food and water only become an issue after several days, however.

This is because while energy projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance talent). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. At this point the energy projector, if they've been gone for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

While projecting, the character's mind effectively has no mass, which may cause complications in the event of combat. One's ability scores mostly remain the same, though the energy projector has no Strength (being comprised of energy, and intangible). Any magic, psionic, or deionic items a projector possesses will accompany them as part of their self-image, though they function for the energy projection at a -2 CS.

Finally, energy projection has no range limits to speak of. Its wielder's mind may wander far and wide while the power is active, traveling as far as the energy which comprises it can carry them.

Energy Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental sense, infravision, macro sense, magic sense, microscopic vision, origin sense, object sympathy, psi sense, radar sense, radivision, theonic sense, ultravision, various energy control and generation powers.

This super-human sensory capacity allows its wielder an inherent awareness of the energies that permeate his or her environment. With a range as is determined on the Middle range table, characters with this ability can see all active energy sources within a generally considerable distance of their person. The thing to keep in mind is that this sense can detect energy in use, but not potential energy.

In other words, energy sense will be able to detect things such as the electricity in a wire beneath the ground or the radio signals floating above - but not the potential energy stored in, say, a gallon of gasoline. Once that fuel is burned to perform work its energy will be apparent, but while dormant it, and other such things, will be 'invisible' to this sense.

Energy Vampirism
Type: Energy Control Power, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy sense, psionic vampirism, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

Energy vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the power contained within various items, phenomenon, or persons in the environment, mainly to recover lost Health. As do other forms of this ability, energy vampirism requires contact with its would-be victim. Upon touching the target, an energy vampire may drain amount of energy from it equal to this power rank - assuming the target has that much stored within.

Inanimate objects possess varying amounts of energy, dependent on their nature; fuel and batteries are great for a quick pick-me-up. Energy attacks and ambient power sources like open flames can be absorbed by an energy vampire as direct nourishment, by passing a power ACTION roll against their intensity each time. Direct sunlight can provide an energy vampire with a Feeble (2) amount of energy over the course of a day.

Draining a living or sentient creature is a bit trickier, for they can actually fight back - or, at the very least, resist this power. The energy inherent to a living being (whether an ordinary human or even a robot) can be represented by their Endurance score. The potential of energy-based life forms should instead be their Health score, as they're (naturally) a much more energetic target, and should have more to drain.

An energy vampire can attempt to drain the energy stored in a body, but said body must fail a Psyche (will) ACTION opposed by the rank of this power first. If this ACTION fails, the energy vampire may drain their victim of as much or as little energy as they wish, up to their power rank number, each turn. Every additional turn an energy vampire attempts to feed, the target is allowed another Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist the power.

If this resistance ACTION is successful at any point during the feeding process, the target will immediately repulse the energy vampire, gaining immunity from further assaults with this power from this energy vampire (though not from other characters with this ability or any other vampiric powers the assailant may possess). Upon managing this, the target should note this resistance in the event of future assaults (just in case).

If an energy vampire is at full Health when he or she drains their power rank in energy, they will receive a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all their power ranks save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with energy vampirism will return to their normal capability. Gaining another, like boost requires another feeding.

The danger in using this ability against people is twofold. First off, there's the risk of contagion. Draining someone of their energy completely can be lethal. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they'll begin to lose Endurance ranks until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they'll rise again as an undead creature, an energy vampire that requires vast amounts of power to survive.

Secondly, if an energy vampire kills with this ability, he or she must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the intensity of their own energy vampirism. If this ACTION roll fails, the energy vampire will become addicted to the energy within others, and now require it to function also. While addicted, the character with energy vampirism will suffer a loss of power each day they do not feed upon living energy.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, and Psyche scores, as well as all their power ranks (save for this one). To avoid this loss, the addicted energy vampire must drain an amount of bodily power equal to his or her energy vampirism rank each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the metabolic energy of others causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0. This prompts an Endurance ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as an energy vampire as well. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or manages to defeat their addiction.

If a character with energy vampirism has ever been addicted to the metabolic energies of others, using the ability against others again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses energy vampirism on the living afterwards, he or she must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into addiction.

If they pass this ACTION roll they'll be fine - at least, until the next use of the power.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the energies of others to live cannot shake this requirement. The process of sloughing off energy addiction only applies to still-living wielders of energy vampirism, and not its many victims.

Enlightenment
Type: Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank

A powerful tool in a superpsi's or thaumentalist's arsenal, enlightenment can reach into dormant portions of the mind... and switch them on! This action can be performed either on oneself or another, which requires an ACTION roll against the Psyche (will) of the person who is to be augmented - whether they're willing or not. Furthermore, an unwilling target of enlightenment may also roll to resist the effects of this ability as well.

Once enlightenment has passed these hurdles, its wielder will activate a psionic within his or her target. This requires a second enlightenment ACTION, which determines precisely which power was switched on. A white ACTION roll means a random ability activated, but neither the enlightener nor their target will know exactly what it is. A green ACTION activates a psi power within the desired discipline - but not the desired ability.

A yellow enlightenment ACTION roll will not only get the right discipline for the chosen power, but will score something in the neighborhood; a random roll on the table including the desired ability is allowed, which may or may not get the exact power our enlightener wanted to switch on. A red ACTION roll, now, that's where the wielder of this ability activated precisely what he or she wanted to in the mind of their target.

Psionics generated by enlightenment function at its power rank.

Such abilities last for a minimum of 1d10 turns, though the enlightener may maintain this power to keep them going. This may or may not be enough time for the recipient of a temporary psionic to get a handle on it, but at the same time, some people take to unexpected psionics almost instinctively. Furthermore, it allows a rational reason for a character to develop said power in the future.

Their mind did it once, after all. To develop transient psionics permanently, the target must attempt an ACTION per a power stunt; if they've only had the power once, this requires a red ACTION roll, two to five times makes this ACTION yellow, and six or more makes it a mere green ACTION roll. If ultimately successful, something of a mental 'channel' has been opened, and the character may attempt to develop it further.

He or she must pay Karma for the new power as would any other psi, but now has an avenue for acquiring it - even if they have no other psi (or other) powers to speak of. Until the Karma cost for this power is paid, it will be available but unreliable. It works, sometimes, and sometimes it works but not as desired. The Judge is encouraged to have fun with this (but not be unnecessarily brutal) until the books are balanced.

Abilities gained permanently by the use of enlightenment have the normal starting rank and cost for a casual psi - unless the character has some other psi-active abilities. If so, the newly gained power is accounted for (where cost and rank are concerned) within their ordinary power scheme (if it matches his or her discipline(s)). This can be quite handy for psis lacking a proper instructor.

Or perhaps those who have trouble with that whole 'meditation' thing.

Environmental Adaptation
Type: Physical Control Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: learned resistance, situational adaptation, shape change, universal digestion, universal respiration.

A specialized, reflexive capacity, environmental adaptation will directly and physically alter the body of its possessor when it is subject to a new, abnormal environment. When immersed in a new location that is hostile to his or her existence, this ability can adapt a character's physiology to survive, if not thrive, no matter how antithetical to life it may be.

The exact nature of the resultant changes depend on the environment a character finds themselves in. When finding oneself at the bottom of the ocean, a body could definitely use gills to extract oxygen from the water. At the same time, the intense pressure, low temperatures, inability to see, and relative lack of mobility are serious concerns to keep in mind as well.

This is where one's environmental adaptation rank comes in. While it determines how potent powers temporarily acquired through the use of environmental adaptation are, its rank also determines how many adaptations a character can manifest at once. For each rank in environmental adaptation above Feeble (2), a character can add an additional adaptation which allows them to function in their new locale.

So, if our hero possesses Feeble (2) environmental adaptation, he or she may only be able to develop those gills, but is otherwise out of luck on the ocean floor. Alternately, with Excellent (20) environmental adaptation, they can gain gills, denser cellular structure to better withstand the pressure, thick body fat to avoid the cold, webbed digits to move about more freely, and finally a sensory replacement for their vision. Perhaps sonar?

Adapting to a new environment requires from one to ten turns, depending on how severe a change is required to keep the character functioning.

If stuck on an earth-normal world with a hostile atmosphere, it may simply be a matter of altering one's lungs to process the different gases available - and perhaps a small biochemical modification. On the other hand, persisting in space might require a whole bevy of biophysical alterations, changes which may render a character unrecognizable as a human being... or even as an organic life form!

Keep in mind that this ability is primarily reflexive in nature, and the player has little control over what changes environmental adaptation will inflict on his or her body to keep their character alive. Such changes are normally within the realm of Judge's fiat, but players can override a given change with a red ACTION roll, if they think they have a better idea regarding what can keep them going.

Of course, they could prove to be wrong. Fatally wrong!

Environmental Independence
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Dimensional Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental pocket, flight, intangibility, jelling, learned invulnerability, regeneration, regenerative armor, resistance (or invulnerability) to heat, cold and pressure variance, situational adaptation, super breath.

A vital ability for explorers of the bizarre, environmental independence allows a character to subsist without the essentials of life for a considerable amount of time. If suddenly without access to food, water, air, or even sleep, the environmentally independent character will continue to function just fine, able to 'put off' those vital needs (hopefully) for as long as is necessary.

Environmental independence functions with a duration that is rated in hours, as is based on its rank number. For instance, an Unearthly (100) ranked environmental independence lets a character subsist if trapped in a cave-in for just over four days, not needing food, air, or water (though sleep may be preferable in such situations). But what of those characters who wish to forego sustenance entirely?

This can be done by acquiring the ability at Class 5000 rank, which either costs 8 points with the point-based character system or counts as two powers when using the random die roll generation system. This can prove costly, so it's possible to limit environmental independence by stripping some of its protection(s) out as the player sees fit.

For each type of sustenance this ability does not cover, subtract one point from the final cost / add +2 CS, as each is considered a strong limitation. So, for a net cost of, say, five points, one could forego the need to breathe entirely, but still require food, water, and sleep.

Environmental Pocket
Type: Combination Power, Elementalism Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: environmental independence, environmental sense, jelling, transmutation, various 'control' powers.

An environmental pocket is a safe zone that exists as a sort of encapsulated habitat around its creator. When invoked, an environmental pocket will transform the area within Very Near distance into a space more hospitable to its creator's form of life - regardless of prevailing conditions outside. An environmental pocket only lasts as long as one actively concentrates upon its continued existence.

Sort of a 'group' version of environmental independence, this power allows its wielder to share his or her ability to survive in alien surroundings with friends - or anyone else that's close. A combination of transmutation and various 'control' powers, environmental pocket is an entirely involuntary affair; its user cannot control aspects of the environment created - it simply changes things to make it survivable to him or her.

How the power works is that it first encloses the area of effect in a sphere that normalizes the pressure within, and prevents harmful energies from entering, with power rank ability. Such energies can consist of any environmental calamity, from intense heat to radiation to crushing gravity. The power then transforms the matter within into something its possessor can use to breathe, extending his or her life.

If conditions outside the environmental pocket are able to overwhelm its power rank, they are at least diminished by its intensity. Thus, a Good (10) ranked environmental pocket could cut ambient radiation of Excellent (20) intensity by half - which is at least something of an improvement. Hostile energies that erupt inside an environmental pocket (such as a sudden energy attack) are not defended against, however.

While active, an environmental pocket constantly refreshes the air (or whatever) its wielder must breathe to survive, and actively resists the effects of matter animation and transmutation used by others to disrupt its habitat with power rank ability as well. Thus, this ability can be used to avoid such powers as well as inherently hostile environments or situations, making it quite handy to the adventurer on the go.

An important consideration with this power, however, is that an ideal environment for one being might be anathema to another. Using this power on a world full of methane gas might allow its wielder to survive, but any natives wandering into its area of effect will immediately begin to suffocate. As such, the power can be used offensively as well, even if completely unintentionally!

Environmental Sense
Type: Combination Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance + 1d100 turns
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, biological sense, energy sense, macro sense, object sympathy, weather control.

Characters with an environmental sense can attain a deep, intimate awareness of their surroundings. Such individuals can become familiar with conditions anywhere within Near distance of their person, may readily perceive the weather both above and below the surface, and attain an awareness of disruptions to the 'natural' conditions in that area.

These disruptions can include dangerous chemicals, excessive energy discharges, and even biological hazards of various stripes. This sensory ability incorporates aspects of the atomic sense, biological sense, and energy sense powers, making it quite useful. Alternately, this ability grants a truly staggering amount of information, and narrowing down one's focus can be tricky at times.

Though knowing when something is 'wrong' in the area of effect requires no ACTION, finding the general nature or location of a disruption requires a green ACTION, while pinpointing the specific location or type said disruption requires a yellow environmental sense ACTION. Red ACTIONs are typically only necessary when something is actively working to mask its presence in the environment to some extent.

The only problem with an environmental sense is that, once invoked, one cannot readily turn it off. The process of tying oneself into the nearby biosphere links a character to it for at least 1d100 turns, during which time they are inundated with various data regarding their surroundings, and tuning it all out for 1d10 turns requires one pass a successful, yellow Psyche ACTION roll first.

Essence Control
Type: Empathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Essence control is the ability to manipulate essential energies, colloquially known as life force. The wielder of essence control can ply the ebb and flow of such energies, primarily those which are released into the universe via the life ray or similar powers, per the psikinetic talent of energy control. However, essence control can also be used to alter such energies inside living beings!

The target of this power is allowed an Intuition (awr) ACTION against essence control's rank to resist such manipulations. If this roll fails, the empath can either nullify essential energy in a target or draw it forth, inflicting power rank Metabolic damage in the process. Once siphoned from their vessel, these energies may be shaped by the empath as they see fit.

Essence control can also be used beneficially on living beings, amplifying the amount of life force they normally possess. This action is the equivalent of healing, for the purposes of metabolic overload. When used in this fashion, essence control will add a number of Health points to its target equal to its power rank number, which will last until they are lost - one way or another.

Essence control can be used on life forces anywhere within Near distance of its possessor.

Evolution Control
Type: Combination Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: reassignment, shape change.

Individuals with the ability of evolution control can slide themselves up and down the developmental trajectory of their species at will. Combining aspects of both rearrangement and shape change, evolution control allows its possessor to directly shift around the ranks in their ability scores and powers to better simulate such changes - whether forwards or backwards through the crucible of natural selection.

When a character moves backwards along his or her evolutionary path, they typically lose prowess in their mental ability scores, while gaining some in their physical capabilities. The idea is that cavemen are dumber than us modern, enlightened types, but also a whole lot tougher. This change occurs on a rank-per-rank basis, with each decrease in a mental ability score corresponding to an increase in a physical ability score.

On the other hand, a character simulating an advanced evolution does the reverse, increasing their mental ability scores at the expense of their physical statistics. However, this operates under the assumption that humans will become even more cerebral over time; it's possible that a character could express several possible evolutionary paths for his or her species, considering the vagaries of future outcomes.

A character may include their other powers in this process, having physical powers become more prominent when devolving while mental powers do the same when ascending beyond the norm. In this, evolutionary control can exceed the limits of normal reassignment, as powers can be reduced below Feeble (2) rank in this manner. This represents abilities that either become vestigial or have yet to develop.

When adjusting the ranks of one's powers with evolutionary control, keep in mind that a power which costs double (or triple, or whatever) the price of a normal ability counts 'more' for the purposes of increasing or decreasing its potency. Raising ultimate power by +1 CS would require 5 CS of reductions to other powers - though as is usually the case with rank reassignment, the reverse is also true.

If a character's power is only available in one evolutionary form, consider it weakly limited. A primary example of this includes a Neanderthal form having access to super climbing and super tracking, while a post-human form instead has access to flight and telepathy. A character can have powers that are completely independent of this ability, of course, though this sort of breaks its 'theme' without a good explanation.

The maximum level of any attribute modified by this power is evolution control's own rank (before accounting for form limitations, that is).

In the end, this power provides its possessor wide flexibility in play, making him or her capable of developing a broad array of abilities to handle differing conditions. However, it pays to work out exactly which evolutionary forms the character possesses in advance, and precisely what each is capable of - even if a player comes up with a vast number of 'in-between' stages with which to maximize their mutability.

Exaltation
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Exaltation is the process of elevating the mortal beyond that state of affairs. One can only wield exaltation upon a willing individual, assuming sentience is even involved, and its possessor must pass a power ACTION roll against the target's Intuition (awr) score. Assuming all of these criteria are met, a deific being may then spend one hundred faith points to raise a body beyond their former, mortal self.

When a mortal's divine spark is lit, their life force experiences an evolution, one which transforms them into a demigod. Such a being might otherwise be normal, but this occurrence may serve as an 'origin' of sorts which causes other powers to manifest. Either way, a demigod begins his or her deific career with one 'spare' life - more must be acquired through hard work.

This work often comes in the form of extensive, exhaustive quests or tasks given to the new demigod by he or she that exalted them. These goals are given for two main reasons: to test the mettle and character of a would-be deity, and to fuel their ascension from demigod to god (acquire more 'spare' lives). Either way, such endeavors almost always further the goals of the character with this power.

Otherwise, why create more competition?

Such is the true danger of the exaltation power - to all immortals, everywhere. Before elevating a mortal to divine status, it might pay to ensure the recipient of this power's benefits will not betray its possessor down the line. If a god does not do the proper research on those he or she wishes to elevate well in advance, they may quickly find themselves hoist by their own, divine petard.

Note: when exaltation is successfully wielded on a character, they in turn acquire the apotheosis ability. This is a staggering boon for most folks, thus it is recommended that they pay the cost of acquiring that ability as they would any new power - soon, if not immediately. Assuming, of course, the Judge does not rule that the cost in faith paid by the wielder of this ability is sufficient.

Extend
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank

Characters may use this ability to extend the effects of a spell beyond its normal target (hence the name). Many spells only affect one target at a time, whether it be the caster or someone else, but extend can be used to spread the effect to multiple recipients. For every rank in extend that a person has, he or she may increase the effective number of targets a spell has by one.

The wielder of this ability may benefit from this effect by invoking extend, and subsequently casting whatever spell they wish to 'multiply'. Extend is not limited solely to the spells its wielder knows; by coordinating one's actions with another spellcaster, a character with extend may use it on the other caster's spells as well. In a group with multiple spellcasters, just one wielding extend can make the whole vastly more versatile.

While this can be accomplished with most magic, the main benefit of extend is in both speed and spell maintenance. While covering five individuals with the body armor spell can be done without extend, for instance, it requires the effective casting and maintenance of five separate spells. Extending a spell, on the other hand, only requires the maintenance of two effects: extend and the spell to be extended.

And if the wielder of extend is working with another person, the load is split between them, with one maintaining the extend effect and another maintaining the spell that is being extended. This frees up a character to bring many more effects into play if he or she wishes, or to at the very least cover more people with defensive magics (or more foes with offensive spells) than they otherwise could.

The only real limitation on extend is that it can only be used upon a spell that requires maintenance; magic with an 'encounter', 'instantaneous', 'permanent' or 'special' effect cannot be used alongside extend. Thus, a wizard could easily defend an entire team with intangibility or manipulate the minds of a small group with illusion projection, but they cannot extend an eldritch bolt or healing / other effect in the same fashion.

F

Faerie Dust
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Faerie dust is not actually dust, per se, so much as a collection of loose mystic particles drawn forth from the body of this spell's wielder. This twinkling, glittery meta-substance can be sprinkled upon any target, and allows its creator to share any one of his or her capabilities with said target. If the target of faerie dust does not wish to be affected by it, they simply need to avoid contact with it (dodge the spell's use).

What faerie dust does is create a bond of sorts between its creator and its subject. Through this bond, the wielder of faerie dust may temporarily impart one of his or her characteristics upon them, whether it be an enhanced ability score, a special spell or power effect, or even a talent. In other words, anything the caster of faerie dust can (or can't) do may be shared with the target as long as the spell is maintained.

So, using faerie dust, a spellcaster can share the ability to fly, enhanced coordination, obscure knowledge of the occult, or even disadvantageous traits like a missing arm or a diminutive size! It all depends on the caster, what he or she is capable of, and their intent, making the effects of faerie dust somewhat inconsistent from caster to caster - and thus hard to predict - until it is actually invoked.

Faith
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 5 points per rank

As a deific being begins to cultivate followers, adherents to their philosophies and way of life, the power of faith begins to flow from said followers into him or her. This potent spiritual energy can be used by the deific being to perform truly astonishing deeds, things which some might readily consider miraculous - and may subsequently help to generate even more faith in and of itself.

When invoking the power of faith, immortals may simulate any other power in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, per ultimate power. Each use of this power expends an amount of faith equal to the simulated ability's point cost, whether instantaneous or continuous in effect; to maintain the latter, deifics must pay the faith cost again every 1d10 turns. This applies unless a power has a different cost indicated; if so, use that instead.

The difficulty with this power is that faith is a somewhat rare commodity; the power of faith has the astounding ability to shape reality itself, but is slow in the accumulation.

While this ability can be used to do almost anything, as its wielder desires, one of the best ways to utilize faith is to reinvest the accumulated power of worship back towards one's followers. This is a tactic that can be utilized in both a beneficial and a harmful way - wielding either positive or negative reinforcement to bolster the faith that individuals have in the deific being.

For instance, a small town is generally following the teachings of a goddess' church, and as a reward, she offers them a great farming season (via the power of weather control) and great fortunes (via the power of luck). This is but one example of divine restitution, wielding the faith energy one's followers have granted her to reward them for their worship.

On the other hand, a town several miles down the road has begun to venerate another deific being. To show such worshipers the error of their ways, the goddess might send plagues (via the power of disease), scores of nasty pests (via the power of summoning) and violent storms (again, due to weather control), wreaking divine retribution with precision and care until her errant followers get the message.

Fallout Absorption
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A specialized and limited form of thaumaturgical absorption, fallout absorption allows its wielder to draw lingering Probability Fallout (PF) from a person or object into themselves. This requires a successful power ACTION roll against the intensity of PF present in the contaminated target of this power. If successful, said target will be cleansed of the magical contamination that it was previously subjected to.

In addition to removing the rather sticky PF from something, fallout absorption will also reverse any changes the magical contamination caused in it - if those changes were not permanent in nature. Living beings are rarely affected by permanent PF, but inanimate items are not so lucky. If something has been permanently altered by PF exposure, this ability will merely prevent it from spreading PF to others.

A character with fallout absorption can store an amount of PF within his or her body that is equal to its power rank times five. Unlike most other energy absorption powers, however, it is not recommended that one use the absorbed energies upon themselves. This is because such use of the absorbed PF will immediately subject oneself to whatever amount of PF they have channeled into their body's functionality!

Sometimes this can be a great way to escape a seemingly impossible situation, but most often it winds up with the fallout absorber turning into angry mayonnaise or the like. On the other hand, a fallout absorber can emit absorbed PF back into the environment as a devastating and transformative attack without direct danger to themselves... assuming nothing he or she changes comes in contact with them.

If absorbed Probability Fallout is not channeled into oneself or released back into the environment, this power will metabolize it in time. Each turn, fallout absorption will 'eat' one point of absorbed PF, thus preventing this causal contamination from altering the world, for better or worse. Though, when you get down to it, most PF alterations fall under the 'worse' category!

Familiar
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

A familiar is a magical companion that assists a sorcerer in whatever it is that he or she does. The familiar can take almost any form, typically manifesting either as a pet of some sort (like a cat or an owl or a large toad), a mount (like a horse, or maybe a camel) or even a fantastic creature (like a pixie, or perhaps a wee elemental entity). All familiars will share the same general abilities, regardless.

So how does this spell work? When a sorcerer casts the familiar spell, most often something from his or her nearby environment will answer. This will usually be an exceptional version of the local fauna, but if a player wants something truly unusual, they can travel to a far off land to find it. The creature will come to them within a short amount of time after the familiar spell is cast, and then the deal is struck.

This deal is nothing sinister, mind you, but an offer of service in exchange for mutual benefit. Upon deciding which creature to take under their wing, which may involve multiple castings until the right partner answers, the sorcerer will bond with their new friend. At this point the creature will gain special characteristics, as outlined below, unless a fantastic entity answers the sorcerer's call.

This sometimes happens when a non-human sentient notes the casting of the familiar spell, and decides to show up instead of an ordinary beast. If this occurs, the sorcerer may opt to bargain with this entity for its service. It may be bored, it may want something from the sorcerer in particular, or it may just be seeking companionship (or a patsy). But, once it agrees, it will be bound to the sorcerer as per an ordinary creature.

A familiar typically shares the same basic mindset of their sorcerer, for it volunteers to serve his or her interests - or else, why would it have joined forces with them in the first place? Furthermore, if a familiar was not actually sentient before a sorcerer enlisted its aid, it will be afterwards; that's one of the things a familiar gets out of the deal. This allows the two to communicate verbally, even if the creature couldn't normally.

On top of this verbal communication, a sorcerer shares an empathic link with their familiar, and each will know what the other is feeling at any given time. This link functions on the Very Far range table, for the bond between the two is not easily sundered. Naturally, this makes a familiar a great companion for its sorcerer, and it can also serve as a foil for them in a pinch (or at the very least, great comedy relief).

Finally, a familiar will have two additional special powers - one that benefits it personally, and one it shares with its sorcerer. These powers can come in almost any form, really, from letting the sorcerer see though the familiar's eyes in a sort of sensory link to giving the sorcerer the power of flight while they ride atop it. Players should work with the Judge to determine these, if they're not readily obvious.

All of these abilities function at the familiar spell rank. For example, say we're building a sorcerer with this spell at Good (10) rank. She opts for an Amazonian giant centipede for her familiar. It will be fully intelligent, having a Reason of Typical (6), as well as a Good (10) ranked empathic link with the sorcerer (with a range of 2,500 miles). Now it just needs two more magical powers - on top of what nature has already given it.

So, in addition to the bonus limbs and the poison, we need to come up with something, and working with the Judge our sorcerer decides upon intangibility for the centipede's 'personal' power (great for avoiding damage and for nabbing prey) and regeneration as a shared power (for when neither the sorcerer nor the familiar defend themselves fast enough). These powers both work at Good (10) rank.

Fantastic creatures may be an exception to the above, for they often have their own power sets, which work at different power ranks. Also, being sentient to begin with, they might want something special from the sorcerer before agreeing to serve him or her. This may be assistance in some goal or another, or perhaps an exchange of power at some point (demons are particularly dangerous in this regard).

As another example, let us look at a sorcerer who chose a pixie familiar. This creature will offer the empathic bond as do all other familiars, but pixies already have their own abilities, which come in the form of diminutive stature, minor spellcasting in their own right, and a blindingly quick skill with a blade. The pixie will have no special powers above and beyond its normal fare, but may know magic beneficial to its sorcerer.

This might sound like a lot of benefit for just one spell, and it is, but there's a downside should harm befall the familiar. Being responsible for its well-being, a sorcerer will lose all of his or her Karma if their familiar is slain, whether or not it was due to their own negligence. As such, most sorcerers worth their salt will do their best to protect their familiar - unless they're trying to get a new one, that is.

Typically, a sorcerer may only have one familiar at a time. If he or she wishes to acquire more, they must master this spell again, as if it were a completely different spell. Each familiar spell can only support one companion, but a sorcerer can (if they wish) learn this spell any number of times to acquire a large number of followers. Even if, in the end, protecting them all becomes increasingly more difficult!

Fangs
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the fangs
Related Powers: biological vampirism, disease, poison.

Fangs are sharp, pointy implements that a character will usually have in their mouth. They can on occasion be extant on the outside of one's mouth, however, particularly in species with an exoskeleton. Alternately, a variant form of fang is the tusk, which is normally an elongated tooth structure as seen on a walrus or an elephant.

When using fangs against others, a character can inflict their Strength (might) rank in Edged Attack damage.

Versus non-living targets, fangs get interesting. In such circumstances, the material strength of one's fangs comes into play. When attempting to gnaw through an inanimate object, the bearer of fangs may wield them like any other sharp, pointy implement, and can chew through items of up to the material strength of their fangs (make a fangs MS ACTION against an intensity equal to the MS of the item to be chewed).

The base MS of a character's fangs is their Strength (might) score +2 CS. This ensures that, no matter what the character bites, he or she is less likely to break their fangs. This MS can be increased, however, either by spending one point per additional MS (in the point-based character generation system) or by subjecting the base MS to the gambling table of one's choice (in the random character generation system).

Generally, fangs are retractable, but a character may take them in an 'always out' form as a strong limitation (increases MS by +2 CS, or reduces cost by 2).

On the other hand, a noteworthy enhancement to fangs is the ability to make use of a lockjaw. This (strong) enhancement to fangs allows a character, once he or she has bitten down on something, to lock their jaw into place. This does not increase the specific damage of a given bite, so much as it allows the fanged character to keep inflicting the same damage from turn to turn, until they willingly (or are forced to) let go.

A lockjaw enhancement either increases the cost of fangs by two points, or reduces the MS of one's fangs by -2 CS.

Fey Sense
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

This curious, mystical sense allows those of a faerie bent to home in on anything representative of their particular school of magic. Unless the target is cloaked somehow, a fey sense can automatically pinpoint every faerie person, place, or thing within its range, as determined on the Middle range table. Though no roll is required to pinpoint fey things, an 'automatic' spell check also conveys no information about what it finds.

On the other hand, successful fey sense ACTION rolls provide additional data about the faerie item(s) in question. Green results indicate what they generally are (a place of power, enchanted being, or artifact), yellow results fill in additional details (whether it is occupied, possessed, or otherwise in use), and red results provide further, specific information at the Judge's discretion.

Finding (Telelocation)
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairvoyance, locational sense, mind link, psychometry, sensory link, sensory reception, summoning, teleportation / others.

Finding is the useful ability to locate something no matter where it is. This potent power allows one to use what they know about an object, no matter how little, to determine its position in 7D space-time, and does so within a distance as determined on the Far range table. If an object is further away (or in a different universe or time frame) vague directions are provided instead.

A green ACTION is all that is required for things a body is intimately familiar with (anybody on his or her super-hero / villain team, or their favorite blaster). Yellow ACTIONs are necessary when the character tries to locate something that isn't so familiar (such as the new janitor). A red ACTION is only needed if the wielder of this ability attempts to locate something they have only seen or otherwise sensed once.

This sense can't locate a person or object that its wielder is totally unfamiliar with.

Fire Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, energy cohesion, fire generation, infravision, temperature control.

The power to control fire is the ability to alter flames, open or otherwise, as its wielder sees fit. It can readily function on any blaze within Near distance of the character who possesses it, assuming that he, she, or it can first pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of said flames - or the fire control power of another character affecting them. Once control of a flame is achieved, a fire controller may manipulate it as desired.

The easiest means by which a fire controller may manipulate flames is by altering their intensity. Such may be increased to a level equal to the fire control power rank number, or reduced by a like amount (likely extinguishing it in the process). This technique can be used to enhance the power of fire generation, whether wielded by the fire controller or anyone else, or alternately to prevent that power from working at all!

Fire controllers can also manipulate the shape of flames, either to simulate a resistance to such by making fire flow around themselves, or when producing fire-based energy constructs. A character must master a power stunt with each general shape he or she wishes to craft out of flames with fire control, though this allows them to build anything from flaming restraints to fiery, semi-sentient minions to do their bidding!

Such constructs will last for as long as their existence is concentrated upon, and they will revert to 'ordinary' flames upon the cessation of such. This may involve them rapidly going out or spreading out of control, depending on the materials surrounding them at the time.

Fire Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (fire), carrier wave, fire control, heat generation, infravision, plasma generation, resistance (to fire and/or heat), transformation / self (fire).

This destructive ability allows its wielder to project flames from their very body! No matter what form the fire manifests in, it can strike any target within Near distance of its generator, inflicting SD Energy damage with every strike. One can pull their punches when generating fire, and may either reduce the color result rolled or the damage inflicted upon making a successful attack.

While flames are an incredibly effective offense, the problem is that this ability tends to cause a lot of collateral damage. The SD portion of flames ensures that a lot of incidental fires are caused, even if this power's wielder has good aim. Anything flammable in contact with a person suffering the SD fire damage is liable to catch fire itself, and so on and so forth, making each blast of fire potentially 'contagious'.

When a character first acquires this ability, he or she may apply a strong enhancement to it which allows them to generate flames anywhere within their area of effect - not just from their own body. This is most commonly known as pyrokinesis, and its advantage is that while a fire generator still has to roll to hit their target, said target might not see an attack coming in time to dodge (or whatever).

Alternately, fire generation may be limited such that it only works on touch. This is a strong limitation, and forces the character into melee combat to inflict the SD Energy damage upon their foes. On the other hand, the odds of the character so limited causing a plethora of unwanted property damage is greatly reduced, since a miss won't usually mean something (or someone) besides the target is set on fire!

Flake Armor
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: edges (while one's flake armor is damaged), regeneration.

Flake armor is a variant form of body armor that provides a flat rate of protection versus incoming harm; once this amount is exceeded, the armor will crumble (hence the name). The amount of protection flake armor provides is calculated by adding the rank numbers of all its power ranks together, in the same way that negative Health and mental Health scores are tallied.

In combat, the flake armor will act as a total barrier against damage, absorbing applied damage of any type equally well. When damaged, flake armor may take on a cracked or ramshackle appearance, but its protection is not interrupted - until its maximum amount of damage aversion is reached or exceeded. At this point, the flake armor will literally fall off the character, leaving him or her without any protection at all.

Flake armor recovers its lost protection remarkably fast; it heals at a rate equal to regeneration of the same power rank.

As an example of flake armor, let us look at the Candy Coated Man, a hero with a sweet-tasting form of flake armor, which he has at Amazing (50) rank. His total amount of protection is equal to 162 (2 + 4 + 6 + 10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 = 162), an amount that heals damage to itself at a rate of five points per turn (as if it had Amazing ranked regeneration).

On the turn that his flake armor is finally broken, the Candy Coated Man is defenseless (at least, as far as this power is concerned), but he will start the next turn with five whole points of flake armor.

Flaw Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: macro sense, nonapparent vision, transparent vision.

The flaw sense is an uncanny knack for finding the inherent weakness(es) of a person, place, or thing. A green ACTION roll will determine a physical weakness or stress point, a yellow ACTION can showcase mental shortcomings or problems, and a red flaw sense ACTION roll will reveal weak points of almost any nature - whether physical, mental, or metaphysical (and how to exploit them).

Having this knowledge doesn't necessarily mean you can take advantage of it. But if you can, the benefit is that if you can strike with a yellow result in whatever manner will best affect a given target's flaw, you can inflict considerably more damage. Upon achieving this, one's damage will be increased up to an amount equal to their flaw sense's rank, representing a devastating blow (minimum +1 CS damage).

Furthermore, the target must pass a red Endurance (res) ACTION roll to avoid being Stunned for 1d10 turns.

Flaying
Type: Matter Control Power, Philosophical Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: force blast, kinetic energy control, telekinesis.

Flaying is the ability to shred non-adjacent matter. Flaying works by applying a razor-like line of force along an object, slashing said object at a considerable distance from this ability's wielder. Though this is an energy-based attack, the result is that the flaying effect manifests in a distinctly physical fashion, thus inflicting power ranked Edged Attack damage to its targets.

While flaying may be utilized against any target within Near distance of its possessor, it is primarily useful against those within Very Near distance. This is because the force used by this power to slice and dice things is rapidly diffused by each object it passes through, and for each thing a flaying beam cuts on its way to its primary target, it will lose 1 CS of its overall effectiveness.

This means that whether one's target is hiding behind a brick wall, a sheet of glass, or even business attire, the force which flays will lose some of its edge once it finally comes in contact with its target. And, more distressingly, anything wandering into the path between a flayer and that which he or she would like to flay will also attenuate the damage they would inflict as it is flayed first.

Flight
Type: Movement Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental independence, resistance (or invulnerability) to cold, heat, and pressure variance, super flight, super speed, vapor animation.

Flight is the ability to move in three dimensions unaided. In defiance of gravity, the character possessing flight may move left, right, forward, backward, up, or down as he or she sees fit. How exactly this works depends on the character involved; it may be an ability granted by large wings, rocket boots, tinkering with the laws of gravity, or even something like telekinetically flinging one's body about.

Flight itself is rather flexible, and can easily be explained via any number of origins or mechanisms. This opens up the character for weak limitations if he or she desires; boot-jets can be clogged, for instance, or wings can be immobilized. Such limitations reduce the cost of the power by 1 point (in the point-based character system), or increase its power rank by +1 CS (in the random roll generation system).

Flight allows the character to move at a number of areas equal to those listed on the air speed column, though accelerating to that point may take a few turns, depending on his or her Endurance (res). A hero with Shift X (150) ranked Flight and only Poor (4) Endurance (res) can move at 50 areas per turn - but it will take them five full minutes to accelerate to top speed.

The previous involves flying through a gaseous medium. If the character with flight finds themselves underwater, they can 'only' fly according to the land/water speed column, while in a vacuum they can advance onto the space speed column. Our Shift X flier above would then be 'limited' to 180 MPH under water, whilst they'd move at .1% light speed in the inky depths of blackest space.

The ability to fly generally assumes the capability of surviving at high speeds, despite the difficulty of breathing and the friction induced by such rapid motion. Such capability can either come from equipment or bodily modifications, though having it be removable can also be grounds for a weak limitation (as described above). Moving safely under water or in space is not covered by flight alone, however.

Fluid Animation
Type: Matter Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dual respiration, image animation, jelling, object animation, psychoplasm animation, reanimation, solid animation, super swimming, vapor animation.

The ability to animate fluids is the power to control the form, function, and motion of most liquid matter. Liquid matter is generally defined as material which maintains a fixed volume, if not shape, though this power also stipulates that such matter cannot be alive in any way. Any inanimate liquid can be controlled by this power, though matter suspended in a liquid medium can be indirectly manipulated in this fashion as well.

Fluid animation can be used in as coarse or as fine a fashion as is desired, anywhere within Near range of its possessor. Such manipulations are never permanent, as a liquid by its very nature will revert to a formless state once it is no longer animated. Fluid animation can impart movement onto animated liquid materials, giving them up to power rank velocity as is defined by the land/sea speed table.

The power can, at once, manipulate an amount of liquid matter that is equal to its power rank as an equivalent Strength score. It can temporarily impart an artificial material strength in fluids of a like value, allowing it to interact with and manipulate objects in the environment. Animated liquid matter will inflict its power rank in damage, of the appropriate type, with each devastating attack.

Fluid animation lends itself to the mastery of numerous power stunts. A fluid animator can learn to animate liquid matter 'minions' per the object animation power, who possess Fighting, Agility, and Health scores equal to this power rank, self-transportation by riding a 'wave' of water from one location to another, as long as at least some liquid is present in the environment, or even any of its related powers, above.

While the power can manipulate any inanimate liquid as a general matter of course, fluid animation can be restricted as desired with limitations. The more uncommon a fluid is, the more constraining being limited to such is. Water, for example, is readily available around the world for the most part, and can thus be considered a weak limitation, while something rarer (like oil) would make for at least a strong limitation.

Flux
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per rank

The flux ability is not for those who prefer an ordered, structured view of causality. What it does is unleash uncontrolled probability particles upon a hapless person, place, or thing. Flux itself functions within Very Near range, meaning that its wielder must get very close to whatever it is they wish to inundate with magic. The target always gets a resistance roll, whether sentient (Psyche ACTION) or not (material strength check).

If this ACTION is successful, nothing happens; there's just a puff of smoke or flash of light, signifying nothing. If this ACTION roll fails, however, the target will be flooded with raw, unshaped magic. This is quintessential Probability Fallout (PF), and can do quite literally anything to whatever is exposed to it. Whether good or bad, nothing suffers from PF without being altered, either temporarily or permanently.

Non-sentient targets are most often drastically transmogrified, their shape and form twisted beyond recognition. A singular object may split into several, inanimate objects might become animate, things may transform from one thing into another, all of which may defy reason or possibility - that's the whole point, after all! Sometimes, all of the previous may occur simultaneously, for better or worse.

Sentient targets, they're in a similar boat. While the core sameness of a sentient target usually won't change (one entity will usually remain such, for instance), any number of things might occur to them. They may suffer a minor or major change in appearance or form, they could develop (or lose) some sort of special ability, or they might just disappear in a most spectacular manner, likely leaving little behind but shoes.

The duration of a flux-induced alteration depends primarily on conditions present when the power is invoked. A green flux ACTION will make the effect last for a number of turns equal to its rank number; a Good (10) ranked flux causes it to last for one minute (10 turns). A yellow flux roll will multiply this value by ten, meaning that Good (10) ability mentioned above will change a body for ten minutes, instead of just one.

A red flux ACTION will render the target different for a number of hours equal to this ability's rank number (ten hours for our Good (10) ranked friend, above). The latter assumes an animate target; inanimate objects are altered permanently on a red roll unless the wielder of this ability chooses otherwise - even if they somehow extract the flux he or she subjected it to in the first place.

The real problem with anything affected by flux is the fact that Probability Fallout is sticky. Whenever something is affected by PF, it will maintain a 'charge' of such. This build-up of PF will discharge through others, doing so in an SD fashion. This charge, once imparted upon another target, can spread it to still more at the lowered intensity, and so on and so on, until all of the PF is used up.

As an example, say someone with Remarkable (30) ranked flux has struck a foe's car. It fails an MS check and is transformed into, say, a tiger, a Vespa ™ scooter, various squirming light bulbs, and three hundred gallons of mayonnaise. Its wielder rolls a yellow power ACTION, so this change is only temporary, but if any of the animate items created by flux wander off, they may return to normal in a disassembled state.

All of this material is probability radioactive, in an SD sense. When any of it touches something (or is touched), this material will discharge -2 CS PF, prompting successive ACTION rolls for the new victims (including the driver of the transformed car) at this lower rank. Once they emit this PF, the 'ground zero' items' PF will lower by another -2 CS, which will discharge upon subsequent contact, and so on - until it's all gone.

This ability is likely the single greatest reason paraprobabilitists and psychoturges have such a bad reputation. Things they dose with flux often wander off and spread the probability contagion far and wide (particularly if one of them can fly). A highly charged 'patient zero' who can disperse the charge all over the place, both directly and indirectly, is especially havoc-inducing.

Flux Analysis
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Flux analysis is a means by which one can look at the residue left behind by the use of magic, and determine a variety of things about it. It's sort of a past tense version of magic sense, but the retrospective nature of this ability allows it to glean more information from the magic involved than that sensory ability ever could. But then again, it doesn't really work on active sorcery, so there's that.

When inspecting the residual Probability Fallout on a person, place, or thing, the possessor of this ability can determine a variety of information with a mere green power ACTION roll. This information includes whether or not the magic involved was due to natural phenomenon (environmental effects) or artificially induced (magic spell or power), and what form of energy was used (personal, universal, et cetera).

A yellow flux analysis ACTION roll gives a bit more information about the magic in question, such as which school of magic was involved (if applicable), and what the spell (or spells) brought to bear actually was (or were). The singular/plural is necessary as each spell used on something will leave a trail of PF back through time, one which the possessor of this power can unravel when using it effectively.

Finally, a red flux analysis ACTION roll will reveal information not readily apparent simply by the effects the magic caused. This gives the wielder of flux analysis situational awareness regarding the use of the observed magic, including what may have prompted its wielder to bring it to bear. This is possible since each mage puts his or her own 'spin' on magic, affecting it much like it affects others.

Force Blast
Type: Energy Generation Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: flaying, force field, kinetic energy control, kinetic focus, telekinesis.

Force blasts are focused bursts of energy manifesting in a physical, tactile state. They can come in the form of dense energy-based attacks, artificially coherent particulate matter (like air), or even aggressive thoughts made manifest. A force blast is often the generic 'energy attack' used by any number of heroes or villains who have a ranged assault in beam or ray form that isn't really defined well - if at all.

A force blast typically operates within Near range of its wielder; force blasts attempting to fly further will often be degraded by air resistance and intervening objects to the point of uselessness. They naturally inflict Force damage upon impact with their target - or anything else in their line of fire, which is advantageous in that a Force attack is not as inherently deadly as a Shooting or Energy attack form.

Force Field
Type: Energy Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: deflection, force blast, kinetic energy control, kinetic focus, psi web, telekinesis.

Force fields are powerful, coherent energy barriers. They can come in a variety of configurations, whether wrapped tightly around one's body, in a large bubble surrounding an area, or perhaps just a specific wall or plane. The creator of a force field may generate this barrier in any shape desired, though he or she can limit their force fields to the production of just one as a weak limitation to this ability.

Force fields are primarily defensive in nature, and being comprised of energy, however coherent and seemingly solid it may be, work best against energy-based assaults. Such attacks are anything that inflict Energy or Force damage, ranging from fire to electricity to radiation to lasers to force blasts to sound to heat to cold. All attacks of this stripe are resisted by a force field at its full intensity.

On the other hand, a force field offers -1 CS resistance against physical attacks; while it may feel quite solid to the touch, a force field is simply a highly coherent energy field. Such attack forms are anything which inflicts Blunt Attack, Edged Attack, Blunt Throwing, Edged Throwing, or even Shooting damage. Though slightly disadvantaged against them, force fields still work quite well against physical attack.

As is the case with other conventional defenses, such as body armor, a force field is increasingly less effective against more esoteric damage types. Force fields provide -4 CS protection against Sorcerous damage, -6 CS protection against Karmic assault, and -8 CS against attacks of a Deionic nature. This is representative of the idea that such attack forms are further and further out there on the probability curve.

The exception to this is if a force field is generated by a like power source. A magical force field will work just as well against Sorcerous damage as it can against Energy, while a psionic force field is equally protective against Karmic damage as it is Energy. This exception applies whether the power is a 'base' magical spell, psionic power, or deionic ability, or a power stunt off of another such skill.

Generally, the protection a force field offers is abbreviated as follows, in the order of physical attack, energy attack, sorcerous attack, psionic attack, and then deionic attack - keeping in mind that 'special origin' fields will cover their own type differently:

Power Rank -1 CS / Power Rank / Power Rank -4 CS / Power Rank -6 CS / Power Rank -8 CS

As stated in the beginning, a force field can be generated in a variety of different configurations - if not limited to but one to begin with. When protecting any space up to one area in size or less, the force field will offer its full protective qualities. For every additional area so shielded, a force field will suffer from a -1 CS to its effective power rank, affecting the above resistances accordingly.

When struck with damage, a force field will absorb and deflect any amount equal to or less than its listed rating of protection. Whenever any damage in a single attack exceeds this rating, however, the force field will fail - unless its creator can pass a power ACTION roll each time the field is punctured. If this ACTION is successful, the force field will hold, its creator being able to reinforce the field's integrity before it collapses.

In addition to their mainly defensive purpose, force fields can be used more aggressively, usually as a power stunt. A wall or bubble style of field can easily be used to contain others, who cannot escape the area so warded unless they can overcome the power rank of the force field with attacks of their own. Expanding a small force field inside something (or someone!) can be used to inflict power rank damage.

Force fields can also be used to simulate a variety of other powers, making them a great 'shell' for other abilities to work around.

Forensics
Type: Philosophical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Forensics involves reading the essential residue left in dead matter, using it to determine various facets of the deceased material. This basically involves learning precisely when the formerly living matter died, what killed it, and how. This is where the power gains its name, as it is quite handy for 'filling in the blanks' where the dead are concerned - even if the information involved isn't all that scientific.

The power is a lot more useful than that, however. Thanks to this lingering life force, the wielder of forensics can actually speak with dead matter, after a fashion. The corpse, temporarily bolstered by the effects of this power, will readily supply whatever information it can about itself, including details regarding events that occurred around it both before and after its untimely demise.

Being a communication with the shell of the dead, and not the actual spirit of such, forensics is not privy to the thoughts of the body - either before its demise or after. But just about anything else regarding the flesh of the deceased is up for grabs. Specifically, forensics can 'dredge' dead matter for information a number of days back equal to its power rank number.

After that, further communications are simply too muddled to be of use, the impressions of the dead body's lingering essence merging with that of other life forms that have since come and gone.

Forgetfulness
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: fugue, mind control, mind lock, mind wipe, psychic probe, telepathy.

The power to forget can be a good thing - and the power to make others forget even more so. Forgetfulness allows a character to selectively edit the memories of others, removing their ability to recall something. This works by simply passing a power ACTION against the Psyche (will) rank of its target, unless he or she is explicitly willing (it happens).

The effects of forgetfulness are permanent, unless the victim is affected by the power of clarity, or perhaps psionic surgery of some sort. A small amount of memories may be edited by forgetfulness, equal in duration to the power rank in minutes. Thus, a body with Remarkable (30) ranked forgetfulness could effectively erase to a half hour of his or her life - possibly sparing them from sanity-bending knowledge!

This is incredibly handy for protecting one's secret identity or for covering up one's activities, whether heroic or villainous. It's also great for sowing confusion, for in addition to permanently altering one's memories of a short period of time, forgetfulness may be used to temporarily block access to far-reaching memories, such as important talents, motivations, or even one's identity!

Using forgetfulness in this fashion causes memory loss for an amount of time equal to the power rank in minutes, but can completely block one's access to whatever they were made to forget during that time. While memory blocked, one could be duped into performing all manner of 'out of character' activities, including making a villain want to do heroic deeds or even the reverse. But when forgetfulness wears off... watch out!

However it is used, forgetfulness only functions within Very Near distance of its wielder.

Fortuity
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, mental invisibility, psychic invisibility.

Most characters are bound by fate. What this means is that it is relatively easy to map their futures, either in the conventional sense or with specialized abilities that can peer through time. Fortuity, however, preserves a bit of random chance in the lives of its possessors - namely, by rendering them invisible, with power rank ability, to skills that can predetermine what they will or will not do.

Characters with fortuity may attempt an ACTION roll against abilities that another is attempting to use, whether intentionally or incidentally, to read their future. When this ACTION succeeds, such readings will tell nothing of the character or their presence in the period so viewed, which may seriously skew a prognostication - or even the use of more immediate powers, such as a danger sense.

Curiously, fortuity also has a deleterious effect on the seeming omniscience that deific entities possess within their divine realms. Fortuity will act with like ability against such deionic beings, which may prove to be quite the surprise to them when its possessor shows up on their doorstep!

Friction Control
Type: Matter Control Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: adhesion, clinging, deflection.

The ability of friction control allows its wielder to manipulate the molecular attraction one object has for another. This allows its possessor to either make something incredibly slippery, or to alternately render it extremely sticky. This induced state, in either direction, can be represented by an intensity equal to this ability's rank, which one must perform an ACTION against to avoid being affected by it negatively.

Overcoming the stickiness induced by this power may require a Strength check against it, while avoiding losing one's grip on something due to induced slickness may take a successful Agility ACTION. Of course, friction control can be applied to oneself, allowing for a series of useful power stunts ranging from the deflection of physical attacks (they slip right off) to wall crawling (you stick to the vertical surface).

Friction control can be invoked upon any solid object within Very Near distance of its wielder, regardless of its size; if an object is larger than one's area of effect (such as the side of a skyscraper), only the surface within friction control's radius will be affected. While it can't be used upon liquids or gases directly, the effects of friction control on solid objects can alter how such materials interact with the power's target.

Finally, the effects of friction control are transient in nature; they only last for as long as they are concentrated upon.

Fuel
Type: Alchemy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A highly specialized form of matter generation, the fuel power allows its wielder to supply an item all the consumable materials it needs to function. When activated, fuel will attune the mind of its possessor to the item in question, allowing him or her to determine what expendable material it requires to work as designed. Then, the power will fabricate it on the spot - loaded in the device and ready to go!

Fuel can generate any kind of expendable material for an item, whether one needs paper for a printer, gasoline for an airplane, or even bullets for a firearm. Thus, one can really drive forever on a single tank of gas, or can endlessly fire a revolver like a Hollywood action star! To do this, however, one must be in physical contact with the item to be reloaded with whatever supplies it needs.

Like other matter generation powers, fuel costs its wielder one Health point per turn of use. Similarly, it can only generate so much consumable material on a given turn - an amount, in pounds, equal to its power rank number. If one needs to generate more matter at once than they can in a single turn, they simply need to use fuel for multiple turns - whether making many discrete items or a large, singular mass.

The amount of time spontaneously generated supplies persist depends on variables present when the power is used. A white ACTION makes them last for a number of turns equal to this power rank number, a green ACTION lets fuel exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows consumables to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

Finally, a red power ACTION creates supplies from nowhere that last indefinitely.

Fuel of a transient nature may or may not be beneficial to the wielder of this power. Bullets that fade quickly would be very hard to trace by a crime lab, while temporary paper would make it difficult to keep records. At the same time, jet fuel (or whatever) that has been burned for energy will simply see its remnants return to their original state of nonexistence - making for a truly 'low emission' engine!

Fugue
Type: Mental Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance + 1d10 turns
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: daydreams, forgetfulness, mesmerism, mind wipe, telepathy.

The power of fugue allows its wielder to temporarily prevent others from acquiring long-term memories. How this works is that, once the target of fugue fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its power rank, he or she will cease the creation of permanent memories. This state will persist for as long as the power is active on its target, plus an additional amount of time that is equal to 1d10 turns.

A fugued individual's mind otherwise works properly, and since short term memory is unaffected, they can still function - they simply won't remember what's taken place while they were fugued. This is similar to the powers of forgetfulness and mind wipe, but fugue is a more proactive power, in that it doesn't remove extant memories in one's mind so much as it stops them from being created to begin with.

Thus, even the power of mental repair cannot restore memories lost due to fugue, since there's nothing to restore in the first place!

Fugue only works within Very Near distance of its possessor.

Fulgor
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

The mighty Shamash is all-seeing, and his holy light is all-revealing. Using fulgor to channel his omniscience, if only momentarily, the caster of this spell may emit a pulse that affects everything within Very Near distance of their person. This burst of Shamash's divine light acts to dispel efforts to mask the truth of a person, place, or thing with spell rank ability, on everything within its area of effect.

When the light of Shamash suffuses the area, it will prompt something not in its true form to assume such. Affected things or people may give in to this process, or attempt to resist, rolling a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this spell's rank. If successful, they retain whatever false visage they currently bear, but if unsuccessful, they suffer spell rank Deionic damage, Shamash's deific light igniting their falsehoods.

Fulgor works equally well against disguises, changes in one's shape or form, or even forged credentials. The trick, however, is that it won't destroy such masks if one truly believes them to authentically be a part of their person. In other words, fulgor won't burn away the uniform of a hero, for that is indicative of their very self-identity, but costumed actors performing in a play won't be so lucky.

One side effect of fulgor is that it cancels involuntary changes to a person as a result of others' actions. Individuals experiencing unwelcome transformations into inanimate matter, plants, animals, or other shapes, sizes, or even genders, which they haven't grown to accept, can be reverted to normal through the use of fulgor. However, the spell must first defeat the rank of the power which so changed a body.

Future Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: history control, luck, override, precognition.

The power of future control involves the fine manipulation of multiple probability fields to achieve a desired result. This is similar to, but more complicated than, the luck power, as that ability tends to only function on immediate concerns (within the space of a die roll). Future control, on the other hand, actually reaches through time to manipulate imminent events - all this to bind fate to one's will.

When reaching into the seething cauldron of probabilities that is the most likely future a timeline will follow, the wielder of future control only has a small window of opportunity to realign things. This window is a number of turns that is equal to the future control power's rank number. A Good (10) ranked future control, for example, would let someone tinker with events ten turns, or one minute, from now.

Generally, future control is limited spatially as well as temporally. In addition to the relatively short lead time it provides, future control can only be used on events its possessor can perceive. This usually requires he or she be within Near distance of the event to be, unless they can sense it through other means, such as clairvoyance, or perhaps closed circuit television cameras.

Manipulating a solitary action or the outcome of a singular event requires but a green power ACTION. This includes things which can be resolved with a simple die roll (such as a punch one is going to throw imminently). Single outcomes can also come in the form of something not quite expected, such as Likes to Bite suddenly breaking its leg or throwing a shoe on the last lap of the Kentucky Derby.

Future control is capable of much more complex alterations in imminent probability fields, however. A yellow power ACTION roll can be attempted to change the outcome of multiple related actions or events (such as causing a group of cars in a race to suddenly malfunction), or to momentarily change the mind or opinion of a single target (altering imminent Popularity ACTIONs, or perhaps a decision the target intends to make).

Similarly, a future controller can attempt incredibly detailed changes in an outcome to be. A ACTION roll of red magnitude is usually required when one is trying to alter the decisions or intentions of multiple individuals (such as a corporation's board of directors), altering a large array of probabilities, or causing extremely unlikely events to occur (everyone wins at the slots simultaneously).

It is important to note that some actions cannot be directly swayed by the forces that future control can bring to bear. They are simply too big, or too important in the grand scheme of things - even if such is not readily apparent. In this case, the event must be altered in smaller steps, using successive actions against smaller, related probabilities that add up to affect the larger eventuality to come.

G

Genesis
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The power of genesis allows a deific being to create a realm of his or her own. This locale will serve as a place of power for the immortal, as well as a final resting place for the spirits of those who venerated him or her in their mortal lives. A deific being can plant the seed of this realm at a cost of one point of faith energy, dedicating a space equal, in cubic yards, to their power rank number.

When genesis is initially invoked, its wielder may declare that their realm will come in one of three separate forms. The first is a special area within another plane of existence, presumably the god's home plane. This portion of the original dimension will function similarly to the original, where the laws of physics are concerned, but may be modified slightly by the deific being upon creating it.

If the physical principles governing a realm are identical to those of the plane it resides within, one may not notice any difference upon crossing between the two. However, if a deity created his or her realm with somewhat different physics to contend with, individuals who pass from the 'normal' portion of the plane into their realm will be able to tell that something has changed - if not necessarily why.

The second form a realm can take is that of a pocket dimension, one which buds off of another plane - either one's home plane or a 'common ground' reality held by several different deionic entities. This dimensional pocket is adjacent to the original plane, and may function under the same laws of physics or considerably different principles, depending on the wishes of its creator.

Generally, a realm that takes this form will be more isolated than the first, since there is usually only one means of egress between it and its parent plane. Such realms often take the form of seemingly isolated valleys, underground fortifications, or even palaces in the sky - in short, hard to reach places. That's one advantage of such a dimensional pocket: one can more easily control entry into such a realm.

The third form a deity's realm can take is that of a distinct, independent universe. As its own space-time, a realm of this sort can function under any physical laws desired, though these must be set upon the plane's creation. The only limitation in creating highly divergent physics, however, is that one must ensure that they can survive conditions in their own place of power - otherwise, why bother?

This sort of holy space is completely isolated from 'normal' reality, and can only be reached by crossing the dimensions; one cannot simply walk to it from elsewhere. That is, unless the being who controls it creates some means of ingress and/or egress that mundane forms of travel can utilize - these doorways often take the form of fantastic trees, rivers, bridges, and so on - and are usually easy to activate or deactivate.

When creating an entirely new space to inhabit, a deionic entity may fill it with the appropriate inanimate matter as a function of its creation. This costs them no additional faith or exertion. Populating such a realm with new life forms, however, must be done separately - possibly with the organism generation or regenesis powers, or perhaps by physically importing them from elsewhere.

After its creation, an immortal's realm may be further expanded, as its creator sees fit. Each expansion costs a deific entity an additional faith point, but will add an amount of space equal to this power's rank number in cubic yards. If the rank of this power changes (whether it is increased or decreased), the size of the realm it has created will change, being recalculated based on the power's new rank.

Furthermore, additional space added to one's realm need not match the characteristics of the original. One's core realm might be firmly invested in their home town, while additional 'layers' of his or her realm might exist in offshoot dimensional pockets or even other planes entirely. This is a great way to create 'tiers' of an afterlife, sending followers to differing levels based on just how faithful they actually were.

Finally, the nature of one's realm of power need not be unchanging. Should the needs of a deionic entity change over time, he or she can reconfigure the laws of nature in their realm as circumstances require. This will cost them faith, however, the deity having to expend one point of such energy for each block of space they have created which needs to be reconfigured on a permanent basis.

While in one's realm, a deific character is vulnerable to permanent destruction - that is one of the great weaknesses of otherwise immortal beings. However, to offset this weakness, a deionic entity benefits from a +1 CS on all ACTION rolls they attempt while in their realm, thus making defeat on their home turf a much more difficult proposition - particularly if within their sanctuary itself... or if they also possess omnipotence.

Gestalting
Type: Biological Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, corporeal gestalt, plant hybridization, topological control

When making use of gestalting, its wielder can combine two distinct life forms into one being. These two entities need not include the possessor of gestalting, though this is a perfectly reasonable use of the power. Unless both targets are explicitly willing to be merged into a singular entity, the wielder of gestalting must first pass a power ACTION against the greater of any unwilling beings' Endurance (res) scores.

Once merged, the targets of gestalting will assume a form that combines the characteristics of each, while possessing a size determined by their total mass. Merging two relatively similar things (such as a rhino and a bull) will craft a new being with relatively similar capabilities, while blending disparate creatures (perhaps an oak tree and a centipede) may very well create an entirely new evolutionary niche.

The behavior of things wrought with gestalting results from a combination of their two personalities, if applicable.

If one component of the gestalted entity is mindless (a plant or fungi), it won't really affect the decisions of sentient or non-sentient but animate entities. If a sentient and non-sentient yet animate creature are combined, the former will hold sway, though the latter will wield considerable influence. Combining two sentient beings leaves both of their minds intact in a singular body, though they share the equivalent of a mind link.

Due to the staggering array of potential combinations of things one can bring into being with gestalting, it may be difficult to prepare in advance for its use. As such, the Judge may very well have to 'wing it' when patching together weird new critters from formerly distinct life forms, a feat which is best managed by having ready access to descriptions of most animals that may be encountered by those making use of gestalting.

Gestalting only functions on life forms within Very Near distance of its wielder for the most part, though this can be bolstered via power enhancements. The merger of mindless and/or non-sentient life forms is generally a permanent alteration to both beings, while a sentient entity can attempt an Endurance (res) ACTION against gestalting's power rank every turn in an effort to break off this blending of minds and bodies.

There are two exceptions to this general rule, the first involving the wielder of gestalting ending a merger that he or she has created previously, which they may do while within range of their creations. The second comes into play when all the sentient creatures involved in a gestalting decide that they prefer a merged state to their previous existence, which makes their combination as permanent as they want it to be.

As always, individuals gaining new powers via gestalting must ultimately purchase them via Karma, lest they become subject to Plot.

Glamour
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

A glamour is a spectacular display of flashing lights, swirling colors, and mysterious sounds. When a sorcerer creates a glamour, they suffuse an area with this phenomenon, causing general disarray while said area's occupants are distracted and allured by the enigmatic beauty before them. Those wandering into a glamoured area (the glamour's creator notwithstanding) will suffer a -2 CS penalty on all ACTION rolls.

Of course, the creator of a glamour may simply opt to target a single individual with this effect, instead. If a glamour is concentrated on a singular foe, it will prompt an Intuition (alt) ACTION against this spell rank. If this ACTION fails, the glamoured target will suffer an increased penalty to all their actions, a -4 CS total, instead of the regular -2 CS. If he or she passes this Intuition ACTION roll, the target suffers no penalty whatsoever.

Gliding
Type: Movement Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per rank
Related Powers: cyclone, levitation, prehensile skin, propulsion, super jumping, telekinesis, vapor animation, wings.

A limited, generally unpowered form of flight, gliding allows its possessor to soar through the sky using natural air currents for lift and/or propulsion. A glider can generally achieve a velocity determined by their power rank, depending on where it falls on the air speed table, though the trick with this form of movement is maintaining altitude; gravity has a tendency to tug a glider down at a rate of one story per turn.

As is described in the Space and Movement portion of the rules, a gliding character can maintain their altitude with a green Agility (balance) or gliding power ACTION, whichever of the two is higher, each turn. Gaining one story of altitude requires a yellow ACTION, while failing an altitude ACTION for either purpose implies a misstep, causing a loss of two stories of altitude that turn.

The gliding power can keep a character in flight regardless of their normal weight, whatever that happens to be. It can also support additional cargo if its power rank, when treated as an equivalent Strength score, is higher than its possessor's weight. A two hundred pound character with Good (10) gliding, for example, could continue to glide with up to an additional two hundred pounds of gear on his or her person.

Glow
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

The glow spell allows a wizard to temporarily imbue matter with energy. This energy is not directly harmful to that which it is imbued within, but the matter so charged will nonetheless emit the energy placed within it while the spell is maintained. The most obvious use of this spell is to imbue something with light, thus causing it to glow, making for an excellent source of illumination in a pinch.

Of course, the glow spell is not limited to such. Any form of energy desired, usually chosen when the spell is acquired, can be imbued in matter by a glow spell. Fire can make a great source of heat and light without destroying the torch (or whatever) it is placed within, electricity can power electronic devices or motors when needed, and mystic darkness can be placed within an object to render everything in the area nigh-invisible!

While mages begin with but one form of energy when they first acquire the glow spell, they can gain additional energies as power stunts (or new spells) as desired. Imbuing a target with energy merely requires a green spell ACTION, unless it's a) living and b) unwilling; at this point, the target is also allowed an Endurance (res) roll to avoid the effect. Glow won't hurt them even if they fail to resist, but their belongings may not be so lucky.

The energy to be emitted can be of any intensity, up to this spell's rank (caster's choice).

Grace
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: causality control, initiative control, karma control, lethality, override.

Grace is the ultimate form of mercy, for it prevents its wielder from inflicting Kill? results. This is advantageous to characters who only possess lethal attacks, such as a broad sword or lighting bolts. Grace even applies when dishing out enough damage to reduce one's foe to zero (or less!) Health. Grace allows a body to cut loose, after a fashion, having no need to pull their punches because they literally cannot kill anyone.

Similarly, grace is a potent defense, as it works to negate Kill? results rolled against its wielder. How this works is that, while grace is active, its possessor may attempt an ACTION against the intensity of any assault that would otherwise achieve a Kill? result against them. Failure indicates that the Kill? must be resolved normally, but a successful ACTION shifts that Kill? result down to a yellow effect on the Universal Table.

The only variation on this basic behavior is when a character using grace faces off against the effects of an opponent wielding lethality. In that case, one must pass an ACTION roll with grace, opposed by either the intensity of the damage inflicted or lethality's power rank if it is to prevail, whichever of the two is higher.

Gravity Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: antigravity, density control / others, density control / self, space control, time control.

The power to control gravity allows its wielder to manipulate the attractive force that matter exerts on other matter. Such force is never generated by the gravity controller - he or she is simply manipulating that which is already present in their environment. The simplest application of this power is in regards to the gravitational attraction between the earth (or whatever planet one is on) and the many objects on its surface.

A gravity controller can manipulate this attraction with power rank effectiveness, either multiplying or dividing the effective weight of an object within his or her radius of effect (as is determined by the Near range table) by their power rank number. An Amazing (50) ranked gravity control, then, could effectively reduce the weight of a two hundred pound object to four pounds - or increase it to ten thousand pounds!

When attempting to move against an enhanced gravity field, a character must pass a Strength ACTION against their new weight intensity or be held, immobile, wherever it overcame them. In a pinch, a character can apply other ranks against the intensity of this heightened gravity, such as a movement power's, said character using that power as an active resistance to the gravitational forces arrayed against them.

On the other hand, characters wandering into a reduced gravity field gain several Strength-based benefits. Recalculate a character's leaping ability based on their new weight in a low gravity zone. Also, with objects experiencing a greatly reduced weight, characters can move things much easier; a two ton truck affected by that Amazing gravity control, above, would weigh a measly eighty pounds!

While quite useful 'as is', gravity control lends itself to a large variety of advanced effects. Each advanced use of gravity control can each be mastered as a power stunt, representing the character's increasingly intricate manipulation of this fundamental force of nature. A short list of common gravity control power stunts is included below, but is by no means exhaustive in nature:

* Acute Attraction: enhancing the attraction between two specific objects will cause them to move towards each other - though the lighter object of the two will typically shift more. If a building became attractive enough to a person, he or she could walk up its sides instead of climbing. Similarly, if used between an aircraft and a person, that individual could walk on any of its surfaces as if they were solid ground!

* Attractor Beam: by focusing his or her will on an object, a gravity controller can increase the attraction gravity holds between it and, say, their hand. In this fashion, they can crudely simulate telekinesis, forcing the object to leap into their palm! To prevent the effects of an attractor beam, if the object is held by another, the owner of the object must pass a Strength (mgt) ACTION against this power rank.

* Flight: by rendering oneself nigh-weightless and then increasing attractive forces between oneself and other matter in the area (even air), one can achieve flight, after a fashion. A character flying via gravity control can do so at their power rank -1 CS speed, maintaining such movement as long as they can actively concentrate on bending gravity in their favor.

* Gravity Well: by drastically increasing the gravitational forces an object projects, a gravity controller can make it a 'magnet' of sorts for all matter within range. Anything within Very Near distance of the gravity well will fall into it, which in and of itself doesn't cause damage. What does cause damage is collisions with objects already in a gravity well when one falls into it (treat as falling damage).

* Levitation: gravity control can be used to make objects levitate - either their own body or anything else. This is done by almost negating the weight of an object, and then increasing the attraction of any matter above it (even the air). An animate target can attempt to avoid this effect by dodging this use of the power; if the gravity controller misses, they just levitate air where the target was.

Greater Invulnerability
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 12 points (flat cost) for each invulnerability category
Related Powers: greater resistance (other categories of damage), invulnerability or resistance (other forms of damage), numerous other powers.

A character with this ability possesses complete immunity to any one category of attacks that they choose. This invulnerability can be any one class of attack listed within the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, from the physical to the spiritual. When subjected to any attack from the chosen category, a character with this ability may completely shrug it off - though others in their surroundings may not be so lucky.

The eight forms of attack in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine are as follows:

* Physical Attacks: these kinds of attack are those most commonly experienced by characters. They include all forms of Blunt Attack damage, Blunt Throwing damage, Edged Attack damage, Edged Throwing damage, Force damage, and Shooting damage, as well as specialized effects that involve related phenomena (such as extremes of pressure and falling damage).

* Metabolic Attacks: metabolic attacks are the sort that assault a character's bodily structure, either directly or indirectly, and often invisibly. They include corrosion (acid), disease, poisons, rotting, and unusual phenomena which can either alter or destroy one's form or molecular structure, such as aging, disintegration, or even shrinking.

* Energy Attacks: these are many and varied, and include a large array of different phenomenon. Energy attacks include cold, electricity, fire, heat, light, magnetism, radiation, sound, and a whole lot more. If it inflicts Energy damage or Force damage (note the slight overlap with physical attacks), invulnerability to energy will completely prevent it from working on its possessor.

* Warping Attacks: this category of invulnerabilities allows a character protection against capabilities that act to alter or negate their own super-human skills. These include most of the power control powers. This class of invulnerability will also protect a character against abilities from the reality control power block, which is used to alter the very rules of the game!

* Magical Attacks: magical attacks are those which inflict Sorcerous damage, and include the majority of special, campaign-specific thaumaturgical forces; ask your Judge about these. While magical spells and powers which inflict damage that isn't Sorcerous do not fall under this heading, non-damaging spell effects (ranging from banishment to mind control to even telekinesis) do.

* Vampiric Attacks: these attack forms all act to drain a character of something, whether it be wielded by the classical blood-drinking vampire or the 'sanitized' psychic vampire seen in more recent fiction. This invulnerability immunizes one from all the forms of vampirism, whether it concerns the up-front damage caused by these abilities or their dreaded transformative powers.

* Psionic Attacks: this form of invulnerability protects from attacks which inflict Karmic damage, such as an empathic hammer or psi bolt, as well as odd forms of psionic energy like spectral flames. While psionics which inflict damage that isn't Karmic do not fall under this heading, non-damaging psionic effects (ranging from emotion control to illusion projection to even telepathy) do.

* Deionic Attacks: deionic attacks are the staggeringly potent abilities of immortal beings! Strictly speaking, this invulnerability offers protection against any attack which inflicts Deionic damage, but it can also affect the special abilities of the gods themselves. These may range from observation by deific abilities to dread curses from on high.

Unlike standard invulnerabilities, you do not gain a discount for purchasing multiple forms of this ability; each category of greater invulnerability is simply that valuable. In fact, it is recommended that the Judge not allow a character too many forms of greater invulnerability, as a character could conceivably possess enough of these to be nigh-untouchable. The recommended limit of greater invulnerability forms is 2.

Finally, a player may take a ranged form of greater invulnerability. A field effect version of an invulnerability functions within one area, but can be 'broadcast' to anyone the character chooses within this area of effect. This counts as an extreme enhancement to greater invulnerability, and adds 12 to its cost - for each type to be broadcast. Pricey, but your teammates will absolutely love having you around!

Greater Resistance
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank, plus 4 points per additional resistance category
Related Powers: body armor, greater invulnerability (other categories of damage), invulnerability or resistance (other forms of damage), numerous other powers.

A greater resistance is similar in function to a standard resistance, in that it provides its rank in resistance to injury. Instead of providing protection against one specific form of attack, however, greater resistance offers its rank in resistance to an entire category of attack forms. There are eight categories of attack in the CASE, and a character with a greater resistance may defend against any one of their choice:

* Physical Attacks: these kinds of attack are those most commonly experienced by characters. They include all forms of Blunt Attack damage, Blunt Throwing damage, Edged Attack damage, Edged Throwing damage, Force damage, and Shooting damage, as well as specialized effects that involve related phenomena (such as extremes of pressure and falling damage).

* Metabolic Attacks: metabolic attacks are the sort that assault a character's bodily structure, either directly or indirectly, and often invisibly. They include corrosion (acid), disease, poisons, rotting, and unusual phenomena which can either alter or destroy one's form or molecular structure, such as aging, disintegration, or even shrinking.

* Energy Attacks: these are many and varied, and include a large array of different phenomenon. Energy attacks include cold, electricity, fire, heat, light, magnetism, radiation, sound, and a whole lot more. If it inflicts Energy damage or Force damage (note the slight overlap with physical attacks), resistance to energy will blunt it.

* Warping Attacks: this category of resistances allows a character protection against capabilities that act to alter or negate their own super-human skills. These include most of the power control powers. This class of resistance will also protect a character against abilities from the reality control power block, which is used to alter the very rules of the game!

* Magical Attacks: magical attacks are those which inflict Sorcerous damage, and include the majority of special, campaign-specific thaumaturgical forces; ask your Judge about these. This also covers non-damaging magic effects; if one's Intuition or Psyche may be used to resist such, this ability functions against them at a minimum of that rank +1 CS.

* Vampiric Attacks: these attack forms all act to drain a character of something, whether it be wielded by the classical blood-drinking vampire or the 'sanitized' psychic vampire seen in more recent fiction. This resistance provides its rank in protection to all the forms of vampirism, both in the up-front damage as well as the transformative power of those abilities.

* Psionic Attacks: this form of resistance protects from attacks which inflict Karmic damage, such as an empathic hammer or psi bolt, as well as odd forms of psionic energy like spectral flames. This resistance also covers non-damaging psionic effects; if one's Intuition or Psyche may be used to resist such abilities, this resistance works against them at a minimum of that rank +1 CS.

* Deionic Attacks: deionic attacks are the staggeringly overwhelming abilities of immortal beings! Strictly speaking, this resistance offers protection against any attack which inflicts Deionic damage, but it can also affect the special abilities of the gods themselves. These may range from observation by deific abilities to dread curses from on high.

During character generation, a player has the option of adding additional greater resistances as they see fit, each increasing the cost of this ability as a whole by 4. For instance, a character with resistance to energy attacks may wish to add like resistance to, say, physical and metabolic assaults. This adds eight points to the cost of the first resistance, instead of the normal price for three distinct greater resistances.

Similarly, characters who learn greater resistances can master even more, doing so as power stunts off of the original source of such. The thing to keep in mind is that each resistance counts as one power for the purposes of maintenance. Thus, a sorcerer could conceivably acquire power stunts to cover all eight forms of assault, but could only maintain, at once, an amount equal to their normal simultaneous spell maximum.

Finally, a player may take a ranged form of greater resistance. A field effect version of a resistance functions within Very Near distance, but can be 'broadcast' to anyone the character chooses within this area of effect. This counts as an extreme enhancement to greater resistance, and adds 4 to its cost for each category of shared resistance (or reduces the net resistance intensity of each by -4 CS).

Group Link
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: knowledge, mind link, sensory link, telepathy, variable talent.

A group link is a vast web of bonds between multiple individuals' conscious minds. Persons connected via group link share their thoughts and experiences through it, thus enriching the collective lives of everyone involved. Similarly, drawing upon the knowledge contained within the minds of everyone else participating in a group mind, an individual can act out their lives in a more informed, prepared fashion.

Initiating a group link requires at least one character who possesses this ability, who can form the required connections between anyone within Very Near distance of them who wishes to participate. Once established, a group's connected state is considered a permanent alteration to the linked characters' very consciousnesses. However, only characters with this power can change the actual membership of a group.

Adding individuals to or subtracting them from a group link requires a green power ACTION, assuming everyone involved in such actions are copacetic with them. Individuals unwilling to be added to a hive mind may roll a Psyche (will) ACTION against this power rank to resist being plugged in, while excising those from a psychic collective who don't wish to leave requires a successful power ACTION against their Psyche (will) score.

A group link can include a very large number of people. The maximum amount of beings allowed in a single collective is equal to group link's power rank cubed. For instance, a Feeble (2) ranked group link can pool up to eight minds together, while one at Remarkable (30) rank can contain up to twenty-seven thousand minds, and a Class 5000 group link can involve one hundred and twenty-five billion souls!

The effects of a group link are ever-present in one's mind. Linked characters constantly hear the thoughts of everyone they're linked to in the background of their awareness, as if standing in the middle of a verbose crowd. To blank this out for a time, a linked person must pass a yellow Psyche (will) ACTION, which will give them 1d10 turns of peace. Acquiring further quiet requires further successful ACTIONs.

The advantage of this constant din, in addition to never, ever feeling alone in the world, is that assistance in almost any matter is only a thought away. When linked to a group of high enough rank, the likelihood of someone being able to help with a given situation becomes a veritable certainty, and when they are needed, such requests for help often stand out amongst the background noise of the collective's thoughts.

The simplest form this aid can take involves asking someone in the group mind to perform some action or another on their end. Such requests can be relatively random, or aimed at specific helpers. This is a great way to multiply one's efforts over the short term. Favors of this stripe are definitely kept track of by the collective, who you better believe will remember when such favors are ultimately not returned.

Slightly more complex assistance involves a helper talking the linked person through a situation, thus providing a +1 CS on any related ACTIONs. Disarming a bomb or knowing exactly where to punch an opponent becomes much easier when there's someone giving you real-time pointers, after all! This works both ways, though, and the character may be consulted on important matters now and then.

An intimate form of aid allows the helper to actually 'drive' one's body during a crisis. This lets them control the character for as long as is necessary, fully bringing their mental ability scores and talents to bear. While so driven, players letting other characters control their body can either turn them over to the Judge temporarily, or more interestingly, play out the individual inhabiting their mind for the duration.

Most impressively, those in a group link can bend their collective focus towards a singular goal. It is here where the true 'group mind' aspect of this power makes itself apparent, with hundreds if not thousands of consciousnesses working on making something happen. When so bolstered by the group's will, individuals within gain a +2 CS on ACTIONs aimed at completing its task, or when opposing that which would prevent such.

While a group link allows numerous characters to pool their physical and mental efforts, it is possible that not every member will be on board consistently. At times like this, the downside of a group link can emerge, where the majority of said group can focus on pushing its individual components to play ball. This is effectively mesmerism, functioning at the group link rank, against the Psyche (will) of the coerced.

Such efforts can continue for as long as a linked character resists the will of the whole, or until the situation no longer requires their compliance. Either way, they will continue to hear the thoughts of the link, collectively shouting inside their heads to get with the program. And for those who consistently work against a group, it may have to decide whether or not their unique contributions are worth retaining.

Growth / Others
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, density control / others, environmental pocket (for the target), growth / self, plant hybridization / others, shrinking / others, shrinking / self.

This curious ability is a means by which one can physically increase the volume of anything in his or her environment, living or otherwise. A character possessing it may dramatically increase the volume of a target, doing so by applying a multiplier to its current size as if the target suddenly acquired an equivalently ranked growth / self ability (which details the specifics of growth rules).

Objects can be grown with but a green roll, but unwilling targets are allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to avoid the effect. The effects of growth / others lasts for a duration dependent on variables present when the power is used. To start with, a green growth / others ACTION will make it last for a number of turns equal to its power rank number; for example, an Amazing (50) rank with this skill causes it to persist for five minutes (50 turns).

A yellow growth / others roll multiplies this value by ten, meaning that Amazing (50) power will make a body grow for fifty minutes, instead of five. A red growth / others ACTION will expand the size of living entities for a number of hours equal to the rank number (fifty hours for our Amazing friend above). The latter assumes an animate target; inanimate objects are grown permanently on a red ACTION unless the grower chooses otherwise.

Or later deactivates the growth he or she subjected it to.

But how does this work? Growth is generally assumed to acquire the mass necessary to expand something's volume from an extraplanar source. This simply means there's more of the target than there was before, as this generic mass is used to fill in the blanks to expand the growing item to its new volume. This allows things subject to growth to function normally, immense size notwithstanding, in their environment.

Growth / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: density control / self, environmental independence, growth / others, shrinking / others, shrinking / self.

Growth is the ability to increase one's effective volume dramatically. This power functions relative to the normal human size, which is approximated in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine as six foot tall (it makes for easier math). All characters are assumed to be at this height (give or take a few inches, obviously) unless they possess quirks to the contrary, or some sort of ability (like this one) to change their size.

Much larger entities will possess this power as an explanation for their size; say our heroes encounter a race of giants, all of whom are twenty-four feet tall! Such individuals would have this power as a permanent, always-on ability, one that cannot be neutralized by powers which affect super-human skills. These particular giants have Good (10) ranked 'growth' at all times to showcase their size relative to normal beings.

A character at a larger than normal size may very well be subject to size factors. For every doubling of human height an entity possesses, they shall receive a +1 size factor (our giants, above, would have a +2 size factor). This size factor entails a combat adjustment to an enlarged foe when facing off against normal-sized opponents - and one for normal-sized opponents when tackling beings possessed of super-human volume.

How this works is that a normal-sixed foe attacking a much larger opponent gains +1 CS to hit for every +1 of size factor his or her foe possesses, but inflicts -1 CS damage. Conversely, a giant-sized foe suffer a -1 CS to hit normal-sized foes for each +1 size factor they possess, but they also receive a +1 CS to the damage they inflict against their (relatively) diminutive enemy.

For example, say a hero is facing off against a giant, extra-terrestrial robot that is forty-eight feet tall. Since it is eight times a normal human's size, this robot has a +3 size factor. It is at -3 CS to hit the hero, but benefits from a +3 CS to its damage when it does connect with them in battle, as well as 3 CS of damage reduction against their (effectively) smaller attacks. The hero, on the other hand, gains a +3 CS to hit that huge foe.

Similarly, each increment of size factor a character possesses adds an effective +1 CS enhancement to their lifting ability. Such characters have more 'muscle' to lift or otherwise apply force to objects, even after taking their increased mass into account. This isn't an actual Strength increase (it does not raise Health in and of itself), but better simulates a larger character's effects on their environment.

For instance, a hero with Good (10) rank growth and Good (10) rank Strength can quadruple their height, giving themselves a +2 size factor. While so enlarged, this hero benefits from a +2 CS to their Strength for lifting purposes, allowing them to heft up to one ton when necessary. Note that this does not further increase the damage an enlarged character inflicts in melee; that bonus was already described, above.

When dealing with characters who both possess a size factor, simply subtract the smaller character's size factor from the larger one to determine a net difference. If we pitted our alien robot against our giants, we'd have a size factor of 3 (the robot) versus the size factor of 2 (the giants) for a net difference of 1. The robot would deal with the giants (and vice versa) as if its size factor compared to them was but +1.

The standard explanation for growth is that its wielder acquires the mass necessary to expand their volume from an extraplanar source. This simply means there's more of them than there was before, as this generic mass is used to fill in the blanks to expand the growing character to their new volume. This allows a character using growth to function normally, immense size notwithstanding, in their environment.

Being 'stuck' at the size offered by growth is an extreme limitation, allowing for a four point reduction in the cost of this ability (point-based character generation) or a +4 CS in the overall power rank (random character generation). This is 'extreme' because it means the character cannot interact with human-sized objects at all, and must have all gear (including clothing!) made for someone of his or her immense volume.

Also: so much for that secret identity!

Keep in mind that justifying 'permanent' growth as a spell or a psionic is especially tricky, and may possibly involve a flawed source of power. It would absolutely require immunity to normal annulment or subsequent shrinking, or else it wouldn't be all that much of a limitation to speak of. Without such 'immunities', this condition would be semi-permanent at best, and only count as a 'strong' limitation.

Guise
Type: Entreatism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

An entreatist casting guise may attempt to pose as another spellcaster for the purpose of attempting entreaty spells. To do so, the entreatist must first observe the sorcerer they are attempting to impersonate for at least one turn, as well as witness them making at least one entreaty. This need not be the entreaty the entreatist intends to utilize, so long as the target attempts to draw on something else for power.

This helps an entreatist to better duplicate numerous spellcasting 'tells' the impersonated wizard inadvertently utilizes, particularly when imploring entities of power for the energy to fuel and/or enhance their magics. Once the requisite observations have been made, an entreatist can pose as the thaumaturge they have spied upon while attempting entreaties all their own.

But why would one do this, you ask?

The entreatist in question may have utilized a power source excessively of late, and wishes to keep doing so without gaining notice from the source of such boons. Alternately, they might be trying to frame the mage they're posing as, hoping that when whatever provides the power they are asking for takes someone to task, it's the spellcaster the entreatist is posing as who suffers... and not themselves.

A guise typically works well for conventional entreaties, because most entities of power don't regularly scrutinize the sorcerers asking them for their might. Should something happen to encourage scrutiny, however, the entreatist's spell rank is what these beings must defeat to determine the truth of things. And, not enjoying deception in these matters, the entreated may very well take exception to the use of guise!

Gyration
Type: Physical Control Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cyclone, deflection, gliding, missile generation, super digging.

Gyration is the power to spin one's body at seemingly impossible speeds! When invoked, the character with gyration will begin to rotate at a velocity that is too fast for the naked eye to follow, causing its wielder to appear like unto a living whirlwind. By leaning in a specific direction while spinning thus, a gyrator can easily achieve power rank velocities, as is defined on the land/sea speed table.

Rotating that quickly has a number of defensive benefits, as well. A gyrator can see in every direction simultaneously, thanks to their rapid rotation, and can thus benefit from the effects of circular vision. Furthermore, the power of gyration naturally gives such characters immunity to vertigo whilst spinning so, whether induced by their own motion or efforts by others to physically or psionically cause a loss of balance.

Offensively, gyrating characters can inflict power rank damage in melee, and may block, brace, or avoid grappling attacks with gyration's power rank if it is higher than the normal base for such maneuvers. Furthermore, a gyrator can fling objects, either at a single target or at everyone within their current area, inflicting damage of the appropriate type equal to their power rank or the MS of the flung objects (whichever is less).

Gyration is a natural complement to a variety of other powers, which can either be taken with it or developed as power stunts. These include the cyclone power, which involves the creation of a vortex of spinning air, super digging, which involves drilling through the earth or other impediments to one's progress, or even gliding, using one's rotation to defy gravity - at least for a little while.

H

Hard Points
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the hard point
Related Powers: damage reduction, deflection, edges, super climbing.

Hard points are areas on a character's body that are stronger than the rest. A common example of a hard point in nature is the hoof, a continually growing mass of keratin on certain animals that is used to support their weight. They may also consist of partial exoskeletal plates such as the shell of a tortoise or the armor of an armadillo, or any number of other stiffened anatomical features.

A character can use hard points to increase melee damage, adding a +1 CS to whatever blunt attack makes use of them. This will usually be a standard hand-to-hand assault when hard points are on one's extremities (using Strength (might) as a base), while hard points that are on one's torso - either partially or fully - need to make use of a charging maneuver to benefit in this fashion (using Endurance as a base).

However, characters may also use their hard points for defensive purposes. When these features are a relatively minor portion of one's anatomy, they will add a +1 CS to blocking or bracing maneuvers, being usable only as makeshift shields. On the other hand, a hard point that covers a larger percentage of one's surface area provides its MS in body armor - unless someone specifically targets an uncovered area.

The base MS of a hard point is generally the character's base ability score (above) +3 CS. The idea is that this mostly prevents a character from wrecking them with his or her own Strength or Endurance. Mostly. But one may add to the MS of their hard points by gambling on the table of one's choice (random character generation) or by spending one point per increase in MS (point-based character generation).

Harm
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: degeneration, healing / self, healing / others, regeneration / self, regeneration / others.

A direct attack on the very life force of another, harm allows its wielder to torment, or even kill, others at will. Those targeted by harm are allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its intensity to shrug off the effect. Failing this, they will directly suffer power rank Metabolic damage as the anti-life energies summoned by harm work to cancel out some (or possibly all) of their own, inherent life force.

Those affected by harm momentarily evince a distressing aura as their bodies are assaulted by anti-life energies. This visible discharge rapidly fades as the living energy of its target, not to mention that of microscopic life forms clinging to their body, is cancelled out by harm's negative power. While excruciating, the effects of harm are only temporary, as long as they don't cause the outright death of their target.

Living beings cling to life tenaciously, after all.

Harm only works within Near distance of its target.

Headway
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Ninlil is no stranger to the experience of lacking support while striving for the things she wants. She knows all too well the difficulty in pursuing her goals without help, or even a clue regarding how she should proceed. Her wish is that others should not suffer the same difficulty that she has in the process of chasing her dreams, and as such acts regularly to prevent this state of affairs from coming to pass.

In essence, she provides assistance to spellcasters in the form of the headway spell. When cast, headway implores Ninlil for guidance in achieving whatever end one currently strives for, and in response, she will generally provide a hint to that effect. The idea here is to grant those who ask for her aid, well, headway in their current quest, the nature of which depends on how successful their spell ACTION is.

A green headway ACTION offers cryptic benefit to its caster, while the utility a yellow ACTION grants is more obvious in nature, and a red ACTION may very well be explicit in the data it provides. The form such hints take generally reflect Ninlil's areas of influence, such as a gust of wind indicating a direction, or grain seeds spelling out the name of a person, place, or thing. Rarely, her visage may manifest to assist the caster personally.

Headway is an excellent tool for wizards who have exhausted all other means of research into a matter, or those who simply cannot comprehend how to progress against an inexplicable situation. It can be used to shortcut any number of time-consuming activities, from criminal investigations to treasure hunting, but it is important to remember that, even these days, Ninlil is a busy goddess.

Every use of headway after the first on a given day is made at a -1 CS penalty, finally becoming useless upon falling below Shift 0 in rank. This is both for conceptual (Ninlil growing increasingly tired of being a crutch to sorcerers who can't be bothered to do their own leg work) and mechanical (to keep players from completely bypassing whatever adventure they're currently engaged in) purposes.

Healing / Others
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aciurgy, age control / others, cure disease, detoxification, harm, healing / self, integral control, mental repair, recovery, regeneration / others, resurrection, resuscitation.

This extremely popular talent infuses the body of another with essential, recuperative energies, energies which allow them to recover lost Health. No matter what form the lost Health may take, from severe burns to brain damage, healing will undo the damage inflicted. Each application of healing allows its recipient to recover this rank number in lost Health points, up to his or her usual maximum.

While healing is good for a body, at least in practical terms, it is nonetheless taxing on the system. This vast pulse of regeneration should be used on someone sparingly - only once per day - or else it may push its target's system too far. For every additional healing a character receives in a twenty-four hour period, they lose one rank of Endurance due to metabolic overload - which must then be recovered normally.

Alternately, healing / others may instead be limited so that the Endurance loss comes from the healer instead of the target. This assumes a more intimate, direct tie between the metabolism of the healer and the healed, and allows the former to take the brunt of the system shock instead. This means a healer can only do their thing a minimal amount, lest they quickly work themselves to death, but what they can do is miraculous.

Having this limited form of healing is considered an extreme limitation, and enhances this power's level by +4 CS (or reduces the cost by four points).

Either way, a target may resist being healed if desired (if they've already been patched back up once already) by passing an Endurance ACTION against this ability. Note that if someone's Health is full, healing / others has no effect (and the daily penalty doesn't kick in).

Healing / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: harm, healing / others, recovery, reformation, regeneration, regenerative armor, revival, stasis.

This ability infuses a character's body with essential, recuperative energies, which allows them to recover lost Health. Regardless of the nature of the harm, from minor scuffs to severed limbs, healing will undo the damage inflicted upon one's body. Each application of healing allows a character to recover their rank number in lost Health points, up to their usual maximum amount.

While healing is good for a body, at least in practical terms, it is nonetheless taxing on the system. This vast pulse of regeneration should be used sparingly - only once per day - or else it may push one's system too far. For every additional healing a character attempts upon themselves within a twenty-four hour period, they lose one rank of Endurance due to metabolic overload - which must then be recovered normally.

But when you're bleeding to death, that doesn't sound all that bad, now, does it?

Heat Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (heat), catalysis, carrier wave, fire generation, image projection, imaginary doubles, infravision, plasma generation, temperature control, transformation / self (heat), weather control.

The character with heat generation can spontaneously create vast amounts of thermal energy, which he or she can then emit into the environment. This is done via infrared radiation, which allows a heat generator to warm objects even without a material medium to transmit thermal energy through. Such energy can be transmitted in the form of omnidirectional radiation, or instead be focused at a specific target.

If radiating thermal energy in every direction, a character can affect everything within Very Near distance of their person. Alternately, if firing a beam of infrared light, a character can instead reach targets within Near distance of their current location. The latter requires a roll to hit one's target, while the former will crisp anyone foolish enough to remain close to the heat generator.

Heat attacks inflict SD Energy damage with each use, much as exposure to concentrated microwaves do. But then, the infrared frequencies used to transmit heat are quite similar in nature to radio waves, after all - aside from some oddities in the Terahertz band, that is. Characters with infravision risk being temporarily blinded by the use of this power, suffering such if its intensity can overwhelm their Endurance (res) score.

Characters exposed to intense heat over long periods of time are subject to heat exhaustion, and objects inundated with like thermal energy for lengthy periods may well suffer damage - if not melt entirely! Furthermore, such overheated objects (or people!) will tend to radiate heat as would an open flame, inflicting like SD Energy damage to anything in physical contact with them - for 1d10 turns, at least.

Hellfire Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, energy absorption (hellfire), energy cohesion, hellfire generation, magic sense.

Hellfire control is an unusual ability which allows its wielder mastery over an unnatural form of energy. Unlike most other energy types, one cannot readily squeeze hellfire out of easily available sources in the environment, for it does not occur naturally in a conventional continuity. Without a source of hellfire, whether it be the hellfire generation power or some artifact or alien matter that emits it, this power is useless.

Once hellfire is uncovered, however, the character with this power may manipulate it as he or she sees fit - assuming they can pass a power ACTION roll against its intensity, that is. Once this is done, a hellfire controller can increase the intensity of mastered hellfire up to a level equal to this power rank, reduce it by a like amount, or shape and contour its flow and very form in any fashion desired.

The simplest application of this shaping allows a hellfire controller to simulate power rank resistance to hellfire, preventing it from coming into contact with him or her. This is particularly important since hellfire has such a deleterious effect on the very shape of things, due to its inherent Probability Fallout. Of course, the creation of hellfire constructs can also be mastered, as power stunts for each general type.

A particularly useful aspect of hellfire control is the ability to hold some sway over the nature of changes wrought upon matter by hellfire itself. When something is altered by hellfire's PF radiation, a hellfire controller can attempt a power ACTION, opposed by the Psyche (will) or MS of a target, to determine the general nature of such changes. This control is never precise, but it beats a completely random alteration.

And lets a hellfire controller potentially neutralize a foe without necessarily burning them (completely) to a crisp!

Hellfire control functions within Near distance of its wielder.

Hellfire Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (hellfire), carrier wave, hellfire control, magic sense, transformation / self (hellfire).

Hellfire is a magically charged (or tainted) form of energy that, at first, seems to behave like ordinary flames. When it manifests, it will generally have the same basic characteristics of an ordinary blaze, though sinister faces and other shapes can be made out within as it flickers. Furthermore, hellfire can manifest in any color, leading to it being mistaken for ordinary fire, spectral flames, or even darkness!

Luckily for most, hellfire is not something normally encountered in conventional realms of existence, for it is typically the product of diabolic planes or, alternately, the inhabitants of such universes. Of course, the odd character with hellfire generation is the obvious exception to that rule; a body need not be from evil spaces to possess this ascendant ability... though it sure helps!

In addition to its striking visual characteristics, hellfire differs from normal flames in that it is so inherently magical. Either when used offensively or stumbled upon in the environment, hellfire inflicts its intensity in Sorcerous damage to anything coming into contact with it, whether or not it is typically considered flammable. Furthermore, hellfire will subject anything in contact with it to Probability Fallout (PF).

In other words, while standard flames will continue to burn matter, hellfire instead acts to change it! If alive, the victim of hellfire exposure must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the intensity of hellfire damage suffered or be changed, while inanimate matter must pass an MS check or be similarly affected. Such changes can be either slight or drastic, as the Judge (and the current situation) demands.

The amount of time hellfire-induced changes last are determined by a second hellfire generation ACTION. A white ACTION roll causes alterations to last for only 1d10 turns, while a green ACTION lets them endure for a number of turns equal to its power rank number. A yellow duration ACTION allows a change to last for a number of minutes equal to its power rank number, while a red ACTION extends this time to a like amount of hours.

Though inanimate objects, when affected by a red duration ACTION, can be considered permanently altered.

Hellfire generation functions within Near distance of its wielder.

History Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: future control, override, postcognition.

History control is the ability to reach into the past and meddle with events that have already occurred - without all the pesky time travel that is normally required to achieve the same effect. How it works is that, upon deciding to change a recent event, the character with history control creates a 'bubble' of probabilities, a field of such that extends between the present and the past event to be changed.

Within this bubble, reality itself is in flux - existing in multiple states concurrently. The course of events triggered by the outcome of an unchanged action exists alongside the outcome of the action after it is altered. A history controller may then view the eventualities caused by both outcomes, and choose which of the two he or she prefers. This means one can change the past, or not, depending on which present they like more.

Manipulating a solitary action or the outcome of a singular event requires but a green power ACTION. This includes things which were resolved with a simple die roll (such as a punch one threw - and missed). Single outcomes can also come in the form of something not quite expected, like altering a beef patty such that it was not properly refrigerated before someone cooked and ate it.

History control is capable of much more complex alterations in previous probability fields, however. A yellow power ACTION roll can be attempted to change the outcome of multiple related actions or events (such as meddling with last week's stock prices), or to actually change the mind or opinion of a single target (altering the results of failed Popularity ACTIONs, or perhaps a decision the target made recently).

Similarly, a history controller can attempt incredibly detailed changes in the past. A ACTION roll of red magnitude is usually required when one is trying to alter the decisions or intentions of multiple individuals (such as a crime syndicate's leaders), altering a large array of probabilities, or causing highly unlikely events to occur (more people vote for that milquetoast third party candidate).

Bear in mind that some past events are so pivotal that they may actively resist being changed. This may be the case with something that drastically altered the chain of events between itself and the present, such as some sort of cataclysm or especially a Presidential election. Sometimes these can be changed with multiple uses of the power - but may also be opposed by others with this exact same ability!

When a character reaches back into the past, intent on upturning the current probability field of the universe with one dictated by the changes he or she would like to make, they have a somewhat small window of opportunity to alter things. This temporal window consists of a number of days equal to the history control power rank number; for example, Remarkable (30) history control allows for a month of leeway, give or take.

Generally, history control is limited spatially as well as temporally. In addition to the relatively short period of temporal fluctuation it allows for, history control can only be used within a short distance of the event(s) that are to be altered. In other words, history control requires that its possessor be within Near distance of the past event or events to be tinkered with.

This may sound similar to how the future control power works - and it is, save for the direction through time it reaches. Both powers cause timeline deviations from the point of the inflicted alterations, but history control is trickier since that deviation occurs at a point before the person wielding the power actually utilizes it - at least in a causal sense.

Thus, each time the history controller uses this power, he or she will bud off an alternate timeline, wherein they know they changed something - but everyone else is (generally) unaware anything has been altered. This leaves behind the original timeline where the history controller didn't alter anything... possibly prompting others in the 'abandoned' timeline to wonder just what the character's super-power actually is.

This sounds like it is a recipe for a whole lot of paperwork, but in grand scheme of things it isn't. Technically speaking, each moment in time sees an infinite amount of alternate timelines branching off of every other timeline based on the results of an infinite amount of potential outcomes. So, one could simply look at history control as 'steering' their life in a more desirable direction.

More involved changes might cause a bit of irritation to one's Judge, though, who has to jump through hoops now and then to account for changes to his or her carefully laid plots that occur thanks to sudden ripples in the timeline. Who then, just to share in the fun, might introduce any number of ways to annoy the history controller - possibly including another history controller as a nemesis!

Homogenization
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Though some societies might think otherwise, the world is full of diverse peoples and lifestyles, even within their own populations. Far from monocultural, there are numerous practices, tendencies, and traditions that each group of people observe, whether on the personal, local, regional, national, global, or universal level. This frequently makes interacting with others difficult.

One of the earliest proponents of civilization, human and otherwise, Nisaba strives to encourage connections between all sentient beings. To this end, she provides the energies required to cast homogenization, which subconsciously links its caster to other beings within Near distance of their person. Once so linked, a wizard has an almost instinctual knowledge of the culture of individuals in their immediate vicinity.

While active, homogenization helps its caster to integrate, if not ingratiate, into the surrounding society. While under its effects, homogenization tells a wizard how to better fit in, alerting them if they're about to behave rudely, perpetrate faux pas, or otherwise engage in actions that are considered taboo. Furthermore, it indicates where actions and statements might be appropriate to the situation at hand.

Becoming one with a group of people practicing a culture distinct from, but generally similar to one's own merely requires a green ACTION. Posing as part of a society drastically different, but still hailing from the same species or world as the caster, takes a yellow ACTION roll. Seemingly belonging naturally to a wholly alien people, at least behaviorally, necessitates a successful ACTION of red difficulty.

Ideal for explorers, travelers, and diplomats, homogenization is of incidental use for infiltrators, as well.

Horns
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the horns
Related Powers: (in general) Propulsion; (for the horns only) corrosion, disease, poison, rotting.

Horns are physical weapons inherent to a character's head.

Strictly speaking, true horns consist of living bone encased within keratin and other proteins. A variety of horn-like protrusions occur throughout nature, however, such as the antlers of an adult deer (which are dead bone and lack a keratin coating), or the 'horn' of a rhinoceros (which consists solely of keratin, lacking living bone within). Anything resembling a horn (or horns) is covered by this power, though.

Horns generally have an MS equal to their possessor's Strength (might) or Endurance +3 CS - whichever is higher. During character generation, a player may increase the inherent MS of their horns if desired. This may be done with a gamble based on the character's Strength (might) (random character generation) or by spending one point for each additional rank of MS (point-based character generation).

The form of damage one can inflict with horns depends on their shape. Pointed horns generally allow their possessor to inflict their Strength (might) rank in Edged Attack damage with a head butt, while curved horns instead allow one to inflict their Strength (might) rank +1 CS in Blunt Attack damage.

The advantages of a horn (or horns), however, is that they can also be used in a charge maneuver. In the event of such an attack, the wielder of horns will inflict damage as indicated above, except that the base of such is their Endurance instead of Strength. And naturally, the character may add whatever additional damage would be incurred due to the amount of movement executed before connecting with their target(s).

Hostility Screen
Type: Combination Power, Philosophical Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: animal sympathy, antigravity, deflection, device sympathy, emotion control, empathy, gravity control, object sympathy, plant sympathy.

A hostility screen is an aversive field which prevents entities actively hostile to its possessor from approaching. A strange combination of both empathy and antigravity, hostility screen scans the area within Very Near distance of its wielder while active, and applies a repellant force when beings directing aggression towards said wielder attempt to wander any closer to him or her.

This repellant force works with power rank intensity, and requires overcoming its might to approach any closer to its projector. Of course, the wielder of this power can use its repulsive properties to push themselves away from offensive individuals who can overcome it, doing so with like force - as if the hostility screen were a similarly ranked propulsion power.

While a hostility screen is great against animate opponents, it's sort of at a loss against the unliving. Unfeeling machines, reanimated zombies, and even bullets are completely unaffected by a hostility screen - primarily because its empathic component cannot sense them whatsoever. This limitation can be bypassed, however, if the possessor of a hostility screen has access to the pertinent sympathy powers.

Device sympathy, for example, would add the ability to screen out non-sentient robots, while object sympathy would cover those bullets and zombies.

I

Ice Generation
Type: Combination Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: aura (cold, ice or water), cold generation, energy absorption (cold or heat), fluid animation (water), matter absorption, solid animation (ice), temperature control, transformation / self (cold, ice or water).

Ice generation is a specialized ability which combines facets of both matter absorption and cold generation. How this power works is that it collects ambient moisture from one's environment, and then allows its possessor to instantly expel that moisture. The trick is that the water's flow is consciously controlled, and immediately frozen such that the wielder of this ability can seemingly create ice from nowhere.

The potency of ice generation varies depending on how much moisture is present in its wielder's surroundings. Using ice generation on (or in) a body of water allows it to work at +2 CS, while doing so in rain or fog gives it a +1 CS bonus. Wielding ice generation in especially dry and/or hot country will reduce its effectiveness by -1 CS, possibly even -2 CS if an area is particularly arid (such as the Sahara Desert).

Initially, the possessor of ice generation can only use it as a projectile attack. The form of damage it inflicts will be either Blunt Attack (ice column) or Edged Attack (ice spear), depending on the shape chosen at the time. Developing additional uses for ice generation involves the mastery of power stunts, one for each kind of trick its possessor would like to perform with this versatile ability.

Stunts common to ice generation involve the creation of icy restraints around a foe, building ice slides to increase one's movement speed, constructing a protective icy aura, or otherwise generating large structures or sculptures. Slightly less common power stunts involve aspects of ice generation's component abilities, performing advanced feats to manipulate either cold or water to some extent.

An important, and often overlooked consideration with ice generation is that its products are quite chilly. If a target is exposed directly to the ice this power generates (while held in an icy restraint or when skewered by an ice spear) they will also suffer cold-based damage. The frigid Energy damage indirectly inflicted by ice generation is SD in nature, and may cause numerous unforeseen effects based on how the power is used.

Illusion Projection
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: dream projection, pain, psychic invisibility, sensory link, sensory attenuation, sensory distortion, sensory projection, static field, telepathy.

This potent ability allows its wielder to input false sensory data from his or her mind directly into that of another. This information is wholly imaginary, and invisible to the sensors of inanimate electronics. This data may come in the form of any of the target's senses, from sight to sound to taste to smell to touch - including imaginary information to waylay any superhuman senses they may possess.

Illusion projection itself functions within Near range, though effective use of the power is really limited to the area the wielder currently occupies. Any further away and you run into limits of human vision, as well as unanticipated oddities of perspective, such as the curvature of the earth. For each area an illusion 'wanders' away from its creator, apply a -1 CS to the effective intensity of its believability.

Speaking of believability, characters subject to an illusion have no real reason to disbelieve what they experience unless something tips them off to the fact that what they're perceiving isn't, in fact, real. This is no issue with non-realistic illusions, but if something looks right (say, a brick wall), there's no reason to assume it's fake unless something rings false (such as someone walking through said illusory wall).

Disbelieving an illusion requires an Intuition ACTION roll against the rank of this ability, which may be easier with long distance illusions (as stated earlier). If this ACTION is successful, the target can successfully shake off the illusion, while a failure indicates the illusionist was able to maintain the charade somehow. Mind you, having mixed things up once, it's possible that other illusory phenomenon may be disbelieved as well.

It's important to note that illusions are just that - not real. They have no direct effect on the environment, and cannot actually cause characters damage... which is sort of the point. Illusions can be used to trick others into hurting themselves (walking over a cliff while believing a bridge was there), or to steer people in a direction of the illusionist's choosing, but the images themselves are not harmful.

Unless combined with other abilities. Of course, one can be made to believe that they have been injured by an illusion. This is something of a psychosomatic response to a perceived attack, and is especially tricky for an illusionist to pull off. Each instance of illusory damage offers the possibility of disbelief, and no one can die from imaginary damage; anyone passing out or 'dying' from such will simply awaken in 1d10 turns.

An illusion lasts for as long as its creator concentrates on it - no more, no less. Full concentration on one's illusions is required to maintain a sense of believability (if this is, in fact, the intent). If this concentration wavers, subtle errors will creep into the illusion temporarily, possibly prompting Intuition checks to verify whether or not the charade is maintained.

Illusion projection is similar in function to image projection, but has a much more difficult time affecting a large group of people. For every doubling of people the illusionist tries to affect simultaneously, apply a -1 CS penalty to the power ACTION, as well as the intensity required to disbelieve an illusion. This reflects the difficulty of mentally keeping tabs on what so many people are perceiving at a given moment.

Image Animation
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: fluid animation, object animation, solid animation, reanimation, vapor animation.

The power of image animation allows its wielder to seemingly imbue two-dimensional images with life! These images may be of any type, ranging from stick figure drawings to comic book line art to photography to television frames. When the power is activated, the image seemingly steps off whatever surface it was affixed to, and quickly swells in size to become a lifelike representation of its former, two-dimensional self!

This is done thanks to the amazing properties of the imaginary form of matter known as psychoplasm. How image animation works is that its possessor subconsciously draws forth a mass of psychoplasm from higher planes of existence, and uses their mind to shape it into the form of the drawing. The drawing will generally 'live' at an appropriate size; a stick figure man will usually manifest as approximately man-sized.

Furthermore, details from the animated image that are missing or obscured in its original form will be filled in when it is given a semblance of life. This is how historical figures can 'step out' of an old photograph, even if their legs are outside the area captured by the image, and so on. These may not resemble the 'actual' version of the image so animated, as absent details are supplied by the subconscious mind of the image animator.

When so animated by this power, an image will behave as directed by its wielder. These images will possess effective Fighting, Agility, and Health scores that are equal to this power's rank, along with whatever 'special' abilities the image possesses. For instance, an animated image of a dragon might have flight, claws, and fire generation, all of which would function at the image animation power's rank.

An animated image will last in a 'living' state for 1d10 turns, unless one specifically concentrates on maintaining it further. Generally, an image animator can only keep one image 'alive' at a time, due to the mental strain of dynamically animating the summoned psychoplasm. Of course, animated images last a shorter amount of time if destroyed, immediately returning them to wherever their animator 'borrowed' them from.

This power can function at a +1 CS if the image so animated is something its possessor created themselves. Similarly, the power is considered strongly limited (costs two points less, or improved by +2 CS) if it is constrained to a small class of images to animate. This can include only television images, or photos from mail order catalogs, or even the tattoos one has had inked onto their own body.

Image Projection
Type: Energy Control Power, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: energy cohesion, heat generation, imaginary doubles, invisibility, light generation, light control, pain, redolence, sound generation, sound control, temperature control.

This potent ability allows its wielder to generate three-dimensional audiovisual entities directly from his or her imagination. These images are constructed of audible sound and visible light, and as such may be perceived by electronic sensors as well as sentient beings. They may be photo-realistic, fanciful and/or cartoon-like, or even random displays of sound and light.

Image projection itself functions within Near range, though effective use of the power is really limited to the area the wielder currently occupies; any further away and you run into limits of human vision, as well as unanticipated oddities of perspective such as the curvature of the earth. For each area a projection 'wanders' away from its creator, apply a -1 CS to the effective intensity of its believability.

Speaking of believability, characters subject to a projected image have no reason to disbelieve what they experience unless something tips them off to the fact that what they're perceiving isn't, in fact, real. This is no issue with unrealistic images, but if something looks right (say, a brick wall), there's no reason to assume it's fake unless something rings false (such as someone attempting to touch said wall).

Disbelieving a projection requires an Intuition ACTION roll against the rank of this ability, which may be easier with long distance projections (as stated earlier). If this ACTION is successful, the target can successfully shake off the projection, while a failure indicates the projectionist was able to maintain the charade somehow. Mind you, having mixed things up once, it's possible that other illusory phenomenon may be disbelieved as well.

It's important to note that image projections are just that - not real. They have no direct effect on the environment, and cannot actually cause characters damage... which is sort of the point. Projected images can be used to trick others into hurting themselves (walking over a cliff while believing a bridge was there), or to steer people in a direction of the projectionist's choosing, but the images themselves are not harmful.

Unless combined with other abilities. Of course, one can be made to believe that they have been injured by a projection. This is something of a psychosomatic response to a perceived attack, and is especially tricky for a projectionist to pull off. Each instance of illusory damage offers the possibility of disbelief, and no one can die from imaginary damage; anyone passing out or 'dying' from such will simply awaken in 1d10 turns.

A projected image lasts for as long as its creator concentrates on it - no more, no less. Full concentration on one's image projections is required to maintain a sense of believability, if this is in fact the intent. If this concentration wavers, subtle errors will creep into the projection temporarily, possibly prompting Intuition checks to verify if the charade is maintained or not.

Imaginary Doubles
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: body doubles, energy cohesion, energy doubles, heat generation, image projection, light generation, light control, mental doubles, redolence, sound generation, sound control, temperature control.

This curious ability allows its wielder to create transient doubles of themselves, false images that spring forth from his or her imagination! These images are constructed of audible sound and visible light, and as such may be perceived by electronic sensors as well as sentient beings. They are immaterial, and may not be affected by attacks that do not directly manipulate light or sound.

Characters with this ability may produce numerous duplicates at a time, the amount of such being equal to this rank number; for example, a character with Excellent (20) ranked imaginary doubles could manifest up to twenty doubles simultaneously. These are not actual doubles of their creator, and observers know for a fact that most of them are illusory in nature, but the trick is figuring out which one is 'real'.

If any.

Determining which version of the character is real requires passing an Intuition ACTION roll against this power rank; if successful, an observer can tell which one is the 'real' character. If not, he or she must identity the creator of the imaginary doubles through trial and error. This involves repeatedly picking one and hoping for the best; this is 1 in 21 odds for our Excellent (20) friend, above.

When first generated, imaginary doubles will manifest in the area their creator currently occupies, but can wander anywhere within with Near range; this allows them to move about and fulfill their other purpose. In addition to befuddling would-be opponents, imaginary doubles serve an additional role as extensions of their creator's senses. Said creator can see and hear anything one of their duplicates can!

This provides the wielder of imaginary doubles a limited form of both clairaudience and clairvoyance. While limited in both range and in the fact that their observation can be detected, it means their creator can use them for a variety of purposes, including reconnaissance and search and rescue. While their creator can only actively follow one at a time, they can keep an 'eye' out for something specific through all their doubles.

While imaginary doubles typically will resemble their creator exactly (assuming an accurate self-image at the moment), their creator can make one different than the others if he or she chooses. This requires a red ACTION roll, and can be used to make an intentionally 'off' looking imaginary double (to fool people looking for the odd man out in a set) or to even provide oneself an impromptu wardrobe change.

This works by literally manifesting the double on top of oneself. Of course, if the doubler is wearing little (if anything) beneath, this can be particularly awkward if their power cuts out at the wrong moment!

Imaginary Mass
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: density control / self, kinetic energy control.

The imaginary mass ability allows its possessor to dynamically apply artificial mass to his or her person, in response to external stimuli. What this means is, when force is applied to the character with this ability, they can reflexively increase their apparent mass to directly oppose said force. The character doesn't actually become heavier, but they sure seem like it to those attempting to move them.

For example, say someone shoves the possessor of imaginary mass. When this force is applied to them, the character immediately applies opposing force to keep themselves in place. Moving a wielder of the imaginary mass power requires overcoming its power rank first, as if the character had a similarly ranked weight. If the applied force cannot overcome the imaginary mass rank, its wielder won't budge.

Imaginary mass works equally well against brute force, telekinesis, kinetic control, or even gravity control. By itself, it is not useful against actual physical attack, though a resistance to such can be developed as a power stunt.

Immortality
Type: Deific Power
Duration: permanent
Cost: 20 points (flat cost)

The apogee of existence, immortality is the ability to live forever. The result of an evolved life force, one responsive to the desires of mortal sentient beings, immortality precludes the death of a character under most circumstances. They may be reduced to zero Health and Endurance, or even killed, but an immortal will almost always bounce back from such a predicament, seemingly good as new!

Other than being a temporary setback, being slain does have one serious downside for immortal beings: Karma loss. When an immortal is slain, even though they'll likely be getting back up relatively soon, they lose all of their Karma - even that set aside for character advancement. If they belong to a Karma pool, that pool will lose an amount of Karma equal to that it would normally lose if the immortal had left it.

At its core, immortality is a combination of the Agelessness and Invulnerability to Death powers. The former is already defined in the rules, but the latter is not, for it is an ability exclusive to fully immortal beings. A sort of 'meta' power, it prevents the mechanic of death from occurring to the character, even if they are slain as described above. Which is pretty handy, when you get down to it.

This is because an immortal character is relatively free to pursue whatever agenda they wish, no matter how long its realization will take. This may involve the generation of ever-greater amounts of faith, which allows an immortal to shape reality to their liking, or might simply give one the time they need to go about their business. The only impediment to this work, of course, is other immortals.

One weakness all immortal beings possess is that they can be slain by immortals of equal or greater standing. A god can permanently destroy another god by defeating them in mortal combat - if desired. This will not grant them additional power to speak of, but will at least get the impudent immortal out of their way. Of course, sparing a defeated immortal just might put them in one's eternal debt.

Another weakness immortal beings possess is that they can be slain, even by mortals, on their home plane. This weakness can be mitigated by first building a realm of power, and then a sanctuary within that realm. This contracts the amount of space an immortal is vulnerable to death within further and further, while at the same time making them increasingly more powerful in that area of vulnerability.

Finally, immortals typically possess an additional weakness, a hole in their seeming invincibility. For many deities, this entails full body disintegration; while a god can typically recover from most physical injuries, this level of damage leaves them nothing to repair themselves with. Of course, differing deities may well possess another weakness instead - particularly if they exist in a disembodied state anyway.

Immortality itself has no rank number to speak of - one either possesses immortality or they do not. During character generation, immortality is a bonus power, costing no power slots or character points. If a character acquires this ability after character generation, simply calculate its Karma costs normally (in other words, 250 Karma times 20 points, or 5,000 Karma before any additional costs).

Inanime
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 3 points per rank

Inanime is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to manipulate inanimate objects in a variety of different fashions, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the inanime spell, a wizard may choose any one of the following six spells, at which point inanime will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Conjuration, Glow, Image Animation, Matter Duplication, Object Animation, or Topological Control.

However, should the caster of inanime wish to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, inanime will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though sorcerers achieving a 'bonus' result may choose inanime's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Inaudibility
Type: Physical Control Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: inodoriferous, intangibility, invisibility / self, mental invisibility, sound control, vibration control.

Something of a complement (or alternative) to invisibility, inaudibility prevents a character from making noise. While inaudibility is active, its possessor is protected from the emission of sound at its power rank - no racket he or she makes with a volume equal to or less than inaudibility's rank will escape from them. Furthermore, the power's effects extend to anything its wielder is in physical contact with.

Thus, inaudibility is an excellent means by which one can sneak up on others unaware. They, their clothes, and even their equipment will make no sound to reveal their presence, and even a lesser intensity of inaudibility will mask the firing of a weapon if it is equipped with a silencer! Any sound a character makes with an intensity that exceeds this power's rank (firing off a mini-gun, for instance) is reduced by that amount.

In addition to muting sound issuing forth from a character, inaudibility also dampens ambient sound that comes in contact with him or her. In other words, sonar devices aimed at inaudible individuals are as negatively impacted as a character's own, inherent cacophony, and while inaudible a body should possess power rank resistance to sonic attacks (whether the actual damage component or any Stunning aspects of such).

Characters that are inaudible don't generally inflict a penalty to be struck upon others - unless such individuals rely upon their sense of hearing above all else. Instead, they inflict a like penalty on being detected in the first place: -4 CS. Each additional sense that a character can negate (say, if they're also invisible) adds an additional -1 CS to others trying to spot him or her.

Inculcation
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

Via the power of inculcation, a deific being can impart the knowledge to cast priestly spells into their most dedicated followers. By spending one point of faith, a deionic entity may impart one rank of one spell into a follower. A follower may be given the ability to cast spells at any rank desired, as long as the appropriate amount of faith is expended, with an upper limit equal to the inculcation power rank.

Once an immortal's follower has been granted access to clerical magic, that sorcery may be advanced in one of two different fashions. First, a priest's patron deity may simply expend more faith to improve it directly - at a cost of one point of faith per rank so boosted. Alternately, a cleric may simply boost the ranks of their spells via their own Karma - which saves his or her deity energy in the long run.

Once a follower is given access to clerical magic in this fashion, the faith expended is lost forever. Even if a follower becomes apostate and their patron revokes their place amongst the faithful, the energies used to impart the knowledge of priestly spells may not be recovered. This because, while investment enhances a follower's body, inculcation expands the capabilities of their mind instead.

And once learned, a skill is virtually impossible to remove.

Individual Shield
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A basic and arguably essential spell, the individual shield is a small magical barrier that a wizard may produce in front of his or her person. This barrier is a transparent mystic construct that hovers before the mage, which they can mentally move around to intercept incoming attacks. Doing so is a standard shield maneuver, but keep in mind that only one attack can be countered at a given moment in time.

An individual shield can counter more than one attack in a turn, but if two come in simultaneously (at the same initiative), the shield's creator must choose which of the two their shield will block.

The individual shield harmlessly absorbs the damage from attacks equal to or less than its spell rank, subject to the adjustments below for damage type. If damage greater than its spell rank strikes the individual shield, it will dissipate - but no damage from that specific attack will affect the shield's creator. An individual shield offers protection against attack in the following manner:

Rank -1 CS / Spell Rank / Spell Rank / Rank -6 CS / Rank -8 CS

Inferiority Complex
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding this insidious ability, a character may induce an artificial inferiority complex within his or her foe. This complex will overwhelm the target with feelings of inadequacy so severe, in fact, that such an individual will find themselves unable to do much at all. They feel totally useless, subsequently presuming that any action they might take wouldn't make a difference in any event.

Inducing such a state requires that the target first fail a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power's rank. An artificial inferiority complex will last for 1d10 turns, during which time its victim cannot spend Karma at all - even to save their own life. Of course, one may attempt another ACTION roll to shrug off the inferiority complex on each subsequent turn, so it may not always persist for the full duration.

Inferiority complex only functions within Near distance of its wielder.

Infravision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cold generation, energy sense, fire generation, fire control, heat generation, radivision, screened senses, super tracking, telescopic vision, temperature control, ultravision.

An enhanced form of standard vision, infravision expands one's ordinary sight to include information from the infrared spectrum. This grants a character a number of useful abilities, such as being able to see in otherwise dark conditions, and perceiving relative temperature levels in the environment. The latter is especially useful when tracking a target, as one can estimate not only where they have gone, but how long ago.

The only downside of infravision is that it makes one vulnerable to blinding attacks that won't affect others with normal vision. Powerful heat sources may blind the infravisual individual even while his or her allies are completely oblivious to what ails them, and the character is at -1 CS to resist such effects. The only way to avoid this is with the addition of the screened senses ability - which reduces this one by -1 CS.

Infusion
Type: Geomancy Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Infusion allows its caster to instill the essence of an element into matter. There is no restriction on the type of matter infusion can imbue with elemental properties, though its nature should be taken into consideration before casting this spell. It can function on any matter within Very Near distance of the caster, whether it is a singular object or every single object within its area of effect!

Matter so infused will behave as if it were comprised almost entirely of the element it has been charged with. The effects of this charge will function at the infusion spell's rank, whether it serves as a basis for damage, material strength, effective intangibility, or whatever else one attempts. Infusion will only persist for 1d10 turns, unless its caster specifically maintains the infusion longer.

A geomancer may subsume matter's ordinary nature with any element they have access to, not needing to acquire additional elements as spell stunts. Consider a geomancer with access to animal and earth, infusing the air before her with elemental essence. Swapping its normal nature with earth, she can make a solid wall seemingly appear from nowhere. On the other hand, doing so with animal can fill it full of bees!

Once matter is infused with elemental essence, a geomancer may control it as they would any other element they hold sway over, albeit at a -2 CS. This will also involve casting and/or maintaining the appropriate nature control spell(s), but lets a geomancer work with materials in their vicinity that they would otherwise have no control over - even if they must do so in a roundabout fashion.

Initiative Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: grace, lethality, luck, time control.

Normally, initiative is determined by having each character roll one d10, and adding whatever initiative modifier they have to the result. However, using the initiative control ability, its wielder can interrupt the nature of this essential game mechanic, slightly twisting time into knots to benefit themselves or others - or alternately, to the detriment of their enemies!

On a green power ACTION roll, an initiative controller can change the placement of one character's order in the sequence of events. This can be themselves or anyone else, and said placement may be anywhere they desire (first, last, etc.). A yellow ACTION roll allows the initiative controller to reconfigure the initiative of everyone present, friend and foe alike, causing actions to take place where they dictate in a given turn.

A red initiative control power ACTION allows a more serious temporal change. With this level of success, the initiative controller may add an action to one's rotation in a given turn, or alternately take one of their actions away! The idea is that this will balance out eventually, of course, the person with the added action slowing down later to compensate, or the person whose action was stolen getting two sometime later.

That's the idea, anyway. Successive red ACTION rolls could potentially remove a given character's ability to act for several turns, which may be enough to take them out of a fight before they can even do anything in the first place. Or set someone up for a bruising when all of those 'missing' actions come home to roost all at once.

Initiative control may be resisted by anyone with protection against warping attacks, time control, or just this ability in particular.

Inodoriferous
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: inaudibility, invisibility, intangibility, mental invisibility, pheromones, redolence.

Being inodoriferous implies a complete lack of scent. Something of a complement of (or possibly an alternative to) invisibility, inodoriferous prevents a character from being smelled by others. No matter how (un)pleasant a character's scent may become, the power of inodoriferous allows them to pass by almost all ordinary humans (and even some humans with enhanced senses) without having their scent picked up at all.

In essence, inodoriferous provides its power rank in protection against detection by a sense of smell - whether natural or artificial in origin. Even a lesser rank of inodoriferous generally works well against most beings, only coming into question when particularly aware characters encounter the inodoriferous individual - who must pass an Intuition (alt) ACTION roll against its rank to smell them at all.

The only serious threat to an inodoriferous individual being detected by scent is when they have been tagged with something particularly malodorous - or if they themselves have achieved such a state somehow. The power of redolence in particular, whether wielded by a skunk or an ascendant human, is a great way to 'light up' an inodoriferous character to later track them down by scent (by whatever means).

By itself, inodoriferous does not inflict a combat penalty on others - unless they primarily rely upon their sense of smell, at which point said penalty is -4 CS. On the other hand, others do suffer a -1 CS to notice an inodoriferous character in the first place, a penalty which is added on top of others that character may possess - particularly if they also wield inaudibility or invisibility!

Inspiration
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

This curious faerie magic allows its wielder to give the mind of its target something of a 'push', possibly allowing one to come up with an idea or solution to a problem that was not readily apparent. This effectively grants the target a bonus Reason ACTION roll when dosed with the inspiration spell, operating at either this spell rank or the character's Reason rank +1 CS, whichever is higher.

If the target is actively working on some sort of invention or pondering the solution to a problem, inspiration will nudge them in the right direction, the magic pointing towards the most ideal solution to whatever plagues them. This is useful for making great strides in technology or helping to rapidly deal with emergencies of any stripe. The spell gets weird when cast on random people, however.

Zapping someone with inspiration who isn't pondering anything in particular (pedestrian passersby, people at work or sleeping) can cause a truly random idea to manifest within someone's head. Someone could be walking their dog when the design for a cold fusion reactor suddenly occurs to them, or maybe a body toiling away at a mill will have an astounding notion to improve the ROI of overseas derivatives.

Whether or not the recipient of this spell can make use of the sudden ideas that occur to them is a different matter entirely.

Intangibility
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: density control / self, dimensional interface, environmental independence, inaudibility, inodoriferous, invisibility / self, mental invisibility.

Laughing at conventional physical boundaries, this ability confers the power to actually pass through other solid objects! While intangible, a character can walk through walls, other people, and even the ground if he or she feels the need. They can pass through any solid object, though the stronger it is (or the more powerful a force field is) the more difficult passing through it may prove to be.

This works by attempting an ACTION against its MS (or power rank of a coherent energy field) upon attempting to pass through it. Failed ACTIONs simply cause a seemingly intangible character to deflect off of the item as if they were not in such a state, while success indicates they may pass through it normally. The automatic ACTION rule should be in effect here, or the intangible character will have to roll every turn they use this power.

On the other hand, objects attempting to pass through an intangible character will automatically do so, no matter how great their material strength may be. This makes intangible characters invulnerable to physical and energy attacks, though they are still affected by the other six attack vectors (magic, psionics, and so on).

A character in an intangible state may not breathe, and must either bring a supply of air with them or hold their breath; if no air supply is available, the time they can hold their breath determines the duration of this ability.

One of the dangers of intangibility is re-materializing within a solid object. If this occurs, the character must immediately roll a Kill check; failure indicates that they suffer damage equal to the MS of the object they materialized inside, and may cause it to break or, worse, be trapped in their own molecular structure! Furthermore, they will fall unconscious, and begin to lose one Endurance rank per turn.

Intangibility lends itself to power stunts. They include rendering others intangible (whether inside them or not at the time), making only part of one's body (in)tangible (usually requiring a red ACTION each time), disrupting energy fields by passing through them (a separate stunt for each type), and lightning strikes, becoming tangible only long enough to attack (only attacks attempted at the same initiative connect).

Integral Control
Type: Biological Control Power, Voodoo Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: body control, cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, pain, resuscitation, sensory attenuation, sensory distortion, sleep.

This power allows its wielder to actively manipulate the integral physiological systems inherent to another. Such uses can be beneficial, but for the most part this ability is used to the considerable detriment of its targets. When wielded to harm others, integral control will inflict its power rank in SD Metabolic damage, and targets within its Very Near range may readily resist the effects of this power with their Endurance (res) score.

Some of the more common (but by no means only) offensive uses of integral control include the following:

• Circulatory Disruption: temporarily stopping a target's heart is a great way to take them out of a fight. In addition to the overt damage caused by such an action, this power inflicts a -4 CS on all Strength ACTIONs made by a character during its induced cardiac event.
• Gastrointestinal and/or Urinary Disruption: on top of the damage caused by such attacks, a character disrupting these systems in a foe can cause considerable physical and mental discomfort, not to mention the sudden, pressing need to clean oneself up.
• Immune Disruption: tinkering with the immune system can readily cause it to attack its possessor! In addition to causing the damage indicated above, this can also be used to open a target up for infection by any number of nasty bugs they'd normally be resistant to.
• Nervous Disruption: disturbing the nervous system of a character can cause any number of effects, from a loss of balance and motor skills (-2 CS on Fighting and Agility ACTIONs) to an inability to concentrate or think clearly (-4 CS on Reason ACTIONs).
• Respiratory Disruption: by interfering with the proper functioning of the respiratory system, one can induce suffocation in their foes. Characters struck with this behave as if suddenly drowning (which may quickly lead to unconsciousness and/or death).

Interfacing
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The power of interfacing is one which allows its possessor to, well, interface technology with non-technological things. The process of interfacing can seamlessly integrate technology into a person, place, or thing without the need for serious construction work, surgery, or other applicable modifications. To interface technology with something, one need only pass a single ACTION roll to make the resultant combination function.

If this is a living being, the interfacer must pass a power ACTION roll against the Endurance (res) rank of the target - even if they are willing. If the subject of the power isn't alive or lacks an Endurance rank (often the case when wiring up an area), an interfacer must merely pass a power ACTION against the subject's material strength. If this ACTION is successful, the technology is successfully interfaced with the subject.

On the other hand, interfacing may be used in reverse, decoupling technology from a person, place, or thing. This requires a similar ACTION roll, and is generally a much more hostile action, as it involves undoing a considerable amount of work that others have undertaken. Of course, one can use interfacing in this fashion to repair the damage caused by others using the same ability.

It lends itself to 'mad scientist' work, after all!

Internal Universe
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: body doubles, clairaudience, clairvoyance, dimensional interface, energy doubles, imaginary doubles, pouches, soul control.

The name of this power is something of a misnomer, as the character with it does not actually bear an entire universe inside his or her body - they simply serve as an access to one. The character is a doorway which leads to an all-new space-time, of finite size, that the character either discovered or created upon gaining this power. This new universe is a permanent entity, which persists whether or not the power is active.

At any given point in time, the character with an internal universe can open the door to this new reality, which causes their body to become a rift between the internal and external plane. It can be opened in a manner that allows travel in, travel out, or both, at their discretion. Anything touching the character while their doorway is open can be drawn through the portal with power rank strength.

The great advantage of this power is that its wielder can store away anything - or anyone - that they deem dangerous. Unless things that are pulled into one's internal universe have the ability to cross dimensions, they aren't going anywhere once they're drawn in. This can be anything ranging from a pleasant vacation (after a fashion) to a horrible death sentence, depending on the conditions within one's internal realm.

But just what is this internal universe, you ask? It can have any physical properties the character with this power desires (limited to power intensity effects). These properties are generally static, being decided either when it is first discovered or created. The universe itself is of finite size, consisting of a number of cubic miles equal to its power rank number - but can be a curved space so that it appears to go on forever.

A character with this power generally cannot visit their internal space. They can look in on it through themselves, gaining a limited perspective of events transpiring inside, but that's about it - at least, without powers such as clairvoyance, or some means of making duplicates of themselves (either real or imagined). Other than this, however, one must acquire help if they need to handle situations transpiring in their universe.

Investment
Type: Power Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: boon, empowerment, link, power absorption, power amplification, power attenuation, power block, power control, power transfer, weakness generation.

Investment is the process of imbuing a living being with enhanced abilities and/or super-human powers. This can be a highly dangerous skill to possess, both because of its incredibly high demand and because you never know when one of your creations will betray you with the powers you granted them. Unlike the creation of empowered items, investing super-human powers into a living target is simple.

There is no mandatory preparation time involved, no special requirements one must quest for. While these make great potential limitations, they are by no means a necessity - the wielder of investment just invokes it and dishes out the enhancements. The entire process requires but two ACTION rolls, assuming the recipient is willing, and these ACTIONs determine the nature and the permanency of the invested enhancements.

The first ACTION is to determine what the wielder of investment may invest in his or her target. A green ACTION allows them to enhance any of their target's ability scores, up to their normal maximum. An example of this would be increasing one's Strength to Excellent (20), or their Agility to Incredible (40). A yellow ACTION allows for the creation of super-human ability scores - at least, as high as investment allows (see below).

A red investment ACTION allows for the creation of actual super-powers - anything from flight to laser beam eyes to... whatever, really. A character with investment may invest a number of powers into others equal to its rank number, all of which include their own super-human capabilities (aside from this one). It pays to determine these in advance, but this information isn't immediately vital.

The rank of a newly invested enhancement depends on the rank of investment itself. Invested ability enhancements have a maximum equal to the investment rank (with a minimum boost of +1 CS), while invested powers will manifest at the investment rank -1 CS. These values may naturally be raised by the recipient at a later point - assuming the new powers are permanent.

Otherwise, why bother?

The thing is, investment isn't always a good thing. Perhaps the wielder is trying to give people the power to transform the air around their bodies into antimatter - without any safeguards to avoid the impending explosions and radiation exposure. If used as an attack, or even if someone simply doesn't want what the investor is offering, they may resist by passing an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against the rank of investment.

At any rate, once the powers have been imbued into the target, it's time to figure out how long they'll last. A green ACTION roll will make imbued powers last for a number of days equal to the investment rank number. A yellow ACTION will extend this figure to weeks, and a red ACTION roll can make such abilities semi-permanent, allowing them to linger for a number of months equal to the investment rank number.

Assuming the investor does not remove the powers before that time has elapsed.

Mind you, a red investment ACTION can instead make permanent super-powers or other improvements in the target. This is entirely up to the Judge, and where player characters are concerned, may require they pay the Karma cost for these new abilities before they're considered permanent. If the Karmic books are not balanced in time, these abilities are subject to Plot.

As is the case with any other special abilities or equipment the character trips over during play.

As a theonic, investment can readily imbue its target with ascendant powers or ability score enhancements, but these cost the theonicist one point of faith per rank of the ability so invested. In exchange for being limited by this faith expenditure, abilities that deific beings grant with investment have no set duration, lingering for as long as the wielder of this power desires.

The faith spent to fuel investment is only 'spent' for as long as it is used to empower others. When revoked, investments return all of the faith used to create ability score enhancements or ascendant power grants to their source - save for one point. This lost point is considered the cost of rearranging reality twice: once to give another a boost, twice to take it away again.

Invisibility / Others
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: color control, invisibility / self, light control.

This curious ability allows a character to render objects in his or her environment invisible. Most often wielded with invisibility / self, invisibility / others can function on anything within Very Near range of the character who wields it. Non-living targets can be rendered invisible with but a green roll, but living targets are allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to avoid the effect (if unwilling).

The effects of invisibility / others will last for a duration dependent on variables present when the ability is used.

A green invisibility / others ACTION will make this ability last for a number of turns equal to the power rank number; an Unearthly (100) rank with this skill causes it to last for ten minutes (100 turns). A yellow invisibility / others roll will multiply this value by ten, meaning that Unearthly (100) power, mentioned above, will make a body invisible for one hundred minutes, instead of just ten.

A red invisibility / others ACTION will render the target invisible for a number of hours equal to this ability's rank number (100 hours for our Unearthly friend above). The latter assumes an animate target; inanimate objects are made invisible permanently on a red roll unless the wielder of this ability chooses otherwise - or later deactivates the invisibility they subjected them to.

Once invisible, an object or living target is undetectable by ordinary vision (that's the whole point). The invisible can easily be tripped over or ran into, often causing considerable damage to both the invisible target and whatever runs into it - or, at the very least, poses a significant obstacle. People unaccustomed to being invisible suffer a -2 CS to their Agility for 1d10 turns, until they adjust to their new state of being.

On the plus side, they're immune to laser or light attacks for the duration.

Power stunts of invisibility / others include rendering only part of an object invisible, or rendering invisible objects in the area visible (those not made invisible by the user of this ability). The latter requires a power contest between the character's invisibility / others and the agency which rendered the object to be made visible invisible in the first place.

Invisibility / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: inaudibility, inodoriferous, intangibility, invisibility / others, light control, mental invisibility.

Invisibility is the ability to render oneself completely transparent to the standard, visible light spectrum. While this ability is active, the character who wields it reflects no light at all, one hundred percent of such harmlessly passing through him or her. This has the added benefit of making one immune to light-based damage, which typically comes in the form of laser fire.

It is assumed that a character may make anything he or she is touching or wearing invisible as well, so that they may carry accessories and wear clothing. One could assume otherwise when first acquiring this power as a weak limitation; this doesn't cause difficulties with the power so much as a variety of awkward situations involving disrobing and redressing.

This ability can render invisible an amount of mass outside its wielder's body equal to their own weight, but any more requires use of invisibility / others.

While invisibility is highly advantageous, it is important to note that it does not render one immune to detection in and of itself. While the invisible cannot be seen as a general matter of course, it can still be heard or smelt (or tasted or felt). Similarly, an invisible character can be doused in rain or paint or the like, and be seen in that fashion (before their power 'absorbs' such into the invisibility effect).

Another consideration is that invisible characters are subject to viewing in other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum - infravision in particular is the bane of the invisible. Invisible characters may extend their optical transparency into additional portions of the spectrum as a power stunt for each kind. Complete EM invisibility takes effort, but is definitely worth it in a world where some people can see all wavelengths.

Other stunts one can develop with invisibility involve making only a portion of one's body invisible, or alternately making invisible objects in contact with the character visible (requiring a power ACTION against the intensity of whatever else is making the invisible object or person invisible).

The power rank for invisibility otherwise only comes into play when faced with another ability that can defeat it somehow (say, light control, or against another invisibility power which is trying to make one visible). Striking an invisible individual you know is present (but still cannot see) is done at a -4 CS to the applicable ability score or power.

Invulnerability
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Dimensional Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 8 points (flat cost), plus 2 points for each additional invulnerability
Related Powers: greater invulnerability or resistance (other categories of damage), resistance (other forms of damage), numerous other powers.

A character with this ability possesses complete immunity to any one attack form of their choice. This invulnerability can counter any one kind of attack listed within the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, from blunt attacks to fire damage to mind control. When subjected to the chosen form of attack, a character with this ability may completely shrug it off - though others in his or her surroundings may not be so lucky.

During character generation, a player has the option of adding additional, specific invulnerabilities as he or she sees fit, each increasing the cost of this ability as a whole by 2. For instance, a character with invulnerability to cold attacks may wish to add an invulnerability to, say, corrosion, edged attacks, and electricity. This adds up to an effective cost of only 14, instead of paying the full price for all four.

Also, players may choose a form of this ability that they can share with their allies. A field effect version of an invulnerability functions within one area of its possessor, who may 'broadcast' it to anyone they choose inside this radius. This counts as an extreme enhancement to invulnerability, and essentially doubles the cost of the power overall. Note that reducing the effectiveness of invulnerabilities is not an option.

As an example, let us look at our hypothetical friend with four invulnerabilities, as described above. To gain the broadcast version of his or her invulnerabilities, they must increase the total cost of invulnerability by fourteen, making for a grand total of 28 points. Expensive, sure, but their teammates would certainly love having them around!

J

Jelling
Type: Movement Power, Elementalism Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, environmental independence, environmental pocket, fluid animation, invulnerability or resistance (fire, heat and/or friction), platforming, solid animation, super jumping, super running, vapor animation, various energy and matter control powers.

A peculiar movement aid, the power of jelling allows its wielder to stiffen an otherwise liquid or gaseous medium to travel upon it. Jelling works by binding material below the feet (or whatever) of its possessor with an energy matrix that makes it momentarily solid. Such a matrix can 'solidify' a plane of material within a maximum radius of this power's possessor as is determined by the Very Near range table.

The matrix created by jelling will 'roll' with its wielder, making a solid surface of new material as it comes into range and returning other matter to normal as it passes out of range. When using jelling, a character can move as fast as he or she otherwise could normally while on foot - the jeller simply has more options about where they actually do their walking.

Material jelled by this power is suspended in place with power rank ability, and can always support the weight of its possessor. Jelling, when treated as an equivalent Strength score, can support additional mass if said Strength value exceeds the weight of its wielder. A hero weighing in at one ton who possessed this power at Amazing (50) rank, for example, could support up to forty-nine additional tons!

A character with jelling can either maintain the same altitude while walking, or can climb up or down as desired. This is done by inducing an angle into the jelling process, which can have as severe a slope as one wishes. Thus, one can stroll leisurely from the ground into the sky, or even create a makeshift slide to descend to a surface incredibly fast.

Jelling can be customized in several fashions. The power may be limited such that it can only support its possessor, for one thing. This reduces its operating radius to the span of its wielder's stride (whether walking or running) as a weak limitation. Similarly, it can be curtailed such that it only works on either a liquid (such as water) or a gaseous (such as oxygen) medium as a strong limitation.

On the other hand, jelling may be enhanced by giving the possessor of this power the ability to consciously move the jelled matter. This allows him or her to 'ride' on it instead of having to manually walk wherever they are going. This is a strong enhancement to the power, and provides a velocity as determined by the air speed column - though jelling is usually capped at a maximum velocity of Remarkable (30) speed.

Unless the jelling character (and anything riding along with him or her) is sufficiently resistant to air friction and can breathe at such high speeds, that is.

Jeopardy
Type: Combination Power
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: between, dimensional transit, macro sense, precognition, time travel.

Characters with the power of jeopardy are never at a loss for excitement. This is because jeopardy is a strange combination of both the macro sense and teleportation abilities - that functions involuntarily. Jeopardy is always active, you see, and constantly scanning the space within range of its possessor. Whenever it recognizes a crisis within its wielder's ability to solve, it will transport him or her there immediately!

Jeopardy functions as does standard teleportation: on the Far range table. This generally keeps its wielder upon their home planet... or at least within its vicinity. However, the power may be given a strong enhancement to bump it up to the Very Far range table, or an extreme enhancement to push it out into rangeless territory. Such boosts to jeopardy allow it to drop its wielder on other planets - or maybe even in other galaxies!

Furthermore, it has a distressing habit of co-opting control of any other non-adjacent movement ability its wielder may possess. A character with jeopardy who also has dimensional transit or time travel may find themselves drawn to other universes or time frames to deal with crises that only they can solve. And woe be the character with jeopardy that also has access to the Between!

Once a character with jeopardy arrives at the scene of a crisis, he or she is generally in it for the long haul. Their movements are restricted to within Near distance of the situation they've been summoned to avert or resolve. Attempting to move further away from 'ground zero' will draw the character with jeopardy back to their arrival point - whether they try to leave voluntarily or are pulled away by external influences.

To aid a character with jeopardy in the resolution of one crisis after another, he or she has the ability to transport additional mass with them into a hot spot. This amount of matter is a weight intensity that an equivalent Strength score could carry. For example, a Remarkable (30) ranked jeopardy power could haul along up to a ton of additional mass, which may or may not amount to one's fellow adventurers.

After a crisis has passed, whether the character with this power has successfully resolved it or not, he or she is sent home. They are then off the hook for a short period of time, during which they may attempt to recover before the next emergency. This vacation is 1d10 days, which may or may not be enough time for the person with jeopardy to fully heal from whatever has befallen them in the last emergency.

As is stated above, jeopardy is an involuntary ability - it is always ready to thrust its possessor into mortal peril. However, its wielder will know it is preparing to function, and may attempt a red power ACTION to hold it at bay momentarily. This ACTION must be passed each turn, and upon its failure the character will immediately blip off to deal with whatever cataclysm jeopardy has found for him or her to deal with.

Though even a few turns worth of delay might be enough for the character with jeopardy to call in sick from work!

Judicature
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Obsessed with meting out justice, Mesharu's only regret in this regard is that she is but one proponent of order. To this end, this deity is happy to provide the energy with which to cast and maintain judicature. When invoked, this entreaty spell produces an axe, of a shape and otherworldly color chosen by the caster, comprised entirely of spectral flames drawn from a higher plane of existence.

The weapon produced by judicature generally lasts for 1d10 turns, unless specifically maintained to persist for a longer period of time. This, of course, assumes that it is wielded in melee combat. This spectral axe can also be flung at the caster's target, but doing so will release the caster's hold on the energies that comprise it, causing them to dissipate back where they came from upon striking something.

Completely ineffectual on non-sentient targets, the axe of judicature causes Karmic damage to those who have violated the law within a number of days equal to its spell rank number. The amount of damage it inflicts is equal to either its spell rank or the Karma reward/penalty indicated for a given crime, whichever of the two is less. Thus, a murderer will suffer more damage than a jaywalker.

A given crime can only be punished by judicature so much, however. Upon inflicting an amount of Karmic damage equal to the penalty/reward for a crime, it alone can no longer provide the impetus for suffering damage through judicature. If the victim of this spell's weapon has committed numerous crimes, however, its caster can punish them for those infractions against the law as well.

Jumbling
Type: Mental Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: mind control, mind lock, psi bolt, sensory attenuation, telepathy.

Jumbling is the process of removing someone's ability to communicate coherently. While the character affected by jumbling seems to make perfect sense, at least within the confines of their own mind, the meaning of information they try to convey is butchered beyond understanding. Words come out in the wrong order, when they even come out as the intended words, and sometimes are mangled syllable by syllable.

The effect of jumbling is not limited to speech, either. It similarly confounds sign language, keystrokes, written words, facial expressions, and even more esoteric methods of communication the victim may possess, ranging from telepathy to strange chemical or photonic signals to anything else. One can almost sense a pattern in the output of a jumbled character's communications, but such order can never be determined.

Characters can be affected by jumbling if they fail a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its power rank. If they fall prey to the power, victims of jumbling will have their communications scrambled until they can pass the ACTION roll they initially failed, allowed again each subsequent turn. While the initial roll might be considered impossible, one should always have at least a chance to eventually shake off jumbling, no matter how slim.

Though poor dice rolling may mean the character is jumbled for quite a while - at least until they can eventually pass that red resistance roll.

One must be within Near distance of his or her foes to wield jumbling against them.

Jury Rigging
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: device sympathy, kit-bashing, super invention, technical intuition.

Jury rigging is the practice of making impromptu repairs to something on the fly - most often wielding whatever tools or supplies one has on hand. This ability assists in the process, giving its wielder an intuitive grasp of what is required to make a broken item functional again, thus giving the attempted fix a much better chance of working - even when conducted with seemingly improbable materials.

The difficulty of an improvised fix depends on how seriously damaged a device is, and what one attempts a repair with. A green ACTION is necessary when applicable parts and tools are on hand, even if not specifically designed for the task in question. A yellow ACTION is required when one lacks the proper tools but improvises with related parts, or lacks the parts but can pound something into place with the right tools.

A red jury rigging power ACTION is called for when one lacks both the parts and the tools necessary to make the repair under optimum conditions. Fixes such as these have been made famous by a legendary, mulleted television action hero, and often involve duct tape and/or wads of chewing gum.

The length of time these power-enhanced repairs last depends on a second power ACTION, made after the repair attempt succeeds. A white ACTION allows a repair to last for only 1d10 turns, while a green result extends this time to a number of turns equal to the jury rigging power rank number. Yellow ACTIONs allow a fix to last for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, while red ACTIONs extend this to a like number of hours.

Which might be just long enough for someone to get the jury rigged device to a proper repair bay. Maybe.

K

Karma Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, amplification, attenuation, grace, keeper, lethality, power amplification, power attenuation, power boost.

The strange and insidious ability of Karma control allows its wielder to manipulate the Karma totals of either themselves or others. Though it manipulates a character's Karma sums, the wielder of Karma control ironically cannot spend Karma to help actions with it succeed. This power may be countered with resistance to warping attacks (any uses of the power) or resistance to vampirism (the third use of the power).

The basic use of Karma control involves adding a 'buffer' of Karma to oneself or another, equal in size to its power rank number. This simply requires a green power ACTION (any success will do), and lasts for as long as it takes for the affected individual to use the bonus Karma points. One must spend Karma gained in this fashion before the power will work on them again, and gained points may not be used for advancement.

Alternately, a Karma controller can perform the opposite action on others, reducing the amount of Karma they have on hand. This requires a yellow power ACTION roll, and if successful will lower one's Karma total by this power's rank number for 1d100 turns. Unlike the previous application of this ability, Karma control can 'stack' Karma reductions on a target repeatedly - since it inflicts but a temporary loss.

Finally, Karma control can be wielded to permanently transfer Karma from one character to another. This requires a red power ACTION, and when successful, can move up to this power's rank number in Karma points from one character to another (less is possible, if desired). Points gained in this manner may be spent any way the recipient desires, and points lost due to this use of the power must be regained normally.

It is important to note that taking Karma from another (by, say, transferring it to oneself) may well be considered a villainous act. If one is already 'evil', this may not be a big deal, but a would-be hero probably needs a good justification to use this facet of Karma control. Wielding it against one's foes may be good enough, but siphoning Karma from random people at the mall should be a lot trickier to justify.

Keeper
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: karma control.

When invoking keeper, its possessor has the ability to forge an immediate, yet transient Karma pool with one or more individuals. These people must be willing to engage in such a bond, for it inextricably ties their fates together while active. Once established, this new pool allows its members to donate any amount of Karma to it that they choose, with a bonus amount of such equal to the power rank of keeper.

But what's the difference between the use of keeper and a standard Karma pool, you ask? For one thing, this pool can be formed and ended at the whims of keeper's wielder, without the usual temporal limitations on such. Furthermore, this pool can be forged in addition to whatever Karma pool the character(s) involved are already in, making this the only way a character can belong to two Karma pools at the same time.

This allows others ready access to one's own fount of Karma, greatly assisting them in the completion of their endeavors, whatever they may be. The only danger inherent to wielding keeper is the potential for Karma loss due to the actions of others, particularly if keeper's wielder and other participants in the pool it generates operate under different moralities.

Kinetic Absorption
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: energy absorption, kinetic energy control, psionic absorption, thaumaturgical absorption, theonic absorption.

This dynamic ability allows its wielder to absorb direct physical damage, and to subsequently wield the purloined energy in several different fashions. Physical damage, as defined by this power, is any attack which inflicts Blunt Attack, Blunt Throwing, Edged Attack, Edged Throwing, Shooting, or Force damage - any attack form which inflicts these kinds of damage may be affected by kinetic absorption.

Using kinetic absorption, its possessor may attempt a power ACTION each time he or she is struck by one of the above attack forms, against the intensity of the damage inflicted. If this ACTION roll is successful, the character may funnel the energy of this attack into a pool of power. This power pool can hold an amount of energy that is equal to the kinetic absorption power rank multiplied by five.

For example, wielding this ability at Excellent (20) rank allows one to store a one hundred point power pool. This pool of purloined energy is depleted with each special use of the power on a point-per-point basis, no matter how said power is being wielded. If one attempts to absorb physical attacks when their pool is full, the power will work normally but this excess energy is lost.

But what can one do with such absorbed damage? Its main use is to recover lost Health points, quickly healing inflicted damage (if any). It can also be used to 'pad' one's Health score with excess energy. When used in this fashion, kinetic absorption can up to double one's Health score. This energy may also be released as a force blast, inflicting power rank Force damage with each devastating attack.

Alternately, the energy purloined by kinetic absorption may be used to enhance one's physical ability scores, raising their Fighting, Agility, Strength, or Endurance. This boost lasts for 1d10 turns, after which point one's enhanced capabilities will return to normal. Enhanced abilities may be raised to the kinetic absorption power rank (if less than it in might) or by +1 CS (if equal to or greater than it in rank).

Kinetic Energy Control
Type: Energy Control Power, Geomancy Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: flaying, force blast, force field, imaginary mass, kinetic absorption, kinetic focus, levitation, object charge, propulsion, telekinesis.

Kinetic energy control is the ability to manipulate matter in motion. It has no effect on most forms of energy, even if many carrier particles (such as electrons) possess a miniscule amount of mass. However, kinetic energy control can be used to directly counter attacks such as a force blast, as well as the use of telekinesis, despite both abilities usually being disassociated with mass themselves.

Controlling the motion of an object requires passing a power ACTION roll against the intensity of its speed (if moving) or its weight (if stationary). The former can be determined by comparing its speed to the appropriate chart; an object moving on the ground will use the land speed chart, while something flying will use the air speed chart, etc. The latter can simply be determined by checking the Strength table.

If this ACTION roll is successful, the target's motion can be redirected as desired. It can be stopped completely if in motion, or altered in any direction desired - even backwards! An object at rest can be given a velocity that is anywhere between zero and this power rank in intensity, using the appropriate chart to determine its speed. The effects of this power are instantaneous, but possibly transient.

This is because the target, if ambulatory, can continue to correct changes made in its momentum, requiring further use of this ability to control it. Similarly, inanimate objects without propulsion of their own will require repeated 'pushes' with this power to maintain the desired velocity under most circumstances; if not reinforced, their artificial movement will quickly grind to a halt.

Kinetic energy control may be opposed by general resistance to energy or warping attacks - or by a specific resistance to this ability in particular. Telekinesis can also work against it, though this may require contests of power from turn to turn.

Kinetic Focus
Type: Physical Control Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: force blast, force field, kinetic energy control, object charge, psychokinesis, telekinesis.

Using kinetic focus, one can almost instantaneously concentrate vast amounts of potential energy about their body. This potential energy takes the form of a powerfully modulated kinetic field, which will be released upon bodily contact wherever the energy is stored. This energy can be retained anywhere the character likes, though they can limit it to one location (fists, feet, or even the forehead) as a weak limitation.

Thus, when punching or kicking or body checking one's foe, the character with kinetic focus can disregard the normal damage their Strength or Endurance would do, and instead replace it with power rank Force damage. Alternately, one can contain the release of this potential energy until after contact has been made with someone or something, allowing the character to apply force - as if they possessed a like Strength score.

There is absolutely no finesse in this simulation, though, in that all of the energy pulses out from the character at once. However, it can be a great way to give someone a boost, push a car off of some hapless pedestrian, or otherwise get a large weight away from oneself in a jiffy.

Kit-bashing
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: device generation, device sympathy, jury rigging, super invention, technical intuition.

The process of kit-bashing is a tried and true emergency tactic that inventors make use of when time is suddenly a critical factor. The idea is that, when one has the parts and know-how available, and a sudden need for a device-in-progress appears, they can 'kit-bash' the item involved to make it work - paring each day of development time remaining down to but a turn to produce a temporarily working prototype.

When an item is kit-bashed, it will generally only function for 1d10 turns before becoming inoperable - possibly spectacularly.

Wielding the kit-bashing power, a character can reproduce the effects of kit-bashing, making the required invention ACTION roll with either this power rank or their Reason (log) rank +1 CS, whichever of the two is higher. Furthermore, the kit-basher may disregard the Karma cost required when compressing the time spent in development that is normally called for when wielding this technological trickery.

This represents a heightened ability to improvise with technology above and beyond that of others with like intelligence.

Knowledge
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: group link, linguistics, ultimate talent, variable talent, xenoglossy.

This is the root ability of the technopsi discipline of power.

The power of knowledge embodies the very heart of technology - the skills and talents developed since the human race first achieved sentience! Knowledge is power, or so they say, and when invoking this ability one can make use of any applied know-how that anyone anywhere has ever evinced. This know-how is transient in nature, however, only staying resident in one's mind as long as the knowledge ability is active.

How it works is that, when a character needs to know how to do something, he or she simply activates their knowledge power. When doing this, the character may develop one talent for each power rank in knowledge they possess. For example, an adventurer with Excellent (20) ranked knowledge finds herself in a bind she can't talk her way out of. With knowledge, she can immediately manifest five (5) fighting talents!

Any talent in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Enginemay be adopted, however temporarily, by the use of this power. It readily lends itself to talent stacking, allowing a character to gain up to +3 CS on an ACTION roll if they can manifest enough talents applicable to the ACTION in question. This works great whether the character with knowledge intends to build something or to deliver an unholy beat-down on an opponent!

Alternately, a character might want to wield an 'enhanced' version of an ordinary talent. Adopting a level 2 talent (for an additional +1 CS on a given ACTION) may be done by counting it as two separate talents for the purposes of talent adoption, and a level 3 talent (for an additional +2 CS on the ACTION du jour) may be adopted by counting it as four distinct talents (minimum rank of Good (10) knowledge to do this, then).

Furthermore, knowledge is a great avenue for a character to learn a talent in the normal fashion. By training extensively in the use of a talent over time, one can use this self-education to master the talent in question. This may or may not be cheaper than simply adding a +1 CS to the operating rank of the knowledge power through Karma rewards, but 'normal' talents don't count against the skills knowledge can grant a character.

Thus, the more talents a character with knowledge possesses normally, the more they're capable of when they actually bring this ability to bear!

L

Layered Shield
Type: Dimensional Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A layered shield is essentially a heavily reinforced individual shield. It operates in the same fashion, save that it is, well, layered. For every rank above Feeble (2) that a wizard has in his or her layered shield, they have an additional shield 'sandwiched' in higher dimensions directly behind the first, of identical power. When the first layer is broken, the second will immediately pop out and offer like defense to its caster.

This doesn't mean that a mage has an infinite amount of protection from attack. If the first shield is shattered by an attack that is more powerful than the layered shield spell rank, more than one layer of the shield may be broken. For each additional +1 CS of damage that hits this shield above its spell rank beyond the first, another layer will be broken; a +5 CS assault will, for instance, shatter four layers of a layered shield.

If a wizard runs out of layered shields, the attack that breaks through the last will not actually harm him or her, per a normal individual shield. One layer of a layered shield will regenerate each turn. The specific protection a layered shield offers is identical to that of its individual counterpart (save for the layering, of course):

Rank -1 CS / Spell Rank / Spell Rank / Rank -6 CS / Rank -8 CS

Learned Invulnerability
Type: Reality Control Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points per rank
Related Powers: environmental adaptation, environmental independence, situational adaptation, various resistances and invulnerabilities (regular or greater).

Characters with learned invulnerability have the power to gain resistance to attack forms which damage them - after being exposed to them. Upon suffering damage of any type, the possessor of this power may attempt a power ACTION roll against its intensity. If this ACTION roll is successful, the character will develop resistance to that form of damage equal to that which was received - with an upper limit of this power's rank.

For example, a hero who has just acquired Excellent (20) ranked learned resistance is attacked by a group of thugs. After being struck with fists for Typical (6) Blunt Attack damage, the hero can acquire like resistance to Blunt Attack damage if he can pass an ACTION roll against the amount of damage inflicted. From then on, he'll retain that resistance indefinitely - unless he opts to replace it with a different one.

This power can replace lower ranked resistances with higher intensity protection, but this involves suffering the full force of such an attack. By voluntarily lowering one's learned invulnerability, the character with this power can let their body adapt to the damage form anew. If exposed to damage higher than one's power rank, the wielder of this power can always attempt to learn resistance to it with a red ACTION roll.

That hero with Excellent (20) ranked learned invulnerability might want additional resistance to Blunt Attack damage. Climbing to the roof of an apartment building, he leaps off to land on the concrete surface below! By suffering the full damage caused by this fall, the hero can attempt another ACTION against the intensity of damage suffered, the success of which will grant him newer, higher rank resistance to Blunt Attack damage.

If he lives.

Finally, learned invulnerability can provide a large number of resistances to its possessor, though it is not necessarily proof against everything. One may maintain a roster of learned resistances that is equal to its power rank number. If a character with learned invulnerability encounters a new attack form and is at their resistance cap, they can acquire a new resistance only by dropping a previously mastered resistance.

Looking back on our example hero, let us assume he's stricken down by a psi bolt. Not wanting to repeat that particular experience, he tries very hard and manages to learn a resistance to that power, at his power rank. However, this causes him to lose one of his older resistances, and thinking he can always jump off another building at a later date, he lets his Blunt Attack protection lapse - until he can recover it later, that is.

Lethality
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: causality control, grace, initiative control, karma control, override.

While under the effect of lethality, a character's attacks are much deadlier. Any assault by them which inflicts damage but isn't inherently lethal will see its normal red result on the Universal Table replaced with a 'Kill?' result, instead. This prompts the target to attempt an Endurance ACTION roll on the Kill? column, to see whether or not they have been dealt a fatal blow, which will occur on a white or green result.

On the other hand, if attempting a deadly attack while lethality is active, any successful assault will instead prompt an Endurance ACTION roll against either the intensity of lethality or the damage its wielder inflicted, whichever of the two is higher. Failing this ACTION will automatically cause the victim to begin losing Endurance ranks immediately - and may very well cause their demise.

The benefit of lethality is a much greater frequency in the permanent disposal of one's enemies, though this can come at a cost. The law often frowns upon one so readily ending their foes, whether or not it may seem justified. And then there's the problem with Karma, particularly if 'four color' campaign rules are in effect. But if neither of these conditions are a worry, lethality can be a powerful tool for a character!

Levitation
Type: Movement Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per rank
Related Powers: gliding, kinetic energy control, propulsion, telekinesis.

Levitation is a somewhat limited form of flight, in that it allows one to move their body in the vertical axis - but not the other two. This ability can be the result of any number of factors, ranging from gravity manipulation to telekinetic lifting to inertial dampening to some sort of boot thrusters. Generally, levitation isn't a way to get somewhere very fast, but it does allow one to attain otherwise unreachable heights.

The amount of weight one can carry while levitating is determined by the levitation power rank, as if it was an equivalent Strength score; for example, Incredible (40) ranked levitation could haul up to ten tons into the air with its wielder. This ability can be used to move vertically incredibly quick, doing so at its power rank in flight speed, but again, it has no ability to travel in the horizontal at all.

To achieve horizontal movement while suspended in the air by levitation, one must rely upon other super-human abilities for propulsion - or just push off the nearest building or mountain. Alternately, one can allow themselves to be moved by prevailing winds if desired (normally this power resists such at its own power rank), though when doing so a levitator has no control over their ultimate velocity or destination.

Lie Detection
Type: Mental Power, Clerical Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: auscultation, danger sense, telepathy.

As one can guess from the name of this ability, lie detection involves determining whether or not someone is lying in the course of a conversation. This ability works similar in nature to auscultation, in that it is an entirely passive affair, picking up on the ambient thoughts emitted by the individual being checked for falsehoods. As such, if such a person is not guarding their thoughts, no ACTION roll is required.

However, if the target is in fact aware they're speaking to someone who has this ability (or perhaps just suspects such), he or she may attempt to protect their falsehoods, and may resist lie detection if they can pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this ability's power rank. If the target can succeed in this ACTION roll, the wielder of lie detection cannot determine whether or not a given statement is the truth or a lie.

At least, not through the use of this ability.

As is the case with auscultation, lie detection only works on targets within Very Near distance of its wielder.

Life Ray
Type: Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The life ray power allows its wielder to project large amounts of the essential energies commonly known as 'life force'. The character can either generate this energy themselves or manifest it through some sort of conduit to the Essence, a realm from which life force purportedly springs. Either way, they may fire a ray of essential, life-giving energies at friend and foe alike, either for offensive or defensive purposes.

How a life ray works is that, upon striking its target, it will infuse them with essential energies. This has the effect of repairing inflicted damage, allowing the target to recover a number of lost Health points (if any) that is equal to the life ray power's rank number. This is usually a good thing for the wounded, for a dose of healing energy can often be the difference between life and death in a fight.

Where a life ray can cause its target trouble is when it is used on them multiple times. You see, every time a life ray erases any damage a character has suffered, it counts as a healing effect for the purposes of metabolic overload. Each subsequent healing a character receives within a twenty-four hour period will tax their bodily systems, causing a -1 CS loss of Endurance.

By alternating this power with, say, a damage inflicting attack, one can use their life rays to rapidly diminish their target's Endurance score, potentially killing them in the process - even if they die with (almost) full Health! This is a somewhat roundabout way to deal with one's foes, but if they've got healers on their team, or can heal themselves with ease, it can often be an extremely satisfying way to defeat them!

Life rays can strike anyone within Near distance of their wielder.

Light Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: blending, carrier wave, circular vision, color control, image projection, imaginary doubles, invisibility, light generation, mesmerism, radiation control, sensory attenuation (vision).

Light control is the ability to manipulate extant electromagnetic radiation that conforms to what most humans perceive as visible light. While a character cannot actually create light with this power, he or she may nonetheless alter any light in their environment as they see fit. Such alterations invariably require that a light controller pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of the light which they intend to manipulate.

The intensity of light may either be increased to a level equal to the light control power rank number, or reduced by a similar value. If light of equal or less intensity than the light control power rank is reduced, it may be completely eliminated in this fashion, which may well have the effect of blanketing an area (the maximum of which is everything within Near range) in absolute darkness.

The flow of light may be redirected as is desired. The simplest use of this aspect of light control allows its wielder to simulate power rank resistance to light attacks, as they may shunt light energy around their body when necessary. Other uses for the redirection of light involves making objects appear in places they are not, creating the illusion of movement around a target, or even generating holographic light displays.

Furthermore, controlled light can be used as a surprisingly powerful attack. Even as minimal a light source as a flashlight (or a match!) can be transformed into a deadly weapon by a light controller, focusing its glow into a powerful force blast, or with enough practice, a laser beam. If used in this fashion on light sources behind a target, that foe may not even know to dodge the attack - until it's too late, that is!

Light Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (light), carrier wave, light control, plasma generation, transformation / self (light).

The character with light generation acts as an inexhaustible source of light. He or she may emit light of any brightness or color, of up to their power rank in intensity. Light generated by this power is most effective within Near distance, and may be used to illuminate the entire area or a single target with intensities of light bright enough to temporarily blind others (Endurance (res) ACTION to resist).

In addition to dazzling the eyes of one's foes, light generation can be used to inflict more tangible damage. A focused burst of light generally has a concussive nature, which allows it to inflict Force damage with each application. The pressure a beam of light exerts on solid matter also allows one to apply leverage against it, either for the purposes of propelling oneself about or when shoving objects around.

On the other hand, a coherent beam of light, known as a laser, has a much more deleterious effect on matter. A laser is different than a normal burst of light in that its component photons are spatially and temporally in sync, thus allowing them a staggering increase in focus. This focus allows a laser to inflict Energy damage instead of a light beam's ordinary, concussive damage, and carries an Armor Piercing effect as well.

Furthermore, a laser beam can inflict additional damage, if applied to the same target for multiple turns. For each doubling of turns a laser strikes the same point on a target, its damage can be increased by +1 CS - to a maximum benefit of +4 CS. For example, a Good (10) ranked laser beam trained on the same location for sixteen turns will ultimately inflict Amazing (50) Armor Piercing Energy damage on each subsequent turn.

Finally, light generation can be used to emit light that is not actually visible to the naked eye. Near infrared light, with a wavelength of up to 2,500nm, and near ultraviolet light, down to 300nm in wavelength, may also be produced by light generation. The advantage of this is that the power can be used to transmit information (or even attack) without most individuals even being aware what is going on!

Linguistics
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Eclecticism Spell, Psipathic Talent, Superpsi Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal sympathy, computer link, device sympathy, knowledge, object sympathy, plant sympathy, summoning, telepathy, transception, ultimate talent, translation, variable talent, xenoglossy.

Linguistics is the super-human ability to quickly learn new languages. These languages can come in literally any form, from spoken words to physical gestures to computer codes to pheromone signals. Once a language is mastered with this ability, the super linguist can understand any communications using it, though communicating back might be nigh-impossible if the linguist lacks the appropriate means to do so.

Characters with linguistics can master new languages amazingly fast, depending on what they've got to work with. With a proper language teacher or extensive reference materials, a language can be learned in an hour. It takes a day to master a language just from eavesdropping on one in use, or from random written samples. Exotic communication forms (data flow, pheromones) take a week or more to decipher.

A super-powered linguist can use this ability to learn a number of languages equal to its power rank. To master more, a character must either study additional language talents (during character generation or via character advancement) or raise the rank of this ability higher. If they try to exceed this number, a new language learned will erase the character's knowledge of an existing one (character's choice).

The difficulty of learning a language depends on how similar it is to one's native tongue. A contemporary language from one's world adds +2 CS to a linguistics ACTION, while dead languages from such add but +1 CS. Humanoid alien languages are resolved at the linguistics rank, while data languages and non-sentient animal 'tongues' apply -1 CS. Stranger languages (pheromone signals, photonic expression, etc.) apply -2 CS.

A more temporary use of linguistics involves breaking codes or encryption. Since this ability is defined by translating other communication systems into something the character can understand, linguistics can readily demolish any sort of attempt to obscure information from them. A super-human linguist may decrypt any encoded information at a +3 CS to either their Reason or linguistics rank, whichever is higher.

Link
Type: Power Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: corporeal gestalt, empowerment, investment, power absorption, power duplication, power transfer, spectral gestalt, trace duplication, variable cybernetics, variable power, variable psionics, variable sorcery, variable talent.

The wielder of this ability may combine their special powers with those of several other, willing individuals, to pool the group's collective prowess. The initiator of this link is usually in command of this enhanced power's use, and can wield it at his or her discretion. While the link is active, its initiator may directly wield their powers or those of the link's participants as if they were their own.

For each doubling of people participating in a link, add a +1 CS to whatever power its initiator is wielding. As an example, eight psis are pooling their capabilities together, thus granting the leader of their pack a +3 CS to whatever actions they take with their powers. People can join or leave the link any time after it has been initiated, though maintaining a link under such conditions requires a yellow ACTION.

Generally, linked powers work best when they have a common origin or type. Sorcerers play nice with sorcerers, energy generators ideally pair up with energy generators, and so on. Adding disparate power sources or types, either to start with or later on, inflicts a -1 CS to the ACTION to initiate (or alter the membership of) this linked power pool for each component individual that doesn't 'match'.

Loathing
Type: Voodoo Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Loathing is defined as an extreme disgust, almost irrational in nature. Using this ability, one can instill a sense of loathing in a target, directed at quite literally anything. Those who fail a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power's will hate the indicated object of their loathing with every fiber of their being, and must pass a second Psyche (will) ACTION roll to avoid expressing this hatred physically.

Inanimate objects will be smashed to bits, living beings will be beaten senseless, and so on. Loathing can be applied instantaneously, but the effect of this power lasts for 1d10 turns, often more than enough for someone to sow chaos... or to create a truly impressive diversion. Once this duration has expired, the affected individuals will return to normal, though they may have to explain their actions - possibly in court!

Loathing can be used upon any target within Near distance of its wielder.

Locational Memory
Type: Eclecticism Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Something of a passive ability, locational memory allows its possessor to quickly recall anywhere - or anywhen - they've ever been. This is an ideal ability for those travelers who have a tendency to get lost, or who wander way off the beaten path. The power allows immediate recall of places the character has been with a simple ACTION roll, its difficulty depending on where a location is relative to one's current positioning.

Recalling any location previously visited in the current space-time only requires a green power ACTION roll. Remembering precisely where one has been if that location was visited in a different universe or time period requires a yellow ACTION. Red ACTION rolls are only necessary if the character tries to produce the seven-dimensional coordinates of a place that is both in another plane and temporal frame.

Locational Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, finding, super digging, teleportation, time travel.

The inverse of telelocation, locational sense is an ability which allows its wielder to know their precise, seven-dimensional coordinates relative to a chosen point of reference. Such a reference point can be anything the possessor of this sense chooses, such as one's place of birth, one's time of birth, their current home, or even something less personal, like last Thursday, or mile marker 329 on Nebraska's stretch of I-80.

Pinpointing one's relative position in standard dimensions merely requires a green ACTION roll (latitude and/or longitude, distances, et cetera). A yellow ACTION adds time to the equation (3.5 hours since I woke up, or some such). A red ACTION roll includes other planes of existence in the mix (am I in the right timeline, how many planes am I from Asgard, and so on).

While seemingly simple in scope, locational sense ensures one will never be lost. Even if they're not quite sure how to make it back home.

Logos
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, luck, nimiety, power boost, transfixture, unyielding will

Logos is a powerful mindset, one attained via a persistent, droning chant. This powerful chant focuses one's will such that it may alter both the character and the very universe around them, aligning them so that events resolve in a manner that favors the chanter. Either when activating logos or maintaining the ability, its possessor must pass a power ACTION roll each turn, though the difficulty of such depends on its influence.

While active, the power of logos compels the world to walk in lockstep with one's desires, adding a +1 CS bonus to any ACTION roll they attempt, save for those which keep it functioning. Each ACTION it bolsters, however, inflicts a -1 CS penalty on efforts to uphold logos, this increased difficulty representing mounting resistance to the character's meddling in the proper course of events by reality itself.

If the character with logos simply ceases the chant to maintain it before failing an ACTION to do so, they suffer no harm, and benefit from the general increase in the odds of succeeding in whatever it was they were attempting to do. If they failed an ACTION to keep logos running, however, the character suffers a causal backlash, which comes in the form of like CS penalties applied to their subsequent actions.

In other words, for each ACTION that logos enhanced before it failed, the Judge may 'bank' a -1 CS penalty to any future ACTION its wielder attempts. They may apply these Column Shifts at any point they choose in that session, either all at once or spread out as they see fit. Such is the danger of excessively warping reality, but the potential reward is often more than worth the catastrophic risk involved.

Longevity (Agelessness)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Dimensional Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: permanent
Cost: 1/2 point per rank
Related Powers: age control / self, reformation, regeneration, regenerative armor, revival, stasis, zest.

Thanks to this ability, certain characters can live far, far beyond what is considered a normal human life span. While not immortal, a character with longevity can survive through the ages - assuming no serious injury or disease claims him or her first. The length one's life span is extended depends on when they gained this power. If one is born with it, longevity will be applied as a multiple of a normal human's life span.

For instance, mythological dwarves naturally possess longevity. Thus, they apply the longevity multiplier against the age of seventy years (slightly higher than the actual average, but mathematically simpler). However, if one acquired this power later in life (through, say, a scientific accident), longevity will apply as a multiple of the standard life span minus the age at which they gained their longevity.

As an example, let us assume that a scientist develops an artificial aging suppressant, and administers it to herself as an experiment at the age of thirty-five. Having already spent half of her normal life span, she would apply the longevity multiplier to her normal life span minus her age, which is also thirty-five years.

But what is this longevity multiplier, you ask? Simply put, it is the longevity rank number cubed. The formula for longevity is as follows:

(normal lifespan (70) minus age longevity acquired) times power rank cubed = eventual lifespan

To show this formula at work, let us look at those dwarves from before. With their 'mere' Feeble (2) ranked longevity, we can determine their eventual lifespan by plugging numbers into the formula as described. Seventy (normal human life span) times eight (the rank number cubed) is five hundred and sixty years. That's not forever, but definitely allows for a very long life, compared to the average man on the street.

A more complicated example would be that chemist described above. Subtracting her age from a normal human life span, we wind up with thirty-five years remaining. If we assume a power rank of Good (10), we can plug in the numbers and go with thirty-five (life span minus her age) times one thousand (Good's rank number cubed) to come up with a result equal to thirty-five thousand years remaining on her life.

See, sometimes college can come in handy!

Of course, some might find all of this too complicated - or alternately, they may just want a character who does not age at all. By spending two slots on this power (random character creation) or by purchasing it at Class 5000 rank (point-based system, for eight points), one can instead have what is called Agelessness instead of mere Longevity. This means your character will never die of old age.

Either due to the natural progression of time or because of the aging power!

Luck
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: future control, initiative control, logos.

Similar to the very basis of magic itself, luck is an altering of probabilities to achieve a desired effect. In game terms, this is managed by actually controlling how thrown dice are read. The normal order of 'tens die' and 'ones die' is discarded, being replaced by the luck power based on the effect one desires. The die with the highest number is read first (for good luck), or the die with the lowest number is read first (for bad luck).

The character possessing luck may manipulate a die roll at will, whether their own or anyone else's. This may seem incredibly powerful, and it is, but there's always a danger in meddling with causality. Every time an altered die roll has a zero (0) in it, the Judge should take note, and roll a d10 of their own, in secret. In that many turns, the character whose luck was altered will experience a reversal.

What this means is, if a character was cursed with bad luck, and made a percentile roll with a zero in it, they'll experience good luck in a number of turns equal to the Judge's secret roll. On the other hand, if the wielder of luck was giving themselves good fortune, they'll experience bad luck in a like manner. This is a side effect of space-time righting itself in response to the luck manipulating character's actions.

Of course, there's another catch to luck. Incredibly potent, luck always comes with at least one strong limitation. Such can include (but isn't limited to) being able to only cause good or bad luck (not both), the power affecting everyone in the current area (whether good or bad), being unable to affect the luck of inanimate objects at all, or even gaining no Karma during encounters when the luck ability is in play.

This limitation does not increase the power (or discount the cost) of luck.

The rank for luck is used for few things, and ACTION rolls for such are rarely invoked. The rank number for luck does indicate the maximum amount of times in a given day one may manipulate probabilities in their favor. It also shows how well the lucky character can manipulate the fortunes of individuals with resistance to warping attacks - or perhaps others with the luck ability as well.

M

Macro Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Art, Theonic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological sense, danger sense, energy sense, environmental sense, flaw sense, nativity sense, nonapparent vision, origin sense, self control, super senses.

This potent ability allows a character to tap into a vast external source of information. His or her mind may be privy to the nature of reality itself, or it might instead subconsciously link up with the knowledge of all other sentient beings. Either way, they can use this link to study a person, place, or thing of interest exhaustively, learning about the entire existence of the subject of their inquiry.

The amount of information that this power can cull from... wherever... is typically overwhelming, no matter how specific a query may at first seem to be. Finding general or simple information about a subject requires a green ACTION, while more complex and intimate details may take a yellow ACTION roll. A red ACTION might even be required for particularly obscure, arcane, or secret and forbidden lore.

One thing a character with macro sense can do without an ACTION roll is track extremely powerful entities in his or her area. They will automatically sense sources of Class 1000 or greater power within their vicinity, as determined by the Far range table.

Macro sense is a very potent ability, and often allows a character to know things that 'man was not meant to know'. While incredibly handy, this access to unbelievable amounts of data can have a chilling effect on one's mind. In addition to causing tendencies of omniscience (and why not, really), macro sense can actually prove a threat to one's sanity if it is used too much in a short period of time.

The 'safe' amount of use for macro sense is once a day, plus one for every rank of Reason a character has over Feeble (2). A hero with Remarkable (30) ranked Reason, then, can use this ability six times in one day without causing themselves undue harm. If this amount is exceeded, the Judge may make a secret Reason ACTION roll for the character. If it fails, the character might slip into temporary insanity.

Driven mad after being inundated with too much data, the character may drift into catatonic withdrawal - or just ceaselessly gibber at anyone they see. Typically, this madness will only last until the character falls unconscious, allowing their mind to process everything it has been exposed to (or at least some of it). But repeated abuse of the power can cause the generation of deleterious mental Quirks - or worse!

Magic Magnet
Type: Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

The magic magnet ability is a specialized, area effect form of spell control. It essentially involves making its wielder the target of any magical energies that pass within Very Near distance of his or her person. Magic magnet will act on magic whether it originates in its wielder's area or is simply passing through on the way to anywhere else - as far as this ability is concerned, there's no difference between the two.

Such a spell or magical power may be either beneficial or harmful in nature, but regardless of its form a spell active in the vicinity of this power's possessor will home in on him or her - if it fails an ACTION roll against the magic magnet power rank, that is. This is a great way to save an ally from an impending sorcerous attack - or to swipe the healing magic of an enemy!

Magic Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, nativity sense, origin sense, spectral sense, theonic sense.

A magic sense is the ability to perceive sorcerous energies in one's vicinity. This sense functions on the Near range table, allowing its user to detect the presence and/or usage of anomalous probabilities within a considerable radius of their person. Accomplishing this requires a simple green ACTION roll, unless its user is taking active steps to mask its use. If so, spotting it takes an ACTION of an intensity equal to the masking power.

Other than detecting magic in one's proximity, a magic sense also has additional uses. A yellow ACTION roll allows the possessor of magic sense to determine whether or not magic in play is a result of normal environmental activity (this can be the case on other planes) or what school of magic was used to produce it. A red ACTION can be used to pinpoint exactly which spell is being used on a person, place, or thing.

Magnetism Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, electricity control, energy cohesion, force field, magnetism generation.

Wielding magnetism control, a character can manipulate extant lines of magnetic force in their environment. While this character cannot actually generate magnetism, at least with this power alone, he or she may alter that which they encounter in their environment as they see fit - assuming, of course, that they can first pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of such magnetism.

The simplest use for this power is the amplification or attenuation of magnetism present in one's vicinity - whether dealing with that generated by a transformer or a localized portion of the earth's magnetic field. Such magnetism can be increased to an intensity equal to this power rank number or reduced by a like amount, whichever the magnetism controller desires.

Alternately, the shape of magnetic lines of force can be altered with this ability, shunting magnetism around oneself to simulate a resistance to such energies, or otherwise molding it as is desired. Ferrous objects may be attracted to powerful magnetic fields, while diamagnetic objects will be repelled by such - a principle which lends itself to all manner of nasty power stunts with machinery or even organic creatures.

As electricity and magnetism are close cousins, one can learn how to manipulate electricity with magnetism control, shaping the flow of electrons with focused magnetic fields as a power stunt. This can be used to directly attack an opponent, doing so with bolts of electricity, or in a more indirect fashion, perhaps by causing their advanced technology to malfunction (or even overload).

Some less intuitive stunts that one can master with magnetism control involves the manipulation of materials that are neither ferrous nor diamagnetic, done via the alteration of the earth's magnetic field itself. This is how many magnetism controllers can generate a force field, protecting themselves from all manner of attacks!

Magnetism control works within Near distance of its wielder.

Magnetism Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (magnetism), carrier wave, electricity generation, force field, magnetism control, plasma generation, transformation / self (magnetism).

The character with magnetism generation can spontaneously manifest tremendous amounts of this fundamental force of nature. This power can inundate the area within Very Near distance with a pulse of magnetic energy, or simply focus it at a specific target within Near distance of their person. Doing the former requires no 'to hit' roll, while the latter can be dodged by those aware of the danger magnetism can pose.

The effects of magnetism on matter depends on its characteristics. A ferrous material will typically be attracted to magnetic fields, while a diamagnetic substance will instead be repelled by such. The former explains how a magnet can hold on to objects made of or containing iron (possibly with incredible force), while the latter details how (potentially mad) scientists can levitate frogs and the like with superconductors.

When ferrous objects are imbued with magnetic force, they will generally attract other ferrous objects. This can cause them damage if enough acceleration is involved, usually at a maximum intensity equal to this power's rank number. Similarly, enough ferrous material can 'stick' to a magnetized object such that it might be slowed down by the additional mass - if not stopped abruptly!

A diamagnetic substance, on the other hand, will produce a repellent magnetic force when magnetism is applied to it. With powerful enough magnetism, then, one can actually push diamagnetic objects away with considerable force. Since water is a diamagnetic substance, most carbon-based life forms are subject to such repulsion, and a 'bolt' of magnetic force can either be used to move them or to inflict Force damage!

Finally, magnetic fields have a deleterious effect on functioning electronics. If exposed to a powerful magnetic field, such devices must pass an operations check against the intensity of the magnetism present to avoid malfunctioning (assuming they are unshielded). Depending on their nature, this may simply scramble their operation, thus forcing a reboot, or just might damage them permanently!

Such attraction, repulsion, scrambling, and direct damage function with power rank strength.

Masking
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Masking is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to alter or disguise his or her appearance or presence in a variety of creative ways, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the masking spell, a mage may choose any one of the following six spells, at which point masking will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Age Control / Self, Animal Hybridization / Self, Blending, Disguise, Illusion Projection, or Plant Hybridization / Self.

However, should masking's caster wish to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, masking will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though magicians achieving a 'bonus' result may choose masking's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Matter Absorption
Type: Matter Control Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, assimilation, ice generation, plasma generation, super breath.

The power of matter absorption is the ability to draw large amounts of material into one's body.

One can soak up an amount of matter per turn that is equal to their power rank number in pounds, and can then store an amount of matter that is equal to their normal body weight times five. For example, a two hundred pound man with Good (10) ranked matter absorption may draw in ten pounds at a time, with a maximum storage 'tank' equal to one thousand pounds!

When absorbing matter in this fashion, it does not go anywhere to speak of - the character who absorbs matter incorporates it into their body. The amount by which his or her size changes is dependent on their size and how much matter they've absorbed, but if enough material is internalized, it may possibly curtail or even prevent movement entirely if the mass stowed away on their person exceeds their own Strength.

But what can one do with matter absorbed in this fashion, you ask?

The material internalized by this power can serve as fuel for other super-human capabilities, for one thing. It can also be expelled with power rank force, causing damage appropriate to its type (generally Force or Blunt Attack, depending) by firing off an amount of matter equal to that which one can absorb in a single turn. Or one might simply need a whole lot of a given material, and may wish to collect it in a single location.

The materials to be absorbed by this power must be in physical contact with its possessor. Thus, to use it against a living being, one must naturally touch them! On contact, the power will inflict up to its power rank in Metabolic damage as it siphons off whatever matter an absorber is trying to internalize - the specific amount dependent on how much of whatever the matter absorber's target is present in the body.

When it is first acquired, matter absorption can be limited somewhat, if desired. The power can be curtailed such that it only works on a certain type of matter (liquids, solids, et cetera.) as a weak limitation, a specific substance in any state (water, in either a solid, liquid, or gaseous form) as a strong limitation, or even a specific substance in a specific state (hydrogen gas) as a very strong limitation.

Matter Duplication
Type: Matter Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, body doubles, device generation, disintegration, matter generation, organism generation.

The power to duplicate matter is the ability to create a replica of extant matter. Upon being presented with something, the possessor of this power has the option to create a copy of whatever it happens to be. This 'something' can be in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state, may be one object or many, active or inert, or even living! The power cares not, but the exact precision with which it works is somewhat variable.

When presented with something to replicate, the possessor of matter duplication may roll a power ACTION if he or she wishes to use it on the proffered material(s). As long as this ACTION roll is at least green in hue, the power can precisely copy the physical structure of the object(s) or substance(s) before its wielder, which makes it great for the purposes of mass production - or counterfeiting.

But the physical structure of a material is not necessarily all that makes it what it is. A computer, for instance, has a variety of energy states active within it at any given point, particularly in its data storage medium. Alternately, an ice cube is very cold - copying one without replicating its temperature would cause the duplicate cube to melt instantly. Duplicating energy state(s) requires a yellow power ACTION roll.

Finally, the characteristics of some materials appear to defy logic... or at least conventional physics as we know it. Such materials are usually campaign-specific metals and substances, and are often magical, psi-active, or deionic in nature (or a mix of these three qualities). Duplicating the metaphysical profiles of such things (above and beyond their mere atomic structure) requires a successful red power ACTION.

When copying material, matter duplication can only produce so much at a given point in time. It may produce, per turn, an amount of matter equal to its power rank in pounds. If one wishes to duplicate an object of larger mass, they must use the power for multiple turns, spending the appropriate amount of time to manifest a singular object if its weight exceeds their per-turn matter duplication limit when necessary.

As is the case with other matter generating powers, the use of matter duplication is stressful on the body. Each turn the power is active, it will cost its possessor one Health point, damage which must be healed in whatever fashion is normal for the character. This because weaving matter from the ambient subatomic particles in one's environment is an incredibly difficult task to perform, even under optimal conditions.

How long a duplicate lasts can be determined with a second power ACTION, made after matter has been replicated by this power. A white ACTION makes it last for a number of turns equal to this power's rank number, a green ACTION lets a duplication exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows a duplicate to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

Finally, a red ACTION roll made after a duplication is completed will allow a copy this power has made to exist indefinitely.

Matter Generation
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous (unless building particularly large items)
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, antimatter, device generation, disintegration, eidetic memory, matter duplication, nanotechnology generation, object sympathy, organic circuitry, organism generation, radiation generation, super invention, transmutation.

The highly versatile ability of matter generation allows its possessor to create a wide variety of items, from a wide variety of materials, at will. Such items are manufactured using ambient subatomic particles, countless numbers of which permeate the environment around oneself at any given moment in time. The trick is that one can only generate one item with each use of this incredible ability.

One can generate an amount of mass that is equal to their power rank, in pounds, each turn. If one wishes to construct something larger, they must spend more than one turn generating it. For example, a character with Excellent (20) ranked matter generation can produce twenty pounds of material per turn. To make something that weighs one hundred pounds, they would have to spend five full turns creating it.

The other thing to keep in mind is that generating matter is extremely stressful on one's body. Wielding this power will cost a character one Health point each turn it is used, Health that must then be recovered normally. This strain can be alleviated entirely with the use of the disintegration power, using it to transform external matter into fuel for matter generation to bypass the extreme physical costs involved.

The amount of time such spontaneously generated matter will persist depends on variables present when the power is used. A white ACTION makes it last for a number of turns equal to this power's rank number, a green ACTION lets a substance exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows an object to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

Finally, a red power ACTION creates matter from nowhere that lasts indefinitely.

Matter generation functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, and then only within his or her direct line-of-sight. Wielding this power at Remarkable (30) ability, for example, allows its possessor to generate matter anywhere within 30 yards of their person - assuming nothing lies between them and where they would like to create it. Such items have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately.

When creating matter with this ability, one can generate general shapes easily. However, creating (and recreating) specialized items with specific characteristics requires memorizing said properties and measurements. One can recall an amount of particular designs that is equal to their Reason (mem) score. Remembering more requires one to forget an older design, though the eidetic memory power bypasses this limitation.

Typically, a 'to hit' roll is not required when wielding this ability - it just makes something, approximately where one would like it to manifest. However, if attempting to create matter in a fashion that is opposed somehow, such as generating sudden cement shoes on someone trying to run away, an Agility roll is required. Targets who are aware of such attempts may do everything in their power to avoid them.

The materials one can generate an item out of are generally unlimited, but the more complicated they are, the more difficult a power ACTION is required when the item is created. A simple elemental material or molecular compound (such as iron or bronze) requires a green ACTION roll. Yellow ACTIONs are necessary when producing complex chemical compounds or artificial elemental material (such as buckyballs or mendelevium).

A red power ACTION is only required when attempting to generate items out of fictional elements or compounds - these are most often materials that are campaign specific, or exist only within one's preferred fictional setting (things like Unobtainium, featured in several different motion pictures, for instance). Generating items out of such substances is incredibly hard, but not entirely impossible.

Matter generation is an expensive power, but may be taken with a variety of limitations to reduce that cost somewhat - on top of those that are already indicated above, that is. One can easily limit it by reducing the kinds of matter it can generate; limiting matter generation to one kind of material (metals, stone) is a weak limitation, while reducing it to a specific substance (titanium, or uranium) is a strong limitation.

Similarly, allowing a body to only build one item with this power - perhaps a trusty weapon or some such - counts as a very strong limitation, extreme if it can only be made out of one substance, as well. Finally, removing permanence from the power also counts as a weak limitation; this reduces a red ACTION roll to a duration equal to the power rank number in days. This is still quite a while, but can be inconvenient nonetheless.

Mechanical Disruption
Type: Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding this ability, a character can induce failure in any one mechanical device in his or her vicinity, as defined by Near distance. This failure can take any form, but most often it isn't permanent in nature; the effects of mechanical disruption usually only lasts for 1d10 turns. Generally, it is induced by overwhelming vibrational interference - not an impact, so much as movement sufficient enough to cause malfunction.

An item subject to mechanical disruption is allowed an operations check to resist its effects if non-sentient (such as a bicycle), or an Endurance ACTION roll to resist its effects if animate (such as a robotic soldier). Generally, items so disrupted will resume normal operations once the duration of the disruption has expired, though they may require a bit of extra time to get all their moving parts properly realigned again.

Which often makes this ability doubly effective!

Mental Doubles
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: body doubles, energy doubles, imaginary doubles, mind duplication, mind transfer, telepathy.

Mental doubles are mirror duplicates of one's own mind that the wielder of this power can produce - inside his or her own head! The practical benefit of this is that one can lend their concentration to more than one matter at a time. Being of literally two (or more) minds, the mental doubler can usually get a lot more done at once, despite having to share a single body amongst their many selves.

Mental doubles all possess the same mental ability scores - that of their creator. The only metric of mental might that differs will be one's Mental Health, which is split amongst the many doubles one has created. This can be a double-edged sword if one is subject to psionic assault; while one of one's minds can be knocked out rather easily, there's usually one or more doubles handy to pick up the slack.

For every rank in this power one possesses, they can add an additional mental double inside their mind, if they wish. For instance, a character with Incredible (40) ranked mental doubles could have up to seven additional versions of their mind in their head. While all the doubles one has active must share the physical body of their creator between them, they each have their own 'copy' of their mental or skill-equivalent abilities.

When apportioning out the number of concentration-based powers one can maintain at any given time (such as spells or psionics that require maintenance), divide them up equally between the many mental doubles, though each individual double is allowed a minimum of one power. This allows the mental doubler to potentially increase the number of such abilities they can effectively wield simultaneously, which is quite a boon.

Each mind inside the head of a mental doubler is allowed one action per turn, though the physical body is bound to the number of actions it is normally allotted. That Incredible (40) ranked mental doubler, above, could manage eight actions, though most folks cannot do this without super speed, and thus only some of their doubles could wield their body each turn - the rest would need to utilize skill-equivalent powers instead.

Though if they had access to, say, telekinesis, they could do a whole lot at once!

Mental Invisibility
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: fortuity, inaudibility, inodoriferous, intangibility, invisibility / self, psychic invisibility.

Functioning as a sort of psionic stealth, mental invisibility renders its possessor's mind effectively invisible. A mentally invisible individual can still be readily seen by the standard five senses, but psionic powers of any stripe will have a very hard time detecting or connecting with them. Furthermore, they are effectively transparent to Karmic energies (making them functionally resistant to such, at this power rank).

To even spot a mentally invisible individual, a psionic ability must first pass an ACTION roll against the intensity of this power, the failure of which indicates said ability won't even recognize their presence - even when overwhelming physical evidence indicates otherwise. This is also the case against technological or other means of reading or detecting one's mind or mental energies (EEG scans and the like).

Targeting a mentally invisible individual with psionic powers is a feat performed as if conventional abilities were being used against a (regularly) invisible individual - in other words, at a -4 CS.

Mental Repair
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clarity, cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, mind lock, mind wipe, psychic probe, recovery, resurrection, resuscitation, telepathy, transfixture.

Mental repair is a healing power of a sort, working to mend damage inflicted upon the mind. While mental repair in and of itself doesn't deal in numbers, like the ordinary healing powers do, this ability can be used to right any number of things going wrong within the mind of a sentient being. Anything from mental illness to deleterious quirks to the damage wrought by psionic powers can ultimately be healed by this ability.

When invoked, mental repair must pass a power ACTION against the Psyche (will) of its intended target. If this ACTION is successful, the character with this ability may attempt to undo any psychic damage the target suffers from. If the damage was inflicted by a psionic power, it can be undone with a second ACTION roll, this time against the intensity of the original power if known. If the original power rank is unknown, a green ACTION will do.

Such damage may come in the form of suggestions wrought by mesmerism, mind control, or crowd control, a loss of memory caused by forgetfulness or mind wipe, or any deleterious quirks acquired as a result of catastrophic Karmic damage (such as from psi bolts) - and so on. Once repaired, the target's mind will show immediate results of this, possibly resuming normal behavior or ability within moments of the fix.

Alternately, mental repair can be used to treat more traditional, psychiatric problems. The main question when bringing mental repair to bear in this fashion is the nature of the problem to be fixed - namely because a lot of mental problems can be traced back to physical imperfections in the 'hardware' housing a mind.

Anything from chemical imbalances to brain damage to surgical procedures can impair one's mind, and if this is the root of a mental problem, mental repair can only fix the error in a transient fashion (usually for 1d100 turns). After this time, the target will resume operation under their normal parameters, though they might be appreciative of the moment(s) of clarity this ability can provide.

Mental repair can be used to bypass some physical limitations of the mind, though such therapy takes quite some time. Problems of a purely psychological nature can be treated in this manner as well. The difference between the two is that purely psychological problems, no matter how severe, can ultimately be fixed in most cases, while a physical problem can only be resolved so much.

And if such problems come in the form of quirks, one must work with their Judge to resolve how such issues are dealt with permanently.

Mental Trap
Type: Eclecticism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

A mental trap is just that, a psychic ambush its wielder can set when expecting like assault. This can be done at any time, lasting 1d10 turns unless specifically maintained. A mental trap works by unleashing psychic energy when a psionic effect interacts with its wielder's mind. When this occurs, the trapper can inflict the trap's rank in Karmic damage if they pass an ACTION roll against the intruder's Psyche rank.

Whether or not this ambush on the mind of a would-be psychic snoop is successful, it will nonetheless impede the use of his or her abilities. Their target will be alerted to the use of such, after all, and they will suffer a -2 CS penalty to the power they attempted to use in the first place, -4 CS if they actually suffered damage while doing so (it impedes concentration).

Mesmerism
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: charm, crowd control, daydreams, dream projection, fugue, mind control, mind duplication, possession, sleep, telepathy.

Mesmerism is an advanced form of the hypnotism talent. Instead of being made manifest through simple training, mesmerism is an actual super-human capability, both in the speed and power of its effects. For one thing, normal hypnotism usually cannot affect a body who is unwilling to be hypnotized in the first place, but mesmerism can inflict a hypnotic state if the target fails a Psyche ACTION against the mesmerism rank.

Bear in mind that one must be within Very Near distance of their target to mesmerize them.

Once this state is achieved, the target can be forced to do something in regards to their immediate behavior (put out that cigarette) or have a post-hypnotic suggestion implanted (give up smoking altogether). If in the form of a command, mesmerism will last only as long as it takes its target to complete their action (bleary eyed, the victim tries to remember why he put his freshly lit cigarette out in the first place).

On the other hand, the effects of a mesmerism-delivered suggestion will last for a number of days equal to its rank number, and can even override the target's ethics on a red mesmerism ACTION roll (the target, having stopped smoking for a full month thanks to a Remarkable (30) ranked mesmerism suggestion, may resume his habit if he chooses at this point - or continue to enjoy his extra pocket change).

Mesmermechanism
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wielding mesmermechanism, a character may direct any electronic or mechanical item to do his or her bidding. This typically involves the character invoking the mesmermechanism ability, a process that ends by them literally telling the device what it must do. This can be as simple or as complicated as time permits; 'Get him' works just as well as 'Run him over until he doesn't move anymore,' but is less evocative.

This power functions as a sort of technological counterpart to standard mesmerism, working in the same manner. A character may use it to give a device a momentary command ('Hit the brakes') or a continuous instruction ('Floor it and don't stop'). The item in question will continue to perform the action commanded of it, until said action is complete (the car stops) or it cannot be continued (the car is hit by a train).

The latter, if possible, will continue for a duration in hours equal to the power rank number.

The impetus for this operation is provided by the mesmermechanism power, including any energy required. For instance, a car directed to drive for hours on end will continue to do so under mesmermechanism's influence, long after it has run out of gas. An item can be compelled to do anything it is physically capable of. A bicycle will happily pedal down the street, but it cannot fly - unless it has a built-in jump jet.

Compelling items to do the character's bidding usually only requires a green power ACTION, unless it is under the mental control of someone else (direct neural interface, another mesmermechanist) or is itself sentient (an artificial intelligence, or perhaps a golem). In either case, the item in question may attempt to resist an application of mesmermechanism, though it must defeat this power's rank to do so.

Metabolic Focus
Type: Physical Control Power, Eclecticism Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, power boost.

Something of a self-destructive ability, metabolic focus allows one to cannibalize their own bodily energies to enhance their capabilities. For each point of Health the wielder of this ability sacrifices, they may add a direct, one point boost to the rank of any ability or power they desire. This lost Health is gone, and must be healed normally (a good reason to also have regeneration, or to hang out with a healer).

The duration of this enhancement, regardless of what it is applied to, is 1d10 turns - most often enough to last for the duration of a battle, but not always. There's no limit to the number of times one can enhance a power with metabolic focus, though the amount of enhancement per use is limited to either the metabolic focus power rank or the enhanced power's rank +1 CS, whichever of the two is higher.

Microscopic Vision
Type: Sensory Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, biological sense, energy sense, super senses, super tracking, telescopic vision, transparent vision.

A character with this ability may see small objects, often impossibly so, as if they were of a perfectly normal size. The amount of detail a character can perceive with microscopic vision depends on its rank, and when magnified enough, this ability can actually transcend mere visual data. After all, once you've zoomed in enough that you can discern individual photons, other methods of perception must hold sway.

Generally, a Feeble (2) rank in microscopic vision will allow one to read microfiche, while an Excellent (20) rank lets one view single cells. An Amazing (50) rank allows one to visualize molecules, while Unearthly (100) ranked microscopic vision may perceive individual atoms. The 'Shift' ranks allow one to spy ever-smaller subatomic particles, while the 'Class' ranks can reach even further, down into subatomic worlds!

While microscopic vision can be used to see very small things, they need to be relatively close to be focused in on. The sense itself functions with a range as is determined on the Very Near range table, which is highly limited - but appropriate, considering the physics involved.

Mimicry
Type: Eclecticism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Their magic being a hodgepodge of spells and styles from vastly differing sources, an eclecticist does not receive many of the benefits other sorcerers enjoy (their benefit when learning new spells notwithstanding). They don't get a lot of the situational bonuses that their peers receive while actually casting spells - at least, unless they've caught wind of the mimicry spell.

This eclectic school spell is designed for sorcerers who have drawn magic from a variety of other schools in their travels. What it does is, while active, attune the eclectic mage to a specific school of magic. This allows them any casting bonuses that would otherwise apply to a body of the chosen education. For instance, an eclecticist casting faerie dust while holding a Fae magic wand would receive a +1 CS if properly attuned.

Mimicry can only tune an eclecticist to one school of magic at a time; switching to another requires a recasting of this spell. This can be something of a pain when rapidly alternating between one school's spells and another's, but allows the eclectic mage to get the most bang for their buck. Finally, mimicry can only grant such bonuses if its spell rank is of equal or greater rank than the spells it would enhance in this fashion.

Mind Control
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: body control, crowd control, jumbling, mesmerism, mind duplication, mind lock, mind wipe, mood swings, pain, possession, psychic invisibility, summoning, telepathy.

Mind control is a means by which one can take direct control over the actions of another. While mesmerism is somewhat subtle in nature, mind control allows for a granular manipulation of the target's activities. When the power is activated, its target immediately gains a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist the effect, rolled against the intensity of the mind control ability. If this ACTION fails, the target is in the mind controller's thrall.

While the victim of mind control must initially be within Very Near distance, the range at which he or she can still be controlled is increased to Middle distance once domination of their mind has been achieved. A mind controller must deliver commands directly for them to be obeyed, either verbally (in person or by telephone) or telepathically (if the mind controller also has that power).

Once control is established, the victim may not attempt to resist again, unless ordered to do something diametrically opposed to their moral structure. While so controlled, the victim of this power may not spend Karma on any ACTION, unless their own existence is in direct jeopardy (which allows another resistance ACTION). Similarly, Karma gains or losses incurred while mind controlled are passed onto the controller.

Popularity losses for actions taken while mind controlled are entirely the problem of the victim, though!

Mind control lasts for a number of minutes equal to its rank number, or until control of the target is given up (voluntarily or otherwise). While under the effects of this ability, the victim may or may not be aware of what is going on - this is entirely up to the mind controller. Similarly, whether or not the target remembers anything done while under mind control depends on the whims of the wielder of this power.

Mind Duplication
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous or maintenance, depending
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: mental doubles, mesmerism, mind control, mind wipe, psychic probe, summoning, telepathy.

Mind Duplication is the process of copying the consciousness of another person into oneself. To duplicate someone's mind, the possessor of this power must be close to them, as the ability only functions within Very Near distance of its target. Luckily for the subject of this power, mind duplication doesn't actually take anything from its targets - it just copies the contents of their heads.

The quality of a mental copy depends on the ACTION roll made when it is used on its subject. A white ACTION roll will only duplicate the target's personality, while a green ACTION adds most major memories. A yellow power ACTION roll involves a comprehensive memory duplication, along with any talents the subject possesses. A red ACTION even adds in any talent-equivalent powers (psionics, spells) the subject knows.

So once you've got a copy of someone's mind, then what?

While the subject of this ability isn't affected by this power, and may not even know it was used, the copy of his or her mind inside the mind duplicator's head will. Whether it thinks it has been the target of mind transfer or some other psionic agency, this copied mind will lash out against the mind duplicator, and will usually try to take control of their body for itself (assuming no voluntary copying was involved).

This sort of activity requires a contest of wills between the duplicated mind and the mind duplicator. Of course, lacking the animating spirit of the original, the duplicate is at something of a disadvantage, and suffers a -2 CS to its 'real' Psyche for this purpose. If the duplicate fails, its mind is subordinate to the will of its creator, and can be picked at for information and such at one's leisure.

If this Psyche contest is a tie, the duplicate mind will merge with that of the mind duplicator for the duration of the power. While in this state, the character with this power should have mental abilities that are the average of theirs and that of the consciousness they copied. The combined personality should be a perfect blending of the two, but if each mind is at diametric purposes, it may war with itself.

Should the mind duplicator lose a contest of will against a copied consciousness, its personality will take over their body while the power is active. It has access to any knowledge and skill-equivalent powers that were copied with it, along with the physical abilities and powers of its 'host'. What actions it will take at this point ultimately depend on its relationship with the mind duplicator in the first place.

So how long does mind duplication last? This is determined by a second mind duplication ACTION, made after an initial success. A white ACTION allows it to last for only 1d10 turns. Green ACTION rolls extend this to a number of turns equal to the power rank number, a yellow ACTION extends this to a number of minutes equal to the power rank number, and a red ACT roll extends this to a number of hours equal to the power rank number.

These periods of time, of course, assume that the possessor of mind duplication isn't specifically concentrating on maintaining a duplicate consciousness inside their own head. At the same time, the temporary nature of mind duplication ensures that if some critical mishap occurs with the power, its wielder will not be forever beholden to any consciousness it has duplicated, in the event that it takes over and runs rampant.

A curious side effect of mind duplication is that, even after a copied consciousness has faded, it sometimes leaves a psychic echo. This is because information is nigh-impossible to remove from one's mind once it has been implanted, no matter how hard one tries - in fact, trying usually makes it stick harder. These echoes are generally harmless for the most part, but can clutter up one's subconscious a bit.

Luckily, they tend to lack actual talents and talent-like powers they may've possessed, but their personality will usually shine through, along with vague memories of their past (usually what the mind duplicator knows about them). But this can lead to particularly vivid dreams starring one or more personality echoes. Or, should the mind duplicator lose all of their Mental Health, they may rarely come to the fore.

Which might be something of a surprise to everyone around the mind duplicator - particularly whoever it is that knocked them out!

Mind Link
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: finding, group link, mind transfer, sensory link, telepathy.

A mind link is a powerful psychic bond between two individuals. A mind link can only be initiated between two willing people (which need not include this power's wielder), for it is a deep and personal merger of the thoughts, emotions, and sensations of those so connected. As such, a mind link is a more intense experience than mere telepathy, often reserved for the closest of friends, or those with an already intimate familiarity.

When first initiated, a mind link can only connect two individuals within Very Near range of each other, but once established this ability has no limitations of range. A mind link will function regardless of distance, ignoring geography, planar barriers, and even time itself. It may be temporarily blocked by another, outside agency, but a mind link can only be permanently severed by the intent of either linked individual.

While mentally linked, both individuals (whether or not they include the possessor of this power) experience the thoughts and feelings of one another, along with any strong sensory input one may receive - from intense flavors to extreme pain. It is incredibly difficult to hide something from a person one shares a mind link with, and doing so requires a red Psyche (will) ACTION roll every day the secret is to be kept.

Unlike most psionics, a mind link is a permanent effect; once initiated it is a persistent state of affairs. As such, it does not count as a power for the purposes of power maintenance, one of the few psionic abilities that functions in this fashion. On the other hand, a mind can only be linked with one other person at any moment in time; to mind link with a different person, an existing link must be surrendered.

Mind Lock
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: daydreams, jumbling, mental repair, mind control, mind wipe, telepathy.

Mind lock allows its wielder to pause a target's conscious mind in a precise and instantaneous fashion. If the victim fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power rank, he or she will stop cold - right where they stand. No matter what they were doing at the time a mind lock was applied, the victim will simply cease their actions and freeze in place, unable to move or think in the slightest.

The mind locked may roll an additional ACTION to resist this ability each turn. Upon breaking free from a mind lock, the target will continue to act as they originally planned, though they'll realize something has changed after resuming their course of action (if it hasn't already been obviated by events occurring while their mind was on hold), and may resume normal activity on their next turn.

A mind lock may be applied in an instantaneous or maintained fashion. The former frees the wielder of this ability to do other things, while the latter allows them to constantly hold the target in place. If the target breaks free from an instantaneous mind lock, they are free to do whatever they like, though if they emerge from a maintained mind lock, they must resist on each subsequent turn or said lock will resume while maintained.

Mind lock only functions within Very Near distance of its target.

Mind Transfer
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: finding, mind duplication, mind link, possession, summoning, telepathy.

This dangerous ability allows its user to swap the very minds of two separate individuals. When activated, mind transfer prompts an immediate Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its power rank to resist, unless the targets of the power are explicitly willing subjects. If all unwilling individuals involved fail this ACTION roll, then their minds are transplanted from their original locations into their counterparts' bodies.

Note that the wielder of this ability need not be one of the minds so transferred, though this can make for a good limitation.

When uprooted, the mind of a character transferred into another body retains their Reason, Intuition, and Psyche scores, as well as their Karma total, mental quirks, and knowledge-based powers. They can make use of the physical characteristics of their new body just fine, whether mundane or fantastic, as well as the Resources, Popularity, and contacts of their new form - at least, until people realize just what has happened.

A mind transfer can be enacted between any two minds, whether sapient or not, organic or not. One could swap the minds of two humans, a human and a robot, a robot and a dog, a dog and a human - whatever, really. Plopping a mind into a body that it's ill-equipped to handle may involve considerable difficulty in restoring even basic mobility, much less the use of its considerable capabilities (if any).

The duration of a mind transferal is dependent on variables present when the ability is put to use. A white ACTION causes a mind transfer to last but 1d10 turns. Green ACTIONs allow a mind transfer to endure for a number of turns equal to its power rank, while a yellow ACTION extends its duration to a like number of minutes. Finally, red mind transfers last for a number of hours equal to this power rank.

Alternately, a mind transfer may be made permanent if both recipients of the power's use are willing. On the other hand, a permanent mind transfer may occur when one of the power's targets physically dies before the effect wears off. In the event of such a catastrophe, the remaining body has nowhere else to put the mind it's currently housing, so it hangs onto it in perpetuity.

A character wielding this power to hop from body to body is considerably difficult to track down, particularly if they make multiple transfers in short order. By the time everyone's minds are back where they belong, the consciousness of the character with mind transfer is long, long gone. It might be just as difficult to put such a person down for good, if they have various empty bodies ready to house their mind.

Mind transfer functions within Very Near range of its user.

Mind Walk
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, dream projection, telepathy.

Each sentient mind is like its very own plane of existence. Whether speaking of the conscious mind or otherwise, the totality of a sentience casts its shadow on the seventh dimension. Such shadows land in a space where thought and matter meld, a realm that can be traveled to by those who know how, contracting their existence on the lower dimensions and arriving fully manifest where their mind's shadow normally rests.

This is the process of mind walking.

Once in this realm of minds, the so-called mindscape, the mind walker can travel between sentiences, experiencing the spaces created as different consciousnesses influence the mental turf around them. Almost anything can happen in these turbulent spaces, as each mind is unique - and the influences of varying minds on a given point in space can shape it in curious and distressing fashions, depending on their strengths.

But why would one want to visit such a strange space-time, you ask? Primarily, one can travel to the shadow of a sentient mind, and then re-materialize in the 'real' world next to its possessor. This makes a mind walk a great way to travel anywhere, with no range limits. Assuming that a mind walker can find a sentient being where they'd like to travel, they can use this ability to literally go anywhere!

Alternately, at the heart of one's mental shadow, a mind walker can directly enter the consciousness of its owner. This requires a mind walk ACTION roll against the Psyche rank of the person whose mind is to be accessed. If this ACTION is successful, the mind walker may wield any psionics against the mind they're trespassing within at either the mind walk power rank or their normal rank +1 CS, whichever is higher.

Since they're physically interacting with their target's consciousness, a mind walker resolves combat normally. When damaged, they suffer direct, physical damage during such battles. The target, on the other hand, suffers Karmic damage from whatever harm a mind walker inflicts, and is treated for combat purposes as if they are astrally projecting. Defeat in the mindscape dumps one's body out near their assailant's location.

And that's not the only hazard while on a mind walk. In addition to the random hazards generated by the ever-changing influences of the minds that comprise the mindscape, there are entities that make use of this plane. Fellow travelers are the easiest to deal with, for they're often moving from place to place as well, and don't want the hassle of a fight. But the things that actually live here, they can be the stuff of nightmares.

Literally.

Denizens of the mindscape can be capable of absolutely anything, for they're formed of the stuff of dreams, random thoughts and urges, and even imagination - if not all of the above. They may be harmless as a butterfly or as menacing as a devil - and may shift from moment to moment, both in power and in behavior. After all, these mindscape entities are nothing if not a product of their mercurial environment.

Mind Wipe
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: forgetfulness, fugue, mental repair, mind control, mind duplication, mind lock, psychic probe, telepathy.

A mind wipe is the blocking of large swathes of memory and/or knowledge. Above and beyond mere forgetfulness, mind wipe can excise more than just a few minutes of memory from its target - it can selectively remove access to data relating to any number of subjects. Such information can come in the form of a useful skill, a knowledge-based power, or even something as simple as details about the guy living upstairs.

Performing a mind wipe takes a bit of time, but then it involves a serious rewiring of someone's head. Such operations typically take at least one turn, but may take a minute or longer depending on the depth of information removed from the target's mind. Speaking of which, would-be victims of this power may resist it if they can pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the intensity of the mind wipe ability.

Or if they can stay away; mind wipe only functions on targets within Very Near range of its wielder.

Those who cannot resist are subject to semi-permanent memory loss, whether they've been forced to forget their ex-girlfriend, how to play baseball, their spellcasting potential, or even everything they know. Losing chunks of one's self will have ripple effects on their personality, ranging from a sinking feeling that they're missing something in their life to incurring a general (or severe) blandness in their demeanor.

Memory loss caused by mind wipe cannot be reversed by clarity. However, mental repair can do so, since mind wipe does not remove memories from a body's mind (which is essentially impossible), so much as remove one's access to them. Keep in mind that such a reversal often requires passing an ACTION roll with that ability against the intensity of the mind wipe that caused the damage to begin with.

Missile Generation
Type: Combination Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: edges, gyration, propulsion, wings.

Missile generation is the ability to spontaneously generate objects which manifest as ballistic projectiles. A combination of device generation and propulsion, missile generation can generally create but one item when the power is first generated, the shape of which is at the player's discretion. This shape will determine what form of damage (Blunt Attack, Edged Attack, or Shooting) the initial projectile can inflict.

Projectiles created by missile generation will possess a maximum material strength equal to its power rank. They also manifest with considerable velocity, having an effective range as is determined on the Near range table. Items fired at others by missile generation will inflict its power rank in damage on impact with whatever they hit, whether or not what they hit was the intended target.

A missile generator can fire many, though not an infinite, amount of projectiles with this power. Generally, the number of such one can manifest within an hour is equal to its power rank number. A missile generator may opt to create more missiles after this initial amount is expended (sometimes emergencies dictate that you have to shoot even more people, after all), at a cost of one Health point per additional missile.

Missiles generated by this power are typically very simple in both form and composition. However, the power can be used to develop highly advanced and specialized missiles as power stunts. Building syringes containing poisons or drugs is one such option, as are glass spheres full of corrosive or incendiary compounds. Such stunts can greatly expand the types of damage of a missile generator can inflict.

Alternately, other powers may be further combined with the original two to create such missiles 'out of the box'.

Mood Swings
Type: Biological Control Power, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: empathic hammer, empathy, emotion control, mind control, sensory projection, thought projection.

Mood swings is a variant form of emotion control. It has a lesser effect on the feelings of others overall, but is a broadcast effect. When wielding mood swings, one can subtly alter the emotions of everyone within Very Near distance of their person. Would-be victims gain an Intuition (awareness) ACTION roll to resist this power, opposed by its intensity, but its targets won't know the power was used - even if they can resist it.

Uses for this power involve ratcheting down intense emotions in an area (such as fear in a burning building) or cranking them up a notch (such as trust at a political rally), among many, many other applications. It can be used to seriously change the emotional state of its targets / victims, but this takes several stages of mood swings - the amount of turns involved depending on the nature of the emotional transition.

Mortal Guise
Type: Clerical Spell, Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

By enshrouding themselves within a mortal guise, a character with deific abilities may mask all traces of such from onlookers. This ability is part invisibility and part illusion, for it will make its wielder appear, in the mind of those observing them, to be a perfectly normal individual. This is particularly handy if an immortal being is visually distinct as compared to his or her many followers.

This power works on mortals as well as deific beings. The former, if they do not fail an Intuition (alt) ACTION roll against the deific invisibility power rank, can see the wielder of this power in their true form - but won't sense any deionic powers unless their use is obvious to their standard senses (flashes of light, et cetera). Deific beings, if they are not stymied by this power, can perceive its wielder's true nature.

Assuming they were at all trying to determine such, that is.

Motivity
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Motivity is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to traverse the whole of reality, whether in his or her own plane or any number of other universes, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the motivity spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point motivity will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Dimensional Transit, Dream Projection, Flight, Mind Walk, Teleportation, or Time Travel.

However, should the caster of motivity want to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, motivity will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though a sorcerer achieving a 'bonus' result may choose motivity's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Mystic Servant
Type: Dimensional Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank

A mystic servant is a semi-sentient construct created by a magician. When cast, the spell will create the servant from nothingness, and invest within it a rudimentary intellect equivalent to that of its creator. The servant is not alive, only possessing a transient existence defined by the maintenance of this spell. The appearance of the mystic servant is entirely up to its creator, and can easily be tailored to any magic school.

Mystic servants will usually possess two super-human (or supernatural) abilities, each of which will be equal to this spell in rank. These can be almost anything, really; an elemental creature might have eldritch bolts of flame and perhaps a blazing aura, while an impish monster may instead bear claws and the power of darkness. They're similar to familiars for the most part, save for their lack of free will.

Once created, a mystic servant may be directed to serve in a labor or a combat role, as is needed. In the latter case, a mystic servant has an amount of Health points equal to this spell's rank and Typical (6) abilities, save for its Reason and whatever special powers it may have. If destroyed, a mystic servant quickly dissipates, and the spell that animates it ends.

Recreating a mystic servant is as simple as recasting the mystic servant spell. It will exist as long as this spell is maintained, and each servant created counts as one spell for the purposes of spell maintenance. Of course, for each extra mystic servant created, apply a -1 CS penalty to the ranks of the servants' special abilities and intellect; maintaining additional transient entities dilutes their overall effectiveness.

N

Nanotechnology Generation
Type: Combination Power, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: device generation, device sympathy, disintegration, matter generation, organic circuitry, organism generation, super invention.

The power of nanotechnology generation allows its wielder to create themselves a small robot. This at first sounds like device generation, and it is similar, after a fashion, save for the staggering extremes of scale involved. You see, the 'small' descriptor is the major distinction, in that the power actually generates robots at the atomic scale - in other words, about as small as a mechanical item can physically be!

In practice, the power generates a large number of like atomatons (atomic scale automatons) at once; one could be built to do the intended work, but the time scale involved may very well be prohibitive. As is the case with all matter generation powers, nanotechnology generation costs its user one Health point per use, a strain on the body caused by the manipulation of extreme forces in the creation of physical matter.

Similarly, the amount of time an atomaton (or swarm of such) created by this ability persists varies, based on variables extant when it is utilized. A white ACTION makes it last for a number of turns equal to this power rank number, a green ACTION lets a nano-device exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows a microscopic item to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

Finally, a red power ACTION creates nano-scale devices that last indefinitely.

One can only generate nanotechnology within Very Near distance of their person, and then only if nothing is physically between the nanotechnology generator and his or her target.

But what can atomatons do, you ask? Quite a lot, really, the tasks involved being limited only by the programming of the atomatons themselves. Wielding nano-scale robotics, one can easily engage in the fabrication of other items from the atom up - for as long as the raw materials are available. This often involves stripping extant objects in the environment for those raw materials.

Thus, one can wield atomatons for both constructive and destructive purposes. These effects simulate the device generation and disintegration powers - both functioning at the nanotechnology generation power rank. The benefit of letting atomatons build things, instead of wielding device generation directly, is that one loses just the initial Health caused by the atomatons' creation when manufacturing gobs of devices.

Mind you, atomatons are capable of more... a whole lot more. In truth, their function can be limited solely by the imagination - and programming ability - of their creator. The above uses for nanotechnology generation are the standard, of course, though a myriad of additional tasks can be given to atomatons, each of which can be mastered as a power stunt of this incredibly versatile ability.

Common atomatonic abilities include (but are by no means are limited to) the following:

* One can program atomatons to simply dismantle things for the sake of doing so. This invokes the disintegration portion of the atomatons' basic function, without the intent of reassembling the resultant molecular detritus into anything else. Against living beings, this inflicts power rank Metabolic damage against anything not resistant to like attack at a similar rank - or not encased in a force field.

* An expanded use for atomatons is to bolster and modify existing items on a molecular level. Using nano-scale robots to re-manufacture an extant item, one can drastically reduce its weight, doing so by subtracting a percentage equal to this power's rank number (to a minimum of ten percent). Similarly, by properly aligning the molecules of a device, atomatons can increase its material strength by +2 CS.

* Another involves introducing atomatons to a device on a permanent basis, giving an item the power of regeneration! These robots will act to trim wear and tear on a device, constantly working to keep it in a pristine, new state. Even direct damage to an item will be repaired in short order, the atomatons quickly acting to restore the device to its pre-damaged state (power rank regeneration).

* Alternately, one can introduce atomatons to a living system (i.e., an organism). When this is done, these machines can perform all manner of work inside the body, ranging from protecting it from poison and disease to repairing damage caused by natural aging and artificial events. This can thus give a body power rank resistance to disease and poison, or eventually even longevity or regeneration!

Nativity Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Skill, Psimotive Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, macro sense, magic sense, origin sense, psi sense.

Characters with this sensory capability have the means of detecting when someone or something in their vicinity is not in their proper, seven-dimensional coordinates. Nativity sense will perceive the presence of items out of time as well as those out of space, and can even spot astral forms and other 'snoopy' entities in nearby planes that interface with our own.

This ability works with a range as is determined by the Middle range table. A green ACTION roll is usually all that is necessary to see such things, unless some agency acts to mask their alien nature. To spot these cloaked persons or items, a character with a nativity sense must pass an ACTION roll against the intensity of whatever extraplanar stealth screen is working against them.

Nature Control
Type: Geomancy Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: special (see below)

Core of the geomancy school of magic, nature control allows its caster the ability to manipulate the seven elements that school recognizes. Upon first learning this spell, the geomancer may only wield control over one such element, though he or she may acquire additional forms either as power stunts or as new spells (player's choice). For convenience, the seven elements are re-presented here:

* Air: the medium by which we all breathe, air represents the pure breezes of our world. An air geomancer may draw forth the air around themselves and focus it however they see fit - or even void the air from an area and cause temporary vacuums if they desire. Of course, enough friction in the air can cause lightning, which is another mainstay of the geomancer of air when subtlety fails them.

Cost: 1 point per rank (per weakly limited vapor animation).

* Animal: the element of animals represents the many creatures native to our world. Geomancers who master the element of animal can control various facets of animal life, from its behavior to its very form if necessary. Whether this simply involves causing stampedes, creating organized labor, or even transforming one creature into another, animal geomancers are mighty indeed.

Cost: 1 point per rank (per animal control).

* Earth: earth geomancers wield power over the land we live upon. Mountainous rock, desert sands, and even precious metals fall under the sway of earth. Geomancy cannot directly manipulate solids that have been touched by the hand of man, and made into something outside of their natural state. Mind you, nothing's stopping a geomancer from attacking man-made structures with the natural rock below.

Cost: 1 point per rank (per weakly limited solid animation).

* Fire: perhaps the rarest of obvious elements in the world, fire is seemingly in short supply under most circumstances. However, this geomantic element can be applied most directly to adverse effect, as it destroys or transforms almost everything it touches. Whether enhancing or eliminating it in the environment, a geomancer of fire holds power over life and death in most situations.

Cost: 1 point per rank (per fire control).

* Plant: where land and water come together, you most often find the element of plant. Plant geomancers can control all manner of plant life, directing it to behave as they see fit, and often forcing it to perform feats that are seemingly impossible for the source material. Whether causing it to grow, wither, advance, retreat, or even change shape, a plant geomancer has a subtle yet dangerous power.

Cost: 1 point per rank (per plant control).

* Water: water covers most of our world, and geomancers who specialize in this element hold sway over a large percentage of the globe. Water's not just in the oceans, however, and one can find it almost anywhere if they just know where to look. This makes the geomancer of water incredibly useful to thirsty peoples - or incredibly dangerous to those who work on the sea for a living.

Cost: 1 point per rank (per weakly limited fluid animation).

* Weather: weather is a convergence of natural elements, the combination of two forces to produce a singular effect. This element allows for the blending of the elements a geomancer holds sway over, to create all-new effects. With enough elements in tow, one can use weather to alter the world itself - or at least a small portion of it - as enough geomantic elements working together can truly represent our planet as a whole.

Cost: 2 points per rank (per weather control).

Geomancers can use whatever elements they hold sway over to inflict spell rank damage with each attack, assuming enough of an element on hand to do so. The exact form of damage this attack inflicts depends on the element in question, but can vary considerably; water usually inflicts Force damage, while fire causes SD Energy harm, and earth can dish out Blunt or Edged Attack damage (depending on its shape).

On the plus side, nature controls easily lend themselves to power stunts that can duplicate other spells - or serve as a good reason for having them. Any of the various eldritch attack spells dovetail with nature controls (and serve as a source of material in a pinch), bands work well with all elements, and so on. The only real limitation in this regard is one's imagination!

Nature Resistance
Type: Geomancy Spell, Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A variation on the greater resistance ability, nature resistance provides its possessor protection against a wide swath of damage types. Nature resistance will shield its owner with power rank defense against any form of damage extant in the environment, as long as its cause, no matter how indirectly, has nothing to do with the actions of sentient beings.

For example, a character with nature resistance walks into a raging forest fire. If this forest fire were caused by a lightning strike, they would benefit from their full power rank in protection from the resultant flames. However, should said fire be ignited by the careless actions of negligent campers, the bearer of nature resistance will find themselves subject to the full damage inflicted by the burning forest.

The net effect of nature resistance is that the powerful beings which possess it may exempt themselves, in part or in full, from true acts of nature. Thus, the key to nature resistance is to determine whether or not the hand of intelligent beings (no matter how minimally) is at play before one can benefit from it. Which can sometimes be tricky in a world full of technology!

Nimiety
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, attenuation, buttress, logos, power attenuation, power boost, psionic attenuation, sorcerous attenuation, theonic attenuation.

Nimiety is the ability to draw potential from one's allies, and to use said potential for one's own benefit. This 'potential' consists of Column Shift bonuses that apply to every ACTION roll the character with nimiety attempts. For every +1 CS worth of bonus the wielder of nimiety is to receive from his or her fellows, however, a -2 CS penalty will apply to those who have been chosen to donate their potential to fuel it.

When activated, the vast array of divergent probabilities that nimiety creates is centered upon its wielder, which adjusts causality within its area of effect, as is described on the Middle range table. This allows one to either draw from their friends from quite a ways away, to travel a considerable distance after doing so up close, or to engage in some middle ground between these two extremes.

But what if someone doesn't want to donate their potential to the wielder of nimety, you ask? This can be a pertinent point, especially if said wielder is attempting to draw forth numerous Column Shift bonuses, thus placing a body in potentially lethal danger. One can either stray out of the power's area of effect to avoid it, or if they are lucky, make use of someone or something with access to resistance to warping attacks.

Nonapparent Vision
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: flaw sense, macro sense, spectral sense.

Wielding this facility, a character may peel back the layers of deception and intrigue that may hide any person, place, or thing, and see them as they truly are. This works by passing a nonapparent vision ACTION against the rank of something's disguise. If this ACTION is successful, nonapparent vision will allow the character using it to see the object of his or her study in its true form.

It doesn't matter if their target is physically shape changed, masked by illusions, psionically trying to convince you they are not what they appear, or anything else - nonapparent vision can 'see' through all of these efforts if it can beat the intensity of said disguise.

O

Object Animation
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: while maintained (for each animated object)
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: fluid animation, image animation, object projection, platforming, reanimation, solid animation, telekinesis, topological control, vapor animation.

Object animation allows a character to temporarily imbue an inanimate object with spectral energies, giving it a strange semblance of life. Objects so imbued become animate, and are under the direct control of their animator. An animator may imbue any object within Near distance with 'life' - but once an object is activated, the animator can continue to control it as long as it is within his or her line-of-sight.

Objects to be animated must have a material strength equal to or less than the object animation rank; animating a diamond ring is more difficult than animating a refrigerator. Furthermore, they must be of a weight equal to or less than this rank as if it were an equivalent Strength score. A Remarkable (30) ranked animation ability, then, can bring 'life' to any object of up to one ton in weight.

Other than that, the only limitation on object animation is the object itself. The nature of object animation requires that an object to be animated function and move in a manner that is consistent with its design (if applicable). Ropes will slink and slither, chairs will walk on their legs, balls and boulders will roll, that sort of thing. This can be somewhat subjective, depending on the item in question.

Animated objects function as if they had a Fighting and Agility score equal to this rank, while the damage they can inflict (if any) will be determined by either the objects' material strength or this power rank (whichever is lower). A character may animate any number of objects at once, though they can only concentrate on directly commanding one animated object with finesse at any given moment.

Object Charge
Type: Energy Control Power, Geomancy Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: kinetic energy control, kinetic focus, object hardening, telekinesis.

Characters with the ability to charge objects can impart an incredible amount of potential energy into them when held, a potential that will be released on contact with anything else - often explosively. When such contact is made, a charged item will release this artificial energy potential in the form of a detonation that inflicts power rank Energy damage to everything adjacent to where it explodes.

When this occurs, the object so charged must make a material strength check against the intensity of this power. If this ACTION roll fails, the charged item will be destroyed by its explosive discharge, the force of the blast tearing it asunder. If successful, the item may be recovered and even used again for this purpose, if desired. Assuming it's not stuck in something... or someone!

Object Cooling
Type: Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

The chilling power of object cooling allows its user to decrease the mean temperature of an item or mass in his or her vicinity, that being described as the space within Very Near distance of their person. Every turn a psi wields this skill on an object, they can apply a chilling field that increases the cold of the item by +1 CS, to a maximum limit that is equal to object cooling's power rank - possibly with disastrous effects.

While this is most readily used to cool incredibly hot objects or to put out flames, object cooling can also be used destructively. A heavily chilled object won't automatically break, but when struck it must make an MS check against the intensity of the cold applied to it instead of the force actually used against the item. This allows one with relatively normal strength to shatter all manner of things they normally couldn't.

This cold is also conductive; anyone touching a super-cooled object will suffer cold-based Energy damage equal to the intensity of the cold currently applied to it. This cold 'field' will last for as long as object cooling is maintained. Once the power is deactivated, the item so affected will see the cold it was subjected to reduced by -1 CS each turn, until it returns to normal.

If used on a living being, the target is allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION to resist the effect of this skill. If this ACTION roll fails, the target suffers Feeble (2) Energy damage the first turn, Poor (4) Energy damage the second turn, and so on, up to a ceiling of this power's rank. Targets are allowed another ACTION to resist this power with each new turn. Armor isn't effective against this damage, but resistance to cold or energy is.

Object Hardening
Type: Matter Control Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous, though short maintenance can improve the effect further
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: kinetic focus, object charge, object weakening, telekinesis.

Wielding the ability of object hardening, a character can rapidly and drastically improve the material strength of one or more items. In practice, object hardening will instantly increase the MS of anything it is focused upon to a minimum of its power rank - or its own MS +1 CS, if that would be higher. Each additional turn the power is used on an item can boost its MS a further +1 CS, up to a practical ceiling of Class 5000.

The duration an item is hardened for depends on variables present when the ability is used.

White duration ACTIONs indicate a hardening that lasts for but 1d10 turns. A green ACTION allows an object to remain hardened for a number of turns equal to the power rank number; an Excellent (20) rank with this ability causes it to last for two minutes (twenty turns). A yellow roll will multiply this value by ten, meaning that Excellent (20) power mentioned above will harden an item for twenty minutes, instead of just two.

A red object hardening ACTION will stiffen the target for a number of hours equal to this ability's rank number (20 hours for our Excellent friend above). The latter assumes an animate target; inanimate objects are permanently hardened on a red roll unless the wielder of this ability chooses otherwise - or later deactivates the enhanced material strength he or she provided it.

The problem with hardening a living being, though, is that it makes movement for them much more difficult. Each +1 CS of hardening applied to one's body reduces their Agility and Strength by -1 CS, until movement is rendered impossible at Shift 0 levels. Inflicting hardening upon an unwilling target requires defeating their Endurance (res) score first, but can be a great way to easily take someone out of a fight.

Mind you, hardening just a part of a person (including one's own bits) allows them to inflict +1 CS Blunt Attack damage with it!

Object hardening can be wielded against any objects within Very Near distance of its possessor.

Object Projection
Type: Mental Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, clone projection, dream projection, energy projection, object animation, object sympathy, platforming, reformation, spectral freedom, technical intuition, topological control.

The curious ability of object projection allows its wielder to separate his or her consciousness from their body. This consciousness then moves into any one item the character is currently in physical contact with. Such objects may be of any nature, whether comprised of a single piece, many mechanical components, or even electronic circuitry - as long as the item is solid inanimate matter, it may be used by object projection.

While inhabiting an item, the consciousness of the character using this ability may control it as if they were using power rank object animation. In other words, if inside a gun they can fire or hop around, if inside a chair they can walk or be exceptionally comfortable, and so on. If the item is of a higher material strength or mass than similarly ranked object animation could control, it cannot be manipulated - but may still be inhabited.

The character inhabiting an object possesses all their normal sensory abilities; despite being disembodied, they can sense whatever is going on around them. This makes object projection a great ability for espionage or other clandestine activities. They may also 'speak', and can use any knowledge-based abilities available to them, though some abilities may or may not be applicable to the character's current state.

When an object projector is inhabiting an item, their consciousness may only move into other inanimate objects that it is in contact with. Via this ability alone, an object projector cannot inhabit or manipulate a sentient object or living being. A consciousness projected by this ability can move though solid matter (like a stretch of highway) at a respectable pace, doing so with a velocity as determined by the space speed table.

Object projecting is an action which must be maintained consciously, but it may be done for quite a while; object projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank in hours. For example, a character with Amazing (50) object projection may shed their consciousness and let it wander around in nearby objects for just over two days at a time. Food and water become an issue after several days, however.

This is because, while object projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance talent). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. At this point the object projector, if they've been gone for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

Deactivating object projection (whether willingly or because of the destruction of something the power is being used on) will immediately recall the mind of its wielder - even if no solid objects are readily available to conduct it back to its point of origin. This recall mechanism works no matter how far an object projector's mind has wandered from its point of origin with the use of this ability (it has no effective range limits).

Object Sympathy
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal sympathy, atomic sense, device generation, device sympathy, energy sense, environmental sense, matter generation, object projection, plant sympathy, technical intuition, technological sense, telekinesis, topological control, transmutation.

Object sympathy is the power to mentally communicate with inanimate matter. Inanimate matter includes pristine mass untouched by mankind, formerly living materials, or even passive objects of any stripe. As long as an object or mass cannot operate under its own power, and cannot be defined as alive by any means, object sympathy may be used to communicate with it.

This ability facilitates communications with the matter involved by attuning one's consciousness to it. Object sympathy is similar to psychometry in that both abilities allow a conversation of sorts between the wielder of the power and the item to be queried, but differs in that one cannot really gain complex information with it. This is because they are working with the item itself, not psychic residue left on it by others.

This assumes one can get past the very nature of an object to communicate with it - the simpler an item is, the harder it is to dredge information from. Complicated artificial objects (clothing, safes) can be spoken to with a green power ACTION, relatively simple manufactured items (swords, tools) will talk on a yellow ACTION, and natural items (bones, branches, rock) only release information on a red power ACTION.

Once communication is established, items communicated with via object sympathy will display a surprising amount of personality for inanimate objects. They may well take pride in their usage, and will expound on it in great detail. This intense personality comes at a price, however. An axe may be exuberant about chopping down trees, but it will have little information about anything else that has occurred in its vicinity.

For example, consider a meeting between two spies that takes place near the axe mentioned above. The axe simply didn't ponder such a meeting enough to pay very much attention. And why would it? Those spies weren't cutting wood or each other, much less with it, so who cares? This is the inherent difficulty when using this ability. It'll know about its owner, and perhaps its function - but most everything else is irrelevant.

Convincing an item to shed data only tangentially related to its function may require careful role play - and even then, may only be vaguely useful. But ask that old, broken down television about the good times it used to have watching I Love Lucy ™, and you may be in for a long, long talk!

Generally, one must be within Near range of an object to communicate with it in this fashion, though handling something offers the best results.

Object Warming
Type: Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

An energetic ability, object warming is a psikinetic skill that allows its wielder to increase the temperature of an item or mass in his or her vicinity, as is defined by Very Near distance. Every turn a psi applies this power to an object, they can increase the intensity of its given heat by +1 CS, to a maximum limit equal to this power rank. This may very well damage or destroy the object so affected.

Once the heat in an object has an intensity approaching its material strength, the item in question must pass an MS check against that heat or be damaged. This may involve catching on fire, melting, boiling, exploding, or even just slightly deforming or becoming more plastic in nature, depending on the materials and intensities involved. Similarly, such heat will radiate into the environment, and transfer into anything touching it.

This heightened thermal energy will last for as long as the power is maintained. Once object warming is deactivated, the excess heat will discharge into everything around the item, losing -1 CS of its intensity until it returns to normal - assuming its condition hasn't suffered as a result of being so heated.

If used on the living, the target is allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION to resist this skill. If this ACTION fails, the target suffers Feeble (2) Energy damage the first turn, Poor (4) Energy damage the second turn, and so on, up to a ceiling of this power rank. Targets are allowed another ACTION to resist this power with each new turn. Armor isn't effective against this damage, but any resistance to energy, fire, or heat is.

Object Weakening
Type: Matter Control Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: corrosion, disintegration, object charge, object hardening, rotting, telekinesis.

The opposite of object hardening, object weakening reduces the effective material strength of an object. Every turn this ability is applied to an object, its effective MS will sink by -1 CS, to a bottom rank of Feeble (2). When the power is no longer concentrated on the item in question, it will recover +1 CS of its lost MS each subsequent turn, until it returns to a normal state.

Assuming, of course, it isn't broken in the meantime. If it is, the item will eventually recover its previous MS, though it may be in a different condition than before object weakening was applied (i.e., in several more pieces, or perhaps with a huge hole in it). Object weakening can only be used on items within Very Near distance of its possessor - as long as there are no intervening objects between the target and this power.

Offensive Portals
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Offensive portals are just that, one-way rifts in space-time created for the express purposes of harming another. You see, the portals opened by this power access locations throughout reality that are hostile to life, which then spew forth whatever hostility is present at their terminating points. When used in this fashion, a hole in the universe can be used to attack another in almost any manner imaginable!

When first gained, this power is keyed to a singular hostile location. When activated, it will project whatever form of harm its possessor has chosen, staying open just long enough to vent power rank damage appropriate to wherever its other end is. An offensive portal opening on the Sun's surface might emit plasma (AP SD Energy damage), while gating to realms of evil might release darkness (Sorcerous damage).

The only real limits to the forms of damage an offensive portal can inflict is the imagination of its wielder. This is because, while the offensive portals power is initially keyed to but one location, additional deadly areas may be acquired as power stunts. When properly developed, this one power can be wielded against a foe in any number of different fashions - it all depends on how much a body works with it!

Omnipotence
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Many faiths hold great stock in the omnipotence of their patron deity or deities - the idea that they are all-powerful. While it is primarily up to a deific being to wield his or her other abilities in a fashion that fosters this belief, they can much more readily simulate this tendency while in their places of power. Whether one occupies their realm or sanctuary, an immortal can use omnipotence to great effect.

Wielding this ability, deific beings can eavesdrop on each and every square inch of their realm and/or sanctuary. Within this space, a deific being may make use of any of the five clairsentience abilities as he or she sees fit, unlimited by range. This allows such entities, if they are paying attention, to know all that occurs within their territories... and to act swiftly if such occurrences are not to their liking.

Furthermore, such retribution, or in fact any other actions a deific being attempts, are made at a +1 CS while on their home turf. This increase is provided on top of any other bonuses such characters receive due to being in their sanctuary or realm. In fact, when the bonuses from all three powers are combined, one may be hard pressed to argue against the omnipotence of a deific being!

Omnipresence
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Many faiths hold great stock in the ubiquity of their patron deity or deities - believing that they exist everywhere at once. Using the power of omnipresence, a deific being can at least simulate this tendency. How this ability works is that, in response to the prayers of those who venerate him or her, a deific being can directly manifest at a follower's side - no matter where in the multiverse that follower may be.

The wielder of this power, upon being entreated by a follower, may use that follower's faith as a channel to transport themselves from their current location to within Very Near distance of him or her. Distance and dimension are no barrier to the use of omnipresence, for the power of faith is enough to overcome even the greatest of spatial impediments - and even those of a temporal nature, if a follower is traveling through time.

Manifesting before a follower requires but a green power ACTION roll. However, it is important to note that, in and of itself, omnipresence is a one-way travel power; a deific being must use other abilities to return from whence they came after wielding it.

Omniscience
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Many faiths hold great stock in the omniscience of their patron deity or deities - their ability to see all and know all. This ability is a good reason for such beliefs, as a deific being can use the power of a follower's faith to home in on them and observe their surroundings. Furthermore, a god can eavesdrop on the sensory input that a follower experiences at any point in time, if not their actual thoughts.

Omniscience in and of itself has no actual range limitations to speak of - it works wherever one's followers may be, regardless of the spatial or even dimensional boundaries between a deific being and those who venerate him or her. However, the power is limited to a short distance around said followers; a deific being can only observe the area within Very Near distance of one of their faithful.

Ophidia
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 3 points per rank

Born upon the peak of the Serpent's Mount, Ninazu has always possessed mastery of the magic intrinsic to that powerful underworld locale. Using the ophidia entreaty, spellcasters can implore the King of Snakes to share some of this energy, at least for a short while. When cast, ophidia allows its wielder to manifest one of the following magical effects, at which point its outcome is set for the rest of the day:

Animal Control, Animal Hybridization / Others, Animal Hybridization / Self, Animal Sympathy, Organism Generation, or Summoning.

Though some of these results are duplicated by the standard group spells, the effects allowed via the ophidia entreaty are limited to primarily affecting snakes. They can also function upon other reptiles, including those mystical variants common in the lore of Mesopotamia, though they do so at -4 CS effectiveness. Ninazu himself lacks this limitation, but then he doesn't share all of his toys so readily.

As one can with conventional group spells, the caster of ophidia may retain its fluidity for a time, namely by leaving the effect it produces completely to the whims of chance. If one does so, ophidia produces one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though sorcerers achieving a 'bonus' result may choose ophidia's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Opposition
Type: Power Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: origin sense.

Opposition is the power to oppose the powers of others. When using this ability, the possessor of opposition can study another person's super-human ability, and synthesize within themselves a counter to it. This process takes one turn and a simple green power ACTION, but when done opposition will grant them a power that will serve as a foil to the ability so analyzed, functioning at the opposition power rank.

With the exception of other power control powers, the new capability can be just about anything else in the game - as long as it directly counters the analyzed power. Mind you, this result need not be the same each time; when attempting to oppose fire generation, one might come up with fire control, cold generation, resistance to fire attacks, or even something as novel as air control, to render the flames inert via oxygen loss.

The possessor of opposition can decide which specific counter they wish to adopt for a given situation, and may even switch between them in the event that more than one is available - though this requires another turn, as if freshly analyzing a power to oppose in the first place. A capability granted by opposition lasts for as long as the opposing power menaces the possessor of this ability, plus 1d10 turns.

With the exception of lingering opposition abilities, this power is primarily useless against normal humans. Since ordinary folks have no powers to speak of, opposition can't really do anything about them - which might be a pain if the rabble approaches with torches and pitch forks. In the event of an angry mob (or police, or the IRS, or whatever), the hope is that one can get away before their opposition power fades on them!

Optimization
Type: Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Optimization is the ability to bring a device up to its ideal operating conditions. This may involve the calibration of simple adjustments required to achieve peak performance, or may instead require activating 'locked' capabilities through procedures such as overclocking. When executed properly, optimization will allow an item to function at its maximum design capability - and do so safely, at that.

The process of optimizing a device generally requires but a green power ACTION roll. If successful, the changes to its operation to maximize its throughput (or whatever) work perfectly, and were completed in a manner that will not cause damage to the device (as is the case with the overdrive ability). A failed ACTION roll means the item was damaged in the process of optimization, and is now in need of some sort of repair.

Organic Circuitry
Type: Combination Power, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: animal sympathy, device generation, device sympathy, disease, eidetic memory, matter generation, nanotechnology generation, organism generation, plant sympathy, super invention.

A variant form of both organism and device generation, this ability allows its possessor to create living machinery. This is done by using one's cellular matter as a template, and then weaving ambient subatomic particles in the vicinity together to generate organic devices. Each use of this ability costs its wielder one Health point per turn, but the nature of its creations can mitigate this penalty somewhat.

Organic circuitry can take on one or two specific forms. The first is that of a modular sort of cell. These can be produced in bulk to build any device the wielder of this power knows how to. What's better is that these living building blocks can be reconfigured on the fly, much like a swarm of atomatons can be, allowing the stack of organic circuitry to serve multiple purposes, as determined before their creation.

Alternately, however, a character with organic circuitry can build a specific living device. These items cannot be reconfigured as can the 'building block' form of organic creations this power can produce, but they gain the benefits of being specialized devices. While organic circuitry stacks can only work at up to this power rank in effectiveness, a dedicated organic device operates at this rank +1 CS.

Caring for organic circuitry and devices is quite simple. They need food, water, air, and rest, but these are easy needs to fulfill. Usually, chemical solutions can be brewed that provide all the food and water needed, applied to a special 'port' designed to accept it. Air is only a problem if their creator hangs out in hostile environs often, and the device will let you know when it needs rest (when it stops working, usually).

The interesting thing about an organic device is, while it is an artificially built thing, it can easily repair itself. Such items have an effective Endurance score equal to the organic circuitry power rank, and will in time heal any damage taken. Also, organic machines can be designed so that they reproduce. This makes it real easy to stockpile a small arsenal of organic devices, provided they're cared for.

In fact, with a greater understanding of biology, a character can actually build organic devices that will hibernate if deprived of nutrition for a long period of time. This keeps them from starving to death, and subsequently forcing the organic circuitry creator to make themselves an all-new arsenal of living machinery. Which is a good thing, as making these devices is quite a drain on the body.

Organic circuitry can create mass equal to its power rank, in pounds, each turn. Building something larger requires that one spend more than a single turn generating the desired object. For example, Monstrous (75) ranked organic circuitry can produce seventy-five pounds of material per turn. To make something that weighs three hundred pounds, that Monstrous organic circuitry must spend four turns creating it.

Unlike most matter generating powers, the products of organic circuitry are almost always made of complex, carbon-based materials - unless one specifically attempts to produce something functioning on a different biochemistry. Green ACTIONs are required under normal circumstances to create organic circuitry, but more 'exotic' biochemistries require a yellow (or greater) ACTION, depending on how alien they happen to be.

As is the case with organism generation, this ability cannot produce living matter willy-nilly. Anything it creates has to come in the form of memorized patterns, organic circuitry that can be used in some fashion. In other words, the possessor of organic circuitry can make a stack of organic machinery cells or even a laser blaster with it, but they must first commit designs for the living creations involved to memory first.

One can recall a number of distinct designs that is equal to their Reason (mem) score. No matter how complicated or large it is (or will ultimately grow to be), an organic device counts as a singular being. If an organic device has other organic devices that can interface with it, however, these must be designed and memorized separately (such as smaller shuttle craft that will launch out of a larger carrier vehicle).

The amount of time such spontaneously generated living devices persist is determined by a second ACTION roll, made after an initial success. A white ACTION makes it last for a number of turns equal to this power rank number, a green ACTION lets a living device exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows an organic item to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

Finally, a red power ACTION creates organic devices from nowhere that last indefinitely.

Organic circuitry functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, and then only within one's direct line-of-sight. Wielding this power at Amazing (50) ability, for example, would allow its possessor to generate living matter anywhere within 50 yards of his or her person - assuming nothing lies between them and where they would like to create it. Such things have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately.

Organism Generation
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, animal control, animal sympathy, body doubles, device generation, disease, disintegration, eidetic memory, matter duplication, matter generation, nanotechnology generation, organic circuitry, plant control, plant sympathy, transmutation.

Organism generation is the power to create life itself - from seeming nothingness! Weaving one's personal energies together with ambient subatomic particles, a character with this power can actually generate fully formed organisms. The creations of this power can be alive or dead, as the organism generator desires, with each state of being having its own, particular uses in the grand scheme of things.

Characters with organism generation can use it to manifest a number of pounds, each turn, which is equal to their power rank number. To build a creature that is of greater size than this amount, an organism generator must spend multiple turns bringing it into existence. With Excellent (20) organism generation, for example, creating a one hundred and fifty pound clone of oneself would take eight turns.

When building a new life form from scratch, an organism generator generally need only make a green power ACTION roll initially, upon spending the required time to do so. This assumes a conventional life form, however. If 'making up' an entirely new life form, this ACTION is yellow in hue, and if attempting to create life using a strain of chemistry unknown to modern science, the required ACTION roll is of red difficulty.

One problem with this power, such as it is, is that its use is highly strenuous on the body. The personal energy lost with organism generation's use is equal to one Health point per turn, which isn't such a big deal when one is building small life forms, but can add up fast when you're trying to make a humpback whale. This Health loss must be recovered in whatever fashion is normal for the organism generator.

Another difficulty posed by organism generation is the potential transience of its creations. A white ACTION makes them last for a number of turns equal to this power rank number, a green ACTION lets an organism exist for a number of minutes equal to this power rank number, and a yellow ACTION allows a created being to persist for a number of hours equal to this power's rank number.

If one makes a red power ACTION roll upon the completion of a life form, it is considered a permanent entity. It will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when organism generation brought it into existence. Such life forms can be slain normally if brought into existence in a living state, or can decompose if manifested in a freshly deceased state.

Organism generation functions within Very Near distance of its wielder, and then only within his or her direct line-of-sight. Wielding this power at Typical (6) ability, for example, would allow its possessor to generate life anywhere within six yards of their person - assuming nothing lies between them and where they would like to make it. Such beings have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately.

To generate an organism, this power's wielder must generally understand its biology. This requires 'memorizing' a life form, each form of such counting as one 'slot' in an organism generator's memory (of which he or she has a number equal to their Reason (mem) score) - unless they possess eidetic memory, that is. If one's memory is 'full' when trying to memorize a new form of life to create, they need only drop another.

Entities created by this power will generally behave as a normal member of their species should, though they will lack any memories to speak of - unless their creator has a mind handy to copy or transfer into it. Doing this requires the requisite powers involved with such; otherwise, the creations of organism generation are a blank slate, who only possess knowledge gained after their manifestation in the world.

Organism Generation is an expensive power, but may be taken with a variety of limitations to reduce that cost somewhat - on top of those that are already indicated above, that is. One such (extreme) limitation involves preventing the power from making more than one kind of creature - say, it can only make bats (or whatever). Another (weak) limitation might remove the potential of permanency from one's creations entirely.

Organs
Type: Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank

Using organs, one can grow themselves additional body parts. These can be anything real or imagined, ranging from arms to legs to hearts to adrenal glands to whatever else. Parts added to one's body are transient in nature, only lasting while organs is maintained. Extra body parts usually have a set benefit, though one can stack the effect with redundant additions, counting as one maintained power for each extra redundancy.

Some of the more common effects that organs can produce include the following:

• Arms: this most often involves a set of arms (surprise!), but can be any kind of manipulative limb, from a prehensile tail to surprise tentacles. Each doubling of arms (or the addition of a singular organ, in the event of things like a tail) provides an additional melee attack each turn.
• Brains: by duplicating one's own brain, a character acquires additional mental capacity, adding a temporary +1 CS to their Reason score.
• Exoskeletons: by forming a bony shell around one's softer tissues, a character can receive power rank protection from attack, per body armor. Such a bony exterior can easily be used to inflict +1 CS Blunt Attack damage in melee. Mind you, it has the effect of lowering one's Agility by -1 CS.
• Eyes: one can grow spare eyes anywhere, really, and can use this for either a +1 CS on visual Intuition ACTIONs or to simulate circular vision.
• Glands: spare glands can amplify the effects of ordinary organs considerably. Multiple pituitary or adrenal glands, for instance, might drastically alter one's biochemistry.
• Legs: limbs of this sort provide propulsion. Each doubling of legs (or flippers, or whatever) provides a +1 CS to one's normal movement rate.
• Muscles: by generating additional muscle tissue, one can temporarily increase their Strength, gaining a +1 CS for each set of muscles they've 'stacked' on.
• Redundant Organs: creating redundant, spare vital organs increases one's base Health point total by fifty percent. Additional sets of vital organs also offer this bonus, based on one's original Health score.
• Wings: adding wings to one's body, along with several corresponding modifications to one's bone structure, temporarily allow for flight, which works per the wings power - though each doubling of such sets can increase this by +1 CS.

Origin Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Eclecticism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: biological sense, energy sense, macro sense, magic sense, nativity sense, psi sense, theonic sense.

The wielder of an origin sense has the ability to look at a being, and to determine a) if they possess super-human abilities of any type, or b) what form those abilities take. The first of these is simple; unless a target is cloaking its nature somehow, origin sense will determine whether or not they have powers on a green ACTION. This is somewhat binary in nature, though, as you either have powers or you don't.

An origin sense is more useful when its wielder can determine what kind of powers their target possesses, however. A yellow ACTION can showcase things like the origin of one's powers (hence the name), determining things like aberrant genes, sorcerous training, deific imbuement, etc. Red ACTIONs are required when trying to guess what specific power(s) a body has access to - can they fly or shoot beams from their eyes?

This power often comes in a much more limited form. Some people only have the ability to detect mutants, or psis, or whatever. Such 'handicapped' versions of origin sense are considered extremely limited, and thus function at a +4 CS (or alternately cost four points less).

Origin sense itself only functions within a relatively close range, as is determined by the Near table.

Overdrive
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

When subjecting a device to the power of overdrive, a character can crank it up to its maximum power or effectiveness - and far, far beyond. A device so overdriven operates at its normal rank +2 CS, but with each use at such a higher operating level, it will fail spectacularly unless it passes a yellow operations check. This is an expensive power to use on one's own devices, as it quickly burns them out.

On the other hand, it can be a great way to disable the technology of others. When using overdrive offensively, the device to be overdriven is allowed an operations check against the overdrive power if non-sentient, or an Endurance (res) or Psyche (will) ACTION roll (whichever is applicable) to resist if sentient. If the overdrive power overcomes any resistance, it is likely to damage just about anything it is used upon.

If a device doesn't operate while overdrive is maintained on it, the power has no effect.

Overdrive can function on any device within Very Near distance.

Override
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: future control, grace, history control, lethality, luck.

Override is a variant form of history control. The possessor of this ability can use override to overrule the results of the Judge's die rolls. The power can be used once per game session for each rank the character has in it. For example, wielding override at Feeble (2) rank would let someone change the Judge's dice once per game, while using it at Unearthly (100) would instead give them ten overrides.

When such a change is made, the general result is that while it originally looked like the die roll held sway, the reality of the situation is that things actually happened as the overrider preferred. Perhaps the side kick looked like he'd been killed by a burst of automatic gunfire at first, but as it turned out he merely received several 'clean' wounds, and will ultimately pull through. That kind of thing.

Such changes are not automatic, and the difficulty of making such an override depends on the nature of the intended change. To shift a Judge's roll by one color result (say, from green to white), a green ACTION is required. Altering it by two color results (perhaps from red to green) takes a yellow power ACTION roll, and switching the Judge's dice by three color results (white to red, or vice versa) necessitates a red override ACTION.

P

Pain
Type: Biological Control Power, Voodoo Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: body control, illusion projection, image projection, integral control, mind control, radio wave generation, sensory projection, sleep.

This useful ability allows its wielder to generate subtle bio-electric signals, which resonate in the nervous systems of others within Very Near distance. These signals, when grounded in the bodies of others, cause them to experience great pain - albeit with no apparent source of injury. If one fails an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against this power rank, they will suffer the effect of an inflicted Stun result.

Naturally, the high and low pain tolerance quirks will modify this ACTION roll accordingly.

While in a pain-induced stun, victims of this power can do little other than react to the overwhelming stimulus. This may involve writhing uncontrollably on the ground, screaming in blood-curdling agony, or fleeing the scene in a panic. Those affected by this power may attempt a new ACTION roll to resist each turn, until the effect has ceased or they have left the area of its generator.

The pain power is a great way to neutralize opponents without physically harming them. Sure, they may not be happy about the use of this ability, but it beats broken bones and bullet wounds. Of course, seriously abusing this power can lead its victims to ultimately developing strange mental quirks as a result, but that's usually as a result of overexposure to its effects - not just day-to-day usage.

Pain itself can be used on either one person or on everyone within its area of effect. The latter reduces its intensity by -2 CS but otherwise works the same.

Paralysis
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

This powerful ability allows its wielder to completely neutralize the actions of a single target. If its victim fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power rank, the wielder of paralysis can completely block their ability to act consciously. In other words, a paralyzed foe can still breathe, and retains full sensory awareness of his or her surroundings, but they cannot move or activate any super-human abilities.

Paralysis lasts for 1d10 turns, unless the effect is specifically maintained by its wielder, or neutralized by effects such as clarity. It can affect any one target within Near range of its possessor.

Passing
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Passing is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to bypass obstacles in his or her path in a number of creative ways, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the passing spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point passing will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Admittance, Anchor, Astral Projection, Density Control / Self, Intangibility, or Transformation / Self.

However, should the caster of passing wish to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, passing will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though wizards achieving a 'bonus' result may choose passing's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Personal Static
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

This dangerous ability allows its wielder to generate waves of mystical force, waves which act to distort the probabilities inherent to the casting of personal magic spells. These waves can extend out into the space within Very Near distance of this ability's wielder, preventing the use of spells and spell-like powers which wield personal energies while they are present.

For such abilities to work, they must pass a spell or power ACTION roll against the personal static power rank. If they cannot manage this, such abilities are impossible to use while personal static is active, making this ability a great way to curtail the more physical abilities of spellcasters - physiomancers in particular are especially vulnerable to personal static.

Personal Weaponry
Type: Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank

The personal weaponry ability is one with which its wielder may develop all manner of inherent weapons to fight their battles. These can range from claws to horns to battle tails to quills to razor skin to fangs to... whatever, really. A character may develop as many forms of weapons as he or she feels the need for, but each manifested weapon counts as one spell or psionic for the purposes of power maintenance.

Similarly, personal weaponry can be enhanced with a variety of special effects. Each of these also count as one maintained ability, but can apply to any weapons the character has active at a given time (their choice where multiple weapons and enhancements are concerned). Such enhancements include the corrosion, disease, poison, and rotting powers, among many others that fit such a theme.

Personal weapons that inflict Blunt Attack damage cause one's Strength (might) +1 CS in damage, while those that cause Edged Attack damage simply work at the Strength (might) rank; the latter trades raw output potential for lethality. Special effects (corrosion, et cetera) function at the personal weaponry rank regardless of the Strength that backs them up, for they merely use physical weaponry as a delivery mechanism.

Pheromones
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell
Duration: maintenance + 1d100 turns
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: inodoriferous, poison, redolence.

A large number of animal life forms make use of pheromones, special chemicals that may be emitted into the environment to affect the behavior of other members of their species. While the human receptor of pheromones, the vomeronasal organ, is essentially inert, some characters have the ability to generate pheromones so powerful that they can actually overwhelm this vestigial feature.

While pheromones do not have an odor that humans can ordinarily detect, those produced by this power can definitely manipulate the behavior of others who are exposed to them. Anyone breathing within Very Near distance of a character with the pheromones power while it is active must pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its rank, lest they be subject to that character's influence.

Think of pheromones as a chemically-induced version of the emotion control power.

Once individuals are affected by pheromones, they are influenced by them for as long as the character emitting them is present - plus 1d100 turns. While under their influence, the target(s) will feel as the character with pheromones desires. They will experience any emotion he or she wishes, ranging from love to loyalty to trust to rage to anger to hatred - though everyone present that is affected will feel the same.

The important thing to keep in mind is that pheromones don't affect beings without a sense of smell - or that don't breathe. Would-be targets using their own air supply are similarly immune while the integrity of their life support systems persists. Furthermore, using pheromones on beings not of one's species (or at least very close) may or may not have the desired effect - it all depends on how similar the target life form is.

Philosophical Sense
Type: Philosophical Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

This curious sensory power allows its wielder to look into the very hearts and minds of those around him or her, to sense where their morality lies. It can be used to perceive whether a specific entity leans towards a Good, Evil, Orderly, Chaotic, or Balanced mindset - or if they rest somewhere between these philosophical extremes. It can be used to probe a specific target or everything within Near distance.

The former will indicate the philosophy of its target, while the latter will only indicate the overall nature of the area scanned. If someone is attempting to mask their philosophical nature from others, this spell must defeat the intensity of the masking power(s) before it can determine anything specific about an individual's morality first.

Keep in mind that a 'blank' reading doesn't mean someone's hiding their nature... it could just mean they're philosophically unaligned.

Phobia
Type: Voodoo Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

This ability dredges up the greatest fear of its target and overwhelms his or her conscious mind with the thought of it. The wielder of phobia does not have access to this fear via this ability alone, but nonetheless forces their target to face said fear (whatever it may be) directly. The effects of this power can be staggering against most people, literally causing them to be unable to act due to the paralyzing fear it instills.

Phobia affects it target if he or she fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its power rank. If the affected character has a specific phobia quirk, they attempt this ACTION at the appropriate negative column shift. Characters who succumb to this power receive a new ACTION to shrug the effect off each turn, but phobia will remain in effect until the victim can finally pass this ACTION - which can be hard with particularly phobic characters.

Phobia functions within Near range of its wielder.

Pishogue
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Pishogue is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to befuddle, confound, and mislead one or more opponents, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the pishogue spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point pishogue will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Confusion, Emotion Control, Forgetfulness, Mesmerism, Paralysis, or Sleep.

However, should pishogue's caster desire to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, pishogue will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though thaumaturges achieving a 'bonus' result may choose pishogue's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Planar Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, space control, teleportation, time control, time travel.

This strange and dangerous ability allows its wielder to manipulate several properties of the local space-time. Technically speaking, planar control works by temporarily altering one or more of the area's seven-dimensional coordinates, thus causing it to overlap with the realm which normally possesses those characteristics. This causes the traits of the two distinct, joined locations to mix and match.

Planar control can be used in one of six main fashions. By altering one of the standard three dimensions of an area, a planar controller can momentarily shift it to anywhere else, really. A change such as this involves, say, shifting a part of Nome, Alaska's latitude and longitude until it overlaps with Caracas, Venezuela. Each city will experience a meteorological change (Nome will heat up, whilst Caracas will cool down).

This ability can be wielded to change an area's temporal coordinates, instead. An example of this would be shifting modern day Gettysburg, Pennsylvania back to July 2nd, 1863. While the core geography would remain the same, you'd have a lot of panicked locals trying to figure out where all these Civil War reenactors came from - and plenty of Confederate soldiers being hit by inexplicable horseless carriages.

Moving up into yet higher dimensions, planar control can manipulate a space's fifth-dimensional coordinates. This allows one to move an area until it overlaps with the equivalent area on a variant earth. If matched with a world very close to our own this may not be readily apparent, but doing so with an earth whose dinosaurs were never rendered extinct in a cosmic calamity might cause people to see a plethora of weirdness.

Stepping further out of one's experience, characters with planar control can also change the sixth-dimensional coordinates of their area, making a transient link with any other universe sharing the same timeline. An instance of this sort of manipulation includes shifting a portion of the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota until it overlaps with Asgard - and watching the hilarity (and stab wounds) quickly ensue.

Planar control can alter seventh-dimensional coordinates, though such super-spaces are usually coincident with the rest of space-time anyway. This coincidence can be amplified, however, such as making one's area mesh better with the astral plane to reveal the presence of ectoplasmic matter and entities. This may allow one to interact with ghosts and astral forms directly, but is otherwise harmless.

Combining one's space with the mindscape of another's nightmare, on the other hand, can be downright devastating. A dreamspace unleashed upon the real world can cause literally anything to happen, depending on the mind generating the nightmare in the first place. Strange physics, monstrous creatures, and even interruptions in causality might be inflicted on an area merged with someone's subconscious!

A sixth use for planar control involves stabilizing an area of space-time, instead of destabilizing it. This can be used to seal portals in an area that lead to other spaces or times, pitting the rank of planar control against that which made them to begin with (or with a yellow ACTION for naturally occurring rifts). Planar control can even be used to lock out teleportation, dimensional transit, and time travel powers!

The distance with which one can cause transient alterations in space-time is similar to that of related powers. Standard dimensions can be shifted with Far range (per teleportation), allowing someone with a Monstrous (75) rank to be able to reach any point on earth (which has a 7926.28-mile diameter). Shifting to different time periods works like time travel (that Monstrous planar control could move 421,875 years along the timeline).

Higher dimensions are more ambiguous. Reaching a specific variant timeline or another universe entirely isn't dependent on distance, but whether or not the wielder of planar control knows how to get there. These require a power stunt for each (as with dimensional transit), but if the character with this ability has dimensional transit as well, they can apply stunts to reach dimensions with it to planar control (and vice versa).

The size of an area so blurred by planar control is determined on the Near range table. That Monstrous (75) ranked planar control power indicated earlier could temporarily merge two areas within a mile radius of its wielder - that's a lot of real estate! A blended space remains for up to a number of turns equal to the power rank number - unless the planar controller specifically concentrates on maintaining the effect.

But why do this, you ask? Blurring two locations together can be a great way to travel between them directly. By connecting two areas in space-time, the wielder of planar control can walk through the affected area and, upon reaching the end of its circumference, lean into the new location in preference to the old. By doing so, the power will terminate - but its wielder will arrive in the new location no worse for the wear.

The problem is that other people, if they realize what is going on, can perform the same trick - and anyone carrying an item out of a blurred space that doesn't belong can introduce anachronisms into their realm. A Civil War combatant from before might steal a cell phone and a Beretta 9mm pistol from modern-day civilians and wander out of planar control's radius, thus causing serious divergences in the time stream.

That's why it pays for a planar controller to operate this ability for short periods of time; if people are menaced by dinosaurs for only a few seconds, the odds of anyone being eaten are greatly diminished. On the other hand, planar control can be a great way to cause mass panic, and makes for a supreme diversion if one is trying to cover their tracks when engaging in illegal activities.

Plant Control
Type: Biological Control Power, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal control, organism generation, plant hybridization / others, plant sympathy, summoning.

While plant sympathy only allows one to 'speak' with various kinds of non-sentient plant life, plant control enables its wielder to actually direct the actions of flora! This generally requires but a green power ACTION roll, since most floral entities don't have a Psyche score to speak of, though such an ACTION is never considered automatic in nature. If it is sentient, a plant is allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist.

Control of a single plant generally lasts for 1d10 turns per application of this power, unless its wielder specifically focuses on maintaining his or her influence for longer. It can affect any plant within Very Near distance of its possessor, though once control is achieved, it can be exerted anywhere within Near distance of the plant controller.

A trickier application of plant control involves taking control of a large number of floral life forms at once (a row of crops, a small grove, et cetera). This requires a yellow power ACTION roll, as seizing command of that many plants is rather involved. This ACTION must be repeated each turn, or else the grouping of plants will return to their natural, uncontrolled state once more.

Once control is achieved, a plant controller may direct their thrall(s) to perform any action they desire. Since plants are by and large inanimate, this involves actually animating the plant forms in question, per the object animation power. Trees can be made to 'walk', vines can entangle foes, and so on. A plant controller can control any number of plants within range at once, but can only issue one specific command at a time.

This can involve anything from having a singular vine restrain an enemy to directing a gaggle of radishes to attack the farmer who planted them. Generally, plants can only inflict an amount of Blunt Attack or Edged Attack damage that is equal to their weight (as an equivalent Strength score), with a minimum rating of Feeble (2) - and a maximum score that is equal to the plant control power rank.

Alternately, a plant controller can induce rapid growth within their subjects. This can cause a plant to grow from something as small as a seed to its full, adult size in but one turn. Such an action can cause considerable damage, particularly in an urban setting (tearing up concrete, damaging buildings, and so on). It can also make a body appear like unto a miracle worker in rural or famine-swept areas.

A plant controller can significantly enhance this ability with limitations, if desired. A strong limitation might involve constraining plant control to a general type of flora (trees, algae, et cetera). A very strong limitation would restrain the power further (grains, cacti, and so on), while an extreme limitation would only work on specific species (maize, rose cactus, et cetera).

Plant Hybridization / Others
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, gestalting, growth / others, plant control, shrinking / others, topological control, transformation / others.

This potent ability allows its wielder to modify other life forms, namely by combining their inherent characteristics with that of plant life! When this power is first gained, its wielder can only add the characteristics of one form of flora to others. This represents a deep familiarity with the physiology of said plant type, and additional familiarities (i.e., floral forms) can be obtained as power stunts.

Any living creature can be the recipient of such hybridization, whether it is a human, a dog, or even another plant. Such a transformation can be either partial or total, depending on the whims of this power's possessor. This can either give an affected life form the abilities of the new plant type, or alter them fully into the chosen floral form (changing their physical ability scores, if applicable, appropriately).

Abilities gained by the target of this power typically function at a maximum rank that is equal to its own. They may operate at less, depending on the nature of the transformations it can cause, but are limited in such a fashion to represent the ability of this power's possessor to emulate their chosen form of plant life. Physical weaponry is normally not affected by this limitation, however, since it usually uses set modifiers.

A vital consideration is the both the size of the target and the nature of a transformation, if it is complete. Turning a humpback whale into a rose bush would make immense flowers, while transforming a beetle into an oak tree would create an absolutely tiny oak. This problem cannot be bypassed without use of the growth / others and shrinking / others abilities (either as separate powers or as power stuns).

Another thing to bear in mind is that the target will retain whatever cognitive abilities it usually possesses, even if such a characteristic would normally be different in its final form. Changing a man into a weeping willow might make for a very panicky plant, while giving a corn stalk poisonous thorns wouldn't cause much of a net change (save for those 'talking' to the corn via plant sympathy).

Wielding plant hybridization / others requires physical contact with the target. The target can avoid the effects of this power by preventing contact with its wielder - or having resistance to metabolic attacks. The effects of changes, whether partial or complete, take place almost instantly. The target of this power can be a human resources representative one second and a fern the next - which might be an improvement.

Generally, the transformative effects of this power are transient in nature. On a green power ACTION, it will last for a number of turns equal to its power rank number. Yellow successes raise this to a number of minutes equal to the power rank number, and a red ACTION roll will extend the time such a transformation lasts a number of hours equal to the power rank number!

On rare occurrences, this power's effects can be permanent. The wielder of plant hybridization / others has no control over this; occasionally, it just happens. Perhaps something occurred to that rat you turned into a tiny orange tree that caused it to remain in that state, or the flowers you imparted on someone for romantic inclinations agreed with their physiology so well that they stuck.

The Judge is the final arbiter of such instances, which occasionally gives him or her a tool to introduce bizarre additions or alterations to their campaign.

Plant Hybridization / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / self, plant hybridization / others, plant sympathy, shape change.

Plant hybridization is the process of transforming oneself into flora of any type. This involves an innate familiarity with the biological processes of said plant, which lets the character with this ability mold their own bodily functions and anatomy until it changes from its original state into the new one. Such transformations may be either partial (adopting some traits of the plant) or complete (adopting the full form of the plant).

A partial transformation allows the wielder of this ability to pick and choose which facets of their anatomy are changed; one might simply want the redolence of the carrion flower, instead of changing into one completely. This allows one to use plant hybridization in a more exacting fashion if desired, either adopting physical capabilities or simply changing one's appearance for purely cosmetic reasons (like assuming leafy 'hair').

A complete transformation, on the other hand, lets one totally change their body into the desired plant form. In this state, the character with plant hybridization may wield any of the inherent 'powers' a plant possesses (such as poisonous personal weaponry, or damage-resistant bark). The transformed character typically won't possess physical statistics, but will retain their mental characteristics.

Despite having adopted the form of something that, as a general matter of rule, lacks a brain entirely.

When first gained, this ability's possessor may originally only transform into one specific kind of plant, but may adopt additional transformations (into different plants) as a power stunt, for each, at their leisure. Typically, 'powers' gained by the use of this ability are limited to the plant hybridization rank in effectiveness - save for powers, such as personal weaponry, which have no specific rank to speak of.

Plant Sympathy
Type: Biological Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal sympathy, biological sense, device sympathy, linguistics, object sympathy, organic circuitry, organism generation, plant sympathy, plant hybridization / self, summoning.

The power of plant sympathy is the skill to communicate with non-sentient floral life forms. The vast majority of plant life falls into this category, though one can be sure if the given plant has a Karma score - the presence of such demonstrates sapience, or at least free will. As long as it's not intelligent, any plant can be the target of this power - though the more complex a plant is, the better.

Speaking (after a fashion) with trees, or perhaps a large area of vegetation, requires but a green ACTION. A yellow power ACTION roll is necessary when one tries to communicate with smaller specimens, such as bushes, vines, mushrooms, or most agricultural products. One must usually roll a red power ACTION only when attempting to talk with incredibly simple plant life, such as single-celled plants or fungi.

Conversing with plant life is somewhat difficult no matter how complex the specimen is, considering that plants lack a nervous system entirely. Thus, to communicate with plants, one must attune their minds to working at the plant's speed, as it were. Once this is achieved, the plant sympathizer must then talk to the plant in such a fashion that he or she can actually gain useful information from it.

The difficulty in doing so is usually directly proportional to how relevant the question is to the plant's existence. For example, a tree may not normally 'notice' or 'see' much about someone who simply walked by it in the recent past, but if that individual broke a tree branch or split its bark at all, the flora might have a vivid recall of both the event and who was responsible.

Plasma Generation
Type: Combination Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: aura (plasma), various energy generation abilities (based on one's plasma type), energy absorption (various), matter absorption, transformation / self (plasma).

Plasma generation is a specialized ability that combines facets of matter absorption with one of several energy generation powers. How it works is that it collects ambient loose particles, which its wielder instantly expels. The catch is that the flow of these particles is both consciously controlled and highly energized, such that the possessor of this ability can seemingly generate plasma from nowhere!

The question, then, becomes just how the plasma was energized in the first place. Plasma can be produced by exposing particulate matter to intense heat (or fire), electricity (or magnetism), or radiation (or light). All of these energies used to coax matter into a plasma phase are interrelated, and thus generally produce the same result, though each will behave in a slightly different fashion.

Initially, plasma generation can only be used as a powerful projectile attack, on anything within Near range. This energetic, fourth form of matter can thus be used to inflict Armor Piercing Energy damage with each strike, having an SD damage effect based on the form of energy used to excite it into plasma in the first place. This SD effect, regardless of its type, can be resisted with one's Endurance (res) score.

To use plasma generation in any other fashion, one must develop power stunts with the ability first. Such stunts generally resemble those a charactet can concoct with the various energy control powers, such as creating plasmatic restraints around a foe, building semi-sentient constructs from generated plasma, or even surrounding oneself in a powerful aura of plasmatic material.

Less common power stunts one can develop with plasma generation involve the component abilities which comprise it. Developing these, one can often manifest energy generation and control tricks based on the form of energy they use to excite ordinary matter into plasma in the first place, or perhaps can even learn how to absorb energy on top of the material required to create plasma!

Plasticity
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: elongation, prehensile hair, prehensile skin, shape change.

Plasticity is a trait which makes one's body malleable and, well, plastic. In such a state, a character can stretch and deform their body as they see fit, maintaining their normal bodily processes all the while. Plasticity itself does not allow one to change their volume; to do that, one must also possess the elongation power, an ability which is often seen in tandem with this one (but is itself quite different).

A plastic character is more durable than normal, where incoming damage is concerned. This ability grants its possessor power rank resistance to Blunt Attack, Blunt Throwing, Force, and Shooting attacks, the energy of such assaults being harmlessly absorbed by the character's malleable body. This capability also allows one to similarly absorb falling damage, whether the plastic character is falling or catching someone else who is.

Mind you, plasticity always 'absorbs' damage by redirecting it back at its source, albeit at its original intensity -2 CS. Falling from a great height will likely cause a plastic character to bounce, while they will reflexively carom bullets back towards their source. One can even use a plastic character as a living slingshot, propelling items as if they were thrown at up to the plasticity's power rank in Strength!

Platforming
Type: Movement Power, Universal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental independence, environmental pocket, invulnerability or resistance (fire, heat, and/or friction), jelling, object animation, object projection, solid animation, telekinesis, topological control.

The power of platforming is a specialized form of several different ascendant abilities, depending on how one wishes to define it. In essence, platforming involves its wielder imparting momentum into matter, and subsequently riding atop it. In this fashion, a platformer can achieve flight, whether high in the sky or just above the surface, even if he or she is not the one actually flying.

A platform impelled by this power will move at power rank velocity, as is defined by the air speed table. A platformer may maintain such speeds indefinitely, though it's important to note that at higher velocities, air friction and an inability to easily breathe might become a concern. Thus, without the ability to resolve such issues, one might cap platforming at a safe top speed of Remarkable (30) - 225 miles per hour.

A platformer may automatically lift their own weight with a platform. The power can support additional mass as if the power rank were an equivalent Strength score, though this amount must also include the weight of the platform to be impelled. Thus, an Incredible (40) ranked platforming power could bear its wielder and ten tons of material, which can be up to a ten-ton platform or a light platform with a lot of cargo.

In its standard form, platforming can be used on any solid matter, though living beings could presumably attempt an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to resist its use on their person. However, the power can be limited to increasingly specific forms of matter as limitations, ranging from 'natural earth' as a weak limitation to an old hubcap with sentimental value to the power's wielder as an extreme limitation.

Plenipotentiary
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Using the power of faith, a deific being can reach through space (and even time, if a follower travels through such) to the vicinity of those who venerate him, her, or it. The channel of spectral energy that fuels their might allows a deionic entity to wield their powers within Very Near distance of those who venerate them, regardless of the distances or dimensions between a worshiper and the worshiped.

This is similar to the proxy power, in that it allows a body to use their abilities remotely, via a designated target. Plenipotentiary differs from proxy, however, in that it doesn't act through the follower but instead through the channel of faith energy they generate. Thus, a deity's power effects can manifest within the stated range without implicating a follower - or can even target him or her directly!

Effects remotely manifested in this fashion cannot exceed the plenipotentiary power rank.

This ability allows a deionic entity to perform seeming miracles, or otherwise answer the requests of their followers, without using up valuable faith. Sure, faith can be expended thanks to this power (perhaps via the actual faith ability), but immortals can simply use ordinary powers they possess within range as well thanks to plenipotentiary, thus preserving accumulated faith for (to them) more important matters.

Poison
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: barbs, battle tail, claws, edges, fangs, horns, pheromones, quills, razor skin, redolence.

The insidious power of poison allows its wielder to secrete chemical compounds that are antithetical to most organic life. When this ability is first gained, its possessor may exude any one form of poison the player chooses. Additional forms of poison may be gained either as power stunts or as additional versions of the poison power - this only matters if one wants differing forms of toxicity now or later.

Each form of poison will affect its target at this power's rank, usually prompting an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to resist. There are a wide variety of poisons, however, and a character with this ability must develop their own customized poison power based on three variables: the delivery mechanism, the effects the poison has on the biological processes of its target, and the onset time.

An inhaled poison is one that the target must breathe in to be exposed to its effects. The poisoner can typically emit poisonous particles from his or her body, whether the skin, their own lungs upon exhalation, or some specific body part. This form of poison can be avoided by not breathing it in, though a colorless and odorless poison may be difficult to detect - at least, until it is too late.

A contact poison is one that is absorbed through the skin to function. Such a toxin is typically issued forth from one's body or a physical weapon of some sort. This form of poison can be applied directly to the target or something they might touch, though in the latter case such a poison will lose effectiveness over time, as the elements, circumstance, or even its own molecular structure conspire to dilute its strength.

Injected poisons are those which must somehow enter the bloodstream to affect the target. This form of poison is often delivered through a hypodermic needle or perhaps a bladed object. Swords, arrows, and even natural weaponry excel for these purposes. An injected poison usually has a very rapid onset time, since it need not pass through the lungs or digestive tract on the way to its final destination.

Poisons of the ingested sort are those which must be consumed by the target to affect them. These can be the hardest to deliver in a combat situation, as one must generally force their ingestion, possibly with surprise. At the same time, one can most readily use this power on a foe when they are caught unawares, dosing the target's food or water supply when they're not looking.

The inhaled form of poison is considered the default mode of this power, and functions within Very Near range of others. Wielding a contact form of poison is considered a weak limitation, an injected form of poison is a strong limitation, and a poison that must be ingested counts as a very strongly limited power. This allows one to build a very deadly toxin, depending on how difficult it is to deliver.

Of course, one must determine what their poison will do once it affects the target. The simplest form of poison is one which inflicts non-specific, SD Metabolic damage. This is representative of a chemical that does damage to the target's organs and tissues in the course of moving through their body, though it isn't very detailed - which is on purpose, for those without a biochemistry degree.

If a player wishes to devise a specific poison, modeled on real life compounds, these can be researched and built appropriately. Such 'realistic' poisons will usually trade some of the previously described damage for different effects, as determined by the player and the Judge. Cyanide might cause suffocation, while nerve gas will cause paralysis - these toxins and many more are possible using the poison power.

Finally, a player must determine the onset time of their poison. The standard mode of the poison power calls for an immediate effect. However, the power can be limited by delaying the onset time for 1d10 turns as a weak limitation, 1d10 minutes as a strong limitation, or even 1d10 hours as a very strong limitation. Such delayed onset times aren't very applicable to combat, but are great for harming others without notice!

Polarization
Type: Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Polarization is the process of modifying a psionic such that, through intense concentration, it can be 'wired' to operate on antipsions, instead of the standard psions that most psionics are fueled by. This is incredibly difficult to pull off, and as such this skill counts as two powers for the purposes of power maintenance. But then it really is two psionics, when you get down to it: the polarization ability and the ability polarized.

Other than its power source, a polarized ability generally functions the same - save for one important difference. When its wielder is exposed to antipsions, this power will not be shut down by the resultant particle annihilation. Of course, the polarized ability could then be neutralized, in theory, by direct exposure to psions if its wielder fails a polarization power ACTION roll against the intensity of the psions leveled against them.

And even if this ACTION fails, the character can then deactivate polarization to negate that effect. This makes the polarization of a psionic a powerful tool a superpsi or thaumentalist can utilize should they expect to face a foe with like abilities!

Portal
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank (before added features)
Related Powers: dimensional transit, teleportation, time travel.

A portal is a direct connection between two different locations. Matter and energy may freely pass through one end of the portal and instantaneously arrive at the other, regardless of the intervening space, time, or dimension. Portals are two-way affairs, and anything on one end of a portal can move through to the other, regardless of which side of the portal the traveling material or energy is on.

Strictly speaking, the portal ability can only link two locations within the current space-time its wielder currently occupies. However, it may do so on the Very Far range table, linking two locations that are vastly distant from each other. For example, a character wielding the portal ability at Incredible (40) rank can construct a bridge between two points that are up to 2.5 million miles apart!

This may sound similar in effect to teleportation, but the advantage over that ability is that portal allows any number of persons, things, or energies to pass through. As long as the portal is open, anything can use it to move between the two locations with ease. There is no weight limit, no fatal materialization risks, or anything else to impede the use of the portal. That and it reaches farther, too.

Furthermore, one's portals can have even more features... at additional cost. Its possessor can add the ability to make portals into other dimensions or times by adding one point per rank (or making portal count as an additional power), or they can add the ability to build portals to both by increasing the cost by two points per rank (or making portal count as two additional powers).

If traveling through time or to other planes of existence is added to the portal ability, these features function as they normally would, where capability and/or range is concerned (see dimensional transit and time travel for more on this). These variant portals function in the exact same way as a regular portal would, it's just that their destinations are (often vastly) different.

Portals can be used offensively as well as for transit. One such use involves opening up a doorway to somewhere full of hostile creatures. While this is often more than enough to dispatch an unsuspecting foe (either temporarily or permanently), the problem is that the things on the other side of the portal are not under the control of its creator, and just might come for them next!

Another offensive use of portals is to open a portal in such a manner that it will snare someone or something in the area. This requires a to-hit roll based on the wielder's Agility score (and the target may attempt a dodge if physically capable of it).

Positron Generation
Type: Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A variant (and far less destructive) form of antimatter generation, positron generation allows its possessor to cast forth subatomic particles which are just like electrons, but have the opposite electrical charge. Positrons behave like electrons in every other aspect, but since our universe is comprised primarily of standard matter, concentrations of positrons aren't long for this world.

Due to matter-antimatter annihilation, positrons generated by this power have a short range; the power only works within Very Near distance of its wielder. This annihilation leaves gamma radiation in its wake, a tell-tale sign of positronic usage. Not enough to cause damage, strictly speaking, but it could conceivably build up over time (or provide ammunition for a radiation controller).

Positrons, as stated above, act just like electrons - other than their electrical charge. Thus, when used as a distance attack, positrons inflict power rank Stunning Energy damage. If used against any defensive ability primarily comprised of electrons (such as an electrical aura), a positron blast includes an Armor Piercing component. The Stunning component of positrons works against electronic devices as well as the living.

Possession
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, mesmerism, mind control, mind transfer, telepathy.

A more invasive form of mind control, possession allows its wielder to project his or her very consciousness into the mind of another. Targets of this ability automatically gain a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist, attempted against the intensity of its power rank. If this ACTION roll succeeds, the would-be possessor's consciousness is deflected back into their own mind, possibly giving them a migraine in the process.

If the target's resistance roll fails, however, the possessor's consciousness literally 'moves in' to his or her victim's mind. While possessing another, the wielder of this ability will be completely unaware of anything happening to their own body - unless they can perceive it through their thrall. In other words, they may merely sense whatever their 'new' body can detect, with whatever senses it has access to.

While possessing a target, the wielder of this power may live vicariously through him or her, doing anything they like with the appropriated body. They may spend their Karma to influence actions taken while in the possessed body, though not the victim's own Karma reserves. Similarly, a possessed person does not lose Karma for actions a possessor takes while controlling them, but Popularity is another matter entirely.

Once possessed, the target may not actively resist the power - unless its wielder places them in a life-threatening situation. Other than that, though, they're helpless against their tormentor, forced to watch as the possessor does what he or she likes with their body, their very life. Of course, knocking a possessor unconscious is one way to end body-hopping shenanigans, regardless of its victim's inability to resist.

Like mind control, possession must be initiated within Very Near distance of its wielder. But, after that point, it can be maintained wherever its target wanders, for as long as the possessor can concentrate on keeping this ability active.

Postcognition
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: history control, precognition, psychic probe, psychometry, quintessential variation, time travel.

Postcognition is the ability to vicariously relive the past in relation to a person, place, or thing. This requires physical contact with the subject, and may investigate a number of years of its history equal to the postcognition power rank number squared. For example, a postcognitive bearing this ability with Incredible (40) rank can directly examine and relive the history of a subject up to 1,600 years into the past!

A postcognitive vision mainly gives information relevant to the subject. If something important happened in the area that the postcog's subject was unaware of and didn't affect it directly, postcognition might not pick up on it (Judge's discretion). Similarly, coaxing the desired amount of detail out of a subject with this ability can be tricky; the color result of the postcognition ACTION roll determines how useful the offered data is.

A white ACTION roll typically won't give anything useful, and may in fact be counter-productive to the postcog's goals. A green ACTION roll will provide accurate, if minimalistic information. Yellow ACTION rolls provide accurate and somewhat thorough details about the period of time being examined. Red ACTIONs can provide all of this and more, sometimes gleaning extra information that isn't otherwise apparent.

The kicker is that for a player to not know they're getting bum (or excellent) information, they don't get to roll the ACTION required when using postcognition - that's left to the Judge. A player may declare they're adding Karma to the roll, but he or she won't know how much they need; they can shout out a number and be bound to that expenditure, but may not even need all of it if the Judge rolls high enough.

This all assumes that postcognition is used on an unfamiliar target. When wielding this ability on familiar persons or items, a postcog may add a +1 CS to the ACTION roll, a +2 CS when used on their property, or close friends and relatives, and a +3 CS when used on themselves. The latter is useful when trying to determine what might have happened to oneself while unconscious (or dead!) for any long period of time.

Pouches
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: device generation, internal universe.

In nature, a pouch is a natural area of the body that can hold things - most often, one's young. It generally consists of a fold of skin covering another area of the body, with but one opening to the world outside. Marsupials are famous for this biological feature, in particular the kangaroo. Of course, a character with this power just might have a more effective use for such an anatomical oddity.

When a character acquires pouches, either during character generation or later on, he or she may indicate where they are situated. Common locations for pouches include on the belly, as is the case with most animals, or perhaps where one's pants pockets would be. These can be as obvious or as inconspicuous as is desired, and when closed a pouch might be very hard to spot, indeed.

For the most part, a pouch will not hold all that much material. It is inherently limited to its interior volume, which means one can usually only carry tiny objects within. Such things include grenades, small firearms, school supplies, compact tools, a smartphone, or whatever else tickles one's fancy. However, pouches can be greatly expanded by, or are often linked to other abilities, such as internal universe or device generation.

Power Absorption
Type: Power Control Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 4 points per rank
Related Powers: empowerment, investment, link, power transfer, origin sense, power control.

Power absorption is an insidious ability that allows one character to steal the powers of another, and then use them as he or she sees fit.

Absorbing the power(s) of another requires physical contact with them, and the target can avoid the effect if they prevent such. If the rank of a character's power absorption is higher than that of the target's original power rank, said target may not use the absorbed ability while so affected. If the power to be absorbed was higher in rank than this ability, simply reduce its effectiveness by the power absorption rank number.

On that note, if the power rank to be absorbed is higher than this one, the wielder of this ability must roll a red Psyche (will) ACTION. Success means the power has been absorbed in a safe and manageable fashion, while failure indicates that the power source overloaded their power absorption, and the power absorber will be Stunned for 1d10 turns as a result.

Power absorption can also be used to absorb the ability scores of others. This works in the same fashion as the above, transferring points from the target's score to the absorber's on a point-per-point basis - to a maximum amount equal to the power absorption rank number. If any of one's ability scores are drained below Feeble (2) by the use of this power, they will be knocked unconscious for the duration of the absorption.

In its basic form, one can only use this power to absorb one ability or power from a target at a time. However, it can be enhanced during character generation, with each additional thing to be absorbed counting as one 'step' of enhancement. Alternately, one can achieve this with power stunts later on, each sequential increase in the number of things one can absorb being a separate stunt.

The amount of time that a power absorber can retain the powers they have absorbed from others depends on the ACTION roll made when the purloined abilities were first stolen. A green ACTION allows a power absorber to retain the stolen characteristics for a number of turns equal to its power rank number. A yellow ACTION extends this to minutes, while a red ACTION stretches this amount to hours.

But, you ask, what if one wants to steal the powers of another permanently? The ability to do this is considered an extreme enhancement of power absorption, either reducing its intensity by 4 CS or increasing its cost by sixteen points. Furthermore, permanently swiping the power(s) of another always requires that the power absorption power rank is higher than the power rank to be absorbed.

If these conditions are met, one can attempt to steal the power(s) of another with a red power ACTION. Targets of permanent power theft are allowed a Psyche ACTION to resist, losing the stolen power(s) or enhanced trait(s) on a semi-permanent basis if they fail. Victims of such theft can often find a means of restoring what has been lost, though this usually requires a special adventure or requirement (as if inventing something).

And once the victim of power absorption has managed this, he or she is quite likely to come looking for some serious payback.

Power Amplification
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: amplification, buttress, empowerment, investment, karma control, power attenuation, power boost, power control, psionic amplification, psionic control, sorcerous amplification, spell control, theonic amplification.

Power amplification allows its wielder to boost the effectiveness of another person's super-human abilities for a short period of time. When triggered, it will raise the effective rank of one power another person possesses, increasing it to either the power amplification rank or the power's ordinary rank +1 CS, whichever of the two happens to be higher at the time.

It doesn't matter the origins of the power to be enhanced, as long as it is inherent in nature. For example, power amplification can boost the output of another character's mutation-granted fire generation power, but not their eldritch bolt of fire spell. It may only affect one power at a time, and the enhanced rank it provides will only last for 1d10 turns - unless the effect is specifically concentrated upon.

Note that power amplification cannot directly affect ability scores.

Once it wears off, power amplification may not be used again on the same target for one hour - without degrading its relative utility, that is. For each additional use on a single target without a one hour 'cool down', power amplification loses -1 CS of its overall effectiveness for them. This is enough to neutralize its use upon powers more potent than itself, while more gradually reducing its use in other instances.

Power amplification works within Very Near distance of its possessor.

Power Attenuation
Type: Power Control Power, Faerie Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: attenuation, empowerment, investment, karma control, nimiety, power amplification, power block, power control, psionic attenuation, sorcerous attenuation, theonic attenuation.

Power attenuation is the power to stifle one or more super-human powers, often a great means of containing whatever damage they can cause. Power attenuation works within Near range of its wielder, and an application of attenuation lasts for 1d10 turns unless specifically maintained on a target for longer periods of time - which may be necessary to keep them from retaliating for its use on their person.

Power attenuation works by deciding which power to dampen, and then applying this ability. Targets of power attenuation may attempt an ACTION with the power to be attenuated; if they can match the intensity of power attenuation, they successfully resist it. If victorious, attenuators may apply one negative Column Shift to the targeted power for each rank they have in this ability, negating it when reducing it to Shift 0.

For example, let us consider a hero who has this power at Amazing (50) rank. He's fighting an opponent with a distressing habit of immolating everything in the area with her Incredible (40) ranked fire generation. When using power attenuation on this foe, our hero can completely negate her fiery power if the target cannot pass a red power ACTION roll against this +1 CS assault on her super-powers.

A versatile ability, power attenuation can be wielded against multiple powers - whether they belong to one character or many. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of powers so dampened will reduce the effective rank of power attenuation by -1 CS - both for the purposes of overcoming the powers it is used against, and the maximum number of Column Shifts it can inflict upon them.

Returning to our example, say the foe of our power attenuator has four powers - and will readily use the others on our hero once her fire generation is knocked out. The power attenuator instead uses his ability against all of his foe's super tricks, and (again assuming she fails to resist) will reduce all her powers by -6 CS in rank. She can maybe use some powers, but those that fail to resist are now much less dangerous.

An attenuator can reduce this penalty somewhat by attempting to hamper less of a power's ranks than their maximum. For each -2 CS he or she chooses not to apply to the powers they are attacking, an attenuator can prevent the operating rank of this power from losing -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This may not completely neutralize their foes, but allows an attenuator to 'even the playing field' considerably.

In time, a band of the power attenuator's foes gang up on him, sick and tired of being humiliated by him in singular combat. The attenuator may dull one power on each of his eight foes, though this reduces his power's effectiveness by -3 CS, allowing him only -5 CS of attenuation. By reducing his overall effect to only -3 CS, our heroic power attenuator can attempt this action with but a -2 CS penalty.

Splitting one's focus to attenuate multiple powers in this fashion tends to make this ability fail more often than not, however, unless they have it at a particularly high rank - which may just make it easier to go with the power block ability, instead. On the other hand, that option cuts off the wielder's own super-human capabilities, unlike power attenuation!

Power Block
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: empowerment, investment, power attenuation, power control.

Wielding power block, a character can prevent the use of ingrained powers within a wide area of effect. Power block functions on the Near range table, allowing its wielder to rapidly impair the operation of a variety of super-human beings - at least, those who fail an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against this power rank once it is active. Of course, power block also affects its wielder - and as its source, they may not resist its effects.

Power block prevents its user from wielding any other inherent super-human powers while it is active.

While power block does counter the use of inherent powers (such as those caused by accidents of Science, aberrant mutations, and even natural magical powers), it does not limit the use of equipment or learned talent-equivalents, such as spells or psionics. Power block lasts for 1d10 turns, or as long as one concentrates on keeping it active. While affected, victims may attempt to resist the power again each turn.

Power Boost
Type: Reality Control Power, Personal Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: 1d10 turns
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, karma control, logos, metabolic focus, nimiety, power amplification, psionic amplification, reassignment, sorcerous amplification, theonic amplification.

This is the root ability of the superpsi discipline of power.

Power boost allows a character to enhance the rank of their super-human powers for a short duration. When triggered, it raises the rank of one power either up to the power boost rank or to its normal rank +1 CS, whichever is higher. For example, a Feeble (2) ranked power affected by an Incredible (40) ranked power boost would be enhanced to Incredible (40) rank, while a Shift X ranked power would be enhanced to Shift Y.

It doesn't matter the origins of the power to be enhanced, whether it is a physical mutation, magical spell, or psionic talent. Power boost can even affect its wielder's technological items! However, power boost cannot affect one's ability scores. It may only affect one power at a time, and the enhanced rank it provides will only last for 1d10 turns - which may or may not be long enough to achieve what the power booster had in mind.

Once it wears off, power boost may not again be used for an hour - at least, not without degrading its overall capability. For each additional use without a one hour 'cool down', power boost loses -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This is enough to neutralize its use upon abilities greater than its own rank, while gradually reducing its power in other instances (that Shift X power, above, would gain no further benefit).

Power Control
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: deionic control, empowerment, investment, power absorption, power amplification, power attenuation, power block, power duplication, psionic control, spell control.

Power control is the potent ability to actively manipulate the form and function of super-human powers. It only works on abilities inherent to a character's physicality, not those ingrained in technology (equipment, cybernetics) or granted through talent-like abilities (spells, psionics). Furthermore, power control can only affect the powers of others - not those wielded by its possessor.

If a super-powered individual or the effects of their powers are present within Near range of the character with power control, he or she can attempt to seize control of such. If attempting to use this ability on a power effect free of its creator's body, this only requires an ACTION roll against its intensity. If the power is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, they are also allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist.

Once the possessor of power control has taken control of the power of another, they can do any number of things with it. However, power control actions require a second ACTION roll, based on how complicated its wielder's intentions are. Redirecting the target of a power (pointing a laser beam away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the regeneration of another) requires a green power control ACTION roll.

Activating or inactivating a power already in play requires a yellow ACTION roll. This can range from being a nuisance to downright lethal, depending on how vital the power being tinkered with is to the survival of its possessor. Yellow ACTIONs also allow one to change minor details of a power's nature somewhat (perhaps changing that laser beam into something the power controller is more resistant to, such as fire).

A red power ACTION roll grants the power controller the ability to drastically alter the nature of a power, being able to turn it from any one power into any other. This might turn body armor into body transformation / water, or flight into matter generation (say, limited to creating gases that are volatile when exposed to air). Such applications are by far the most dangerous uses of power control - and the most lethal.

Luckily for a power controller's opponents, the effects of this power are highly transient in nature. They only last as long as the power controller is actively concentrating upon his or her changes. Furthermore, each turn someone is subject to power control (perhaps the power controller is 'borrowing' their abilities for a while), they may attempt another ACTION roll to resist its use on their person.

Power Dampening
Type: Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A highly specialized form of energy control, power dampening allows its possessor to reduce the intensity of any ambient energies in their environment. With a successful power dampening ACTION roll against the intensity of the energy to be affected, the wielder of this ability may reduce it in intensity as much as he or she likes, whether completely negating it or just throttling its power a little bit.

If such energy is under the influence of someone with an energy control power of some sort, this ACTION must be made against that power rank, instead. This skill may be used to affect any form of energy, even those with psionic or magical components, as long as they are active within Near distance of its wielder. Power dampening immediately works on all energy forms, not needing a separate power stunt for each.

Power Duplication
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 4 points per rank
Related Powers: link, power control, psionic control, spell control, trace duplication.

This incredibly versatile ability allows its possessor to copy the super-human abilities of others, and use them as they see fit! Upon exposure to another person with ascendant powers (if they wander within Very Near distance), the power duplicator may attempt a power ACTION roll. As long as this ACTION does not fail - any color result besides white will do - he or she may copy one power from their new super-powered 'source'.

A duplicator can usually maintain a sizable stable of super-human powers at any given time. They can ultimately copy a number of powers equal to their power rank number. Should the duplicator reach their maximum number of duplicated super-powers, he or she can attempt to learn more, but will 'forget' how to wield a previously mastered ability. The choice of which power to delete is, of course, the duplicator's.

Each ability copied with power duplication will function at its power rank, not that of its source. This saves the duplicator a large amount of accounting, by preventing them from having to record the source and rank of each power they've assimilated. It also prevents them from having to seek out 'better' source material for higher ranking powers (or inadvertently copying powers at a rank much too potent for them to handle).

Of course, the important thing to keep in mind is that while characters can copy a large array of super-human abilities with this one, power duplication cannot generally manifest more than one power at a time. There is no time required to 'switch' from one power to another when using power duplication, but wielding two (or more) duplicated powers simultaneously is not something a duplicator can readily accomplish.

Not without enhancements, that is! For each additional duplicated ability one wishes to manifest at once, a duplicator must enhance this power by one step upon first gaining it. Wielding two duplicated powers simultaneously is a weak enhancement, three a strong enhancement, four a very strong enhancement, and five an extreme enhancement. This can get expensive quickly, but makes for a very versatile character.

Power Transfer
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: boon, empowerment, investment, link, power absorption.

The ability of power transfer lets its wielder share, either on a temporary or permanent basis, one or more of their super-powers. This requires contact with the would-be recipient of the wielder's powers, and generally their cooperation as well. Of course, one can forcibly implant super-powers if the target cannot pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against the power transfer power rank.

In some respects, this power is similar in nature to the investment ability - it renders the mundanes somewhat fantastic. However, one can only gift super-powers to others that they currently have access to, and furthermore, the use of power transfer diminishes the ranks of the super-power(s) to be granted by 1 CS for every 1 CS of power granted to the target of this ability.

The duration of a power transfer depends on an ACTION rolled when the power is used. A white ACTION allows a transfer to last a number of turns equal to this power rank. Green ACTIONs extend this duration to minutes instead of turns, yellow ACTIONs extend it to hours, and red ACTIONs extend it to days. A power transferal may, on a red ACTION, also be made permanent at the discretion of this power's wielder.

But once some (or all of) a power is permanently transferred, one cannot get it back. Such a transfer is only permanent so long as the recipient accounts for the Karmic balance required when gaining the ability, as is the case with any other newly acquired ability. This need not be done immediately as long as it is handled eventually, one way or another. If this doesn't happen, this gift is subject to the Plot.

Generally speaking, one cannot permanently gift power transfer to another person - the power resists its own removal. Its possessor can definitely lend the ability to others, as he or she can any other power, but it's recommended that one doesn't share this power with someone they've temporarily gifted one or more of their other abilities to, lest they somehow manage to pass them along to a third party!

As always, there are exceptions to such general rules, however. For example, a power set may include power transfer as a means of giving the whole thing to another individual - say, when the possessor of the power set is about to die. In the event of such instances, power transfer will travel along with the other abilities to be granted, which will leave the transfer's initiator completely powerless.

But then, that's kind of the point.

Precognition
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, future control, postcognition, psychometry, time travel.

Perhaps one of the most difficult abilities to possess, precognition allows its wielder to see the future! This works by peeling back the veil of time, and looking upon events before they unfold. Characters with this capability have the power to shape the very nature of their reality, for they can conceivably bring events to pass that otherwise would not happen - or prevent seemingly certain eventualities from occurring at all.

This works because while a timeline is immutable, the precognitive character is not necessarily viewing their own, eventual fate. You see, there are an infinite number of variant timelines, and every second an infinity more branch out from our own, depending on the outcome of events large and small. By nudging things in one direction or another, a precognitive person can steer their future towards a certain path, for good or ill.

Precognition can look ahead a number of hours equal to its power rank number; Excellent (20) rank gives a body about a day's worth of notice regarding impending events (great for winning the lottery), while Shift X (150) rank can see almost a week into the future. This allows a precog to monitor future events while working to bring about one specific outcome or another, to see if their actions are helping (or not).

Whether or not the precognitive individual wishes to change anything is another matter entirely.

The trick with precognition is that the success or failure of an action with the ability is unknown. The dice are not rolled by the player - instead, the Judge makes precognition ACTION rolls in secret, and the player may not add Karma to this roll. The validity of a precognitive reading is dependent on the results of this ACTION, and the Judge is encouraged have a blast with any failed precognition ACTION rolls.

On the other hand, something useful should be gleaned upon precognition's success, in relation to the color result. A green ACTION, for instance, will give accurate but vague information in the vision. A yellow ACTION roll will provide ample data about a future occurrence, making it easier to determine what the context is. A red ACTION may even give additional information about the situation that isn't readily apparent.

As one can guess, precognition is extremely powerful, and as a result a character who possesses it must take at least one potent limitation to hold it in check - which does not add to its power level (or reduce its cost). Said character can take more, of course, and subsequent limitations will in fact benefit their precognition's power to cost ratio, but at least one is mandatory. Such limitations can include the following:

• The precognition is out of the character's control - he or she sees visions when the Judge decides it's time.
• The precognition only affects a single class of subjects, such as living beings, inanimate objects, or locations.
• The precognition can only work on something its wielder is touching (or an area they're standing within).
• The precognition only occurs in dreams, lending a whole new definition to promnesia (déjà vu).
• The precognition is the only vision the character can see, until it comes to pass or is prevented.

Precognition itself is only at its maximum effectiveness the first time it is used on a given day. Each subsequent use of the ability reduces its effective power rank (both for the resolution of ACTIONs and the range with which it can peer into the future) by -1 CS. The limit to this is Shift 0 rank, at which point a character can only use the power to peer into the immediate future of those in their vicinity.

When a precog's daily prognostications are all 'used up', he or she may only peer one turn into the future - and then, only in relation to the actions of others within their current area. If this ACTION (which must be yellow or better) is successful, a precog may act with this foreknowledge, and if he or she wins the initiative, they may even share his knowledge of the next few seconds with allies.

This use of precognition doesn't 'drain' the rank of the power if it hasn't already reached shift 0 levels, and may be used indefinitely.

Prehensile Hair
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairtouchence, disguise, elongation, plasticity, prehensile skin, telekinesis.

Prehensile hair is a mass of luxurious locks that can be consciously controlled by its possessor.

When prehensile hair is not actively in use, it usually remains at its standard length - whatever that happens to be. When this power is activated, however, the character's hair will seemingly come to life, able to be manipulated in as fine or as course a manner as is desired. One may even extend its length considerably, doing so within Very Near distance of their person.

Prehensile hair allows its wielder a curious extension of their sense of touch, one which lets him or her feel whatever is in contact with their hair as if touching it with their fingertips. Similarly, a character with prehensile hair may even use it to inflict considerable damage if desired, since the hair produced by this power behaves as if it possesses a Strength (might) score equal to its power rank.

Generally, prehensile hair is assumed to be that which is atop a character's head. However, the power just might apply to all of a character's body hair, which can be particularly useful in characters that are covered in fur - or are just exceptionally hairy.

Prehensile Skin
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: body armor, disguise, elongation, gliding, plasticity, prehensile hair.

Prehensile skin is an epidermis which can be consciously controlled by its possessor.

This power works by making the outer flesh of its possessor highly ductile, and capable of being manipulated in as fine or as course a fashion as is desired. The elasticity of prehensile skin allows the character with this power to stretch his or her skin anywhere within Very Near distance of their person. Prehensile skin can manipulate objects (or people) as could a similarly potent Strength score.

One's skin, while extended out, gains the benefit of power rank resistance against non-Edged physical attacks, as if the character possessed similarly ranked plasticity. Attacks of this sort will be 'absorbed' by bouncing them back at their source, albeit at a -2 CS to their original intensity. Damage done directly to prehensile skin is rarely permanent, the power contracting damaged areas when returning to normal.

Generally, one's prehensile skin looks normal when they are not making use of its special properties. However, a player may make its presence on a character more obvious as a strong limitation, giving him or her the appearance of possessing many feet of extra skin. This form of the power will see its possessor's skin sag and droop at all times, causing an appearance that puts one in mind of slightly molten wax.

Prehensile Tail
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers (for the tail only): elongation, kinetic focus, super climbing.

While most creatures that have a tail can control its movements in a limited fashion, a prehensile tail allows its possessor a fine manipulation of objects in his or her environment. These extremities are generally from three to six foot long, depending on the character who possesses one, and can appear like an 'ordinary' tail or may have some special appearance, as the player who chooses this power desires.

The advantage of a prehensile tail, as compared to a battle tail, is that the character who has one can use it like an additional manipulator - it can make full use of its wielder's Agility score. On the other hand, a prehensile tail inflicts less damage in melee than a battle tail - it only operates at its possessor's Strength score, not gaining an additional bonus to its damage.

The other perk, of course, is that a character with a prehensile tail can use it to make an additional attack each turn, when applicable.

Preincarnation
Type: Deific Power
Duration: permanent
Cost: 12 points (flat cost)

A variant of reincarnation, the power of preincarnation allows its possessor to be reborn in a new body upon his or her demise - though this rebirth happens in the preincarnator's past! How this works is that, when a preincarnator is slain, their mind will travel back in time far enough that, upon being reincarnated within a newly forming body, they will achieve physical maturity at approximately the same time they died.

While the preincarnator is aware of their surroundings, they do not have control over their new body immediately. Instead, a personality based upon their own will begin to form within their newly born body, whose actions the preincarnator's mind can only observe passively. Upon reaching maturity, at or some time after their previous death, the preincarnator's original personality may then reassert itself and take control.

But what happens to the new personality? That depends on the nature of this power. Either the preincarnator's previous personality can simply shove the new one aside, or it can merge with its new expression to better continue its current existence. Each option has a good side and a bad side, and the character's player must make this decision for him or her upon their acquisition of preincarnation.

The reason preincarnation works this way is that it prevents the preincarnator from introducing paradoxes into the timeline. Were they able to act on their foreknowledge, a preincarnator would likely change the chain of events that caused their latest birth in the first place, thus rendering their own existence moot. Sure, they'd live on somewhere, but the current expression of themselves wouldn't know that, would they?

Preincarnation in and of itself has no power rank to speak of; a character either has this ability or they do not.

Propulsion
Type: Movement Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per rank
Related Powers: gliding, horns, kinetic energy control, levitation, missile generation, super jumping, telekinesis.

Propulsion is a counterpart to levitation, in that it allows one to move their body in either of the horizontal axes - but not the vertical one. If one also has levitation, such characters can approximate flight - though at the cost of two active powers, instead of just the one for simply having flight proper. If using a parachute or other similar means, one can also use this ability to simulate gliding (or perhaps go paragliding).

This ability itself grants a character power ranked velocity as is described on the land / sea speed table, whether it's used on the ground, in the sea, or even in the air. It can let a body run or swim very, very fast, though this can be stressful without specialized equipment or adaptations to absorb the physical shock of such rapid locomotion. Mind you, even something as simple as roller skates can bypass this 'problem'.

In addition to its wielder's mass, propulsion can carry additional weight equal to its power rank as an equivalent Strength score. For instance, Monstrous (75) ranked propulsion could bring up to 75 tons of weight along for the ride. Exceeding this reduces propulsion's speed by -2 CS for every +1 CS of weight hauled. As an example, 150 tons (a Shift X (150) weight) would reduce that Monstrous propulsion's speed by -4 CS.

Proxy
Type: Universal Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A proxy is someone whom you may cast magic spells through.

They act as a living, breathing conduit, allowing you to perform your magic well beyond the usual range of most spells (for the most part). One must be willing to serve as a proxy to another, though there's nothing stopping a mage from intimidating somebody until they submit to the use of this power. The only other limitation is that one must be close to begin serving as a proxy.

The would-be proxy must be within Very Near range before being made into such, which occurs when this ability is invoked. Once this is done, the proxy may wander almost anywhere, this power functioning on the Very Far range table. Spells cast through a proxy treat him or her as if they are the origin point for whatever magic the person maintaining the proxy power wields, for as long as it is maintained.

To make the best use of this capability, the proxy power also includes a limited form of sensory link, as well. This lets the wielder of proxy experience whatever sensory input their surrogate is exposed to. This does not include the proxy's thoughts, surface or otherwise - at least, not without the spells to investigate such things directly.

Psi Bolt
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: empathic hammer, illusion projection, jumbling, telepathy, thought projection.

A direct attack upon the mind of another, a psi bolt is the focused offensive will of its wielder. A psi bolt may be turned upon any sentient being within Near range, and will inflict power rank Karmic damage should the target fail a Psyche (willpower) ACTION roll versus its power rank. Psi bolts are ineffective against anything without a Karma score, whether it be a dog, a plant, or a non-sapient robot.

Those affected by a psi bolt will usually feel exquisite pain, and demonstrate minor physical hints of the attack (nose or ear bleeds, and so forth). Generally, the harm inflicted by a psi bolt is never permanent in nature (it will readily heal in time), but it's possible that particularly grievous attacks can inflict serious mental damage, which may potentially result in the development of a variety of deleterious quirks.

The nature of such quirks, should any manifest as a result of devastating psychic harm, are the province of the Judge.

Psi Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, magic sense, nativity sense, origin sense, spectral sense, theonic sense.

A psi sense is the ability to perceive psionic activity in one's vicinity.

This sense functions on the Near range table, allowing its user to detect the presence of and/or use of psi or antipsi particles within a considerable radius of his or her person. Typically, merely sensing the presence of psi requires but a simple green ACTION roll, unless its user is taking active steps to mask its use. If so, detecting the psi requires an ACTION against an intensity equal to the masking power's.

Other than detecting the use of psionic power in one's proximity, a psi sense also has additional uses. A yellow psi sense ACTION allows the possessor of this ability to determine if the psionic in play was either natural or trained in nature and, if the latter, what discipline of power is in use. A red ACTION roll can be used to pinpoint exactly which psionic is being wielded (or was used recently) on a person, place, or thing.

Psi Web
Type: Mental Power, Entreaty Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: force field, telekinesis.

A psi web is a telekinetic weave that its creator can use to ensnare others entering a specific area of space. A psi web will manifest as a two-dimensional object, but may be oriented with any horizontal or vertical inclination desired. It can overlay any amount of space within Very Near distance of its creator, whether spread across a narrow opening or covering every available inch within its area of effect.

Upon entering a space warded by a psi web, one must pass a Strength ACTION against its power rank to proceed. If this ACTION fails, the person who sprung the trap is held within, and must attempt to escape as if grappled at the psi web's power rank. If successful, the character may continue to move through the area that turn, but if still present on the next, he or she must repeat the above Strength ACTION.

Psion Generation
Type: Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A specialized form of energy generation, psion generation allows its wielder to emit raw psions. Psions are subatomic particles that transmit mental energies, and thus are at the very heart of psionics themselves. While most psionics are more refined, psions in their basic form, as manifested by this ability, are raw and undisciplined. Thus, one can usually only wield them in one specific fashion - as a devastating attack!

This involves directing them at a singular target. When so used, psion generation allows its wielder to fire a blast of raw mental energies at anything within Near distance. This beam inflicts damage like an energy attack, but affects the protection of its target (if said target has any) with Karmic damage. Thus, it can even be used to damage inanimate objects, possibly wrecking them in the process.

Mind you, a psion beam will detrimentally affect the use of psionics which rely upon antipsions to function. These include antipsion generation and any ability polarized to operate on such (via polarization). If struck by a direct psion beam, one must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION versus this power rank or be unable to use such abilities for 1d10 turns, which is how long it takes its victims to recover the lost antipsionic energy.

Psionic Absorption
Type: Energy Control Power, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: energy absorption, kinetic absorption, psi sense, psionic amplification, thaumaturgical absorption, theonic absorption, various psionic powers.

This handy ability gives its wielder the power to absorb the energy inherent to psionics. Either when exposed to psionic energies of some sort, or when targeted by a variety of super-human mental abilities, psionic absorption allows its possessor to appropriate the cogitative power involved. By soaking up psionic energy, the absorber can prevent it from harming either themselves or others.

The thing to keep in mind is that psionic absorption only works on direct mental energy. One could absorb the power involved when a foe telekinetically grapples them, but not the blunt force trauma caused when said foe flings a toilet at them with that same ability. A good rule of thumb is that if a mental ability doesn't intimately interact with its target, psionic absorption can't be used to absorb its power.

At one time, an absorber can internalize an amount of energy equal to this ability's rank number; superfluous amounts inflict damage normally. Of course, the character can store more than they can absorb at any one point; psionic absorbers can fill a 'tank' of energy equal to their power rank number times five. If one attempts to absorb more than they can contain, this power will function normally, but excess energies are lost.

Wielding this pool of power, a psionic absorber can produce a variety of useful effects whenever the need arises. They can use it to replenish lost Health, doing so on a point-per-point basis. In fact, if one's Health is at its normal maximum, a psionic absorber can bolster it with absorbed energy, doing so until his or her Health is at up to twice the sum of their Fighting, Agility, Strength, and Endurance scores.

Likewise, one can use absorbed psions to bolster their physical ability scores, shunting purloined psionic energies into their Fighting, Agility, Strength, or Endurance on a point-per-point basis, raising them either to this power rank in effectiveness (if less than the psionic absorption rank) or by +1 CS (if equal to or greater than the psionic absorption rank). Such enhancements will only last for 1d10 turns.

Finally, absorbed psi force can be directly released back into the environment - as a devastating attack! One can emit absorbed psychic energy as psion blasts, doing so at an intensity equal to this ability's rank, and consuming that much power with each use. This attack form manifests as a physical (and visible) burst of energy, one which inflicts Karmic damage upon whoever it strikes.

Psionic Amplification
Type: Power Control Power, Superpsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: amplification, buttress, power amplification, power boost, psionic absorption, psionic attenuation, psionic control, sorcerous amplification, theonic amplification.

Psionic amplification allows its wielder to boost the effectiveness of another person's psionic abilities, natural or trained, for a short period of time. When triggered, it will raise the effective rank of any one psionic another person possesses, increasing it to either the psionic amplification rank or the psionic's ordinary power rank +1 CS, whichever of the two happens to be higher at the time.

This power works within Very Near distance of its wielder, and it may only affect one power at a time. It lasts for 1d10 turns, unless the effect is specifically maintained longer.

Once it wears off, psionic amplification may not be used on the same target again for one hour - without degrading its relative utility, that is. For each additional use on a single target without a one hour 'cool down', psionic amplification loses -1 CS of its overall effectiveness for them. This is enough to neutralize its use upon powers more potent than itself, while more gradually reducing its use in other instances.

Psionic Attenuation
Type: Power Control Power, Superpsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: attenuation, nimiety, power attenuation, psionic amplification, psionic control, sorcerous attenuation, theonic attenuation.

Psionic attenuation is the ability to stifle the operating rank of one or more psionics, natural or trained, in one's vicinity. This power works on targets within Near range of its possessor, and the effects of the power last for only 1d10 turns, unless specifically maintained on a target for a longer period of time - which may be necessary to keep them from expressing their extreme ire regarding its use.

Psionic attenuation works by deciding which psionic ability to dampen, and then applying this power. Targets of psionic attenuation may attempt an ACTION with the power to be attenuated; if they can match the intensity of psionic attenuation, they successfully resist it. If victorious, attenuators may apply one negative Column Shift to the targeted psionic for each rank they have in this ability, negating it when reducing it to Shift 0.

For example, let us consider a psionic attenuator who has this power at Amazing (50) rank. She's fighting a psychoturge with the obnoxious habit of inundating everything in the area with his similarly ranked flux. When using power attenuation on this foe, our hero can completely negate his reality warping tendencies if the target cannot pass a yellow power ACTION against this assault on his super-powers of like rank.

A versatile power, psionic attenuation can be wielded against multiple powers - whether they belong to one character or many. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of psionics so dampened will reduce the effective rank of psionic attenuation by -1 CS - both for the purposes of overcoming the psionic abilities it is used against, and the maximum number of Column Shifts it can inflict upon them.

Returning to our example, say the foe of our psionic attenuator has eight powers - and will readily use the others on our hero once his flux is benched. The psionic attenuator instead uses this ability against all of her foe's super tricks, and (again assuming he fails to resist) will reduce all his psionics by 5 CS in rank. He can maybe use some psionic abilities, but those that fail to resist are now much less dangerous.

An attenuator can reduce this penalty somewhat by attempting to hamper less of a psionic's ranks than their maximum. For each -2 CS he or she chooses not to apply to the psionics they are attacking, an attenuator can prevent the operating rank of this power from losing -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This may not completely neutralize their foes, but allows an attenuator to 'even the playing field' considerably.

One day, a band of rogue epsilons gang up on our psionic attenuator, fed up with her so readily shutting them down in combat. The attenuator may dull two psionics on each of her eight foes, though this reduces her power's effectiveness by -4 CS. By reducing her overall effect to only -2 CS, our heroic psionic attenuator can attempt this action with but a -3 CS penalty.

Splitting one's focus to attenuate multiple psionics in this fashion tends to make this ability fail more often than not, however, unless they have it at a particularly high rank - which may just make it easier to go with some other countermeasure for psionic abilities. On the other hand, psionic preventatives such as static field or antipsion generation have their own drawbacks to deal with, as well.

Psionic Control
Type: Power Control Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: deionic control, power control, psionic absorption, psionic amplification, psionic attenuation, spell control.

Psionic control is the potent ability to actively manipulate the very form and function of psionics. It only works on mental powers, whether inherent to the body or trained beyond mere biology, not other talent-based abilities (magical spells) or non-mental super-powers (built-in powers that aren't psionics). Furthermore, psionic control can only affect the mental powers of others - not those wielded by its possessor.

If a psi-active individual or the effects of their powers are present within Near range of the character with psionic control, he or she can attempt to seize control of such. If attempting to use this ability on a psionic effect free of its creator's body, this only requires an ACTION against its intensity. If the power is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, they are also allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist.

Once the possessor of this ability has taken control of another person's psionic, they can do any number of things with it. However, psionic control actions require a second ACTION roll, based on how complicated its wielder's intentions are. Redirecting the target of a psionic (pointing an empathic hammer away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the invulnerability of another) requires a green psionic control ACTION.

Activating or inactivating a functioning psionic requires a yellow ACTION. This can range from being a nuisance to downright lethal, depending on how vital the power being tinkered with currently is to the survival of its possessor. Yellow ACTIONs also allow one to change minor details of a power's nature somewhat (perhaps turning that psi bolt into something the psionic controller is more resistant to, like raw force).

A red power ACTION grants the psionic controller the ability to drastically alter the nature of a psionic, being able to turn it from any one power into any other. This might transform armor into empathy, or propulsion into antimatter (almost guaranteeing a spectacular demise for the target). Such applications are by far the most dangerous uses of psionic control - and the most lethal.

Luckily for the opponents of a psionic controller, the effects of this power are highly transient in nature. They only last as long as the psionic controller is actively concentrating upon his or her changes. Furthermore, each turn someone is subject to psionic control (perhaps the psionic controller is 'borrowing' their psionics for a while), they may attempt another ACTION to resist its use on their person.

Psionic Vampirism
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy vampirism, psi sense, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

A variant on the standard ability, psionic vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the very consciousnesses of other sentient beings to recover his or her own, lost Health. As do other forms of this ability, psionic vampirism requires contact with the would-be victim. Upon touching the target, a psionic vampire may drain an amount of their Reason, Intuition, and psionic power scores (if any) equal to this power rank.

This assumes the target is unable to resist. Psionic vampirism can be fought off by passing a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its rank. If this ACTION fails, the psionic vampire may drain their victim of as much or as little consciousness as they wish, up to their rank number, each turn. Every additional turn they do so, the target is allowed another ACTION roll to resist the wielder of psionic vampirism.

If this resistance ACTION is successful at any point during the feeding process, the target will immediately repulse the psionic vampire, gaining immunity from further assaults with this power from this psionic vampire (though not from other characters with this ability or any other vampiric powers the assailant may possess). Upon managing this, the target should note this resistance in the event of future assaults (just in case).

A psionic vampire that is at full Health when they drain their power rank in consciousness from a victim receives a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all their power ranks save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with psionic vampirism will return to their normal capability. Gaining another, like boost requires another feeding.

The danger in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the risk of contagion. Draining someone of their mind completely is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an assault fails their Kill check, they will begin to lose Endurance ranks until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they will rise again as an undead creature, a psionic vampire that feeds on the minds of others to survive.

Secondly, if a psionic vampire kills with this ability (whether accidentally or on purpose), they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against the intensity of their own psionic vampirism. If this ACTION fails, the psionic vampire will become addicted to the mental energy of others, and will require it to function as well. While addicted, the character with psionic vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon others' minds.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, and Psyche scores, as well as all their power ranks (save for this one). To avoid this loss, the addicted psionic vampire must drain an amount of mental energy equal to their psionic vampirism rank each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the mental energy of others causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0. This prompts an Endurance ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a psionic vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or manages to defeat their addiction.

If a psionic vampire has ever been addicted to the mental energy of others, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses psionic vampirism afterwards, they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into addiction. If they pass this ACTION they'll be fine - at least, until the next use of the power.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the minds of others to live cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of psionic vampirism, and not its many victims.

Psychic Invisibility
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: crowd control, fortuity, illusion projection, mental invisibility, mind control, telepathy.

A means of achieving effective invisibility, this ability lets its wielder force others to disregard the sensory input that would reveal his or her presence. Psychic invisibility functions within Near range of its wielder, and everyone within this area of effect (unless an exception is made) must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power's rank or be unable to directly perceive its user.

Their minds thus clouded, people in the character's vicinity will not react to their presence, and won't even know they were there. Of course, unliving instruments are not affected by this power, and the character wielding it can still be readily be recorded by video cameras and the like. This means that one may be observed remotely and alarms triggered as a result, even if the security guards sent to investigate cannot find them.

As is the case with regular invisibility, one is at a -4 CS to hit someone shielded by psychic invisibility.

The user of psychic invisibility may wield this ability on more than themselves, if desired. He or she may add any number of individuals to the 'umbrella' of stealth that psychic invisibility provides, but each additional person so added applies a -1 CS to the effective rank of psychic invisibility, both for the range at which it works and the intensity that others must roll against to resist its effects.

Psychic Probe
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: mental repair, mind duplication, mind wipe, postcognition, telepathy.

While telepathy can only be used to sense the surface thoughts of a sentient being, a psychic probe may delve further into their mind - much further. The target of a psychic probe automatically gains a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against the psychic probe intensity to resist it, even if they're unaware of its use beforehand. If this ACTION is successful, the target cannot be probed (by this particular psychic prober) for twenty-four hours.

If this ACTION fails, the prober may seek out whatever information he or she wishes from the target. This power cannot be used to randomly root around in something's mind - the wielder must have a basic idea what they're looking for. Those probed can only reveal knowledge they actually know, but it's possible that they have secrets locked up in the back of their mind that they're not even aware of in the first place.

Once the use of psychic probe is complete (whether successful or not), the target must attempt a second Psyche (will) ACTION roll. If this ACTION fails, he or she will suffer a -1 CS to their Psyche rank for 24 hours, due to the extreme strain that a psychic probe causes. This may make the target more susceptible to other people with the psychic probe power - or any other psionic powers, for that matter.

Psychic probe functions on the Near range table.

Psychokinesis
Type: Energy Control Power, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: force blast, kinetic focus, telekinesis.

Psychokinesis is the ability to transform the potential energy stored within matter into kinetic energy - with explosive results. When psychokinesis is applied to matter, it may resist the power in any way it is capable of; inanimate objects will roll a material strength check, while a living being is allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION. If this resistance is successful, the power fails, and nothing will happen.

But if the material is unsuccessful in resisting the effects of psychokinesis, it will suffer considerable damage. Inanimate objects will violently explode, their internal energies rent asunder, while living beings will suffer injuries akin to the exit wounds of bullets. This power rank damage, inflicted upon living beings, is Metabolic in nature. Body armor does not affect it unless all of one's cells are similarly hardened.

Damage reduction will, of course, as will resistance to energy (or force) attacks. Psychokinesis only functions on matter within Near distance of its wielder.

Psychometry
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: finding, postcognition, precognition, super tracking, time travel.

Psychometry is the ability to read the psychic impressions left on an inanimate object. This can be any sort of item, whether digital, mechanical, organic, or inert, as long as it is not currently alive. Upon a successful power ACTION roll, the psychometrist can hold an active conversation with an item, interpreting the residual psychic energies left upon it to learn anything desired about the object.

The item will readily give up information about how it works and how it was made (if applicable), who its current or most recent owner is/was, as well as various important (to it, at least) things that have occurred in its past. Psychometry can also be used to reveal information about others who have previously touched the item, and what they did (or did not do) with it while touching it.

Using this information, a psychometrist can wield other abilities which allow him or her to learn more about those who have handled the item, such as finding or postcognition. This makes psychometry a 'gateway' of sorts for digging up information about a wide variety of individuals, some of which may not seem relevant when psychometry is first used, but give additional clues upon being probed with these other powers.

A -1 CS is applied for each subsequent individual back in time that handled the item, at least until this power dips below Shift 0. After this point, this particular psychometrist can't make further sense of lingering impressions. Other than this, there is no temporal limits on psychometry; if an item has been left idle in a crypt for ten thousand years, psychometry doesn't care, treating this period as if it were but a fleeting moment.

Psychoplasm Animation
Type: Mental Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: clone projection, fluid animation, image animation, object animation, reanimation, solid animation, vapor animation.

Psychoplasm is a form of imaginary matter that is generally resident in higher dimensions - the seventh, to be precise. It's a material that is highly subject to the mental impulses of others, and typically does not occur naturally in our plane of existence. By using this ability, however, one can allow some psychoplasm to seep into our universe, and then shape it however they desire!

Essentially, one can use psychoplasm animation to emulate the effects of the various matter generation powers. One can shape the summoned psychoplasm into raw matter, specific objects, or even seemingly living beings. The only stipulation on the items created through psychoplasm is that they are limited in effect by this ability's power rank - in every possible aspect of their existence.

Psychoplasmic objects are limited to an MS equal to this power's rank, as are abilities possessed by psychoplasmic beings shaped by this power - whether they be growth (to emulate raw size), speed (for flying entities), or anything else. One can draw forth an amount of psychoplasm equal to this power's rank in 'pounds' each turn; making larger objects simply takes multiple turns, until all the necessary material has manifested.

The products of this power are very short-lived. Unless their continued existence is specifically maintained, psychoplasmic objects persist for a number of turns equal to this power rank on a green ACTION, a like amount of minutes on a yellow ACTION, and a similar number of hours with a red ACTION. This ability may not create permanent objects, as psychoplasm generally tries to return from whence it came as soon as possible.

Generally. However, due to the quirky nature of psychoplasm and the higher, mental realms it hails from, objects created with the material once it has been drawn into our universe will on rare occasions take on a life all their own. This is a double-edged sword, as the objects so created become permanent entities, but immediately slip from the grasp of their creator - whether animate or otherwise.

Purge
Type: Philosophical Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Purge is a spell which philosophical mages can use to, well, purge a person, place, or thing of a particular philosophical taint.

It works by bathing the target in a wave of philosophical power diametrically opposed to that which the sorcerer wishes to purify (or defile). For example, a philosopher of good magic could bathe an area in like energies to quell the evil left behind by a demon, while destructive energies could be used to negate restorative power.

Any form of philosophical energy can be emitted with the use of this spell, though a philosophical mage cannot negate his or her own chosen form of energy - no philosopher can wield the energies opposed to their own, preferred power source. Not that they should want to. The whole point of wielding a specific form of philosophical energy is to promote its growth in the cosmos, after all!

Purging a target of specific philosophical energies requires a successful ACTION against the intensity of the taint within. If this ACTION is successful, the taint is removed permanently in an inanimate object, willing subject, or an area within Very Near range in a non-aligned universe. A purging of unwilling beings, animate objects, or plots of land in aligned universes lasts for a number of turns equal to this spell rank number.

Q

Quarantine
Type: Matter Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: between, dimensional transit.

By invoking the quarantine power, its possessor can act to corral something away from the rest of the multiverse! This usually involves shunting the target into a transitory, dimensionless plane - effectively putting it in stasis. The quarantined being or thing is effectively isolated from anything else in the six conventional dimensions, and cannot interact with them in any way whatsoever!

This is not banishment, however; quarantine is impermanent, incapable of kicking anything out of reality. The effect only lasts as long as its wielder can actively maintain a quarantine. A mere green power ACTION is all that is needed to quarantine something, though a living target is allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist being shunted... elsewhere. Unless they're inexplicably willing, that is.

Quash
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Mistress of the incarcerated, Nungal is the mighty warden goddess of Irkalla. Within Ilurugu, Prison of the Gods, Nungal oversees the many captives of the Anunnaki, whether they be mortal or divine. With her reputation for restraining others, it is only fitting that sorcerers entreat her to empower magic to that effect, and that is why the spell she is most famous for fueling is quash.

When cast, quash manifests a spectral battle net similar to Nungal's personal weapon, which may be flung by its creator to engangle their foes. Quash requires a roll to connect just like any other net, despite its fantastic nature, and it can be avoided per any other grappling attack. Once it has ensnared a body, however, they immediately suffer a -2 CS penalty on every ACTION they attempt.

This is devastating in and of itself, but the ensnared individual must attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to avoid further entanglement with Nungal's net on each subsequent turn. Made at whatever penalty quash is currently imposing upon them, the failure of this ACTION applies an additional 1 CS penalty against their actions, while success will reduce quash's penalty against them by a like amount.

This process continues until either a) the caster releases the character wrapped up in the net of Nungal, b) the entangled character eliminates the Column Shift penalites it inflicts, thus freeing themselves, or c) their Psyche (will) is effectively reduced below Shift 0 in rank. When the latter occurs, the character will be expelled from their current plane of existence, and dumped inside Ilurugu.

There, they will find themselves within what appears to be an ancient, walled city, forever enshrouded in the perpetual dusk of Irkalla. Its mud-brick structures decayed after millennia of disrepair and abuse by Ilurugu's unwilling residents, the character will find little solace within Nungal's domain. Ideally, a body won't remain there long, but extricating oneself from Ilurugu is up to the character so banished.

For those who cannot simply shift from one plane to another, escaping Nungal's domain may prove to be something of a challenge. Its walls always seem to loom far above those within the domain, forever stretching higher to stymie would-be climbers. And those who bypass the walls face a legion of etemmu loyal to Nungal. Failing escape, one may simply attempt to reason with the warden goddess, and explain their innocence.

This may be harder for those actually guilty of various crimes, which is why spellcasters of a heroic bent enjoy dumping their enemies within Ilurugu with quash. At any rate, once quash's victims free themselves from Nungal's embrace, they must then make their way out of the underworld of the Ziggurati before succumbing to starvation or dehydration, which may be another adventure in and of itself!

Quid Pro Quo
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Upon invoking quid pro quo, its caster draws forth etemmu, whether they are currently resident in the underworld realm of Irkalla or vengefully roaming our plane. Upon assembling within Very Near distance of the caster, they will transubstantiate from the ectoplasm that normally comprises their spectral existence into psychoplasm, allowing them to interact with the material world - at least, on a temporary basis.

As etemmu normally lack food and drink in the dismal afterlife of Irkalla, it generally behooves the caster of this entreaty spell to have some of each ready and waiting. This is because etemmu, likely having lacked access to either for thousands of years, will constantly grumble about their lot to the caster if this offering is not provided, and may very well turn on him or her upon the end of this spell's maintenance.

Etemmu given physical form by this spell generally possess Typical (6) ability scores all around, and wield no special powers to speak of. However, they may have talents that will aid the cause of this spell's caster, and can be armed in any fashion that is desired. Such talents may be a bit behind the curve, however, as etemmu ceased their manifestation in Irkalla after the tenth century CE, for the most part.

Those etemmu brought forth by quid pro quo persist in the physical realm either until their Health is reduced to zero or until 1d10 turns after spell maintenance ceases, at which point their material existence ends. Etemmu then return to Irkalla, if that is where they were drawn from, or are released back into the land, if they were wandering about while haunting some descendant or another of theirs.

Quid pro quo allows its caster to materialize one etemmu for each rank in the spell they possess, for each casting of the spell they maintain. A sorcerer with Excellent (20) ranked quid pro quo and a like Reason (mem) score, for instance, could cast and maintain the spell once to conjure forth five etemmu, twice to have ten etemmu on hand, or even three times to summon fifteen of these long-dead followers of the Anunnaki!

The use of etemmu comes with a cost, however, for Irkalla's mistress clings desperately to the dead. Known as the Land of No Return, Irkalla is ruled by the mighty and mercurial Ereshkigal, and she does not let the dead, whether mortal or divine, leave her domain without someone to take their place. Thus, this spell's caster must pay for the time each etemmu at their command has been liberated from Irkalla to do their bidding.

Unless Ereshkigal accepts a different favor in exchange, the caster is dragged off to Irkalla by demonic galla, and forced to roam the seemingly endless dark for an amount of time equal to that which they utilized each etemmu. Retaining six etemmu for ten minutes, then, would mean quid pro quo's caster is at the mercy of Irkalla's residents for a full hour once the spell ceases, and there's no weaseling out of the deal.

This is why it ultimately pays to ply etemmu with food and drink when they are conjured to the surface. For upon arriving in Irkalla, those who a caster has previously put to work will immediately know of it, and if he or she was not forthcoming with material rewards, etemmu are more than ready to demonstrate their displeasure in a most violent fashion. It's not like they've got anything else to do with their time, after all!

Quills
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the quills
Related Powers (for the quills only): battle tail, corrosion, disease, poison, rotting.

Quills are needle or thorn-like growths that may cover all or part of a character.

These growths grant their possessor a defensive advantage, in that anyone coming in contact with the character's quills inflict Edged Attack damage upon themselves equal to the intensity with which they connected with them. Similarly, a character with quills may use them to inflict their Strength (might) rank in Edged Attack damage when attacking others in hand-to-hand combat.

One significant benefit of quills, however, is that they can be used as projectile weapons! Whether pulled out and thrown at a foe or actually fired right out of one's skin, quills inflict their possessor's Strength (might) in Edged Throwing damage. Either way they are used, quills operate within the normal range for thrown objects and/or weapons, giving them a considerable advantage over other inherent attacks.

Quills have a base MS equal to their possessor's Strength (might) +2 CS. This allows one to wield quills without breaking them in combat - for the most part. However, if a greater MS is desired, the player behind a character with quills may gamble on their base value on the table of their choice (random character generation), or spend and additional point for each +1 CS of improved MS (point-based character generation).

Quintessential Variation
Type: Superpsi Talent, Deific Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: linguistics, postcognition, telepathy, time travel.

Some believe that the souls of the living are rarely created. Instead, the newly born are infused with an older soul, one which has died at some point in the past and has been reincarnated in this fresh, new body. The idea is that these souls experience life again and again, the overall core of a consciousness evolving over time as it experiences one life after another, even if specific memories are lost in the process.

Whether or not this is the case for others, it is definitely the situation for the possessor of quintessential variation.

This power allows one an awareness of all the past lives their soul has lived, back through time. The character may have led any number of interesting lives, under all manner of differing conditions. They may've also had a series of boring existences, as well - it all depends on their personality. This, you see, is because all of these people trailing back through time, in essence, are them. Or some variation therein.

But how does one determine what these past lives were? One can create simple backgrounds for each - or just a few, depending on their needs. The thing to keep in mind is that they are not usually an uninterrupted stream of lives. Most often, there are periods in-between each variation of one's quintessential being that swallow up a length of time that is never accounted for.

This time is usually spent doing... whatever it is one's soul does in-between its various iterations. Perhaps some cosmic agency tallies up one's good and bad actions, to decide where and when the soul will be incarnated next, or maybe it just takes that long for a soul to find its way into a new body. Who knows? Certainly not the character - they have no knowledge of what happens to them during their 'down time'.

This power seems at first like a form of immortality - and it is, after a fashion. But the important thing to keep in mind is that while the character's soul has been born again and again through the ages, each of their incarnations are not of the same mind. They've each been shaped by their own lives, and lived them as they saw fit, ultimately dying to be reborn again... culminating in the current expression of the character.

But how does the character learn of their past selves, you ask, since they cannot remember any details of their actual lives? Quite simply, he or she talks to them. Quintessential variation allows its possessor to speak, through time, with previous versions of themselves. They can converse with themselves (so to speak) as much or as little as they like, and most importantly, can ask favors of their past incarnations.

When a former aspect of oneself was a mob accountant during Prohibition, it's quite easy to drum up resources that, with a little bit of compound interest, can add up quickly in the modern day. Or perhaps that prospector self from after the Civil War can be directed to buy land with rich uranium deposits. And so on, and so forth. This is a means for the wielder of this ability to alter the past to benefit themselves in the present.

Sometimes, the trick is convincing these past selves to do what one wishes, because it may not make much sense to them - unless they also have full access to this ability, and can do the same to previous versions of themselves, too. Luckily, past selves cannot initiate contact with a later incarnation of their soul, for from their perspective they haven't become that person yet.

Or might not ever do so, considering the vagaries of temporal mechanics, and muddying up the timeline.

On the other hand, future selves have the ability to contact the modern day character. One might be asked by their eventual self, resident in the year 2356, to buy up all the GI Joe ™ comics they can - and to store them in a safety deposit box controlled by a trust fund. Or perhaps a self from the year 3532 will randomly pester you while under the influence of some future narcotic, asking how the Dark Ages are. Or whatever.

In game terms, the character can contact a number of past versions of themselves that is equal to this power rank number. There may be even more of him or her, but they cannot yet be contacted. The difficulty of contact depends on how far back one tries to reach through time; talking to one's previous incarnation is only a Feeble (1) intensity action, while moving back fifty iterations would be of Amazing (50) difficulty.

The difficulty of successfully getting one's previous iterations to actually make a meaningful change in the present is highly subjective, though common sense comes into play somewhat. Expecting gold to stay buried anywhere for several thousand years is possibly a fool's errand - but fifty is doable. One's best bet in this regard is to ensure that they ask favors of previous selves that are within their means and/or skill set.

Quittance
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Appearing in one of the oldest legends related to seasonal change, Geshtinanna volunteered to take Tammuz's place in Irkalla when her brother was condemned to that underworld by his wife, Ishtar. Allowing her to do so for half the year, Ishtar inadvertently gave her sister-in-law a reputation for relieving others of their burdens, no matter how onerous. Thus, Geshtinanna is often entreated to empower quittance.

Quittance is a means by which a sorcerer may relieve another of any burden they may carry, at least for a little while. Through the grace of Geshtinanna, quittance magically lifts the metaphysical essence of whatever it is that weighs the target down, transferring it to the caster. This assumes the target is willing to relinquish their load, naturally, though in a pinch they may resist with a Psyche (will) ACTION.

Once successfully cast, the wielder of quittance will take on whatever hardship they relieved their target of. This most often comes in the form of a physical or mental ailment, including any Health point losses associated with such, but can be almost any conceivable concern. Curses, judgments, debts, responsibilities, destinies, legacies, and even more abstract notions can be the subject of quittance.

Generally, the effects of quittance last for 1d10 turns, though the caster of this entreaty spell may maintain it for as long as they desire - or are physically capable of. Lengthy spell maintenance may be used to provide extended relief from that which burdens another, to hold it in check while they seek a means to relieve themselves of it unencumbered, or even to somehow metabolize or neutralize it with one's own abilities.

R

Radar Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, radio wave control, radio wave generation, resistance (radio waves).

The principle of RAdio Detection And Ranging, radar is a means of using electromagnetic waves to produce a three-dimensional representation of one's surroundings. The character with a radar sense can continuously emit radio waves and, by parsing the changes in the waves that are reflected back to them, create an image of an area without actually seeing it - detailing both the shape and relative position of nearby objects.

This power functions on the Middle range table, allowing its wielder to perceive a wide area around their person - though in a heavily cluttered or urban area, this may be reduced to the Near range table - or even Very Near! Furthermore, this sense, while active, assumes a greater receptivity for radio and microwave radiation, causing its wielder to suffer a -1 CS resistance to such (+1 CS to damage if no resistance is available).

Radiation Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, electricity control, light control, radiation generation, radivision, transmutation, transparent vision, ultravision.

Radiation control is primarily the ability to manipulate extant electromagnetic waves with a length shorter than 400 nanometers. This describes higher energy photonic waves that are invisible to normal humans for the most part, including ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma radiation. A radiation controller can commandeer such energies within Near distance of his or her person, as they see fit.

This requires a successful power ACTION roll against the intensity of the radiation to be controlled.

Once control of a source of radioactivity is achieved, a radiation controller can alter it as he or she wishes. To start with, a radiation controller can increase the intensity of a source of radiation, no matter how weak, to a level equal to their power rank - or reduce it by the same amount. Where the naturally occurring radiation one encounters in everyday life is concerned, this is a great way to collect enough of it to wield offensively.

Similarly, the energy of photonic radiation can be upgraded or downgraded. A radiation controller can bump short wavelength radiation up to a higher or down to a lower frequency as is desired, changing ultraviolet light, x-rays, or gamma radiation into a different form - which either adds or increases Armor Piercing and SD damage effects for higher energy forms, or reduces/removes them in the event of lower energy forms.

Alternately, a radiation controller can also change photonic radiation into that carried by heavier particles - and vice versa. Doing this requires an interaction between the radiation in its current form and external materials, however. Said materials will allow the transduction of photonic radiation into that which uses heavier carrier particles, as well as the reverse, but this causes a -1 CS reduction in its overall intensity.

'Heavier' radiation formed in this manner includes alpha rays, beta rays, cosmic rays, and neutron radiation, and can be controlled as can ordinary photonic radiation - though at a like, -1 CS penalty.

The direction that radiation is flowing or otherwise being emitted can also be tinkered with. This allows a radiation controller to shunt radiation around his or her person, simulating a resistance to such, or to redirect it from one target to another. One particularly useful aspect of this function of radiation control is the containment of harmful energies within a radioactive object - preventing such power from harming others.

A dangerous use of radiation control is attacking opponents without their even knowing it. Short wavelength radiation is invisible, after all, and if attacking a foe with it from a random direction, he or she may not even realize what is happening until it's too late. Barring, of course, ascendant senses such as radivision or the energy sense. Or even something as simple as a Geiger counter!

Radiation Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (radiation), carrier wave, electricity generation, light generation, matter generation, plasma generation, radiation control, radivision, transformation / self (radiation), transparent vision, ultravision.

Conventional radiation, as is defined by the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, is a photonic ray with a wavelength of 400 nanometers or less. This form of energy, then, includes ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma rays. Such energies are primarily invisible to the naked eye, but can have effects on matter that make them indirectly visible (such as the fluorescence caused by a blacklight).

A character wielding radiation generation can strike targets within Near distance of his or her person, inflicting power rank Energy damage when doing so. The shorter a wavelength radiation has, however, the more it can penetrate matter. Thus, x-ray attacks will carry an Armor Piercing effect against physical armor, while gamma rays are doubly Armor Piercing, affecting material protection as if it was -4 CS in rank.

Furthermore, radiation with a wavelength of less than 10 nanometers, which is the highest band of ultraviolet light, is also ionizing in nature. X-ray or gamma radiation attacks add an SD Metabolic damage rider on top of their base Energy damage, if the target fails an Endurance (res) ACTION against its intensity. On the other hand, SD radiation damage is automatic against bracing opponents.

A character with radiation generation cannot produce other forms of ionizing radiation 'out of the box', though they can master the ability to do so as a power stunt for each type. The creation of non-photonic ionizing radiation tends to overlap with other powers, however; beta rays, for instance, are high velocity and/or energy electrons (or positrons). Beta rays are not Armor Piercing, but do inflict ionizing SD damage.

Alpha rays, on the other hand, are helium nuclei stripped of their electrons that travel at high speeds. They also lack an Armor Piercing component, and carry only half the SD damage of ionization (-4 CS per turn). Neutron radiation, however, is more harmful, as it lacks an electrical charge - and thus, penetrates further into matter. It is both Armor Piercing and carries a doubled SD effect (only -1 CS per turn).

Finally, cosmic rays are a grab bag of the above. Almost ninety percent of cosmic rays consist of hydrogen nuclei - or, in other words, protons. The rest are really alpha or beta rays, or the nuclei of even heavier elements, but count the same as the rest for game purposes. Incredibly dangerous, cosmic rays carry both a doubled Armor Piercing effect like gamma rays, and doubled SD damage like neutron radiation.

A player may limit this power to one form of radiation generation to acquire a higher power rank - or to better define a character who is designed to, say, simply wield x-rays. This is considered a weakly limited form of radiation generation, adding +1 CS to its rank or reducing its cost by 1 point - and can consist of any form of radiation described above, photonic or otherwise.

Radio Wave Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, computer link, radar sense, radio wave generation, radivision, temperature control, transparent vision.

Radio wave control allows its possessor a full mastery of photonic energy in the radio wavelengths. This can consist of standard radio signals, whether they use amplitude (AM), frequency (FM), or phase (PM) modulation, microwaves used for communications or cooking, low-frequency RF noise caused by human activity, or even something as esoteric as terahertz-band radio waves (also known as t-rays).

Seizing control of radio wave energy requires a power ACTION rolled against either its intensity or the complexity of the information it conveys, whichever of the two is higher. Once this ACTION is successfully rolled, the radio wave controller may manipulate the radio wave energy as he or she sees fit. The easiest of such changes involves either raising its intensity to that of this power rank, or reducing it by a like amount.

Alternately, the flow of radio wave energy can be manipulated as desired, rerouting radio signals out of an area, redirecting microwave assaults, or even pointing all radio traffic at a target (whether oneself or anyone else). The energy can also be shaped into invisible, radio wave constructs if one wishes, though each kind of such requires the mastery of a power stunt (whether building invisible restraints or radio wave 'monsters').

Perhaps more interestingly, a radio wave controller can tinker with the information contained within a radio signal. This can involve changing words in a radio broadcast to something more to the controller's liking, adding funny hats or googly eyes to news anchors, and more. Altering audio requires a green ACTION, video necessitates a yellow ACTION, and wireless computer code needs a red ACTION to be legibly changed.

Radio wave control can manipulate radio energies within Near distance of its possessor.

Radio Wave Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (radio waves), carrier wave, computer link, heat generation, pain, radar sense, radio wave control, radivision, transception, transformation / self (radio waves), transparent vision.

Radio waves are at the 'bottom' of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are transmitted with wavelengths ranging from 100 kilometers (man-made noise) to 100 micrometers (t-rays). This portion of electromagnetic radiation covers a very wide array of energies, any number of which have been exploited by mankind and its technology. The character with this power, however, needs no equipment to generate radio waves!

As such, characters with radio wave generation can transmit signals in any of the twelve commonly recognized radio frequency bands, as well as even longer wavelength signals such as that caused by man-made electronic noise. He or she can modulate such signals as they wish, changing either amplitude (AM), frequency (FM), or phase (PM), conveying information within Far range.

When used offensively, radio waves inflict power rank Energy damage within Near distance of their generator. They have a deleterious effect on unshielded electronics within range as well, and such equipment may malfunction as a result of the power's use. In fact, this may be the desired result, and such equipment must make an operations check against the rank of the radio wave generation to avoid malfunction.

Based on the frequency used, radio waves may stray from the norm indicated above. For example, the four longest bands of radio waves (ELF, SLF, ULF, and VLF - anything below 30 KHz) have the benefit of being useful offensively within Middle distance. The SHF band, commonly known as microwaves, can rapidly heat objects to inflict SD Energy damage on top of the straightforward damage such beams will cause.

Beyond microwaves, EHF signals can induce pain in a target (Endurance (res) ACTION to resist), instead of inflicting actual damage, as they only penetrate 1/64th of an inch into the skin. This is the entire principle behind directed-energy weapons such as the Active Denial System, meant to provide non-lethal crowd control applications (though powerful enough EHF signals may extend the time any pain they cause is felt).

Finally, THF waves, commonly known as t-rays, do not penetrate into tissue more than a few millimeters, but are excellent for the purposes of imaging the items under an individuals' clothing, like the backscatter x-ray machine in airports - without any ionizing radiation exposure.

Radivision
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, infravision, radiation control, radiation generation, radio wave generation, screened senses, telescopic vision, transparent vision, ultravision.

Radivision is the ability to perceive the extreme ends of the electromagnetic spectrum. While infravision covers infrared waves, and ultravision will grant access to ultraviolet radiation, radivision moves further along the spectrum - in both directions. In other words, it allows one to perceive ambient radio, micro, and terahertz waves on the low end of the EM band, and x-rays, gamma radiation, and cosmic rays on the high end.

Characters with radivision can see by the 'light' of these odd portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning that they will hardly ever be subject to true 'dark' conditions - particularly on the surface of the earth! The downside of this is that a character with radivision is subject to blinding caused by exceptionally powerful sources of these forms of radiation (-1 CS to resist such effects).

Avoiding this penalty requires the use of the screened senses ability, though it inflicts a -1 CS on this sensory rank in exchange.

Razor Skin
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1 point per additional MS of the razor skin
Related Powers: corrosion, disease, poison, rotting.

A character with razor skin possesses a lethal touch.

The character with this ability possesses blades or barbs on the skin that automatically inflict Edged Attack damage on anything he or she touches, whether they are large enough to be seen or so small that they are imperceptible. Such characters are inherently immune to the damage caused by their own skin (perhaps the sharp bits cancel each other out), but not to other Edged Attack damage.

The edges inherent to one's flesh are assumed to have an MS equal to their Strength (might) score +2 CS, which prevents their being broken or dulled by any attack the character with razor skin can make. However, this does tend to limit their use against inanimate objects; should the character encounter something with an MS higher than that value, they cannot shred their way through it.

Thus, players may add to the MS of their skin's razors by either gambling on the value of their Strength (might) +2 CS (in the random character generation system), or by simply spending one point per additional MS (in the point-based character generation system). A higher razor skin MS will only affect the ability of a character with it to damage inanimate objects; living beings suffer no additional harm.

Ideally, a character with razor skin can deactivate the effect at will. Perhaps the barbs which produce it are retractable, or fold down to prevent the character from slashing everything they touch - including their clothing! However, one can make the effect permanent as a strong limitation to razor skin, which reduces its cost by two points (or alternately raises its MS by +2 CS).

Reanimation
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: death ray, fluid animation, image animation, object animation, resurrection, solid animation, vampirism, vapor animation.

Reanimation is the ability to instill a semblance of life into formerly living creatures. This works in a number of fashions, the end result being that the formerly inanimate biological matter reanimation was used upon has been given the ability to move again! Such reanimated creatures are under the control of their creator, and will usually do his or her bidding without question - they've instilled them with their new unlife, after all.

The difficulty of reanimating the dead depends on just how much of it remains. A fresh corpse (aside from minor damage, such as whatever ended its life) requires a green power ACTION. Yellow ACTIONs are necessary when a considerable portion of the body is gone, or if it has suffered serious damage (dying in a fire, losing an arm). A red ACTION is called for when naught but a skeleton remains of the body.

Most often, the reanimated creatures will take the form of a zombie - a nigh-mindless humanoid. This assumes that reanimation was wielded upon relatively intact human corpses. The less intact a corpse is, the less Health it will have; a skeleton is a form of zombie that is mostly devoid of flesh, and has but eight Health points. If used on animals, characteristics for such must be worked out independently.

However, a reanimator can create more powerful forms of undead if they wish. This requires the use of additional abilities, but it is within the realm of possibility. For example, a reanimator who also possesses vampirism can themselves raise vampires. The only problem with this is that more powerful - and more intelligent - undead creatures are harder to control, and may actively plot against their recreator to gain their freedom.

Achieving control of one's undead creations requires a power ACTION against the Psyche (will) rank of said creature. This is almost always successful against mere zombies, who have a Shift 0 Psyche (will) score. More powerful undead creatures may very well resist this control, however, and if they break free they might assault their recreator if they've been treated badly (either for real or in the undead's imagination).

The fun part is that this trick works both on undead creatures that a reanimator has created and those created by other reanimators. To 'steal' control of another reanimator's minions, a reanimator must pass a reanimation ACTION against the intensity of the other reanimator's reanimation ability. If successful, they can then attempt to control that undead as if they'd just created it (per the above).

A reanimator may create any number of undead minions to do his or her bidding, but can only actively control a limited amount of such at a time. The number of undead one can simultaneously command is equal to this power rank number. While reanimators can only directly command this many at once, other undead under their sway will continue previous tasks given to them - at least, until they've completed such.

Alternately, a reanimator can temporarily animate bits of dead bodies, much as other matter animators can handle their own areas of interest. This requires a green power ACTION, and allows a reanimator to control any deceased biological matter available like a macabre puppet master. This does not create new undead creatures at all, but simply allows the reanimator to make use of such 'spare parts' in a pinch.

Reanimation's major concern is that its creations are contagious. Almost all undead possess the means to create more of their kind, which is usually considered a negative consequence of their undead status (such as the Curse of the Zombie, or the Kiss of the Vampire). Indirect creations of a reanimator are considered theirs for the purposes of control, but if unaware of them they may become free-roaming undead.

And this never bodes well for a civilization... any civilization. So why bother? Zombies and the like are a great source of free labor, however smelly. Let loose in a factory, a zombie work force can continue to perform the tasks given to them indefinitely. And when you really need a horde of monsters to wipe out the neighboring town, why bother with the more skilled minions amongst your ranks? Send in the zombies!

Reassembly
Type: Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

Reassembly is the ability to mold and shape all manner of technological devices. Something of a variant on standard topological control, reassembly can easily repurpose any device such that it can fulfill almost any other role desired. The power is solely limited by the materials at hand and the knowledge of its wielder; by itself, reassembly can only work with whatever machinery or circuitry is present.

With a green power ACTION, reassembly can mold the shape of a device, while allowing it to retain its original function and purpose. Such a change involves modifying the frame of an object such that it looks different but is still functionally identical within, or perhaps even repairing minor damage caused by wear and tear (micro-cracks in a wing surface, or maybe a bumper crumpled up by a high-speed collision).

A yellow reassembly ACTION roll can be used to alter the function of an item on a small scale. Perhaps one wishes to change a laser pointer into a stun gun, or possibly a slingshot into a crossbow. Generally such devices need to work in a similar fashion both before and after reassembly, though sometimes this is a matter of semantics, if the work done by the device in question is the same - even if the result of such isn't.

Red reassembly power ACTIONs can be used to drastically alter something's function. This may involve transforming a nuclear generator into a battle suit (or a battle ship), or something similarly different. Red difficulties are typically invoked only when the character using reassembly can't reasonably justify how a change retains any of the functionality of the old equipment, as compared to what he or she wishes to create.

While performing reassembly on an item, one need not necessarily keep its topology intact. A reassembler can transform one device into two, or merge several into a singular whole. This might entail warping a cargo van into two distinct motorcycles, or maybe combining a tape deck, CD player, and stereo receiver into just one unit. The difficulty for such ACTIONs depends on the changes made, as described above.

Reassignment
Type: Reality Control Power, Physiomancy Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, berserker, evolution control, power boost, roulette, shape change.

The character with reassignment is of fluid capability, for he or she may reassign the values of their various ability scores and powers (if any) as they see fit. This often coincides with a character who has multiple forms, their many ranks shifting from one form to another, but not always. It need not be tied to any real explanation but can often be used with other powers to more readily justify its presence on a body.

How reassignment works is that the possessor of this power may shift prowess from one of their ability or power ranks to another on a CS per CS basis. For example, a body with Poor (4) Strength and Amazing (50) Reason likes to swap between the two to surprise people who underestimate his physicality. Every -1 CS he applies to his Reason can be added as a +1 CS to his Strength (or any other ability score, really).

This can get a bit more complicated when applying column shifts to one's super-powers. This is because some are more potent than others, and require a bit more 'fuel' to enhance via reassignment. If a power costs more than one 'point' per rank during character generation, one must reduce another ability by that many CS to give it but one CS increase (so yes, boosting ultimate power is very costly).

Mind you, the reverse is also true. Say a character has Excellent (20) planar control, which is quite expensive to acquire during character generation (fifteen points). Each negative CS the character with reassignment applies to planar control allows her +3 CS to apply elsewhere, either in one ability score or power or in three separate ones. Such costly powers serve as a great 'bank' for reassignment to draw upon.

Shuffling ranks around is a full action, but reassignment's wielder may shift as many as they like at one time. Health and Karma should be retallied as one's ability scores change. Ability scores may not drop below Feeble (2) in rank, and ability score and power ranks may not be increased higher than that of reassignment's rank itself. Furthermore, reassignment cannot be used to change its own rank.

Of course, one can add limits to reassignment as they see fit, to enhance that rank. Limiting oneself to rearranging either ability scores or powers (not both) is considered a weak limitation. Constraining reassignment to altering only physical (Fighting, Agility, Strength, and Endurance) or mental (Fighting, Reason, Intuition, and Psyche) ability scores counts as a strong limitation.

A further, very strong constraint of reassignment involves the character only being able to reassign their ability scores and power ranks between two distinct, fixed forms, sort of like a voluntary alter ego. Finally, restraining the power such that it can only swap the ranks of two specific ability scores and/or power ranks can be counted as an extreme limitation.

Recovery
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, healing / self, mental repair, regeneration / others, resurrection.

The power of recovery allows its wielder to rapidly replace lost ability and power scores caused by a variety of circumstances, ranging from crippling injuries to power absorption to vampiric attack! The only reduction recovery cannot repair is Endurance loss due to excess healing, as it is considered a healing power itself, and will in fact inflict a -1 CS to one's Endurance if used on them immediately after a healing power.

Other than that minor caveat, recovery will immediately restore a number of lost points in its target's ability scores and/or powers that is equal to the recovery power's rank number. It can operate on as many different wounded ability scores or powers as its wielder likes, either focusing on just one or splitting its effect amongst many. The power can be used on its wielder or anyone else he or she is in contact with.

Redolence
Type: Physical Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: image projection, imaginary doubles, inodoriferous, pheromones, poison.

The power of redolence allows its possessor to generate various scents at will. This ability is most infamous in nature as the spray of a skunk, which wards off predators and can be mildly disabling, but redolence need not be limited in such a fashion. Strictly speaking, redolence can be used to generate any number of distinct scents if desired, from the horrible to the surprisingly pleasant.

Using redolence, a character can instill any intensity of odor, whether pleasant or not, of up to their power rank in potency. The intensity of a scent determines how difficult it is to get rid of it; Feeble (2) strength odor will scrub off easier than one of Shift Y (200) intensity. Tagging an object (or entity) with redolence requires an Agility ACTION roll.

Whether generating the scent of fresh bread or rotting meat, characters with redolence may tag any object in their environment they choose, as long as it is within Very Near distance of them. Mind you, the actual scent used will readily carry, eventually radiating (the direction of the wind notwithstanding) such that everyone within Near distance can easily detect it - if not precisely where it issues forth from.

Redolence's duration is determined by a second ACTION, made after it connects with something. White ACTIONs indicate a scent sticks around for only 1d10 turns, while a green ACTION allows it to linger for a number of turns equal to the redolence power rank number. Yellow redolence ACTIONs lengthen this duration to a number of minutes equal to its rank number, while red ACTIONs make it persist for a like number of hours.

The actual effects of redolence, on the other hand, are a bit harder to pin down. The power excels in producing an aversive defense; to act in the face of truly awful, overpowering smells, one must pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its intensity - probably at a severe minus in the case of an enhanced sense of smell. Pleasant odors might simply be distracting - which makes for a great diversion.

Less obvious uses for the power involve 'erasing' one's normal scent to waylay trackers using either a super sense of smell or super tracking (if that power works via scents), or when improving the effectiveness of other powers which fool the senses, such as illusions.

Reformation
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, detachable parts, healing / self, longevity, object projection, revival, shape change, stasis, solid animation, spectral freedom, various special abilities related to the reformer's bodily composition (when limited).

A variant form of regeneration, reformation is an ability that may be used to reconstruct oneself in the face of serious injury. With reformation, a character absorbs inanimate material in the environment, using it to replace missing parts, fill in or patch up various holes, or even to repair damaged tissues. Such individuals can ultimately do this because their life force does not require a specific body.

Even if their frame is seemingly damaged beyond repair, a reformer can typically rebuild it (or an all-new one) to house their consciousness. Materials collected to reconstruct oneself will eventually change in both shape and composition to more closely resemble the anatomical features they are appropriated to replace, until they are ultimately indistinguishable from the character's body.

The amount of time this requires depends on the reformation power rank. Each minute of elapsed time will allow a reformer to replace a number of lost Health points equal to their power rank number; divided by ten, this amount can determine how much Health one can recover each turn. As lost Health points are regained, materials absorbed to replace lost or damaged tissues more seamlessly integrate into the character's form.

Usually.

However, reformation can be limited such that one's composition does not return to its initial state. This is considered a strong limitation, as a reformer will eventually resemble a patchwork being, assembled from a variety of different materials. In time, the character may be unrecognizable compared to his or her original form, or even from day-to-day, depending on how much damage they regularly suffer!

A similarly curtailed form of reformation limits the materials a character can draw upon to repair their body. Common examples of this include metal, rock, or even fresh tissue. This form of the power requires that the substance be present in the environment to use the power at all. Thus, reformation limited to plant matter would be hard pressed to heal its possessor in a skyscraper - or even a cave.

An extremely limited variety of reformation would combine these two limitations into a whole new constraint. This reformation variant ultimately produces a body for the reformer made entirely out of the designated substance, whatever that happens to be. Such instances grant abilities and vulnerabilities relevant to the character's composition, per the transformation ability - as that's essentially what has been accomplished.

A character made solely out of homogenous or random matter due to long-term use of these limited kinds of reformation benefits from a maximized environmental independence ability. Lacking an actual metabolism to speak of, something has to prop the reformer up and allow him or her to otherwise function normally despite generally lacking cellular activity, after all!

Regeneration / Others
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aciurgy, age control / others, cure disease, degeneration, detoxification, harm, healing / others, recovery, regeneration, resurrection, resuscitation.

This power allows its wielder to repair damage suffered by others over time. Instead of a massive, metabolism-taxing burst of healing delivered all at once, this ability will essentially grant others the power to regenerate while applied to their person. As such, it may be used to aid others as often as one likes, avoiding the infliction of Endurance penalties for multiple uses.

When this power is applied to another, they can regenerate a number of lost Health points that is equal to its power rank number each minute. This number can be divided by ten to determine how much lost Health one can recover with it on a turn-by-turn basis. If one wielded this power at Unearthly (100) rank, for example, the target would actually recover ten lost points of Health each turn!

Bear in mind that regeneration does not work if the recipient is suffering continuous damage. In the event of SD damage (potentially caused by rotting attacks and other Metabolic harm), regeneration will not function for a person, even if this power is still applied to them. One must wait out the SD effect or prevent its continued operation before the power will resume functioning for a wounded individual.

Regeneration / Self
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell, Empathic Art, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: age control / self, degeneration, environmental independence, harm, healing / self, longevity, resistance (disease and/or poison), revival, stasis, transfixture, unyielding will.

Characters possessing this ability recover from inflicted damage far faster than ordinary folks. Instead of the normal healing rate, a character with this ability will heal damage at a rate equal to their regeneration rank every minute. This is divided up on a turn-by-turn basis, so the amount of Health a regenerating character will recover each turn is equal to their regeneration rank number divided by ten.

For example, characters with Incredible (40) ranked regeneration will heal four lost Health points per turn. If a character possesses regeneration at a rank that is less than Good (10), they won't actually heal lost Health points each turn. For instance, a character with Feeble (2) regeneration would only heal back two points per minute, so they'd actually gain one Health point every five turns, instead.

All of this assumes that the character who regenerates isn't actually suffering continuous damage. If the cause of damage is still being applied (say, because your character is on fire), regeneration cannot occur until the damage is no longer being inflicted. Regeneration occurs at the beginning of a turn, but will not apply if damage from a previous turn carries over into the next (SD damage can be a bane to regenerators).

Regenerative Armor
Type: Combination Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: age control / self, environmental independence, harm, healing / self, longevity, resistance (disease and/or poison), revival, stasis, transfixture, unyielding will.

The name of this power is something of a misnomer, really, in that it's not an active defense at all. What this power represents is someone who regenerates from injury at a staggering rate, immediately recovering from an amount of incoming damage that is equal to their power rank number - while recovering the rest soon afterwards, as if the character also possessed power rank regeneration.

For example, say a hero with Remarkable (30) ranked regenerative armor was struck by Monstrous (75) intensity lightning. He takes the full brunt of this Energy damage, but immediately heals back his power rank - 30 - in response. That still puts him down by 45 Health points, which will subsequently regenerate at a rate equal to his power rank divided by ten each turn (three points per turn for this individual).

The true advantage of this ability, aside from rolling protection and healing into a singular power, is in its blindness to various forms of damage. Since it acts after the fact, regenerative armor is equally effective against differing forms of attack, whether they be physical, energy, or even deionic in nature. This facet of regenerative armor makes it great for bypassing the costs of, say, purchasing equivalent resistances.

However, the power has all the downsides of regeneration (such as they are). For one thing, the power is particularly vulnerable to any form of SD damage, most often taking the form of corrosion, fire, or poison. While subject to the lingering effects of such damage, regenerative armor cannot repair the harm it has inflicted; the healing it provides (both in a burst and afterwards) must wait for the SD effect to cease first.

Secondly, as a reactive defense, the possessor of regenerative armor is still subject to Kill results of equal to or less intensity than this power's rank, since the damage is still suffered. A standard bullet can kill a character with regenerative armor on a lucky hit, no matter how potent this power is. If the Kill check fails, the character's body will still attempt to stitch up the damage, though the damage may yet be fatal.

If the character can heal the damage that caused the Kill result before it's too late (i.e., he or she dies), they may attempt another Kill check to see if they stop dying. Only a green Endurance ACTION is required at this point, assuming the lethal damage has since been repaired. If successful, this represents the character's body jump starting itself upon healing from its (formerly) lethal wounds.

Of course, the Endurance ranks lost after such occurrences, if any, must be recovered normally.

Regenesis
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

When the followers of a deific being shuffle off this mortal coil, their souls have to go somewhere. Generally, they will home in on the sanctuary - or at least the realm - of their patron entity. For them to be capable of action in the afterlife, however, they need to be given a new body. Using regenesis, a deionic entity can provide just that for those who have venerated him or her in their lives.

A highly specialized version of the organism generation power, regenesis can build new forms for the departed souls of one's followers to inhabit. A god has ultimate control over the shape and capability of these new physical forms, and can cater them to his or her own, unique religious dogmas; obedient followers might take on beautiful forms, while disobedient worshipers might instead adopt a monstrous visage. Or whatever.

When creating these new bodies for their most ardent of supporters, a deific being may do so relatively inexpensively. These bodies cost one point of faith energy to fashion, but one need only spend an additional point for each rank of physical ability above Typical (6), as well as one point for each rank in each inherent power the follower's new form will have access to.

Such granted abilities and powers are limited in might, of course, to the regenesis power rank.

On the other hand, the recently departed's new form retains whatever mental statistics he or she possessed in life. Furthermore, if a follower's soul is permitted the memories they possessed before their demise, they will also have access to any talents and talent-like powers they had mastered over the course of their lifetime. This is a great way to drastically increase the might of one's afterlife army!

When building a new body for his or her followers, a deific being need only roll a green power ACTION. However, it takes time to forge a new form for a detached soul; one can only generate an amount of living matter with this ability, in pounds, equal to their power rank number each turn. Thus, building a two hundred pound body with an Incredible (40) ranked regenesis would require five full turns.

As are all other matter generation abilities, regenesis is highly strenuous on the body. The personal energies lost with each turn of regenesis' use is equal to one Health point per turn, which isn't such a big deal when one is building small bodies for one's followers to inhabit, but can add up fast when you're trying to make giants. This Health loss must be recovered in whatever fashion is normal for the wielder of regenesis.

Unless, of course, they substitute an additional point of faith to bypass the Health point penalty, as is their option.

Reincarnation
Type: Deific Power
Duration: permanent
Cost: 1 point per rank

A form of eternal existence, reincarnation is the process of being reborn after one's death, starting over in an all-new body. Upon dying, a reincarnator's mind immediately takes root in new flesh, usually an infant of the same species, before its own, natural birth. Subordinating whatever essence may have otherwise planned the same, the reincarnator's life force will then steer its fresh form from that moment on.

While it's hard to permanently dispose of a reincarnator, since by their very definition they will be reborn again each time they die, killing one will definitely inconvenience him or her for a while. This is because, while a reincarnator is reincarnated after being slain, they still have to grow up again - and how fast an entity can accomplish this depends entirely on their reincarnation power rank.

When reborn, a reincarnator's body will develop to maturity at a speed equal to their current species' normal rate times their power rank number squared. A human who reincarnates, for example, would speed from birth to adulthood in just under six months with Typical (6) reincarnation, or a mere four turns if they attained this power at Class 5000 rank - not that this happens very often, but it's not unheard of.

The ascendant abilities a reincarnator carries with them from one iteration to the next depends entirely on their origins. Artificial modifications to one's physical form will not pass from one incarnation to the next, though they can be reproduced given the opportunity. Talent-like powers naturally tag along, however, as do any inherent powers that are innately tied to one's immortal life force (that which makes them reincarnate).

Repair
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Repair does precisely what its name implies, allowing its wielder a super-human capability to fix broken items.

It can undo minor problems (microfractures, poor solder connections, broken circuit board traces) with a green power ACTION roll. More difficult repairs (open or shorted electronic components, broken gear teeth or screws, blown tires, or torn belts) can be undertaken with a yellow power ACTION. Extensive problems (shattered axles, bent aircraft wings, burnt PC boards) may be resolved with a red power ACTION roll.

The only form of damage this ability cannot overcome is that caused by a missing part (or parts). These must be replaced by either acquiring the missing components or jury rigging a replacement. If the nature of the missing pieces is unknown (a bullet hole through the circuit board, for instance), diagnosis may be required to sort out what is needed - assuming someone lacks the printed schematic, that is.

One repair may be made on a device at a time, each taking a full action, but any number of fixes may be applied to make an item work again.

Reprise
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank

The reprise power builds on the logic behind the very nature of magic. Essentially, the idea with magic is to modify probability until something that is astoundingly improbable occurs. Reprise adds to that notion, however, by positing that if something can happen once, no matter how improbable an event it may seem to be, what's stopping it from happening multiple times?

When reprise is active, the power can modify the alterations in the laws of probability that enable the casting of spells in the first place, possibly causing the end result to occur repeatedly. This result can be anything from the emission of an eldritch bolt to the summoning of a demon! Each time a spell is cast while reprise is active, it has the possibility of repeating itself several times.

Maintaining reprise allows a power ACTION at the beginning of each turn to echo spells cast under its influence. A green reprise ACTION echoes any spell that was cast on the previous turn. Yellow ACTIONs echo spells echoed once or cast on the last turn. Finally, a red reprise ACTION roll echoes any spell cast or echoed on the previous turn.

A spell being echoed doesn't automatically produce the same result achieved with it orginally. Thus, that eldritch bolt must be aimed at one's target anew, while the second summoned demon may or may not be under its summoner's control - whether or not the first one was. And so on and so forth. The point is that while the effect invoked is the same, resistance rolls and aversive actions are out of the caster's control.

In this fashion, one can get more 'bang for their buck' from the casting of a single spell. This helps a spellcaster to perform multiple actions even if he or she has a particularly low Fighting score, as the reprise occurs despite whatever actions they are currently attempting - even if that means they are casting a completely different spell while this power is giving an encore presentation of one previously cast.

Resistance
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per rank, plus 1 point for each additional resistance
Related Powers: body armor, greater invulnerability or resistance (other categories of damage), invulnerability (other forms of damage), numerous other powers.

A character with this ability has its rank in resistance to an attack form of their choice. This resistance can oppose any kind of assault within the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine, from edged attacks to electrical damage to mind control. When subjected to the chosen form of attack, a character with this ability may subtract its rank number from the incoming effect's intensity or damage, which may be enough to negate it entirely.

If a character has a resistance that 'defaults' to a standard ability score (e.g., Intuition versus emotion control), this ability will have a minimum rank equal to that ability score +1 CS - otherwise, determine a rank for this resistance normally.

During character generation, a player has the option of adding additional, specific resistances as he or she sees fit, each increasing the cost of this ability by 1. For instance, a character with resistance to fire attacks may wish to add a resistance to, say, cold, blunt attacks, poison, and disease. This adds four to the final cost of the 'base' resistance, instead of the normal cost for five distinct resistances.

Also, players may choose a form of this ability that they can share with their allies. A field effect resistance functions with a range determined on the Very Near range table, but can be 'broadcast' to anyone the character chooses within that distance. This counts as an extreme enhancement to resistance, and either adds 2 to the cost for each shared resistance or subtracts -4 CS from its final rank (for all ranged resistances).

As an example, let us look at our friend with five resistances, as described above. To gain the broadcast version of their resistances, they must either increase the total cost of their resistances by ten (before the actual rank of said resistances), or reduce the final effective resistance to all five attack forms by -4 CS.

Characters who acquire resistances as wizardry or psionics can master even more, doing so as power stunts off of the original source of such. The thing to keep in mind is that each resistance counts as one power for the purposes of maintenance. So, our hero with the above resistances could activate all five resistances if desired, but this would require being able to maintain five spells or psionics simultaneously.

Resurrection
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: age control / others, cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, mental repair, reanimation, recovery, regeneration / others, resuscitation, revival.

This potent ability allows its wielder to raise the very dead. This is not reanimation, in that one is not creating near-mindless zombies and other undead to do his or her bidding, but the restoration of full life functions! There is both a physical and a metaphysical aspect to this ability, the former of which depends on how much of the dead body is intact, while the latter depends on how long a body has been deceased.

In other words, resurrections require two distinct ACTION rolls.

The first has a difficulty based upon how much of a corpse remains. A green ACTION can resuscitate an intact (or nearly so) body; this corpse has only minor damage, if any. A yellow ACTION is necessary if the body is only partially intact, or suffered severe damage (died in a fire, or is missing one or more limbs). A red ACTION can restore life to a body that is mostly gone (skeletal remains, cremation, or frozen and shattered bodies).

If this first ACTION is successful, the body has been repaired and is ready to receive its spiritual inhabitant. If this seems too difficult (a character makes a point of raising the long dead, or their allies have a habit of being eaten alive) one could make use of abilities like the conjuration spell to iron out the kinks here, and restore the body to pristine condition (thus only requiring a green ACTION to get the body prepared).

Once the shell is ready, the resurrector must give it the spark of life, and reunite the body with its lost essence. If the body died within the last year, this is a green power ACTION, while a yellow ACTION roll is required if it died within the last century. Reaching back further than this requires a red ACTION, as the corpse's spirit has long since moved on to the next stage of its existence, whatever that may be.

If successful, this will draw the lost anima from wherever it had gotten to and fuse it anew to its former body. The resurrected entity will be disoriented for 1d10 turns, during which time it will acclimatize itself to its renewed state of life. After this, the resurrected character (or animal, or whatever) may do as it wishes, not at all being bound by the will of their resurrector (though likely grateful, for the most part).

Resurrection can be a powerful tool for adventurers, as it mostly negates the threat of death, but there can be consequences.

Generally speaking, a body will not remember what occurred to it after its death. However, the longer a body has been resident in some afterlife or another, the more likely it is to have memories of some sort about that time. Even more likely, the individual entities in charge of said afterlife will take notice if one of their charges has been ripped from their care after a couple of centuries.

On the other hand, a character that has been resurrected many times may irk the ire of whatever death god(s) hold sway over them. They may be tired of repeatedly losing one of their prizes to the resurrector, and may pay him or her a visit. One never knows if this will involve a stern talking to about the nature of life and death, or instead taking the resurrector's soul in the place of the resurrectee's.

Similarly, dice rolls to the contrary, it may be impossible to raise a person from the dead if their spirit has been irrevocably changed after leaving the body. This can involve anything from becoming one with the universe to transforming into mythological creatures such as angels or demons, or even having one's essence consumed or destroyed somehow. If this happens, the resurrection will fail.

Not that the resurrector may necessarily know this. When this ability is used on a being whose anima has been transformed or destroyed, it's possible that someone may take notice and insert something else instead of the soul in question. If this occurs, the wielder of this ability may attempt a Reason ACTION roll to determine if something has gone awry; if successful, the resurrector will at least know what has happened.

If it fails, they'll be none the wiser (and hilarity may quickly ensue).

Most of these concerns involve edge cases, though, and usually won't be a serious problem to the wielder of this ability. For the most part. But it does pay to avoid raising people from the dead willy-nilly, or else one might end up like Asclepius. He raised the dead for fun and profit, until Zeus struck him down for his perfidy. Sure, he was eventually elevated to godhood himself, but it was a rough road getting there.

Resuscitation
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aciurgy, age control / others, cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, integral control, mental repair, regeneration / others, resurrection, revival.

Resuscitation is something of an extended first aid power, in that it allows one to revive those who have recently died. A lesser form of resurrection, resuscitation can be used to, well, resuscitate those who have just passed, whether due to injury or illness. Generally, the power can restore the spark of life to its target if used within a number of minutes equal to its power rank number.

The difficulty of restoring life to the recently dead depends on how damaged the body was upon its demise. Green ACTIONs can resuscitate an intact (or nearly so) body. A yellow ACTION roll is necessary if the body is only partially intact, or suffered severe damage. A red power ACTION can restore life to a body that is mostly gone. In addition to restoring life, resuscitation repairs just enough damage to sustain it.

A resuscitated character resumes life with a maximum number of Health points equal to this power's rank. He or she must then repair any further damage (read: Health and Endurance loss caused by their injuries) in any other way they can. The only problem there is that resuscitation counts as healing for the purposes of metabolic overload, so such powers cannot help for at least twenty-four hours after one is resuscitated.

Not safely, at any rate. This is because the resuscitated character, having lost all of their Endurance ranks previous to the use of this power, is resting at Feeble (2) rank Endurance at the moment. The -1 CS Endurance penalty for additional healing might repair more of the damage to their body, but the strain of such may kill them (again) in the process (make another Kill check, this time at Shift 0 rank).

Retrospection
Type: Geomancy Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The power of retrospection allows its wielder to perceive disturbances in the Essence, a higher plane that is coterminous with all conventionally understood points in space and time. Since every life form is connected to this plane, the place from where their life force springs forth, particularly vivid emotions leave an echo of sorts upon the Essence where they were experienced - especially if death was involved.

Using retrospection, a character can parse these essential echoes, revealing details about them back through time. A green ACTION roll can look back to reveal emotions experienced at a location a number of days previous that is equal to this power's rank number. A yellow power ACTION can extend this temporal range to weeks instead of days, and a red power ACTION roll will actually lengthen that range of time to months!

Revival
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: healing / self, longevity, reformation, regeneration, regenerative armor, resurrection, resuscitation, stasis, zest.

This is the root ability of the theonic discipline of power.

This power describes the capability to return to life upon one's untimely demise - most of the time, anyway. While not quite immortality, revival is a means by which one's body attempts to 'jump-start' itself in the event of its death. Upon dying, the body makes a rapid and serious attempt to repair fatal damage, replace missing tissues, and otherwise restore itself to a condition that can support a continued existence.

The difficulty of this depends on the nature of one's demise. If the vast majority of one's body is present (save for blood or minor chunks lost in a bullet blowout), a green ACTION will resuscitate the fallen character. A yellow ACTION is necessary if some larger chunks are missing but, you know, most vital bits remain. A red revival ACTION is usually necessary when just under half of the original body remains.

More serious damage is usually an impossible ACTION to recover from, unless the Judge is feeling generous. The main thing, though, is that this ACTION is made upon one's death - which means, being dead, the character has no Karma to spend on the revival check. That's why this power is not true immortality; even if you have it, and have it at a respectable rank, you can still die (permanently) from a bad die roll.

One important point to consider regarding revival is that it does sometimes allow for the resuscitation of one's body from significantly smaller portions of itself. It's possible that, in cases of extreme mutilation, more than one chunk of a character's body can revive, becoming two (or more) complete selves. These new 'clones' are treated as NPCs, but should mirror the original character's behavior.

At least, until the point of their divergence.

Rotting
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: barbs, catalysis, claws, corrosion, disintegration, horns, poison, quills, razor skin.

The power to rot involves inducing organic matter to die and rapidly decay. A variety of mechanisms can produce this effect, the end result being damage to or the destruction of organic materials. Against living entities, this ability will cause power rank SD Metabolic damage each time it is applied, which its targets may avoid by preventing physical contact (it requires such to function).

When used against non-living organic matter, whether clothing or rope or a corpse, rotting will destroy it if it fails a material strength check against its power rank.

Matter affected by rotting, whether living or dead before the power is used, will show signs of advanced decomposition. This may confound physicians when used against the living, and wounds inflicted by it will heal - though they might leave gnarly scars. Products made from organic materials appear to be much older than they should be when affected by rotting, if they're not destroyed outright by this ability.

This power can be avoided with resistance to metabolic attacks - or just resistance to corrosion or rotting. The entropic effect of this power inflicts -3 CS damage against inorganic targets (it works, just less effectively).

Roulette
Type: Reality Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: reassignment, variable power.

Unpredictability personified, roulette allows its wielder to manifest a new super-human capability every time it is invoked. The difficulty is that roulette's wielder has no control over what power they will develop when doing so. In other words, the likelihood of a character playing roulette acquiring an ability precisely applicable to their current situation is slim - but predicting how they will perform in battle is similarly unlikely.

How roulette works is that each time it is used, the player should randomly determine a new power, using the character generation tables. The Textbook Character Treatise works best for this, though a player can utilize any they feel fits their character - as long as they stick to the same one over time. Alternately, the Judge can whip up a large batch of such abilities in advance, and tick through them as roulette is activated.

Abilities gained via roulette will operate at its power rank, or at a minimum value determined by the power in question - whichever of the two is higher. They will generally 'stick' with the wielder of roulette for 1d10 turns, though this can be bolstered to 1d10 minutes as a weak enhancement, 1d10 hours as a strong enhancement, 1d10 days as a very strong enhancement, or 1d10 weeks as an extreme enhancement.

On the other hand, if a character manifests a roulette power that they dislike, they need only invoke the power again to change it out for another!

S

Sanctuary
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

A sanctuary is a small space, above all others, that a deific being can readily identify as their home. Such a location is usually nestled within some extant plane, unless it is built into a new space created by said deific entity, like a universe made with the genesis power. Either way, one's sanctuary is initially small, being no larger than a number of cubic yards equal to the sanctuary power rank number.

However, one's sanctuary need not remain this size. Much like one can with their realm of power, a deific being can expand the size of their sanctuary if desired, though this requires the use of faith. For each point of faith spent on one's sanctuary, a deionicist can add a number of cubic yards to it that is equal to their power rank number; if the rank of this power ever changes, recalculate a sanctuary's size accordingly.

The advantages of establishing a sanctuary are many. Having a sanctuary on one's home plane (or realm, if one is maintained) will reduce an immortal's vulnerability to permanent death such that it can only happen within, their other weaknesses notwithstanding. This alone makes having a sanctuary worthwhile, but a deific also gains the benefit of a +1 CS on all ACTION rolls attempted while within such a space.

When combined with the bonuses granted by the genesis and omnipotence powers, this makes a deionic entity vastly powerful within their sanctuary - even if it's where they're most vulnerable to being slain.

Schema
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

The schema power is related to technical intuition in function. Its use involves handling a device to study it properly, taking in details about both its obvious characteristics and how it works 'under the hood'. Where this power differs from technical intuition, however, is that schema takes a much more scientific look at how an item works - the better to reproduce it with!

With a simple green power ACTION roll, the possessor of schema can analyze and internalize all the physical characteristics of an item. A yellow power ACTION roll can observe the hard-wired programming of an item (whether on an EEPROM chip or set mechanically). A red schema ACTION even allows a body to take in any free-range code working on a device (material on a hard disk, or even floating around in its RAM).

This power is an excellent means of breaking down how a device works - particularly if it functions on a level above that which its possessor is accustomed to. One can then use this information to better reverse engineer equipment for one's own use. This can come in the form of conventional crafting exercises, or perhaps when 'memorizing' items to be produced with other abilities, such as device generation!

Screened Senses
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: infravision, radivision, sonar sense, super senses, ultravision, unusual sensitivity.

The character with screened senses enjoys protection from sensory attacks of one or more varieties. This is often the result of technological innovation, but can be inherent as well - perhaps a built-in sensory organ cutoff to prevent overload, or special properties that prevent excessive input from reaching the receptive nerves in the first place - it all depends on the nature of the sense(s) to be screened.

The thing to keep in mind is that there is always a trade-off with screened senses. While this ability provides power rank protection to the sense(s) indicated against sensory assault (blinding flashes, painful sound pulses, noxious odor, etc.), screened senses invariably dull the normal function of said sense(s) somewhat. Senses screened by this ability will function at a -1 CS to the character's Intuition (alt) score.

Or alternately, at a -1 CS to the rank of a super sense or other super-sensory ability, if applied to it.

One benefit of screened senses is that one need not screen all of their senses with it. For every sense subtracted from the protection of screened senses (either normal senses or super sensory abilities), reduce the cost of screened senses by 1.

Scrying
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 3 points per rank

Scrying is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster uncanny knowledge across the gulf of space and time, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the scrying spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point scrying will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Augury, Combat Edge, Finding, Nativity Sense, Postcognition, or Precognition.

However, should a scryer wish to retain this spell's fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, scrying will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though thaumaturges achieving a 'bonus' result may choose scrying's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Self Cannibalization
Type: Superpsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

When one's power boost is petered out, and they still need a bit of a pick-me-up, there's always self cannibalization. This process allows one to enhance the functioning rank of a psionic, doing so by converting their Mental Health points into a direct, point-per-point enhancement of the psionic in question. Such sacrificed Mental Health must be recovered normally, but lets one enhance a psionic for 1d10 turns.

Generally, there's no limit to the number of times one can enhance a power with self cannibalization, though the amount of enhancement per use is limited to either the self cannibalization power rank or the enhanced power's rank +1 CS, whichever of the two is higher. This allows for considerable utility when one isn't expecting any sort of incoming psionic damage (and also has Mental Health points to spare).

Self Control
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Eclecticism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, macro sense, unyielding will.

Self control is an ability exhibited by those who have a deep, personal understanding of just who and what they really are. Whether born (or created) with this intrinsic knowledge or having developed it after months (or decades) of meditation, characters with the self control power are keenly aware of themselves and their place in the multiverse. This hard-won information may or may not come with a heavy burden.

While one might expect such a person to be centered and at peace with the multiverse, the truth is that self control simply removes one's ability to delude themselves about their basic nature. Whether the character likes this nature or not is another story, and their primary motivation may very well be to either express this true self at all costs, or to work with all their might to change it (either for the better or the worse).

Assuming the character is actually wrapped up in their own existence above all else, at any rate. While some use the knowledge self control grants as the impetus to focus on oneself, others use it as the driving force behind whatever it is they want to do with their lives, whether this involves protecting the world they live in or attempting to take it over!

And for those that are more action-oriented, self control confers several passive benefits during the course of play.

For starters, those with self control have a better than normal ability to recall past events. Intently aware of their own minds, the possessors of this ability can more easily remember the many and various circumstances that led up to their current state of existence, both large and small. This allows them to recall past events and information at either the self control power rank or their Reason (mem) score +1 CS, whichever is greater.

Similarly, once people have attained self control, they are often quite capable of acting without conscious thought. Their minds are highly disciplined, and have achieved a balance of sorts between the conscious and unconscious self. This allows them to use an initiative modifier that is based either upon this power rank (as if it were an Intuition score) or one's Intuition score +1 CS - again, whichever is higher.

Finally, it is incredibly hard to sway someone with self control from their desired course of action, whether with mundane debate skills or overt mind control capabilities. Self control allows its wielder to resist the effects of external influence (if not actual psionic damage) at either its power rank or the Psyche (will) score of its possessor +1 CS, whichever of these two is higher in value.

Sending
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: sensory projection, telepathy, thought projection.

A sending is a psionic construct, a sort of semi-sentient package of mental energy that its creator can insert a message within. Once this message has been instilled within the sending, it will then make its way from its creator to the recipient of said message. After the message is delivered, the sending will dissipate, its purpose complete. In a way, sendings serve as a sort of one-way telepathic messaging system.

The difference between sending and telepathy, however, is the range involved. While telepathy itself has a respectable range (functioning on the Far range table), sending can operate over a much greater distance. You see, a sending has a sort of built-in version of finding, and can locate the recipient of its cargo anywhere in reality. Furthermore, it has the ability to get to its target no matter where he or she may be.

A sending can travel anywhere, its energies being self-sustaining while it's about its appointed task. Being comprised of mental energy, it can move at relativistic speeds, but it cannot teleport, dimensionally transit, or time travel. Instead, if it needs to do so, a sending will seek out the nearest rift in space and/or time to move from where it is to where it needs to be.

Sendings are immaterial by nature, able to pass through most objects with ease (unless they are strong enough to possess psi resistance), and usually the only way to stop one from doing its job is to wield power over the psionic energy that makes it up, or to douse it in antipsions (both of which must overcome the sending rank). This is easier said than done, however, as the things do move at the speed of thought.

Sensing
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Sensing is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster access to supernatural sensory capabilities beyond the norm, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the sensing spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point sensing will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Biological Sense, Danger Sense, Energy Sense, Flaw Sense, Locational Sense, or Magic Sense.

However, should the caster of sensing want to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, sensing will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though wizards achieving a 'bonus' result may choose sensing's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Sensory Attenuation
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: illusion projection, integral control, jumbling, sensory distortion, sensory projection, sleep.

Sensory attenuation is similar to powers such as inodoriferous or invisibility, in that it prevents others from sensing something its possessor prefers they would not. It differs, however, in that this power does not affect any properties of its wielder - instead, it actively screens the perceptions of others to ensure they do not experience certain sensory input whatsoever.

When successfully used against another, sensory attenuation will 'switch off' one of their senses, doing so for either 1d10 turns or for as long as its wielder concentrates on keeping the power active. Additional actions may be made to deactivate further senses if desired, though a character can only 'mute' a number of senses equal to the amount of actions he or she can simultaneously concentrate upon.

The power of sensory attenuation can function on anyone within Near range of its wielder. However, the target of this power is allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to shrug off its effects beforehand. If this ACTION is successful against an intensity equal to the sensory attenuation power rank, it simply won't work (that time). Similarly, resistance to metabolic attacks serves to blunt or negate the effects of this power.

Sensory Distortion
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: illusion projection, integral control, sensory attenuation.

A lesser form of illusion projection, sensory distortion allows its wielder to twist the existing sensory input a person experiences. While one won't see things that aren't there while under the effects of sensory distortion, he or she might perceive something close as far away, hear sounds at the wrong pitch or from the incorrect directions, and might find the floor seems to be at a wholly wrong angle.

The 'technical' effect of sensory distortion is to inflict a -2 CS penalty on all physical ACTIONs attempted while one's senses are so scrambled. This because it's hard to hit someone when you're actually seeing them somewhere they're not, walking normally when the ground is apparently shifting underfoot, or when one's clothes feel lined with razors. Intuition ACTIONs are made at a -4 CS under the influence of this skill.

Sensory distortion itself lasts as long as it can be maintained, and can affect anyone who fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its skill rank. Of course, one can try to resist sensory distortion anew on each subsequent turn. This skill can be used upon anyone within Near range of its wielder.

Sensory Link
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous, maintenance or permanent (see below)
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: finding, group link, mind link, sensory projection, sensory reception, telepathy.

A sensory link is a neurological bond between two separate intelligences. Establishing such a link requires the two individuals to be within Very Near distance of each other, though once it is live, a sensory link will function regardless of distance, geography, planar boundaries, or even time itself. Note that the wielder of this ability need not be involved in such a link, though this makes a great limitation.

The two beings tied together by sensory link will share all sensory experiences, whether sight, sound, or anything else - including pain. When one of the linked individuals suffers actual damage of any type, the other will experience like Karmic damage, often reacting as if they were the person so harmed. If one of the linked persons dies, the other must pass a red Psyche (will) ACTION or fall into a deep coma.

A sensory link can affect willing or unwilling targets. Those who are unwilling to be so linked to another must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this ability's rank to avoid its effect. If either party is unwilling, the link will only last for 1d100 turns, at which point it will dissipate (unless specifically maintained by the user of this power). Willing parties may maintain a sensory link as long as they desire, even permanently.

As is the case with a mind link, a sensory link can only connect two individuals at a time; to establish a new sensory link, an existing one must be sundered. Similarly, a permanent sensory link does not count as a persistent ability for the purpose of power maintenance - in fact, it's quite possible that many individuals so linked do not even possess psionic powers at all!

Sensory Projection
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: illusion projection, mood swings, pain, sending, sensory attenuation, sensory distortion, sensory link, sensory reception, static field, telepathy, thought projection.

Similar to thought projection, sensory projection allows its wielder to rapidly disseminate information telepathically to a large number of people. Instead of broadcasting coherent thoughts, however, sensory projection transmits the sensory information its user is experiencing. This projection of sensory input is a one-way affair; while others can sense what the user of sensory projection can, they cannot share their own experiences.

To 'block out' such sensory data transmissions, individuals within range must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this ability's rank. A failure to do so means that they will experience whatever sensory information the character with sensory projection does, for as long as he or she broadcasts such data. If unwilling recipients of such data cannot directly resist, they can always seek out its source.

After all, sensory projection has a somewhat short range, functioning within Very Near distance of its user. This may allow unwilling recipients of such input the clues necessary to find its source, and subsequently take more aggressive steps to stop such transmissions into their brains.

Sensory Reception
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: auscultation, finding, sensory link, sensory projection, telepathy.

Like unto auscultation in function, sensory reception allows its user to eavesdrop on the ambient mental radiation given off by those in his or her area. It differs in that conscious thoughts are not picked up by this ability, so much as whatever sensory input people in one's vicinity experience. This vicinity is defined as within Very Near range; it can't reach far, but this ability can choose from many potential sources.

By opening one's mind up in this fashion, the user of sensory reception can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste anything that anybody within its range can. This information is usually inadvertently transmitted freely by all beings, sentient or otherwise, who do not actively shield their thoughts. Doing so allows would-be sensory donors to attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist this ability, even if they don't know what they're resisting.

Sifting through all of this sensory data can be a lot of effort, but it has a variety of uses. One can use this ability to locate something someone in the area is looking at, someone who smells a particular scent, or people who feel a unique sensation - at least, compared to others in the area. Similarly, sensory reception can be used to live vicariously through anyone nearby - assuming one cares not for the privacy of others at all.

Shape Change
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / self, blending, detachable parts, disguise, dyad, elongation, environmental adaptation, evolution control, growth / self, plant hybridization, plasticity, reformation, shrinking / self, situational adaptation, topological control, transformation / self.

This is the root ability of the metapsi discipline of power.

The shape change ability allows a character to radically alter their very form. A shape changer can assume the form of literally anything they can think of, whether this is an abstract geometric shape, a plant or animal of any sort, or all manner of inanimate objects. This ability is bound by four major constraints, each of which can be worked around with the liberal use of power stunts or other super-human abilities.

Of course, the main consideration while shape changing is that of relative accuracy. A white ACTION allows a shape changer to assume the general form they were aiming for, though they're clearly not the real deal (a television covered in flesh). A green ACTION gets them near the target shape, though a close inspection will reveal the truth (those knobs on the television look like toes). A yellow ACTION allows for a perfect duplication.

Nominally, a character who has changed shape will retain that form indefinitely. It only takes a few seconds to actually change one's shape (one action), but the results are permanent - at least, until the shape changer wishes to return to their normal form. They can do this automatically, unless this ability is negated somehow. If this happens, one may be stuck in their new form until shape changing capability is restored.

Shape change is a gateway of sorts to acquire a large variety of physical powers, but each of these must be mastered as a separate power stunt. Learning how to harden one's bits so they can function as physical weaponry - without breaking and causing oneself injury upon use - isn't easy. But a shape changer can 'learn' how to simulate anything from natural weapons to flight to body armor to whatever else makes sense.

The second constraint of shape change is that its wielder is bound by their own volume. They can transform into a perfect replica of a Giganotosaurus carolinii, but will still be about human (or whatever) sized. Shape change alone cannot alter one's volume by more than fifty percent either way, but growth or shrinking (as either power stunts or separate abilities altogether) can ignore this limitation.

Shape change's third constraint is a matter of anatomical cohesion. They can turn into a mess of clockwork gears, but a shape changer cannot actually separate into distinct bits; the gears will actually be one solid piece, though the illusion of motion can be created with a constant application of shape change. This limitation can be bypassed with the detachable parts ability (as either a power stunt or a separate power).

Finally, shape change cannot, by itself, transform the nature of one's biology. One can turn into a maple tree, but that tree will still bleed upon being pierced, instead of oozing sap. Animal and/or plant hybridization can cover gaps such as these, while transformation / self allows a shape changer to literally turn into a specific material instead of just faking it (as with body armor, above).

These abilities, per the previous, can be learned as power stunts of or be used with shape change, if a character has them as independent powers.

Shields
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Shields is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows casters to defend themselves from harm in a number of different fashions, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the shields spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point shields will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Body Armor, Deflection, Force Field, Individual Shield, Layered Shield, or Resistance.

However, should the caster of shields desire to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, shields will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though wizards achieving a 'bonus' result may choose shields' effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Shrinking / Others
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, density control / others, environmental pocket (for the target), growth / others, growth / self, plant hybridization / others, shrinking / self.

This curious ability is a means by which one can physically decrease the size of any target in his or her environment, living or otherwise. The character possessing it has the ability to reduce the volume of their target, doing so by applying a multiplier to its current size as if the target suddenly acquired an equivalently ranked shrinking / self ability (which details the specifics of shrinking rules).

Non-living targets can be shrank on a green roll, but living targets are allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to avoid the effect (if unwilling). The effects of shrinking / others will last for a duration dependent on variables present when the power is used.

A green shrinking / others ACTION will cause the effect to last for a number of turns equal to the power rank number, a yellow shrinking / others roll will do so for a like number of minutes, and a red shrinking / others ACTION will contract the size of living entities for a number of hours equal to the rank number. The latter assumes an animate target; inanimate objects are shrank permanently unless the shrinker chooses otherwise.

Or later deactivates the shrinking they subjected it to, at any rate.

But how does this work? The standard explanation for shrinking is that its wielder stores the mass necessary to contract their target's volume in an extradimensional space of some sort. This simply means there's less of it than there was before, as its mass is stowed away to reduce the shrinking target to its new volume. This allows a shrunken character to function normally, tiny size notwithstanding, in their environment.

The loss of mass and atoms will not be readily apparent at first, at least until a character is reduced by Class 1000 shrinking, at which point their very form becomes simpler as far fewer molecules are left to represent it. At Class 5000 rank, the character will consist of a single remaining particle, and further shrinking will blip them off into a random femtoverse, a subatomic space where physics may be bizarre indeed.

Shrinking / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: density control / self, environmental independence, growth / others, growth / self, shrinking / others.

Shrinking is the ability to decrease one's effective volume dramatically. This power functions relative to the normal human size, which is approximated in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine as six-foot tall (it makes for easier math). All characters are assumed to be at this height (give or take a few inches, obviously) unless they possess quirks to the contrary, or some sort of ability (like this one) to change their size.

Entities that are naturally smaller will possess this power as a justification for their size; say our heroes encounter a band of pixies, all of whom are four inches tall! Such individuals would have this power as a permanent, always-on ability, one that cannot be 'neutralized' by powers which affect super-human skills. Pixies in particular have Good (10) ranked 'shrinking' at all times to showcase their size relative to normal beings.

A character that is at a smaller than normal size may very well be subject to size factors. For every halving of human height an entity possesses, they shall receive a -1 size factor (our pixies, above, would have a -4 size factor). This size factor entails a combat adjustment to a shrunken foe when facing off against normal-sized opponents - and one for normal-sized opponents when tackling a being possessed of such small stature.

How this works is that a normal-sized opponent attacking a diminutive foe suffers a -1 CS to hit for every -1 of size factor that foe possesses, but they also receive a +1 CS to whatever damage they inflict. Conversely, a tiny-sized foe receives a +1 CS to hit normal-sized foes for each -1 size factor they possess, but suffer a -1 CS penalty to the damage they might cause.

For example, say a hero is facing off against a swarm of super-powered, inch-long Australian bulldog ants. Being about 1/64th of a normal human's 'height', the ants possess a -6 size factor. The hero is at -6 CS to hit them, but benefits from a +6 CS damage boost upon striking them. They, on the other hand, may strike the hero at a +6 CS to hit. They may inflict -6 CS damage, but there's a whole lot of them!

Similarly, each decrease in a character's size factor applies an effective -1 CS reduction in their lifting ability. Such characters have less 'muscle' to lift or otherwise apply force to objects, even after taking their own, decreased in mass into account. This isn't an actual Strength decrease (it does not lower Health in and of itself), but better simulates a smaller character's effects on their environment.

For instance, a hero with Poor (4) rank shrinking and Good (10) rank Strength can quarter their height, giving themselves a -2 size factor. While so diminished, this hero suffers from a -2 CS to their Strength for lifting purposes, allowing them to lift only one hundred pounds (instead of four). Note that this does not further reduce the damage a shrunken character inflicts in melee; that penalty was already described, above.

When dealing with characters who both possess a size factor, simply subtract the smaller character's size factor from the larger one to determine a net difference. If we pitted those pixies against our bulldog ants, we'd have a size factor of -4 (the pixies) versus the size factor of -6 (the ants) for a net difference of 2. The pixies would be treated as if they were of a normal size, and the ants as if they had a 'mere' -2 size factor.

Fun Fact 1: the smallest thing the human eye can see is .1 millimeters in size, or approximately .004 inches. Shrinking beyond Shift Z rank will reduce a normal human below this size, and anything this small or smaller is not directly visible. Of course, if they're glowing with energy this may mitigate the problem some, but foes that are effectively invisible because of size are at a further -4 CS to be hit.

Fun Fact 2: shrinking of Class 1000 rank reduces a normal human to 1.8 micrometers in size, smaller than most cells. Class 3000 shrinking makes a human about 1.7 nanometers in height, enabling interaction with individual molecules, and Class 5000 shrinking reduces one to 1.6 picometers, allowing them to rest easy inside the structure of an atom. Further shrinking shifts someone into a femtoverse.

The standard explanation for shrinking is that its wielder contracts his or her volume by storing their mass in an extradimensional space of some sort. This simply means there's less of them than there was before, as their bodily mass is stowed away to reduce the shrinking character to their new volume. This allows a character using shrinking to function normally, tiny size notwithstanding, in their environment.

The loss of mass and atoms will not be readily apparent at first, at least until a character is reduced by Class 1000 shrinking, at which point their very form becomes simpler as far fewer molecules are left to represent it. At Class 5000 rank, the character will consist of a single remaining particle, and further shrinking will blip them off into a random femtoverse, a subatomic space where physics may be bizarre indeed.

Being stuck at the size offered by shrinking is considered an extreme limitation, allowing for a four point reduction in the cost of this ability (point-based character generation) or a +4 CS in the overall power rank (random character generation). This is 'extreme' because it means the character cannot interact with human-sized objects at all, and must have all gear (including clothing!) made for someone of their tiny volume.

Consider that justifying 'permanent' shrinking as a spell or psionic would be especially tricky, and possibly involve a 'booby trapped' source of the power. It would absolutely require immunity to normal annulment or subsequent growth, or else it wouldn't be all that much of a limitation to speak of. Without such 'immunities', this condition would be semi-permanent at best, and only count as a 'strong' limitation.

Sidestep
Type: Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 8 points (flat cost)

Sidestepping is the process of bending sound and light such that one seems like they're several feet away from their actual location. This has a troubling effect on those attempting to target the wielder of this ability, since they're essentially aiming at empty space - even if they don't know it. When active, the sidestep ability grants a specialized form of deflection to its possessor.

Basically, anyone trying to strike the sidestepping character with a to-hit roll will do so at a -2 CS - above and beyond any attempts to dodge, or any other penalties to hit they may suffer from. This penalty does not apply to powers or attacks that don't need a roll simply to connect (but instead receive a resistance roll), much less area effect assaults (such as the fragmentary blast of a grenade).

Signature Power
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: varies, depending on the signature power's nature
Cost: equal to the power simulated, when enhanced to an extreme degree

A signature power is a trademark capability of sorts, something a deific being is known - or perhaps even worshiped - for. Once a would-be deity has chosen the metaphysical profile they wish to represent, he or she can then manifest a single signature power all their own. This power can be virtually any ability in the Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine - save for of course ultimate power, which is in a class unto itself.

The difference between other characters with this power and the deific being, however, is that it is more effective in the latter's hands. A power that inflicts damage will be upgraded such that it inflicts Deionic harm; for example, fire generation, which normally inflicts the SD Energy damage associated with flames, would be improved such that it will instead deliver SD Deionic damage with each use.

A power which doesn't directly inflict damage will similarly be upgraded - usually to an extreme degree. A character may well be venerated for their use of this power, after all, which means it needs to be truly exceptional in effect. Perhaps clairvoyance or teleportation functions without range, or maybe device generation can create objects without their permanence ever coming into question.

That kind of thing.

Thus, when a character first acquires his or her signature power, it must be accounted for as if it were an extremely enhanced version of the standard ability - whether during character generation or when adopted later on. This will increase the cost of the power accordingly, but will usually be worth the price. After all, the best way to bolster the faith one's followers feel is with actual demonstrations of one's ability!

Situational Adaptation
Type: Physical Control Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental adaptation, environmental independence, learned invulnerability, shape change, super synesthesia, universal digestion, universal respiration.

A specialized, reactive ability, situational adaptation allows a character to quickly manifest new, temporary characteristics which give him or her the potential to survive a sudden, hostile turn of events. This works by immediately (and possibly drastically) altering one's body to persist in the face of the new situation, and then changing it back as soon as the danger has passed.

Situational adaptation can counter a sudden uncontrolled vertical movement (such as falling) by manifesting things such as wings, a gliding surface, or even pockets of lighter than air gas. It can also work against various attack forms by physically altering the body to counter each one, momentarily transforming one's skin into steel under a hail of bullets, or perhaps into asbestos to ward off repeated gouts of fiery doom.

Situational adaptation can conceivably handle almost any threat imaginable, but it is not without its limitations.

For one thing, it is not instantaneous. Devising a defense against a given threat or situation will take a full turn for the character with this power, during which time they will suffer damage normally. Secondly, a character can only produce one defensive adaptation at a time. This power will devise defenses against most threats, but multitasking is beyond it.

Third, adapted defenses are limited to this power's rank in effectiveness. For instance, if a character with Excellent (20) ranked situational adaptation is trying to adapt to an Amazing (50) ranked heat source, they can only manage up to twenty points of protection from it (from this power alone). Finally, characters have no control over the precise nature of their defensive adaptations - they are reflexive, after all!

One thing a character with situational adaptation can control, though, is just what their power is countering in the face of multiple threats. If suffering from both fire and radiation, they can choose the form of their demise. To suffer third degree burns or cancer, that is the question!

Sleep
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: body control, crowd control, daydreams, integral control, mesmerism, pain, sensory attenuation.

The sleep ability allows its user to rapidly neutralize a large number of people - without directly harming them. When invoked, sleep shuts down the conscious minds of all sentient beings within Very Near distance, if they fail a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its power rank. Those affected will usually lose consciousness within a second or so, having just enough time to lie or sit down before passing out.

The effects of sleep last for 1d10 turns, though unlike a lot of mind-altering powers, the targets do not gain an additional ACTION roll to resist each turn. This is because a state of sleep is somewhat fickle, and can be readily interrupted by external forces. Such interruption can come in the form of sudden stimulus (loud noise, a slap, noxious odor) or even something as simple as vigorously shaking the sleeping individual.

Solid Animation
Type: Matter Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental sense, fluid animation, image animation, object animation, platforming, psychoplasm animation, reanimation, reformation, super digging, telereformation, temperature control, vapor animation, vibration control.

The ability to animate solids is the power to control the form, function, and motion of most solid matter. This is generally defined as material which maintains a fixed volume and shape, though such matter cannot be alive, nor be unprocessed deceased matter. Thus, one could manipulate a street or a rock or the very surface of the earth, but not a tree, a dead dog, or your human resources representative.

Solid animation can be used in as coarse or as fine a fashion as is desired, anywhere within Near range of its possessor. Such manipulations are permanent in nature, unless reversed either by those who made them or others with this or similar powers. Solid animation can impart movement onto animated solid materials, giving them up to power rank velocity, as is defined by the land/sea speed table.

The power can, at once, manipulate an amount of solid matter that is equal to its power rank as an equivalent Strength score. It must overcome the material strength of solid matter it is intended to control, though such is retained even after being reshaped (barring changes in thickness). Animated solid matter will inflict its power rank in damage, of the appropriate type, with each devastating attack.

Solid animation lends itself to the mastery of numerous power stunts. A solid animator can learn to animate solid matter 'minions' per the object animation power, who possess Fighting, Agility, and Health scores equal to this power rank, self-transportation by riding a 'wave' of earth from one location to another, regardless of the ensuing property damage, or even any of its related powers, listed above.

Sonar Sense
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: screened senses, sound control, sound generation, super senses, vocal control.

The principle of SOund Navigation And Ranging, also known as sonar, involves the use of sound waves to produce a three-dimensional representation of one's surroundings. By parsing the sound waves striking his or her body, characters with a sonar sense can mentally construct an image of their environment, noting both the shape and relative position of nearby objects. Sonar can be used in an active or passive fashion.

Active sonar involves the character emitting sounds themselves, and then interpreting the reflected 'noise'. Passive sonar, meanwhile, makes use of existing noise to do the same. Active sonar is generally considered more effective, but the problem is that its wielder must reveal themselves by making noise for it to work (and thus, can be easily tracked by other sonar users).

Passive sonar, on the other hand, is generally considered less effective. However, the advantage to its use is that since it utilizes existing sounds to function, passive sonar does not require its user to 'reveal' themselves acoustically. The negative side is that if something isn't giving off any sound, the character wielding passive sonar might not perceive them with this sense at all.

The plus side of all this is that a character may wield passive or active sonar as they see fit, depending on their situation. Mind you, they can easily limit themselves to just one form of this ability, if desired. This is considered a strong limitation, offering a +2 CS to the final sonar rank, or alternately, a 2 point reduction in the cost of sonar. Sonar operates on the Near range table - and is useless in a vacuum.

Finally, it should be noted that wielders of sonar (in either flavor) are more susceptible to deafening attacks. Assaults intended to do harm by inflicting hearing damage (temporary or permanent) will inflict +1 CS damage, unless the character also possesses screened senses where their hearing is concerned. The only downside to that is that with screened senses, sonar will function at a -1 CS effectiveness.

Sorcerous Amplification
Type: Power Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: amplification, buttress, power amplification, power boost, psionic amplification, sorcerous attenuation, spell control, thaumaturgical absorption, theonic amplification.

Sorcerous amplification allows its wielder to enhance the effectiveness of another person's magical abilities (either natural or learned) for a small amount of time. When triggered, sorcerous amplification will raise the rank of any one spell or spell-like power another person possesses, increasing it either to this power rank or the spell or spell-like power's rank +1 CS, whichever of the two is higher.

This power works within Very Near distance of its wielder, and it may only affect one magic ability at a time. It lasts for 1d10 turns, unless the effect is specifically maintained longer.

Once it wears off, sorcerous amplification may not be used on the same target again for one hour - without degrading its relative utility, that is. For each additional use on a single target without a one hour 'cool down', sorcerous amplification loses -1 CS of its overall effectiveness for them. This is enough to neutralize its use upon magic more potent than itself, while more gradually reducing its use in other instances.

Sorcerous Attenuation
Type: Power Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: attenuation, nimiety, power attenuation, psionic attenuation, sorcerous amplification, spell control, theonic attenuation.

Sorcerous attenuation is the ability to stifle the operating rank of one or more magical powers, natural or learned, in one's vicinity. This power works on targets within Near range of its possessor, and the effects of the power last for only 1d10 turns, unless specifically maintained on a target for a longer period of time - which may be required to prevent them from vigorously retaliating against its wielder.

This power works by deciding which magic ability to dampen, and then activating it. The targets of sorcerous attenuation may attempt an ACTION with the magic to be attenuated; if they can match the intensity of sorcerous attenuation, they successfully resist it. If victorious, attenuators may apply one negative Column Shift to the targeted sorcery for each rank they have in this ability, negating it when reducing it to Shift 0.

For example, let us consider a sorcerous attenuator who has this power at Amazing (50) rank. He's fighting an opponent with the destructive tendency to freeze everything in the area with his Monstrous (75) ranked eldritch bolt (cold). When using sorcerous attenuation on this foe, our hero can mostly negate his eldritch bolt if the target cannot pass a green power ACTION roll against this lesser assault on his spellcasting.

A versatile power, sorcerous attenuation can be wielded against multiple magics - whether they belong to one character or many. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of spells so dampened will reduce the effective rank of sorcerous attenuation by -1 CS - both for the purposes of overcoming the magic it is used against, and the maximum number of Column Shifts attenuation can inflict upon it all.

Returning to our example, say the foe of our attenuator has five spells - and will readily use the others on our hero if his eldritch bolt is neutered. The attenuator instead uses his ability against his foe's other four spells, which will each (assuming he fails to resist) suffer a -6 CS penalty on their rank. His foe can still use that eldritch bolt, but his other spells are now much less dangerous.

An attenuator can reduce this penalty somewhat by attempting to hamper magic at less than their maximum ability. For each -2 CS he or she chooses not to apply to the magic they are attacking, an attenuator can prevent the operating rank of this power from losing -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This may not completely neuter their foes, but allows an attenuator to knock their mystic enemies down a peg or two.

In time, a coven of evil mages gang up on our sorcerous attenuator, sick and tired of him meddling in their plans. He may dull one spell on each of his four foes, though this reduces his power's effectiveness by -2 CS, allowing him only -6 CS of attenuation. By reducing his overall effect to only -4 CS, our heroic sorcerous attenuator can attempt this action with but a -1 CS penalty.

Splitting one's focus to attenuate multiple spells in this fashion tends to make this ability fail more often than not, unless they have it at a particularly high rank - which may just make it easier to go with some other sorcerous countermeasures, instead. This power is the most readily available to curtail the use of magic temporarily, however, without inflicting permanent harm on others.

Sorcerous Invisibility
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

Its name something of a misnomer, sorcerous invisibility is an illusory trick one may wield to keep the use of his or her magical powers a secret. How it works is that, when casting magic of some sort, sorcerous invisibility disguises its effects as mundane phenomenon. For example, a sorcerer firing eldritch bolts at demons on a busy street corner might overlay the scene with imagery of them heaving a rock at muggers.

While maintained, this ability masks the obvious effects of magic, actively working against the Intuition (alt) of anyone within Near distance of the caster. If witnesses to the magic fail an ACTION against this power rank, they won't realize anything fantastic is going on. In fact, if the use of sorcery has no direct effect on the environment, they may not even know anything transpired at all!

The power of sorcerous invisibility interacts with the other spells a mage is using, other magic in the environment, and the minds of those within range, such that everyone affected perceives real-time updates to their environment to cope with the spells on display before them. This allows mages to combat each other without alerting the 'mundanes' when they cannot relocate to a more convenient and/or isolated field of battle.

Or, alternately, lets a wizard or psychoturge keep knowledge of the occult from driving mere mortals mad upon exposure to it.

Sorcerous invisibility is more powerful than ordinary illusion projection in that it isn't hampered by ever-greater numbers of witnesses. On the other hand, it is limited in that it only masks magic or magical beings in the vicinity. Also, anyone with nonapparent vision or the ability to detect magic or other energetic phenomenon may be alerted to its use, even though their standard senses are completely fooled.

Soul Control
Type: Mental Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, internal universe, spectral flame control, spectral freedom, spectral gestalt, spectral sense, telepathy.

The character with this ability may exert influence over any spectral entities in his or her vicinity. Such souls can consist of the spirits of the dead (whether they're freshly so or those that linger on), people with the astral projection or spectral freedom powers, or even random beings from higher dimensions who happen to have blundered into the area. This power can be used on such souls in a variety of fashions.

The first involves simply warding them off. This is useful when someone is the victim of a haunting, or any other nuisance caused by the dead. Soul control can be used to craft a zone that spectral entities cannot enter - unless they can pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power rank, that is. The size of such a forbidden zone is a sphere with a radius that extends out to Very Near distance.

If soul control is consciously maintained, this ability can protect its wielder from unseemly influence and possession by such entities, or even the 'threat' of conversation with such. However, it can also be used on a specific person, object, or location. If this is the case, the protection that soul control offers will last for a number of hours that is equal to its power rank number.

Secondly, soul control can be used to imprison a spectral entity. If such a being in one's vicinity fails a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against this power rank, they can be contained within the very body of this power's possessor. Once imprisoned, a soul cannot leave until they can succeed in a contest of will against either the soul control power rank or its wielder's Psyche (will) - whichever of the two is higher.

Such an effort is highly useful when trying to take a disembodied combatant out of the fight, even if only temporarily. Such an imprisonment can be made more permanent if used in conjunction with the internal universe power - which places the imprisoned soul there, instead. A soul so shunted into such a plane is then essentially stuck... unless they possess the ability to dimensionally transit, that is.

Finally, soul control can grab spectral entities in the vicinity and literally bond them to nearby objects or life forms. Such objects can be anything, whether a freshly built (or repaired) body, a dog, a tree, a robot, or a baseball bat, as long as it doesn't already possess a soul. If dumped into something inanimate, the soul inside cannot act unless said object has the ability to do so (as would, say, an automobile).

When one attempts to bind them in such a fashion, spectral entities may resist this ability, as well as ultimately attempt an escape from such a binding, as if being warded from an area - though the exact opposite has, in fact, occurred. The thing to keep in mind, however, is that a soul so bonded to an object, whether it is living or inanimate, might be perfectly all right with their new circumstances.

This is most often the case with the spirits of the dead, who see such a fate as being preferable to whatever reward - or punishment - they imagine is due to them in their afterlife!

Sound Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: carrier wave, energy cohesion, image projection, imaginary doubles, inaudibility, sonar sense, sound generation, vibration control, vocal control.

Sound control is the inherent ability to manipulate extant sounds to a variety of ends. One cannot use this power to actually generate sonic energies to control, but luckily any number of things in the environment, much less one's own body, can readily make noise that can be subsequently altered. Controlling a sound requires that the character with this power first pass an ACTION roll against its current intensity.

Once this is done, the sound controller may alter any sounds within Near distance of his or her person as they see fit. The volume, frequency, and/or pitch of a sound is all mutable at the command of a sound controller. Once he or she has mastered a given sound, he or she may increase the former up to an intensity equal to their power rank number, reduce the former by a like amount, or alter the latter two qualities as is desired.

In other words, a sound controller may thus reduce the intensity of or even eliminate any sound available, increase the volume of sound up to a value equal to their power rank number, or even change the frequencies and pitches of sound in a slight or extreme manner. These capabilities allow one to easily control information in an area, not to mention the possibility of sowing chaos and confusion.

The direction a sound is traveling can also be manipulated as is desired. By amplifying and redirecting existing sounds, sound controllers can effectively dish out damage as can a sound generator, turning something as simple as the bark of a dog or the snapping of one's fingers into a devastating attack. And even better, if the sound controller isn't the obvious source of such an attack, dodging it may be incredibly difficult!

Sound Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (sound), carrier wave, energy absorption (sound), flight, image projection, imaginary doubles, sonar sense, sound control, transformation / self (sound), vocal control, vibration generation, weather control.

The ability to generate sound is the power to emit, almost unceasingly, large amounts of sonic energy. This energy may be generated at any frequency or pitch desired, at a maximum volume equal to its creator's sound generation power rank. Focused bursts of sonic energy have an immediate physical effect on their target, inflicting power rank Force damage with almost every attack.

Furthermore, whenever a character is struck by a beam of sonic energy, they must pass an Endurance (res) ACTION roll against its intensity or be deafened for 1d10 turns. Usually such damage is only temporary in nature, but can last longer under particularly severe sonic assaults, or when a character is exposed to such over long periods of time (Judge's discretion).

A beam of sound can be modulated to produce a variety of disruptive effects, as well. When doing this, a sonic beam will instead inflict Metabolic damage against live foes, and the target must pass the above Endurance ACTION to avoid being Stunned for 1d10 turns. Deleterious effects of such sound attacks include the disruption of a character's balance, heartbeat, or even their digestive processes!

An important consideration with sound generation is the environment in which it is used. For example, sound cannot travel through a vacuum, and is thus useless in outer space. One could use a solid medium to transmit sound directly by touch, but at intensities high enough to cause damage, such sound may well destroy the medium one wishes to use in the first place!

Space Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: anchor, antigravity, deflection, gravity control, planar control, super flight, teleportation, time control.

The dangerous ability of space control allows its possessor to manipulate the geometry of the universe around its possessor! The very shape of space-time is fluid, dynamically subject to curvature by the mass within it, and by invoking this ability a space controller can artificially warp these curves to achieve a variety of useful effects. The simplest of such effects is to manipulate the speed of an object.

By compressing the space in front of an object to simulate a gravity well, a space controller can induce acceleration in it, whether it is currently moving or not, to a maximum speed equal to this power rank (or the object's own speed +1 CS, if that would be higher). This speed can be maintained by 'rolling' that steep curve in front of the object in question, such that it perpetually 'falls' into this artificial dent in the universe.

Similarly, expanding the space around an object can cause relative deceleration. This does not induce an actual decrease in velocity so much as it seemingly creates more real estate the moving object must cross. A flying object overwhelmed by this effect may appear to be motionless in the air, while it is in fact flying at full throttle within a localized, ever-expanding bubble of space!

Alternately, by warping the spatial curves between objects into strange geometries, a space controller can direct their relative motion as well. This can steer one object away from another, vector them onto a collision course, or anything else the space controller desires - without any apparent change of direction from the perspectives of the objects so moved (aside from the obvious visual cues that something is suddenly amiss).

To overcome the machinations of a space controller, individuals or objects in the affected area must supply enough opposing force to resist the curvatures in the universe he or she has induced. This basically involves passing an ACTION roll against the intensity of their space control power; if this ACTION roll fails, the movements of individuals within Near distance of the space controller are wholly subject to their whims.

Spectral Flame Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, carrier wave, soul control, spectral flame generation, spectral freedom, spectral sense, spectral vampirism.

The power to control spectral flames permits its wielder to alter existing sources of this energy in any way desired - once he or she first passes a power ACTION roll against their intensity... or the opposing rank of another spectral flame controller attempting to manipulate the same energy. Spectral flame control operates on any source of these psi-active flames within Near distance of its possessor.

But where is such unnatural flame found? Most often, on the astral plane or other higher dimensions representative of the mind... or various aspects therein. This power can be incredibly dangerous in such realms, considering how readily one can find spectral flames there, making its wielder a powerful foe to reckon with when astrally projecting or simply walking the various planes of existence.

As can most energy control powers, spectral flame control may enhance the intensity of its subject up to its power rank in might, or reduce it by a like amount. Similarly, this power can be used to enhance or curtail the operation of spectral flame generation, which can manifest this 'mind fire' in the material realm, as can the dimensional interface power - or interdimensional portals left open for some reason.

This power can also shape ambient spectral flames, producing constructs out of such that require the mastery of a power stunt for each general type (restraints, semi-sentient minions of spectral flame, et cetera). The only problem with this is that, being responsive to the mental impulses of others, constructs comprised of spectral flames can occasionally take on a life all their own!

When this occurs, the spectral flame controller can either let them go about their business or attempt to regain control of the things, which might be only temporary if they manifest actual sentience.

Spectral Flame Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (spectral flames), carrier wave, resistance (spectral flames), spectral flame control, spectral sense, spectral vampirism, transformation (spectral flames).

Spectral flames are a strange, otherworldly form of energy most often encountered in the astral plane. They often look like mundane flames save for their color, which ranges from a silvery white to any number of pastel variants. Furthermore, instead of crackling and popping like an ordinary fire, spectral flames will instead howl and wail while they burn, making them quite distressing to be anywhere near.

Though rarely, if ever, occurring naturally in a conventional plane of existence, spectral flames can often find their way into the world through the occasional rift or dimensional interface - or thanks to this power. Spectral flame generation allows its possessor to spontaneously create this bizarre form of energy whenever he or she sees fit, projecting it anywhere within Near distance of their person.

Those struck by the 'mind fire' this power generates suffer its rank in Karmic damage, even though it is a form of energy. An automobile will suffer damage when exposed to spectral flames, for example, despite not being sentient... or even animate! However, sentient targets struck by spectral flames may suffer from Psionic Saturation (PS), potentially being subject to the effects of such for 1d10 turns per application of them.

What this means is that, when inundated with PS, characters must attempt a Psyche ACTION roll against the intensity of the spectral flame damage they suffered. Those who fail this ACTION suddenly find uncontrolled auscultation and thought projection thrust upon them, involuntarily transceiving thoughts between all individuals within one area of their person.

Spectral Freedom
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 8 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: astral projection, object projection, reformation, soul control, spectral flame control, spectral sense, teleformation.

Spectral freedom is a quality of one's consciousness that allows it to persist without inherent ties to a physical anchor. At any point, the possessor of this power can separate his or her very mind from their body, transplanting it into the astral plane. This universe is an aspect of a higher (seventh) dimension, which is coterminous with most points in space and time... as well as some both in-between and beyond.

In this state, the character's mind behaves as if it is astrally projecting. Characters with that power can interact with the consciousness of the spectrally free individual, possibly even engaging in battle if desired. In the event of such combat, one's Fighting rank remains the same, though they must substitute Intuition for Agility, Reason for Strength, and Psyche for Endurance when necessary.

Furthermore, a character with spectral freedom has access to all of their knowledge if called upon to battle astrally. This means that, if forced to do so, they may bring any talent-equivalent powers to bear in combat (such as spells or psionics). Spectrally free individuals can even make use of any inherent mental powers their original body had access to, since these are usually considered a 'part' of them to begin with.

The difference between someone using astral projection and spectral freedom is that there is no time limit to the latter. While an astral form must eventually return from whence it came, a spectrally free character need not do so. One's body may not ultimately survive the experience if it isn't properly cared for (on life support, etc.), but their mind can go on existing in higher dimensions indefinitely.

This is quite an advantage upon death. When slain, the mind of the deceased with spectral freedom will simply slough off its dead meat as if it were wandering about any other time. The trick is that it now has nowhere left to return to - which, while inconvenient in terms of interacting with the 'real' world, won't directly do anything to endanger the continued existence of one's mind.

What does threaten the life of a spectrally free individual's mind is, naturally, suffering psychic damage. If one's mind is defeated (their Mental Health is depleted), they must pass a Kill check or begin to lose Endurance ranks, as would any other person. The character with spectral freedom can thus still be slain, it just takes killing their consciousness to get rid of them permanently (as much as one can slay a super-human).

Since they aren't drawn into realms of the afterlife like the ordinary deceased (unless their mind is destroyed, per the above), the spectrally free are at liberty to create all-new relationships with the living. Barring separate powers such as possession or mind transfer, these detached minds can only 'roost' in a body, interacting with its owner in their dreams (or normally, if their host possesses the spectral sense).

If such contact is unwanted, this may attract the attention of those who specialize in warding off ghosts. But most often, the spectrally free do this to benefit both themselves and their hosts, perhaps helping them out in exchange for furthering their own agendas in the world of material things. Assuming they're not blatantly using corporeal beings for their own amusements.

One reason that many experts of the occult most often confuse an individual with this power for a garden-variety poltergeist is that particularly strong-willed individuals can achieve a state of spectral freedom upon their demise. This requires a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against Unearthly (100) intensity upon the physical death of such a person, who then gains this ability in exchange for their physicality.

But for those who fear their 'final reward', or simply aren't done with whatever work they've chosen to do, this isn't such a bad deal.

Spectral freedom, as a spell or psionic, is one of those rare abilities which do not count as one power for the purposes of power maintenance. This is because it's more of a permanent change in how one's very consciousness works, rather than an ability they must concentrate upon. This is particularly true if its possessor's physical body is destroyed - the power then defines their very existence!

Spectral Gestalt
Type: Power Control Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: corporeal gestalt, link, soul control.

A spectral gestalt is a composite entity created by the minds of several super-human individuals. When activated, this ability will create an all-new body for the merged minds to inhabit, comprised of the imaginary form of matter known as psychoplasm. The physical and mental ability scores of this transient body will be the average of its composite beings' scores, raised by +1 CS for each doubling of individuals who comprise it.

Two component minds will raise the ability scores by +1 CS, four component minds will raise them by +2 CS, and so on.

The powers a spectral gestalt possesses will be those of its constituent beings. All of its creators' powers can be wielded by this entity, and usually with greater intensity; the ranks a spectral gestalt uses its special abilities at gain a column shift equal to that which enhances its ability scores. Thus, a gestalt comprised of eight individuals will use all of their super-human abilities at a +3 CS!

Limited to a ceiling of the spectral gestalt power rank itself, that is.

At the same time, spectral gestalts often possess additional powers above and beyond those of its constituent entities. When this ability is first gained, its possessor has the option of placing one or more of their powers within the gestalt; they alone can't use them, but must build the gestalt to access the ability. Such placement counts as a strong limitation to the powers so constrained, and raises their final ranks by +2 CS.

The appearance of a spectral gestalt will usually be consistent, and is most often defined when the power is first acquired.

The personality of the created, imaginary being can be reflected in one of two ways - though this can vary, depending on its makeup. It may be a distinct, individual entity, which can act independent from and even converse with its constituent creators... who can also act on their own to a lesser extent. Of course, they do so at a -2 CS to all their ability and power ranks while their spectral gestalt is extant.

Alternately, the spectral gestalt may literally draw the minds of its creators into itself. This means multiple consciousnesses are active within it and able to use its abilities at once, though the gestalt is, of course, limited by the normal rules for multiple actions. This may cause a bit of confusion if its creators are at cross purposes or motivations, but can alternately allow an entire group to act as one.

Without the hassle of physically merging their bodies, as is necessary with a corporeal gestalt.

When defeated, a spectral gestalt channels a psychic backlash into its creators' minds. If it exists as a distinct, independent being, the spectral gestalt's defeat will merely prompt a Stun check on its constituent minds. If its creators' minds are actually within it when defeated, they will definitely be Stunned for 1d10 turns, perhaps more if the defeat of their spectral gestalt was particularly brutal.

Spectral Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, energy sense, magic sense, nonapparent vision, psi sense, spectral flame control, spectral flame generation, spectral freedom, theonic sense.

A spectral sense is one which allows its wielder to perceive intelligences Near oneself that are only present in adjacent, higher dimensions. This primarily consists of astral forms and alien entities which might be around the equivalent mindspace, but can also showcase beings in other coterminous realms, or even local disembodied spirits. Unless hidden somehow, these intelligences will be revealed on a green ACTION roll.

Once a spectral entity is revealed, the wielder of this sensory ability can not only see and hear it, but can communicate back! While a restligeist cannot really communicate, being a non-sentient 'echo' of one's presence, a poltergeist readily can - and usually will. Astral forms and the like may or may not communicate depending on their desires, though usually one in the area is there for purposes of espionage or other subterfuge.

Spectral sense is a powerful tool for investigators of the paranormal, and many seeming charlatans make use of this ability to earn a quiet living for themselves. It is an essential ability for true mediums, as well as anyone else who works with the formerly living.

Spectral Vampirism
Type: Mental Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy vampirism, psionic vampirism, spectral flame control, spectral flame generation, spectral sense, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

A variant on the standard ability, spectral vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the souls of others, whether still living or existing free of a body, to recover lost Health. As do other forms of this ability, spectral vampirism requires contact with the would-be victim. Upon touching the target, a spectral vampire may drain an amount of their Intuition and Psyche equal to this power rank.

This assumes the target is unable to resist; spectral vampirism can be fought off by passing a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its rank. If this ACTION fails, the spectral vampire may drain his or her victim of as much or as little spirit as they wish, up to their power rank number. Every additional turn they do so, the target is allowed another ACTION roll to resist the wielder of spectral vampirism.

If this resistance ACTION is successful at any point during the feeding process, the target will immediately repulse the spectral vampire, gaining immunity from further assaults with this power from this spectral vampire (though not from other characters with this ability, or any other vampiric powers the assailant may possess). Upon managing this, the target should note this resistance in the event of future assaults (just in case).

If a spectral vampire is at full Health when they drain their power rank in spectral energy from a victim, they receive a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all their power ranks save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with spectral vampirism returns to their normal capability. Gaining another, like boost requires another feeding.

The risk in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the danger of contagion. Draining someone of their soul completely is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they will begin to lose Endurance ranks until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they will rise again as an undead creature, a spectral vampire that feeds on the souls of others to survive.

Secondly, if a spectral vampire kills with this ability (accidentally or otherwise), they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against the intensity of their own spectral vampirism. If this ACTION fails, they become addicted to the spiritual energies of others, and will require them to function as well. While addicted, the character with spectral vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon the souls of others.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all of their power ranks save for this one. To avoid this loss, the addicted spectral vampire must drain an amount of spiritual energy equal to their spectral vampirism rank each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the spiritual energy of others causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0. This prompts an Endurance ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a spectral vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or overcomes their addiction.

If a character with spectral vampirism has ever been addicted to the spiritual energies of others, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses this power afterwards, they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into addiction. If they pass this ACTION they'll be fine... until the next use of this power, at least.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the souls of others to persist cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of spectral vampirism, and not its many victims.

Spell Control
Type: Power Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: deionic control, power control, psionic control, sorcerous amplification, sorcerous attenuation, thaumaturgical absorption.

Spell control is the potent power to actively manipulate the very form and function of magical abilities. It only works on magic spells or mystical powers inherent to the body of its target, not other talent-based abilities (psionics) or non-mystic super-powers (mutations). Furthermore, spell control can only affect the magical abilities of others - not those wielded by its possessor.

If a mystically inclined individual or the effects of their abilities are present within Near range of the spell controller, he or she may try to co-opt such. If attempting to use this ability on a magic effect free of its creator's body, this only requires an ACTION against its intensity. If the magical ability is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, its possessor is also allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist.

Once the possessor of spell control has taken control of the magic of another, they can do any number of things with it. However, spell control actions require a second ACTION roll, based on how complicated its wielder's intentions are. Redirecting the target of a magic power or spell (pointing an eldritch bolt away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the body armor of another) requires a green spell control ACTION.

Activating or inactivating magic requires a yellow ACTION. This can range from being a nuisance to downright lethal, depending on how vital the wizardry being tinkered with is to the survival of its possessor. Yellow ACTIONs also allow one to change minor details of the magic's nature somewhat; perhaps, say, changing that eldritch bolt into something the spell controller is more resistant to, like a beam of feathers?

A red ACTION grants the spell controller the ability to drastically alter the nature of magic, being able to transform it from any one ability into any other they desire. This might turn a body armor spell into shrinking, or teleportation into dimensional transit, causing its wielder to blip off into parts wholly unknown. Such applications are by far the most potent uses of spell control - and the most lethal.

Luckily for the opponents of a spell controller, the effects of this ability are highly transient in nature. They only last as long as the spell controller is actively concentrating upon his or her changes. Furthermore, each turn someone is subject to spell control (perhaps the spell controller is 'borrowing' their abilities for a while), they may attempt another ACTION to resist its use on their person.

Spiritual Link
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per rank

The spiritual link spell serves to tie the essence of another spellcaster to oneself. This other spellcaster is usually no longer among the living, and has plenty of time with which to guide the wielder of the spiritual link spell in whatever way it feels helpful. In rare instances, the spiritual link spell may instead link the caster to multiple such essences, or even to a still-living sorcerer on another plane of existence.

When first cast, spiritual link will seek out such an essence. The caster of this spell will be given a menu of sorts, showcasing potential candidates nearby (within Far range) for creating such a link. Most often, these will be (former) members of one's school of magic, or at the very least individuals who share the same basic goals as the caster. But sometimes, a candidate will arise who fits neither of these criteria.

This candidate may demand the caster's services for some task or another, or the two may otherwise be at cross purposes. This can lead to trouble down the road for the caster of spiritual link, but might be just what they need to resolve their current crises. Either way, once the caster has decided upon the candidate (or candidates, in the event of a tight-knit group of like-minded souls), the bond is made.

Once a spiritual link is established, the caster has the benefit of several special abilities while said link is active. Being of literally two minds, the caster gains a +1 CS to resist any mental control or attack powers. Furthermore, the caster has at least partial access to the knowledge and memories of their spiritual ally, which they will readily share under most circumstances (unless particularly embarrassing).

In addition to knowing strange and ancient secrets, this gives the caster access to additional spells! These spells are those which the spiritual entity itself knows, and should be determined by the Judge (as with all the other details of the linked essence). The caster can wield these spells at the spiritual link rank, instead of their original spell ranks, which gives one quite an edge in battle.

The downside to a spiritual link is that, under certain circumstances, a linked essence may try to co-opt one's body for its own purposes. This may come about as a result of direct mortal peril to the spellcaster, if the caster commits an action opposed to the essence's morality, if the caster encounters an area or person directly tied to the essence's past, or when using spells the essence knows that are not of one's own school.

Or, if the essence isn't particularly fond of the caster, it might try to take over 'just because'.

The essence linked by this spell may do this with a contest of wills, pitting the character's Psyche (will) against its Psyche (pre). If the caster fails against this action, they lose control of their own body for 1d10 turns, at which point another contest may be attempted, pitting the caster's Psyche (pre) against the essence's Psyche (will). And so on and so forth. How this affects the relationship between the two depends on the personalities involved.

Spiritual link itself generally assumes the linked spirit is resident in the head of the caster at all times. However, the spell can be limited somewhat, enhancing its power considerably. If the link is dependent on the presence of a talisman of some sort (the skull of an elder, or the wedding ring of a fellow mage), add a +1 CS to the spell rank (or reduce its cost by 2 points). Alternately, it can be location dependent.

In this case, the caster only benefits from the link while in a special kind of area or a specific location (faerie circles are an example of this, as is the remote grave of the dead spellcaster). The more specific and inconvenient a location, the greater the benefit (+2 CS / -4 points for the circles, for instance, while +3 CS / -6 points for the grave). While the link is only active under these conditions, it's much more powerful in effect.

Stasis
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: catalysis, environmental independence, longevity, reformation, regeneration, regenerative armor, revival, zest.

The ability of stasis allows its wielder to place their body in a state of suspended animation. What this means is, while so suspended, the character with this ability need not eat, drink, sleep, or breathe, as their body is doing literally nothing at all. While in stasis, the character is physically inert, and will thus appear dead for all intents and purposes - however freshly so their body may seem.

The possessor of this ability has a vague awareness of conditions outside their body while it is active, but won't be conscious, per se. This means that one can enter stasis if the situation in their vicinity has become life-threatening, and then end their stasis when the coast is clear. Similarly, one can 'program' the ability to wake them up after so much time has passed, though this process is never quite exact.

There is no ultimate, terminal duration tied to this ability. One can conceivably put themselves under for years, if not centuries at a time, if they wish. Mind you, this may put a serious crimp in one's social life, having to make up for lost time over and over. But sometimes, when the world is falling apart all around you, simply going to sleep until it fixes itself just might seem like a good idea.

Static Field
Type: Mental Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: illusion projection, sensory projection, thought projection.

Telepathic powers generally work in a straightforward manner: their initiator makes contact with one or more other minds, and then conveys whatever information they wish. However, this assumes that there isn't a lot of ambient psychic noise drowning out their mental signals. Psionic static is just that - a whole lot of gibberish and interference that stymies the use of telepathic powers.

Characters with the static field power can overwhelm the area within Very Near distance of their person with psionic hogwash. Either while within or targeting someone inside the radius of a static field, telepaths must pass a power ACTION against the intensity of the static field to operate their telepathic abilities. Failure means the information to be conveyed was 'lost' in the noise surrounding them.

As the source of the static field, the user of this ability cannot themselves wield any other telepathic powers while it is active. Similarly, the character gains power rank resistance to psychic influence while their static field is active. On the downside, there is no way to hide the fact that one is generating such a field from other telepaths in the vicinity, which readily allows them to retaliate for the inconvenience, if desired.

Static Shield
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

A static shield is a defensive construct its wielder may build around themselves or another, which protects against the effects of Probability Fallout. Once erected, a static shield vigorously defends the current form of its occupant's existence, absorbing and nullifying all PF of its rank or less that it comes in contact with. This is a great way for a paraprobabilitist or a psychoturge to protect allies from their 'mistakes'.

If overwhelmed by PF, a static shield will collapse, but the PF that actually broke the shield will not affect its former occupant - not this turn, at least. If a static shield is broken, it may behoove its creator to build another one as soon as possible, to avoid the effects of PF contagion. While the main threat of PF may have been diffused by the shield during its collapse, the stuff is notoriously sticky.

A mostly useful side effect of the static shield is that it prevents anyone from manipulating the probability field of its occupant. While so warded, a person has the static shield's rank in resistance to luck-controlling abilities - whether beneficial or harmful. While it may prevent good luck from helping the shield's occupant (even their own!), it will similarly protect them from being 'jinxed' by others when active.

Summoning
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, animal control, animal sympathy, finding, linguistics, mind control, plant control, plant sympathy, teleportation / others.

Summoning is the ability to draw forth living creatures, whether sentient or otherwise - and bind them to your will! It can be used to make manifest creatures native to one's world, alien beings from across the cosmos, or even enigmatic entities from beyond the universe. A summoner may bring forth one creature or many, to be directed towards any task they are capable of... assuming they're strong enough.

Once the summoner has decided what he or she wishes to call forth, they must roll a power ACTION against the Psyche (will) score of their target. If this ACTION roll is successful, the creature will appear before them, and can be directed to perform one task. Once this task is completed the summoned entity will disappear, the summoner's hold upon it broken, and will smartly return from whence it came.

This assumes that only one creature was called by the summoner. If the summoner wishes to bring about multiple creatures, each doubling of such subtracts a -1 CS from their effective summoning rank. This may not be a huge deal when conjuring up a cloud of Africanized honey bees (who have no Psyche rank to speak of), but summoning a horde of pixies might be the last thing the summoner ever did.

Except for the screaming and so forth.

This is because, if the summoning ACTION fails, the called creature(s) might answer the summons anyway. Those creatures that do so may act as they please, no matter what the summoner demands of them. And the more uncontrolled creatures one calls forth, the more creatures there are to vent their frustration upon the summoner for attempting to drag them away from their lives to do someone else's dirty work.

The chief problem with summoning is that the summoner does not know if a creature is truly under their control until it disobeys them. Powerful creatures love to take advantage of this loophole in summoning to try and wring something out of the summoner in return for services rendered. Alternately, they may threaten him or her with bodily harm after the task is completed, if they are not bargained with beforehand.

On the plus side, if they've indeed taken control of the called creature, a summoner can ignore this posturing... unless it learns enough about a summoner to find them afterwards. Or can resist the summoning power's banishment of it after it has completed the task the summoner called it to perform. Some entities truly lack a sense of humor, and can bear a grudge for a very, very long time.

Super Breath
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: environmental independence (breathing), matter absorption, vapor animation.

Many characters have what seems like an impossible lung capacity, in that they can apparently inhale more air than their lungs (much less their entire body) should be able to contain, to expel it violently! It's all about pressurization with super breath, in that a character with this power can draw in as much gas as they like, compacting it in the process, and then release it at their leisure.

The individual with super breath can draw into themselves a quantity of gas that, when exhaled, allows them to inflict power rank Force damage to their target. Inhaling enough ambient air to fuel this power requires a full turn, though a character with super breathing who manages to achieve multiple actions on a given turn can be assumed to be engaging in the rest while taking in the appropriate mass of gas (when applicable).

The only difficulty where super breath is involved is in containing that much gas for any length of time. Hanging onto the amount of gas required to inflict the power's normal damage is quite the strain on one's body, and requires a yellow power ACTION roll each turn it is attempted. If this ACTION fails, the gas immediately exits the character's body - typically blasting whoever is right in front of him or her.

If the individual with super breath who fails such an ACTION is prevented from making a discharge at this point, they'll suffer power rank Metabolic damage as the gas seeks out any other means of equalizing its pressure against the atmosphere outside him or her... regardless of how much harm it causes in the process.

The gas jet produced by super breathing can effectively strike any target within Near distance of its wielder.

Super Climbing
Type: Movement Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: claws, clinging, hard points, prehensile tail, super jumping, tentacles.

Most characters have the inherent ability to climb, barring serious physical injuries or an anatomy that lacks the required limbs. The power of super climbing is another animal altogether, though, in that it gives its possessor the preternatural ability to climb far faster than those without it, ascending up or moving down vertical surfaces at an effective velocity that is determined on the land/sea speed table.

In addition to determining how fast a character with super climbing can climb, its power rank also showcases how effectively he or she may do so. The higher a rank in super climbing that a character possesses, the less agreeable a surface it can be used to climb. Refer to the slickness table to determine the relative difficulties inherent to climbing on certain surfaces (avoid those coated in buckyballs).

In addition to easily handling vertical surfaces, super climbing can be used to traverse inverted surfaces as well, assuming the character can keep a grip; this requires an ACTION roll against its slickness each turn to manage. Of course, this isn't necessary if the character also has clinging, in that they can rest their muscles simply by sticking to such surfaces whenever they get a bit tired.

Super Digging
Type: Movement Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: claws, locational sense, solid animation, stasis.

Most characters can, with the proper equipment and a whole lot of patience, burrow through the earth or other, like substances when necessary. This is usually a painstaking process, however, requiring time and resources that may not be readily available in an emergency. Meanwhile, individuals who possess super digging can easily establish tunnels with astonishing alacrity - and may do so without external tools!

Using the power of super digging, a character can tunnel through any material of a hardness less than its power rank, and can work their way through materials that are of equal or greater MS by passing a power ACTION against the material in question each turn. Such masses of high MS material will slow a super digger down, but most can usually be worked through eventually, given enough time.

Particularly if the super digger also possesses high MS claws.

When building a tunnel simply for the sake of moving through an area, a super digger can proceed at a rate determined by their power rank, on the land/sea speed table. Tunnels built so quickly usually only last for 1d10 turns - often enough for others to hurry behind the super digger as he or she churns their way through the earth. Note that a tunnel will not generally collapse right on top of its creator unless induced to do so.

If a super digger wishes to produce a more permanent corridor, he or she must slow down considerably. Fashioning relatively permanent paths through the earth requires a lot more support work when creating them, limiting a super digger to a speed of one area per turn. This is nonetheless remarkably fast, and allows a whole lot of people to pass through the ground safely thanks to such work.

Super Flight
Type: Movement Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: antigravity, environmental independence, environmental pocket, flight, resistance (or invulnerability) to cold, pressure variance and radiation, space control.

The power of super flight is the ability to cross space at speeds faster than light itself! While conventional models of physics generally restrain a body to this speed limit, super flight typically works in a fashion that satisfies the laws of relativity. This often involves shunting part or all of one's matter into another universe which does allow for faster than light travel - or otherwise negating a body's mass entirely.

Super flight in and of itself does not allow its possessor the ability to survive travel at such extreme speeds - much less in the locations such speeds require. This is because flying this fast in an atmosphere would instantly destroy an object due to the friction produced, which means it is best attempted in space... where most standard life forms have trouble finding food, water, or breathable air.

A host of additional, related powers may be required to most effectively make use of this ability. Environmental independence and resistance to cold, pressure variance, and radiation are all essential spacefaring capabilities, to survive being in space both short and long-term, while regular flight is also handy for moving in and out of a planetary atmosphere.

However a character manages to achieve super flight, he, she, or it can generally progress through space in a consistent fashion. Essentially, super flight lets its possessor traverse a number of light years equal to their power rank number each turn. Poor (4) ranked super flight would allow one to make a trip to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun, in approximately one turn - which is pretty staggering to contemplate!

The speeds offered by super flight are truly fantastic in scope, but still aren't exactly instantaneous movement through the cosmos. Even with Class 5000 super flight, for instance, it would require three and a half years to cross from one side of the observable universe to the other. However, most jaunts through space don't necessarily involve such vast distances, and thus can be managed with a much smaller power rank.

Super Invention
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Entreaty Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank beyond one's Reason (log) score
Related Powers: device generation, device sympathy, jury rigging, kit-bashing, matter generation, nanotechnology generation, organic circuitry, ultimate talent.

The character with this ability is something of a technological prodigy. Above and beyond their ordinary intellect (whether it is truly ordinary or already exceptional in some fashion), the super inventor has the ability to subconsciously create technological items leaps and bounds ahead of that which others of comparable intelligence can produce - and can do so in a fraction of the time otherwise required.

When a character with super invention is intent on inventing something, they may attempt the required Reason ACTIONs with this ability instead - before one considers any Column Shifts provided by the knowledge normally required to make whatever one is building. This often allows the super inventor to rapidly produce items that are well in advance of anything else on their world - even if he or she can't explain how they work.

Furthermore, they can do so quickly. A super inventor may reduce the time required to invent a technology or device, subtracting this power's rank number in days from the development time required - down to a minimum of one day. Finally, due to their ability to 'get by' with extant materials, a super inventor can typically reduce the Resources ACTION roll required to build something by -2 CS, greatly enabling their advancement.

Note that this ability does not remove any special requirements deemed necessary by the Judge when a character attempts to build something fantastic. While super invention can short-cut a large amount of the hurdles between a character and his or her death ray (or whatever), special requirements are still an important part of this process - or else, the super inventor might never leave the laboratory!

When one first acquires super invention, a character can limit it to further enhance their technical expertise in a specific area. Limiting super invention to a general class of technology (electronics, mechanics, structural engineering) counts as a weak limitation, while increasingly narrow classifications within each area can provide ever more potent limitations, at the Judge's discretion.

Super Jumping
Type: Movement Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1/2 point per additional rank of jumping ability
Related Powers: gliding, jelling, propulsion, super climbing, super running.

Barring a staggering lack of exercise, serious physical injury, or an anatomy that lacks limbs, most characters can manage at least a moderate leap. The exact distance that characters can normally leap up, forward, or down is calculated in the Space and Movement portion of the Core Rules. However, some individuals possess the ability to make logic-defying leaps and bounds, for they possess the power of super jumping!

Super jumping is a positive modifier to a character's leaping ability, boosting their 'natural' ability by its value. When using random character generation, one may automatically 'gamble' on their natural ability to determine its initial modifier, though a player may use additional gambling attempts to boost it further. With point-based character generation, simply spend one half point per +1 CS desired.

For example, a two-hundred-pound character with Typical (6) Strength (vigor) has Feeble (2) leaping naturally, which lets them bound forwards approximately two feet with relative ease. Each half point spent on super jumping would raise that value by +1 CS. If this character spent five points on super jumping, he or she would acquire Shift X (150) leaping potential, letting them cross two areas in a single bound!

Calculating the base velocity of a super jumper can be accomplished by figuring out their area movement on a turn per turn basis, on the land/sea speed table. That Shift X leaper, above, moves at two areas per turn, which translates into thirty miles per hour. Simply running across that distance may seem a lot faster, and it is in general, but super jumping does afford one the ability to avoid all manner of earth-bound hazards.

When combining super jumping with other movement powers, its utility can be increased to a staggering degree. Gliding allows a super jumper to 'hang' in the air for much longer, propulsion lets a body 'steer' while in the ballistic arc of a leap (helpful for avoiding puppies on the sidewalk), super climbing is great for leaping in urban environments, and super running dramatically boosts one's leaping speed and distance.

Super Running
Type: Movement Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: jelling, resistance or invulnerability (fire, heat and/or friction), super jumping, super speed.

While almost any character can run, barring serious injuries or a physiology that lacks legs, the individual with super running takes this to a whole new level. Instead of referring to the running/acceleration rate table to determine how fast a super runner can move, upgrade to the land/water speed chart instead, using the super running power rank to showcase just how quick this power lets you move!

Super running typically includes minor adaptations to its possessor which allows them to breathe at such high velocities, resist the resultant friction, and to react fast enough to use it without killing themselves. A character's possessions and passengers (if carrying someone along) typically benefit from this as well, preventing a rescued hostage from being worn away to nothing when being carried at the speed of sound.

A super runner may run for as long as they like, even at top speed, without having to bother with fatigue. The power does not count as running for the purposes of exhaustion, which lets a body with super running cover an impressive amount of real estate with what, to them, is a simple jog. This is one reason why, when combined with super speed, super running is so astoundingly effective!

Super Senses
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, circular vision, macro sense, microscopic vision, screened senses, sonar sense, super tracking, telescopic vision.

Super senses are just what they sound like - a human's ordinary sensory ability heightened to a super-human degree.

How this works is that Intuition ACTIONs based on sensory input will be made at either a +1 CS or super senses rank, whichever is higher. Furthermore, the effective sensory range of a character with super senses is improved by one area; in other words, they wait one more area before applying negative Column Shifts.

Of course, that's not all. Each super sense provides additional abilities above and beyond their heightened range.

• Super hearing can be used to identify things and determine their relative position solely by the sound they emit.
• Super smell allows one to identify the smallest traces of a substance in his or her environment, making them aware of toxic dangers long before others in their vicinity.
• Super taste allows characters to identify something (or even someone!) by its individual ingredients - and possibly the person who mixed it together or made it in the first place.
• Super touch can discern incredibly minute surface texture details on any object.
• Super vision can be used to note incredibly subtle details on a target, making the detection of disguised or counterfeit objects laughably easy.

These extra abilities function at the super senses' rank. The only real downside to super senses is that they make their bearer more subject to sensory assault. Blinding attacks, piercing sounds, and even noxious odors can easily flatten a character with super senses, as they suffer a -2 CS to resist such assaults. This can be overcome with the screened senses ability, but it inflicts a -1 CS on all enhanced senses.

One thing to keep in mind is that one need not have all of their senses function at a super-human level. Each 'super' sense one removes from this power counts as one step of limitation, either adding a +1 CS to its operating rank or reducing its cost by two points. For example, a character who only wanted super vision would subtract eight points from the cost of this power, or would add a +4 CS to its effective rank.

Super Speed
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: flight, super running, super swimming, vibration control.

A character with super speed may complete actions dramatically faster than others. This can work through a variety of different mechanisms, ranging from an augmented nervous system to something as exotic as living in an accelerated temporal frame. Regardless of how the power works for a character, super speed produces the same result: it gives its wielder the ability to do anything quick.

In essence, the possessor of this ability divides the amount of turns it takes them to do anything by its power rank number. Let us consider a villain with Remarkable (30) ranked super speed. Assuming he has Typical (6) Strength (vgr), he can leisurely walk at a pace that will carry him forty-five areas in a single minute (as opposed to the one and a half without super speed). That's sixty-seven and a half miles per hour!

If a character with super speed attempts to run, he or she can increase their movement speed even further. This works by shifting the character's walking intensity over to the air speed column, instead. Our villain with the Typical (6) Strength (vgr) score would thus move at 135 MPH (between Good and Excellent, as his ground speed was), while another with capped walking speed but like super speed would move at 225 MPH!

Keep in mind that super speed does not include super stamina. Running at top speed is just as difficult for a speedster as it is for anyone else without additional powers. Lacking additional ascendant abilities to back super speed up, a speedster is limited to short bursts of enhanced velocity. Even without outside help, however, such bursts of speed let a body cover ground astoundingly fast.

When super speed is combined with other travel powers, though, one can keep up a heightened rate of speed for as long as the other movement ability can operate. In game terms, this allows such powers to move up one speed category when paired with super speed. Super running and super swimming will operate on the air speed column, while flight will be upgraded to the space speed column. Not bad, eh?

Mind you, super speed is useful for more than just covering distance. The power is great when applied to tasks that take a very long time, such as construction, invention, surgery - and more. When one can reduce a task that should take weeks down to just a few hours, they can get a whole lot done - possibly meaning they only need to work a few hours out of the month (or the year, with sufficiently potent super speed).

Super speed applies to combat, also. For every rank in super speed a character has, they are allowed an additional attack each turn. Thus, our villain with the above, Remarkable (30) super speed can attack six additional times each turn. When used against multiple opponents (say, one attack per person), such attacks are resolved normally. However, when one foe is the exclusive focus of a super speedster, things can get messy.

Multiple attacks focused on a single opponent at super speed are always considered bursting, applying a +1 CS for each doubling of attacks (always round down). These attacks against a single foe may be resolved with one die roll for simplicity's sake, or rolled out individually - though the latter may take a while. With a Strength (mgt) score of Typical (6), our example villain's seven punches would ultimately inflict +2 CS damage!

The above assumes the character with super speed can normally attack once per turn. If they are granted extra attacks elsewhere, add these attacks to the amount which is granted by super speed. If our villainous speedster also had Remarkable (30) ranked Fighting score, he could add one more attack with a yellow multiple actions ACTION roll, bumping him up to another +1 CS of bursting damage against a single opponent!

Speedsters most often attack with their bare hands, because while they have super speed, their gear almost never does. Attacking someone with a weapon at super speed puts just as much stress on the weapon as it does whatever is being hit. This stress prompts an MS check that must be made on the item being used in melee combat against the overall damage caused - if it fails, the weapon will break during the burst of attacks.

With a sufficiently durable weapon, however, or even just considerable physical strength, a character with super speed can often dish out astonishing damage in the blink of an eye. Damage that is incredibly hard to defend against when you can't even discern the movements of your assailant. Those concerned about inflicting lethal harm upon their foes may wish to keep this in mind before attacking at top speed.

Super Swimming
Type: Movement Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dual respiration, fluid animation, super speed, tentacles, universal respiration.

The character with super swimming can tear through the water at astounding speeds. Whether on the surface or lurking below, a super swimmer may move at a speed determined by where their power rank lies on the land/speed velocity table. For example, a body with Remarkable (30) ranked super swimming would cruise through the ocean at ninety miles per hour - faster than most boats and submersibles!

By itself, super swimming does not give its possessor the ability to breathe underwater. Dealing with this issue requires additional powers, such as dual or universal respiration - or even environmental independence, to forego the need to breathe entirely! Without one of these abilities to back them up, a super swimmer should stick to the surface - or have air tanks handy for undersea voyages.

Super swimmers can readily tow an additional amount of weight, per the propulsion power. That Remarkable (30) super swimmer, above, could easily bring up to one ton of weight along for the ride. Exceeding this reduces super swimming's speed by -2 CS for every +1 CS of weight hauled. As an example, a fifty ton ship (an Amazing (50) weight) would reduce that Remarkable (30) super swimming's speed by -4 CS (to Poor (4)).

Super Synesthesia
Type: Physical Control Power, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: situational adaptation, any sensory power.

Technically speaking, synesthesia isn't a super-power, so much as a neurological disorder where sensory input of one type is processed by the brain using another sensory system entirely. Numbers or letters might always appear as colors, words may evoke flavors in one's mind, or in the extreme certain sights and images may consistently induce the perception of sounds for the person with this disorder.

Super synesthesia, on the other hand, is an entirely voluntary process. This involves the wielder of this ability momentarily rewiring their brain such that one form of sensory data may be interpreted by a different sensory processor. They might hear colors, or perhaps see scents, or maybe even taste temperatures. The person using this ability may do so in a fashion that allows them to more easily process data in an alternate fashion.

The practical benefit of this is that, when studying phenomena of some sort, the character with super synesthesia can look at it in a multitude of ways, possibly gleaning information in this fashion that wouldn't readily be apparent otherwise. When seeing sound, for instance, one might more readily pick out noise in certain frequencies if they can see the disturbance it causes, rather than trying to play it by ear (so to speak).

The 'game' benefit of super synesthesia can be tricky to nail down, depending on the situation, but if all else fails, simply apply a +1 CS to applicable Intuition ACTION rolls made with this ability.

Super synesthesia, in its standard form, costs four points. Each step of limitation applied will reduce this by one point (to the normal minimum of one point).

Super Tracking
Type: Sensory Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairalience, infravision, microscopic vision, psychometry, super senses.

While tracking a target can be a skill in and of itself, this ability infers a super-human degree of prowess in such. Super tracking allows its wielder to pick up on the tell-tale signs of the passage of another, and then follow them back to their source. These can be obvious physical indications of passage, or more obscure signs such as lingering scents, thermal variance near things they've touched, or even psychic residue!

The specific nature of one's tracking ability should be determined when a character is first generated - i.e., how one finds their quarry. A super tracker need not be limited to one of the methods listed above - or others not listed here, for that matter - but doing so is considered a strong limitation. This means the 'handicapped' tracker may either increase this power rank by +2 CS, or reduce its final cost by 2.

Super Vampirism
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy vampirism, origin sense, psionic vampirism, spectral vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

A rare vampiric variant, super vampirism allows its possessor to feed upon the super-human powers of others, using the purloined energies for a variety of effects. As do other forms of this ability, super vampirism requires physical contact with the would-be victim, who can resist the effects of this power if he or she can pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its intensity.

If this ACTION roll fails, the target cannot physically break contact with the super vampire, and will begin to lose some of their super-human prowess. Each turn this power is applied to the target, a super vampire can drain an amount of power from them equal to this ability's power rank. This drain occurs on a point-per-point basis, usually diminishing the target's most potent power first and working down from there.

If this power is applied for more than one turn, the target is allowed an additional ACTION roll to resist each time they're up for more draining. Should the target ever succeed in this action, or the super vampire is forced to stop feeding (instead of doing so of his or her own volition), the victim will immediately acquire subsequent immunity to the super vampirism of their attacker.

However, this immunity doesn't extend to the super vampirism of other characters - or any other vampirism power the super vampire may happen to possess.

But what can a vampire do with this purloined ascendant energy, you ask? For starters, they can use it to recover lost Health. The victim's drained power can be added directly into the Health score of the super vampire, and if they're at full Health when they drain an amount of power equal to their super vampirism's power rank, the wielder of this power can enhance their physical and mental prowess considerably.

Every time the super vampire performs this action, they may add a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, and Psyche ranks, as well as all their powers (aside from this one, that is), for 1d100 turns. Unlike all other forms of vampirism, however, super vampirism allows its possessor to apply this bonus more than once, gaining up to +3 CS on the indicated ability scores and power ranks for the duration.

The risk in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the danger of contagion. Draining a body of all its super-powers is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they'll begin to lose Endurance ranks, until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they will rise again as an undead creature, a super vampire that feeds on the powers of others to live.

If they pass this Kill check, however, the victim will replace points lost in their various powers as if recovering from ability score damage.

Secondly, if a super vampire kills with this ability (whether accidentally or on purpose), they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against their own vampirism rank. If this ACTION fails, the vampire will become addicted to the super-powers of others, and will require them to function as well. While addicted, the character with super vampirism will suffer a loss of power each day they do not feed upon the powers of others.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, and Psyche scores, as well as all of their power ranks (save for super vampirism, that is). To avoid this loss, the addicted vampire must drain an amount of power equal to their super vampirism rank daily, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost to such. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's hard.

Withdrawal from the powers of others causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0. This prompts an Endurance ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a super vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or overcomes their addiction.

If a character with super vampirism has ever been addicted to the powers of others, using it again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses super vampirism afterwards, they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into vampiric addiction. If they pass this ACTION they'll be fine - at least, until next time.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the super-powers of others to live cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to the still-living wielders of super vampirism, and not its many victims.

The ironic thing about super vampirism is that, unlike most other vampiric abilities, normal humans have little to fear from it. If somebody lacks powers of any stripe, this power cannot directly affect them at all. It can siphon off powers gained through aberrations of science, mystic tutoring, psionic schooling, or even deific design, but it won't do anything to the average, normal human adventurer.

Swirl
Type: Geomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A swirl is a cyclonic elemental aura that a geomancer may construct around their person. The geomancer creating the swirl can build it from any of the elements he or she has access to, doing so with more than one at a time, in fact. The idea of a swirl is to provide protection against attack for its creator, as well as an aversive damage field that will affect anyone foolish enough to enter melee range of its occupant.

The form of damage a swirl inflicts depends on its composition. Fire inflicts SD Energy damage, while water can cause Force damage, etc. When combining elements, the damage can either be the most effective of those present against someone blundering into it, or can instead elevate to higher forms of damage when necessary (air alone might inflict Force damage, but with stones embedded within may cause Shooting damage).

Variable damage types aren't the only benefit of swirl, however. The more elements a geomancer adds to the spell, the more damage it can inflict. Two elements will enhance the damage it inflicts by +1 CS, while four will raise it by +2 CS, and if all seven elements are incorporated into a swirl spell, the damage it causes will increase to an astounding +3 CS! And that's just on the offensive side.

As a defensive aura, swirl also provides protection against attack. If a swirl is comprised of animal, earth, or plant elemental material, it provides protection against injury per a body armor spell, while if it is comprised of air, fire, or water, it offers defense like a force field. Weather, on the other hand, offers protection that is a combination of the two, which is resolved as follows:

Rank +1 CS / Spell Rank / Rank +1 CS / Rank -5 CS / Rank -7 CS

As with the offensive side of swirl, the protection it offers can be enhanced by adding multiple elements to the mix. If two 'body armor' or two 'force field' types are used in conjunction, raise the defense swirl offers by +1 CS. If one of the 'body armor' type elements is combined with one of the 'force field' types, it will transform into the weather form of protection, as detailed above.

On the other hand, if two of each elemental armor 'types' are used simultaneously, raise the protection for the 'weather' type of swirl by +1 CS - +2 CS if weather itself is also added into the mix. This allows a geomancer to make full offensive and defensive use of the various elements they've mastered in one terrifyingly effective spell.

Sympathetic Magic
Type: Voodoo Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank

One of the oldest kinds of wizardry in existence, sympathetic magic allows a mage to use a part of someone, however insignificant, to hold power over them. This most often takes the form of a drop of blood, a lock of hair, or even a nail clipping. In a pinch, the caster can use a possession of the target, like a sock or necklace or whatever, but improvising in this fashion applies a -1 CS penalty to the spell.

With this component in hand, the caster of sympathetic magic has the option of creating a stand-in of the target, if desired. Doing so provides a +1 CS bonus to its spell rank, acting to better focus the spell on the purloined portion of the target. This symbolic version of the target can take any form, often coming in the configuration of a doll of some sort, or even something as simple as a figure made from sticks.

But why bother with all this, you ask?

Using sympathetic magic, a wizard can cast spells upon the target regardless of where they're at; sympathetic magic functions on the Far range table, extending the caster's other spells to at least that far out. This spell even includes a sensory link, allowing the caster to experience anything the target currently is. Said target is allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist, even if they don't know what they're rolling against.

Furthermore, sympathetic magic can be used to inflict direct damage upon the target. The caster can use a single sample to cause an amount of damage equal to this spell's rank number, either all at once or over time. After that, the component is expended, and another must be acquired. This is why, when using the spell in a long-term campaign against someone, it pays to have many parts of them handy!

Synchronicity
Type: Entreatism Spell
Duration: while maintained, plus 1d10 turns
Cost: 2 points per rank

Synchronicity is a means by which an entreatist may take on an aspect of an entity's existence. While an entreaty makes use of a boost to one spell or another, or is alternately an actual spell that specializes in the entreated being's sphere of influence, synchronicity physically imbues the caster with a portion of that entity's power. This allows the entreatist to more directly represent said being's power portfolio.

This aspect so absorbed temporarily gives the entreatist an ability that embodies that of the being which has been called upon. A synchronized being representative of chaos may grant the entreatist an aura which constantly generates Probability Fallout, or grant them a different magical power each turn instead, while synchronizing with a deity of earth may literally transform the caster into living stone!

Synchronized abilities may be any aspect or capability known to represent an entity so emulated, which assumes at least a passing knowledge of that which the entreater wishes to synchronize with; using the spell on random beings of power might cause undesirable effects. These characteristics will function at the spell's rank, and last while the spell is maintained plus 1d10 turns (they take some time to fade).

Synchronicity itself imbues a character with but one characteristic of the entity they have synchronized themselves with - at least, per each casting of the spell. Each additional 'instance' of a synchronized power counts as another spell for the purposes of spell maintenance.

T

Technical Intuition
Type: Matter Control Power, Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: computer link, device sympathy, jury rigging, kit-bashing, object projection, object sympathy, technological sense, transception.

This ability represents an inherent knack for understanding how devices work. The character wielding this power may not grasp the scientific principles behind such, but can easily suss out what makes an item function - and how to make that happen. Thus, technical intuition is a great way to determine how to operate anything, whether it be a Colt ™ 1911A1 handgun or an alien hyperdrive unit.

Just by handling a device, the character with technical intuition can infer how to use it. It can be electromechanical, or even be a thing made or empowered by psionic or magical means; its origin is irrelevant. They will also be able to sense any sort of booby traps or safeguards set against unwanted use, and can bypass these with a successful power ACTION roll against the intensity of the security mechanism.

Technological Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: device sympathy, object sympathy, technical intuition, transception.

A technological sense is the ability to detect the result of living beings altering their environment, whether intentionally or otherwise. This is most often done by sentient beings, or perhaps even their creations, but can occasionally occur when merely 'clever' animals develop primitive technologies. Generally, this ability works within Near distance of its wielder, functioning on anything inside that radius.

A technology's nature determines how difficult spotting it can be. Active systems, whether as simple as a battery or as complex as an atomaton, can be detected on a green ACTION. Inactive manufactured items, ranging from an old highway to a machete, can be found with a yellow power ACTION. Red ACTION rolls are typically necessary only when looking for obscure items, such as a narrow path worn by animals over time.

Teleformation
Type: Combination Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, atomic sense, clairvoyance, detachable parts, healing / self, internal universe, item generation, locational sense, longevity, object projection, revival, shape change, solid animation, spectral freedom, stasis, various special abilities related to the teleformer's bodily composition (when limited).

The curious power of teleformation is a combination of both teleportation and reformation. In essence, it can be used to transport the driving consciousness and life force of a character anywhere within its range, and then subsequently build an entirely new body for him or her on the spot. When this is done, one's 'old' body generally falls apart in rapid order, disintegrating into its component molecules within 1d10 turns.

Teleformation normally functions within Far range of its wielder's current location, but when strongly enhanced, it can function with Very Far range. Similarly, if extremely enhanced, teleformation is essentially rangeless, being capable of instantly sending its wielder's anima anywhere in his or her current universe, where it will subsequently build a new body from which they may act.

Upon their arrival in a new location, teleformers immediately assemble a body to house their consciousness, doing so from readily available inanimate matter. This will produce something of a caricature of the character, and provide him or her the teleformation's power rank in Health. In time, however, the character will slowly shape that matter into something better matching their self-image.

Each subsequent minute that passes will allow a teleformer to recover a like amount of Health points, as if they possessed similarly ranked regeneration. A Good (10) ranked teleformation power, for example, would leave its user with ten Health points upon their arrival after its use, and they would recover that many more Health points each minute. Divide by ten to determine how many Health points are recovered each turn.

As this Health point recovery takes place, the teleformer's appearance will slowly change. The materials used to craft their initial body will begin to transition in both shape and composition, a process that continues until the teleformer recovers all their Health points. By the time this process is complete, a teleformer's new body will be indistinguishable from their old one - whatever that happened to be.

If injured at any time, a teleformer's body will recover as if they were in the process of rebuilding it. In other words, the regeneration-like effect that builds them a frame with which to interact with the world persists even after its initial work is done. This requires solid matter the teleformer can use to repair themselves, however; the power is generally useless in vacuum - or even in the ocean!

Any equipment that teleformers have with them upon transporting from one location to another is left behind, and they cannot produce any items besides themselves - at least, not with this power alone. Of course, a variety of matter control or creation powers can serve this purpose, but such capabilities are beyond the scope of the teleformation power, as is bringing others along for the ride.

While the above details the normal function of teleformation, it may be limited to customize it somewhat - or, if desired, to 'even out' any enhancements provided to grant it a greater range.

For one thing, the power may be constrained such that it can only build a new body from a certain kind of material, such as stone or wood or sand or whatever. Similarly, teleformation might not change the composition of material used to build a body for its wielder, making him or her constantly resemble a being made out of various materials. One's appearance will generally be similar, even if their exact composition isn't.

Both of these features are strong limitations to teleformation. If combined, they add up to an extreme limitation overall, which will generally curtail the power's use anywhere that the chosen material is not present in the environment. Characters that do not revert to their original, fleshy (or whatever) nature benefit from maximized environmental independence, as well as the characteristics of their composition (per transformation).

Telekinesis
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: clairtouchence, cyclone, flaying, flight, force blast, force field, gliding, kinetic energy control, kinetic focus, levitation, object animation, object charge, object hardening, object sympathy, object weakening, platforming, propulsion, psi web, psychokinesis, telepathy, turnabout.

This is the root ability of the psikinetic discipline of power.

'Mind over matter', telekinesis is the ability to handle objects in the environment with the power of one's mind. Telekinesis is essentially Strength at a distance, functioning with power rank ability upon any external matter within Near distance that its wielder desires. This can involve a variety of feats, including heaving a Buick ™ at someone, holding back rushing water, or even suspending random matter in the air.

A telekinetic character may manipulate numerous objects simultaneously, but each doubling of items handled reduces the effective power rank, both for its effective range and total lifting strength, by -1 CS. For instance, a Monstrous (75) ranked telekinetic could grab thirty-two objects and have them orbit their body, but doing so would reduce the total weight they could lift by -5 CS (limiting it to Good (10) rank - or 400 pounds).

Telekinesis can be the basis for an immense variety of other powers, many of which are often learned as power stunts. Several telekinetics learn how to affect their own body in addition to external mass, to acquire flight. Others compress their telekinetic might into force blasts, and even more learn how to create protective force fields with the power of their minds alone.

And that is the real strength of telekinesis - its staggering versatility.

Telepathy
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: astral projection, auscultation, charm, clarity, crowd control, danger sense, daydreams, dream projection, empathy, fugue, group link, illusion projection, jumbling, lie detection, linguistics, mental repair, mesmerism, mind control, mind link, mind duplication, mind lock, mind transfer, mind walk, mind wipe, possession, psi bolt, psychic invisibility, psychic probe, sending, sensory link, sensory projection, sensory reception, soul control, telekinesis, thought projection, translation.

This is the root ability of the psipathic discipline of power.

Telepathy is the art of achieving direct, mind to mind contact with another sentient being. Achieving contact is automatic with a willing target, though the unwilling may resist telepathic contact by passing a Psyche (will) (or any protective psionic, whichever is higher) ACTION roll against the rank of the imposing telepathy. Telepathy functions with Far distance, giving its wielder a wide range within which they may contact others.

The basis for a vast array of mental powers, many of which are often learned as power stunts, telepathy in and of itself is somewhat limited in scope. This ability allows one to communicate with other sentients, whether linguistically or visually, once contact has been established. Those in telepathic contact are aware of each other's surface thoughts, but digging deeper requires the use of other psionic abilities.

Telepathy can achieve contact with numerous individuals, but each doubling of people linked via telepathy (not counting the telepath initiating the link) inflicts a -1 CS to both the effective rank and range of telepathy. For instance, an Unearthly (100) ranked telepath could conceivably link the minds of 128 individuals in their vicinity, but would do so at a -7 CS (or at Typical (6) rank), and then 'only' with people within ten miles of them.

Teleport Trigger
Type: Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)

A teleport trigger is a special contingency that a character with a non-adjacent movement power can set up in advance. While designed to work with teleportation, this power can also function perfectly well with dimensional transit, time travel, and like abilities. When triggered, this power will activate the chosen movement ability and deliver its wielder to a predetermined location of his or her choice.

This trigger can be set up as just about anything its wielder can think of, whether it takes the form of an action, a physical condition, a set amount of time, a spoken word, or anything else, really. While maintained, teleport trigger will occupy one of the character's psionic 'slots', but doesn't do anything until whatever trigger the character has chosen is invoked.

Teleportation
Type: Movement Power, Universal Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, between, bilocation, chaos shift, clairvoyance, dimensional interface, dimensional transit, locational sense, planar control, portal, teleportation / others.

This is the root power of the psimotive discipline of power.

Using the power of teleportation, a character may move from one point in space to another without actually crossing the intervening distance. Teleportation functions on the Far range table, allowing a staggering freedom of movement for its wielder. For example, just possessing teleportation at Typical (6) rank lets its wielder cross up to ten miles in the blink of an eye!

And a teleporter can bring more than just themselves along for the ride. Teleportation allows its wielder to carry with him or her an amount of additional mass equal to their power rank number, as if it were an equivalent Strength score. The Typical (6) teleporter used as an example above could carry along two hundred bonus pounds of material - either a whole lot of gear or possibly another person if they're light enough.

Teleportation works by momentarily 'lifting' its wielder (and any cargo) out of their current space-time and 'bouncing' them off a higher dimension. Upon returning, the teleporter (and whatever they brought with them) materializes at the desired coordinates, no worse for the wear - that is, unless something was physically occupying the space that was teleported into.

Usually, gaseous and liquid matter will simply displace upon the appearance of teleported matter, but the solid stuff is where problems arise. If one teleports into a solid object, he or she must immediately roll an Endurance ACTION against the material strength of the object teleported into (or, if one manifested inside a living being, their Strength score instead). Success means the character teleported back out.

They and their cargo will return to their point of origin, rendered unconscious for 1d10 turns but otherwise all right. Should this ACTION fail, however, the teleporter will take an amount of damage equal to the object's material strength or victim's Strength score, and fall unconscious. Trapped within the object, the teleporter will begin to lose Endurance ranks as if subject to a Killing blow - which they were.

If the teleporter is helped in time, he or she may be just fine, though this may be tricky if they manifest deep within a solid object, such as a building foundation or moon. Being teleported into prompts much the same action, and if this ACTION fails the person unwittingly teleported into will suffer like damage and may potentially die as well - even if the person who teleported into them makes it to safety.

Teleportation / Others
Type: Movement Power, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, finding, summoning, teleportation.

The power to teleport others is the ability to move matter instantly - without it passing through the space between its origin and destination points. The power does not function on oneself, instead working on anything else in the environment, and can move a maximum amount of matter equal to its power rank as an equivalent Strength score; Excellent (20) teleportation / others, then, could move eight hundred pounds.

To teleport something, a character has to be able to perceive it somehow. This most often involves seeing the object, though any other sensory perception will do. This can be greatly aided by the use of abilities such as clairvoyance, or perhaps video cameras or other electronic aids. The ability to teleport others functions with Far range; that Excellent (20) power, above, could move things with a hundred mile range!

The power works by momentarily kicking the targeted matter out of one's current space-time, and 'bouncing' it off of a higher dimension. Upon returning, the teleported matter will materialize at the desired coordinates, no worse for the wear save for perhaps momentary disorientation as the surroundings suddenly shift. Unless, of course, something was occupying the space the matter was teleported into.

Usually, liquid and gaseous matter will simply displace upon the appearance of teleported matter, but the solid stuff is where danger arises. When transporting inanimate matter into another batch of inanimate matter, the two masses will basically merge with each other, their molecular structures overlapping and likely rendering anything active (like a robot) partially or totally inert.

If the teleported matter or the matter teleported into (or both) are alive, any living being involved must pass an Endurance ACTION roll against either the MS of the matter in question or the Strength of the offending life form. Success means the teleport was aborted in time, the teleported matter being bounced right back to its point of origin. When two life forms are involved, only one need succeed at this ACTION to escape.

The only harm done by this is inflicting a Stun for 1d10 turns on living being so teleported being the result. If any failure of such ACTIONs occur, any living being trapped within formerly external mass will immediately begin losing Endurance ranks, as if subject to a Kill result. If not rescued and treated in time, that person will die, consigned to a terrible death inside the mass of some object or another.

But how does one avoid being teleported, you ask? If unwilling, one can perform a dodge maneuver to prevent hostile teleportation, attempting to remove oneself from the power's effect - thus causing it to transport a target-shaped hole of air (or whatever). Alternately, one might have a specific resistance to teleportation as well, or perhaps some variation of the anchor ability, to effectively root themselves in place.

Telescopic Vision
Type: Sensory Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: infravision, microscopic vision, radivision, super senses, transparent vision, ultravision.

A character with this ability may see distant objects, often vastly so, as if they were within the same room. His or her eyes function as an incredible pair of binoculars, being able to effectively focus on objects within their line-of-sight with ease. The upper range of this power is indicated on the Very Far range table, meaning telescopic vision can easily be used to perceive objects on other planets!

Of course, such events wouldn't necessarily be live, unless said planets were very close. The thing to keep in mind with telescopic vision is, though it has a truly astounding range, this ability is bound by the laws of relativity - especially the speed of light. While a high enough rank of telescopic vision can perceive events in neighboring star systems, the light it picks up will be several years old as seen from earth.

On the other hand, telescopic vision can be readily coupled with other vision-based powers, to extend their useful range considerably as well - even microscopic vision!

Temperature Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cold generation, fire control, heat generation, ice generation, image projection, imaginary doubles, infravision, radio wave control, solid animation, weather control.

Temperature control is the ability to manipulate thermal energies in one's environment. While both heat and cold generation involve similar such changes, temperature control can be wielded without inflicting direct damage to the matter in question. Furthermore, this power can affect much more matter than either of those abilities, being capable of altering the temperature of anything (or everything) within Near distance.

When invoked, a temperature controller must pass a power ACTION roll against the thermal intensity of whatever he or she wishes to heat or cool - or, alternately, the power rank responsible for generating such. If this ACTION is successful, the temperature of said object (or objects) can be decreased to room temperature, whatever that happens to be, or be imbued with heat or cold of up to this power's rank in intensity.

This acts as a great foil for characters with powers such as fire generation, cold or ice generation, or even plasma generation. Temperature control can take the wind right out of the sails of such abilities, removing the energies involved that make them go, or even amplifying them when desired (if, say, working to aid an ally).

Temperature control can also be used to drastically affect the environment during combat. Inundating an area with bone-chilling cold or brain-sapping heat makes fighting within much more difficult, and can lead to either hypothermia or heat exhaustion - or both, depending on how complex a change in the temperatures around oneself is made with temperature control!

Furthermore, as is the case with other energy control abilities, temperature control can seize direct control of thermal energies (whether they are 'hot' or 'cold' in nature) and shape them as its wielder sees fit. This can involve building, via power stunts, barriers of intense heat or cold, thermal constructs which work against others, or even semi-sentient thermal creatures, animated by the will of this power's possessor!

Or, of course, simply shaping them into a direct attack, to inflict power rank Energy damage.

Temporal Static
Type: Energy Control Power, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: anchor, dimensional transit, time control, time travel.

In an ideal multiverse, everything stays where it's supposed to. Nobody goes gallivanting off into other time periods, timelines, or the like. Reality rarely reflects this ideal, however, what with people roaming all over the place for one reason or another, and this is where mishaps occur. Worse, when something isn't occupying its appropriate fourth, fifth, or sixth-dimensional coordinates, it builds up a sort of temporal charge.

This charge, or energy potential, is known as temporal static.

Nominally, this buildup of energy will dissipate once the person or thing which is out of place in higher dimensions returns to its 'rightful' coordinates. A character with this ability can instead collect accumulating temporal static, and manipulate it as they see fit. In practice, this ability can shape the power involved as can any other energy control power, and its possessor may even wield it as a devastating energy attack!

A blast of temporal static appears like ordinary lightning, albeit of a different color than is usual (possibly emerald green, for instance, but definitely something distinctive). It can be used on any target within Near distance of the wielder of this power, and inflicts standard Energy damage against most individuals, but has additional affects when wielded against someone or something displaced in higher dimensions.

If a time traveler, cross-time wanderer, or plane walker is struck with temporal static, this Energy damage adopts an Armor Piercing component, and prompts an Endurance ACTION (or MS check) in the target. If this ACTION fails, the item or traveler so struck will be forcibly ejected from their current place and time, and are abruptly shunted back where they belong - making this an effective, if limited form of banishment!

Temporal Windows
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A temporal window is a specialized, one-way portal which allows its creator to peer in on other time frames. This skill can look into the past or future, going as far forwards or backwards as one would like. The rift it creates can only transmit audiovisual information through to its creator, and is invisible to most conventional senses - but certain specialized sensory powers may well spot a temporal window's eavesdropping.

The process of creating such a portal is easy, when you get down to it, the only problem being that time is vast. Very vast. A green power ACTION roll is generally all that one needs to open a temporal window - the trick is knowing when to do so. A different color of ACTION is normally necessary only in the face of effects that prevent a portal from opening, such as dimensional static.

Tentacles
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers (for the tentacles only): barbs, clinging, elongation, razor skin, super climbing, super swimming.

Tentacles are muscular hydrostats with an exceptionally wide range of motion.

This sort of manipulator is somewhat common in organic life forms. The most familiar examples are the limbs of an octopus or squid, while others might include the trunk of an elephant or even the human tongue. When applied to a humanoid character, tentacles may either supplement or replace one's standard limbs, or the power might alternately serve as a 'super-human' version of an ordinary tongue.

Limbs such as these have a longer reach than conventional arms thanks to their slight plasticity (they can usually extend about twice their resting length) - not to mention the fact that they can move in any direction desired. These manipulators can generally handle objects competently, and may serve the same purpose as a hand (though operating multiple buttons simultaneously may be something of a trick).

Tentacles are ideally suited for grappling, and a character attempting to do so with their tentacles may do so at a +2 CS to their normal ability - a bonus that applies on top of any others provided by biology or combat training. Furthermore, tentacles are naturally complemented by a wide array of additional powers, ranging from clinging to elongation to razor skin.

A character that possesses tentacles in addition to their standard manipulators may perform an additional action with them each turn, when applicable. On the other hand, a character who has replaced their arms (or legs!) with tentacles may use them in the normal fashion of the swapped out extremities. Tentacles that replace a standard set of limbs (or just one limb, perhaps) are considered strongly limited.

Thaumaturgical Absorption
Type: Energy Control Power, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: energy absorption, kinetic absorption, magic sense, psionic absorption, sorcerous amplification, theonic absorption.

This handy ability gives its wielder the power to absorb ambient magical energy. Either when exposed to sorcerous energies of some sort, or when targeted by a variety of supernatural spells, thaumaturgical absorption allows its possessor to appropriate the magical power involved. By soaking up thaumatic energy, the absorber can prevent it from harming either themselves or others.

The thing to keep in mind is that thaumaturgical absorption only works on direct magical energy. One could absorb the energy of a fiery eldritch bolt, but not the force of a boulder hurled with a telekinesis spell. A good rule of thumb is that if it doesn't intimately interact with its target, thaumaturgical absorption may not be used to absorb the power of a magical ability.

At one time, an absorber can internalize an amount of energy equal to this ability's rank number; superfluous amounts inflict damage normally. On the other hand, the character can fill a 'tank' of energy that is equal to their power rank number times five. If one attempts to absorb more energy than they can contain, this power will function normally, but the excess energies will be lost.

Wielding this pool of power, a thaumaturgical absorber can produce a variety of useful effects whenever the need arises. They can use it to replenish lost Health, doing so on a point-per-point basis. In fact, if one's Health is at its normal maximum, a thaumaturgical absorber can 'pad' it with absorbed energy, doing so until their Health is at up to twice the sum of their Fighting, Agility, Strength, and Endurance scores.

One can also use absorbed magic to bolster their physical ability scores, shunting purloined sorcerous energies into their Fighting, Agility, Strength, or Endurance scores on a point-per-point basis, raising them either to this power rank in effectiveness (if less than the thaumaturgical absorption rank) or by +1 CS (if equal to or greater than the thaumaturgical absorption rank). Such enhancements last for 1d10 turns.

Finally, absorbed magical energy can be directly released back into the environment - as a devastating attack! One can emit absorbed sorcerous energy as 'generic' eldritch blasts, doing so at an intensity equal to this ability's rank, and consuming that much power with each use. This attack form manifests as a physical (and visible) burst of power, one which inflicts Sorcerous damage upon whoever it strikes.

Thaumaturgical Vampirism
Type: Reality Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy vampirism, magic sense, psionic vampirism, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, vampirism.

Thaumaturgical vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the magic contained within various items, phenomenon, or persons in the environment, mainly to recover lost Health. As do other forms of this ability, thaumaturgical vampirism requires contact with its would-be victim. Upon touching the target, a thaumaturgical vampire may drain amount of magic from it equal to this power's rank - assuming a target has that much within.

The target of thaumaturgical vampirism can be one of three separate sources of magic. The first is spells encountered in the environment. A power ACTION roll made against the intensity of such magic allows a thaumaturgical vampire to feast upon the magic before him or her, draining its intensity by this power's rank number with each use. Such spells may either be in transit to their target or already in place.

The second target of thaumaturgical vampirism comes in the form of magical items - inanimate objects which contain magic, either of a temporary or permanent nature. Temporary magical items can be drained as can ordinary spells, per the above, but a permanent object can be drained only if the thaumaturgical vampire can pass an ACT roll against the magic used to create that item in the first place.

The third source of magic for a thaumaturgical vampire is, of course, magical beings. For the purposes of this power, a magical being is defined as any entity which possess magical abilities, whether natural or trained. On contact with a thaumaturgical vampire, such a being must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION roll, against the intensity of this power, to avoid being drained of their magical capabilities.

Each turn it is used, thaumaturgical vampirism will drain the mystic powers and/or magical spells a hapless target possesses, assuming the target cannot shrug the thaumaturgical vampire off; a subsequent resistance ACTION roll is allowed upon each new turn. This draining can affect all of a target's magical abilities equally, or can instead work against declared target abilities, as the thaumaturgical vampire desires.

If a resistance ACTION is successful at any point during the feeding process, the target will immediately repulse the thaumaturgical vampire, gaining immunity from further assaults with this power from this thaumaturgical vampire (though not from other characters with this ability or any other vampiric powers the assailant may possess). Upon managing this, the target should note this resistance in the event of future assaults.

If a thaumaturgical vampire is at full Health when they drain their power rank in magic, they receive a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all power ranks save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with thaumaturgical vampirism will return to normal. Gaining another, like boost requires another feeding.

The danger in using this ability against the living is twofold. First off, there's the risk of contagion. Draining someone of their magic completely is a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they begin to lose Endurance ranks until either first aid is administered or they die. Soon afterwards, they will rise again as an undead creature, a thaumaturgical vampire that requires magic to survive.

Secondly, if a thaumaturgical vampire kills with this ability (accidentally or intentionally), they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against the intensity of this power. If this ACTION fails, the thaumaturgical vampire becomes addicted to the magic of the living, and requires it to function. While addicted, the character with thaumaturgical vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon large amounts of magic.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, and Psyche scores, as well as all their power ranks (save for this one). To avoid this loss, the addicted thaumaturgical vampire must drain an amount of bodily magic equal to their thaumaturgical vampirism rank each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey.

And that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the magical powers of the living causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0. This prompts an Endurance ACTION, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a thaumaturgical vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or gets clean.

If a character with thaumaturgical vampirism has ever been addicted to the magical energies of others, using the ability against others again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses thaumaturgical vampirism on the living afterwards, they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into magic addiction.

If they pass this ACTION they'll be fine - at least, until next time!

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the magical power of others to live cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of thaumaturgical vampirism, and not its many victims.

Thaumaturgy
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Thaumaturgy is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. It is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to affect his or her foes in a number of indirect manners, as the situation demands. Once a day, upon first casting the thaumaturgy spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point thaumaturgy will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Annulment, Attenuation, Bands, Curse, Quarantine, or Sleep.

However, should thaumaturgy's caster want to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, thaumaturgy will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though mages achieving a 'bonus' result may choose thaumaturgy's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Theonic Absorption
Type: Energy Control Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: deionic control, energy absorption, kinetic absorption, psionic absorption, thaumaturgical absorption, theonic absorption, theonic sense.

Theonic absorption is the ability to draw ambient deionic energies into oneself. When exposed to direct deific forces of some sort, or perhaps when targeted by a variety of clerical spells or abilities granted by divine investment, theonic absorption allows its possessor to appropriate the power involved. By soaking up godly energy, the absorber can prevent it from harming either themselves or others.

The thing to keep in mind is that theonic absorption only works on direct deific energy. One could absorb the energy of a priestly eldritch bolt of ice or an actual deionic attack, but not the force of an automobile hurled with a signature telekinesis power. A good rule of thumb is that if it doesn't intimately interact with its target, theonic absorption may not be used to absorb the power of a deific attack ability.

At one time, an absorber can internalize an amount of energy equal to this ability's rank number; superfluous amounts inflict damage normally. On the other hand, the character can store an amount of energy equal to their power rank number times five. If one attempts to absorb more energy than he or she can contain, this power functions normally, but any excess energies are lost.

Wielding this pool of power, a theonic absorber can produce a variety of useful effects whenever the need arises. They may use it to replenish lost Health, doing so on a point-per-point basis. In fact, if one's Health is at its normal maximum, a theonic absorber can 'pad' it with absorbed energy, doing so until their Health is at up to twice the sum of their Fighting, Agility, Strength, and Endurance scores.

One can also use absorbed power to bolster their physical ability scores, shunting purloined deific energies into their Fighting, Agility, Strength, or Endurance on a point-per-point basis, raising them either to this power rank in effectiveness (if less than the theonic absorption rank) or by +1 CS (if equal to or greater than the theonic absorption rank). Such enhancements only last for 1d10 turns.

Finally, absorbed deific energy can be directly released back into the environment - as a devastating attack! One can emit absorbed divine energy as 'generic' deionic attacks, doing so at an intensity equal to this ability's rank, and consuming that much power with each use. This attack form manifests as a physical (and visible) burst of power, one which inflicts Deionic damage upon whoever it strikes.

Theonic Amplification
Type: Power Control Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: amplification, buttress, deionic control, power amplification, power boost, psionic amplification, sorcerous amplification, theonic absorption, theonic attenuation.

Theonic amplification allows its wielder to boost the effectiveness of another's deific abilities, whether inherent or granted, for a short period of time. When triggered, it will raise the effective rank of any one deionic ability another person possesses, increasing it to either the theonic amplification rank or the deific power's ordinary rank +1 CS, whichever of the two happens to be higher at the time.

This power works within Very Near distance of its wielder, and it may only affect one power at a time. It lasts for 1d10 turns, unless the effect is specifically maintained longer.

Once it wears off, theonic amplification may not be used on the same target for one hour - without degrading its relative effectiveness, that is. For each additional use on a single target without a one hour 'cool down', theonic amplification loses -1 CS of its potency for them. This is enough to neutralize its use upon powers more potent than itself, while more gradually reducing its use in other instances.

Theonic Attenuation
Type: Power Control Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: attenuation, nimiety, deionic control, power attenuation, psionic attenuation, sorcerous attenuation, theonic amplification.

Theonic attenuation is the ability to stifle the operational rank of one or more deific powers, inherent or granted, in one's vicinity. This power works on targets within Near range of its possessor, and the effects of the power last for only 1d10 turns, unless it is specifically maintained on a target for a longer period of time - which may be necessary to keep them from smiting a body for this transgression.

Theonic attenuation works simply by deciding which divine ability to dampen, and then applying this power. Targets of this ability may attempt an ACTION with the power to be attenuated; if they can match theonic attenuation's intensity, they successfully resist it. If victorious, the attenuator may apply one negative Column Shift to the targeted power for each rank they have in this ability, negating it when reducing it to Shift 0.

For example, let us consider a theonic attenuator who has this ability at Unearthly (100) rank. She's fighting a divine opponent with an unpredictable habit of reconfiguring local causality with her Monstrous (75) ranked faith power. When using theonic attenuation on this foe, our hero can completely negate her faith ability if the target cannot pass a red power ACTION roll against this superior assault on her godly might.

A versatile power, theonic attenuation can be wielded against multiple powers - whether they belong to one character or many. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of powers so dampened reduces the effective rank of theonic attenuation by -1 CS - both for the purposes of overcoming the powers it is used against, and the maximum number of Column Shifts it can inflict upon them.

Returning to our example, say the foe of our theonic attenuator has seven powers - and will readily use the others on our hero once her faith falters. The theonic attenuator instead uses her ability against all of her foe's divine tricks, and (again assuming she fails to resist) will reduce all her powers by -7 CS in rank. She can maybe use some powers, but those that fail to resist are now much less dangerous.

An attenuator can reduce this penalty somewhat by attempting to hamper less of a power's ranks than their maximum. For each -2 CS he or she chooses not to apply to the powers they are attacking, an attenuator can prevent the operating rank of this power from losing -1 CS of its overall effectiveness. This may not completely neutralize their foes, but allows an attenuator to 'even the playing field' considerably.

In time, the better half of a pantheon gangs up on our heroine, sick and tired of her incessant, heretical meddling. The theonic attenuator may dull one power on each of her sixteen foes, though this reduces her effectiveness by -4 CS, allowing her only -6 CS of attenuation. By reducing her overall attenuation effect to only -4 CS, our heroic attenuator can attempt this action with but a -3 CS penalty.

Splitting one's focus to attenuate multiple theonics in this fashion tends to make this ability fail more often than not, however, unless they have it at a particularly high rank - which may just make it easier to go with some form of antideionic attack, instead. On the other hand, that option tends to make a body an even greater target of divine retribution than a mere theonic attenuator!

Theonic Invisibility
Type: Entreatism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

The power of theonic invisibility acts to mask its possessor from the ascendant sensory abilities possessed by deific beings. While such an entity could easily spot a theonically invisible individual with their own eyes, this power will effectively shield him or her from detection by any enhanced senses said entity might bring to bear - which is a great way to avoid their wrath, when you get down to it.

This invisibility extends to the faith-based powers any followers of deific beings may wield. These abilities include priestly spells such a worshiper may possess, special powers invested within the faithful (either temporarily or permanently), or even one-shot effects granted by deific boon. If a follower interacts with a theonically invisible person, a deific entity can sense such interaction, just not who it is with.

Unless, that is, they can pass an ACTION roll with whatever sensory ability they are using, opposed by theonic invisibility's power rank.

Theonic Sense
Type: Sensory Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, magic sense, origin sense, psi sense, spectral sense.

This sensory ability allows its possessor an awareness of all deionic forces present within his or her immediate area, as defined by the Near range table. Such forces can come in the form of mortal characters wielding theonic energies (deionicists, clericists), artifacts forged by gods possibly long since lost to modern knowledge, or perhaps even honest to goodness immortal beings.

Generally, only a green power ACTION roll is required to sense deionic objects, energies, or entities in one's vicinity; they tend to stand out, after all. However, certain abilities act to mask a theonic presence, such as mortal guise. One must pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of such deific abilities to detect that their wielder is present - at least, with this sensory power.

Thought Projection
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: auscultation, mood swings, psi bolt, sending, sensory projection, static field, telepathy.

While telepathy allows its wielder to engage in a meaningful, back and forth psionic conversation between two or more individuals, sometimes this isn't entirely necessary. On occasion, a body just wants to broadcast a telepathic message to as many people as possible, as fast as possible. Thought projection allows for exactly that, being a sort of one-way psionic communications mechanism.

When invoked, thought projection will deliver a message from its wielder to everyone within Very Near range, informing them of whatever it is they wish to convey. This can be a verbal or visual message, and when sent will automatically be received by anyone that isn't somehow shielding their thoughts. Anyone wishing to avoid the effects of thought projection must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against this power's rank.

When received, the transmitted thoughts will play 'alongside' one's own, with as much intensity as is desired. Projecting 'FIRE!' will often get more direct attention than 'Mmm, Whopper ™...', but the latter can be more subtle and insidious, particularly if used in devious marketing schemes. These messages usually won't be confused with the recipients' own thoughts, unless of course they don't believe in psionics.

Threescore Pestilence
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

The undisputed lord of disease, Namtar commands all manner of plagues. He has the ability to afflict others with any disease, whether known or unknown to humankind. While this deity is often entreated to empower or enhance spells related to either causing or curing such ailments, Namtar is also the steward of an additional blight, the mere mention of which makes even gods tremble.

Master of the Threescore Pestilence, Namtar has the power to summon forth atomic scale demons, which then assault and disrupt the function of up to sixty organs and bodily system within his target. Though these demons are the size of organisms that usually inflict plagues, they are not pathogens in and of themselves, and as such, resistance to disease and disease curing effects suffer a -2 CS penalty against them.

An attack on the body by the Threescore Pestilence inflicts spell rank SD Deionic damage. Furthermore, as they degrade the body of their target each time they inflict damage (whether the original pulse of such or upon subsequent turns), the Threescore Pestilence reduces their victim's Endurance rank by 1 CS. This makes shrugging them off, especially after failing an initial Endurance (res) ACTION to do so, increasingly difficult.

Via this entreaty, a sorcerer may momentarily borrow Namtar's deadliest weapons, bringing them to bear upon their enemies. The Threescore Pestilence are often sufficiently dangerous enough to slay their victims outright, but should they manage to survive, those afflicted by these invisible creatures are often weakened such that finishing them off after they shrug off Namtar's nanodemons is much, much easier.

Time Control
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: catalysis, gravity control, initiative control, planar control, space control, temporal static, time travel.

The potent ability of time control allows its possessor to alter the flow of time itself! In practice, the time controller can manipulate time such that it can be accelerated or decelerated by a multiple equal to its power rank number. For example, a character with Amazing (50) time control could slow down time to 1/50th of its standard rate of passage, or instead speed it up to 50 times its normal 'velocity'.

The power only works within Very Near distance of its wielder, but within that range time is his or her plaything. When a character is temporally accelerated in comparison to others in their vicinity, they benefit from the effective simulation of super speed. In other words, they can perform actions in a fraction of the amount of time normally necessary, and receive one extra attack for each rank of time control.

Conversely, a temporally decelerated character performs actions much slower than usual. The time required to complete tasks is multiplied by time control's power rank - and one's attacks are spread out over a number of turns equal to the amount that someone similarly accelerated would normally receive. Individuals so slowed are affected by poison, disease, and SD damage at a fraction of the normal rate.

Limiting oneself to either speeding up or slowing down time (not both) is considered a strong limitation. Any other abilities one wishes to use controlling time must be gained as a separate power stunt. Such stunts can include the simulation of super running (by simply running at a normal speed while enclosed in a time bubble), time travel, portals (that move through time), or even planar control itself!

The effects of time control may be avoided with resistance to warping attacks - or just resistance to time control itself.

Time Travel
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: between, bilocation, chaos shift, dimensional transit, jeopardy, locational sense, planar control, portal, postcognition, precognition, psychometry, quintessential variation, temporal static, time control.

Time travel is the ability to move forwards and backwards in time. This powerful ability works by pulling its wielder outside the normal space-time continuum and bouncing them off variant timelines, the angle of deflection determining how far one may travel in a single hop. The larger a power rank a character has in time travel, the greater an angular deflection they can achieve - thus trips through time that stretch even further.

Even a relatively small power rank can reach rather far into the time stream; a traveler may move through time a number of years (either forwards or backwards) equal to their power rank cubed. Thus, a Feeble (2) ranked time traveler can move eight years either way, while a Remarkable (30) ranked time traveler has a 27,000 year range - the latter allowing them to visit all of known human civilization!

This lends itself to any number of theories about how to alter the past, the present, or even the future. The problem is that whenever a body moves through time, he or she branches off a new timeline dedicated to each hop. For instance, when traveling to the past, a time traveler creates a timeline where they reached a point in history, leaving behind their original (where they didn't actually interfere with the past).

While in the 'new' timeline, the time traveler can alter 'their' past as they see fit. They can kill their grandparents, steal the Statue of Liberty, whatever. When traveling back to the present, they'll even see the results of whatever changes they have wrought - though even if they negated their own existence in this new timeline, they won't cease to exist because they are alien to it (despite being its ersatz creator).

Of course, the time traveler may not like the consequences of their actions, and might wish things to go back the way they were. Doing so is as simple as returning to one's original timeline (which has had a traveler-shaped absence in it since they left), though this requires stepping into the second temporal dimension, and is considered a power stunt, as it involves an aspect of dimensional transit.

The whole part about going to variant earths and back.

Alternately, one can hope their allies from the 'real' universe will come looking for them, in the event that this power stunt cannot be mastered. If the stunt isn't viable, and there is no likelihood of rescue, it's possible the time traveler may be out of luck. Or may have to go back into the past and stop themselves from changing things. Or perhaps try to do things differently, setting off even more divergent timelines.

While traveling to the future, you don't actually branch off a variant timeline until you return. When you do so, you immediately split off a different timeline wherein the future you traveled to has been rendered an alternate; that precise eventuality is no longer viable as a result of your present, the mere act of seeing it negating the probability of it occurring (it's one of those Schrödinger's Cat things).

Not to mention, you know, all those sleek future doo-dads you brought back with you.

Mind you, all of the above assumes you immediately return after entering the time stream. One can, as a power stunt, exit the timeline at their current point and just drift. This extends the range of time travel to an infinite degree, as the traveler may move along the timeline as far as they wish before allowing themselves to be drawn back in. The problem with this mode of time travel is the level of accuracy involved.

It's kind of hard to tell where you're going, temporally speaking, while outside of time. Roll an ACTION to determine relative accuracy. A white result means you could be at any time in any variant earth. A green ACTION means you have the timeline correct, but the time could be anywhen. A yellow ACTION gets you within a century of the desired time period, and a red ACTION gets you within about a month of where you want to be.

Topological Control
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, gestalting, object animation, object projection, object sympathy, plant hybridization / others, platforming, shape change, transformation / others, transmutation.

Characters may use this ability to alter the very shape of an object. This is similar to the solid animation power, but can affect anything - living or otherwise. It works automatically on inanimate objects, but something that is alive (or at the very least mobile) requires a to-hit roll on the part of this ability's wielder. Topological control may be opposed by resistance to either energy or warping attacks.

Topological control does not alter the strength of a material, at least as far as its molecular structure is concerned. If something is shaped to extremes it may not have the same effective MS, however. Instances of such include stretching a boulder until it is paper thin, or alternately compacting the concrete on a city street into a massive lump.

The actual difficulty of morphing one object into another depends on how complex the end result is. Making simple objects or just stretching an object like taffy requires a green ACTION. An example of a green ACTION roll would be warping a light pole until it wrapped around a foe, holding them in place. While the shape of the light pole has changed, it's essential function and homeomorphism has not. It may even still work!

Reshaping matter into complicated shapes, or altering the homeomorphism of one or more items requires a yellow ACTION. For example, imagine that light pole instead being morphed into a ladder. This is a much more serious change to the object, as it now has several holes (its homeomorphism has been altered). Whether or not the light at the top still functions (or if it has become two, or is still there) is up for debate.

Finally, a red ACTION is necessary when forming very intricate or moving items, or when radically altering the nature of something's form. Such changes may involve transforming that light pole into moving clockwork machinery, or concocting an internal combustion engine from piles of scrap metal. Such actions also include any drastic change to the configuration of living entities.

The latter is because topological control, by its very nature, will preserve the functions of a living being as its topology is shifted. Thus, keeping a human being alive when warping their body into the shape of a portable toilet requires a lot of finesse - and serious knowledge of how biological systems actually work. Warping such into a table or dog is much simpler, relatively speaking, and thus requires a lesser ACTION roll.

Topological control can alter an amount of matter equal to an equivalent Strength score each turn, doing so within Near distance.

Generally, changes to an inanimate object wrought with topological control are permanent, unless reversed by the perpetrator. This requires no ACTION roll unless the object has been altered (whether by accident or design) since they themselves changed it. Alterations to living beings last for a number of turns equal to the topological control rank - unless its wielder specifically concentrates on maintaining them longer.

Then, it can last until the topological controller releases their hold on the altered living being, at which point its morphic resonance will restore it to normal. While being reshaped by topological control does not cause physical damage to a target, strictly speaking, the target's mind may be damaged by sadistic use of this power. Being abused by this ability can lead to the development of strange phobias and other quirks!

Trace Duplication
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 4 points per rank
Related Powers: link, power duplication.

Trace duplication is a means by which one can analyze the remnants of power residue, whether chemical, energy, or whatever else, and use said power traces to copy the ability which created them. This is similar to power duplication, save that one need not get close to super-powered individuals to wield it. Performing this action merely requires a successful power ACTION roll (any non-white result will do).

A duplicator can maintain a large stable of super-human powers at any given time. He or she can ultimately copy a number of others' powers equal to their power rank. Should the duplicator reach their maximum amount of duplicated powers, they can attempt to learn more, but will 'forget' how to wield a previously mastered ability. The choice of which power to delete is, of course, the duplicator's.

Each ability copied with trace duplication will function at its power rank, not that of its source. This saves the duplicator a large amount of accounting, by preventing them from having to record the source and rank of each trace they've assimilated. It also precludes having to seek out 'better' trace material for higher ranking powers (or inadvertently copying powers at a rank too robust to handle).

An important consideration is that while one can copy a large array of super-human abilities with this power, trace duplication cannot generally manifest more than one at a time. There is no time required to 'switch' from one power to another when using trace duplication, but wielding two (or more) duplicated powers simultaneously is not something a duplicator can readily accomplish.

Without enhancements, that is. For each additional duplicated ability one wishes to manifest simultaneously, a duplicator must enhance this power by one step upon first gaining it. Wielding two duplicated powers simultaneously is a weak enhancement, three a strong enhancement, four a very strong enhancement, and five an extreme enhancement. This can get expensive quick, but makes for a very versatile character.

Tramplede
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank

Though he has been dead for thousands of years, Gugalanna, the Celestial Bull, is still known to humanity. Having been worshiped since long before recorded history, Gugalanna has been venerated for most of the time since, having assumed many names in many mythologies. As such, despite his deceased status, Gugalanna is still invoked occasionally for magical purposes, and readily empowers this entreaty spell.

When casting tramplede, one reaches deep into Irkalla, past the known and into the Valley of the Dead Gods, where the remnants of Gugalanna's persona reside. Feeling the invocation of his name from the other side of the grave, Gugalanna is often happy to respond, sending a furious torrent of ghostly energy towards whoever entreats him, which manifests in the world right before them.

Upon bursting into our world, the forces unleashed by tramplede take the form of numerous spectral bulls, all of which charge forth from the caster's location into the area in front of him or her. Everything present, from people to structures to vehicles, are subject to the fury of Gugalanna's otherworldly herd, which stampedes to inflict this spell's rank in Blunt (trample) or Edged (gore) Attack damage.

After this onslaught, most of the spectral bulls brought forth by tramplede dissipate, the energies used in their creation returning to their underworldly source. However, one will remain for each rank the caster possesses in this spell, all of which continue to rampage while the spell is active. They ceaselessly head butt, gore, trample, or otherwise assault anyone and anything in the vicinity, the caster notwithstanding.

While extant, individual spectral bulls possess physical ability scores equal to this spell's rank -1 CS, where applicable, and they possess hard points (hooves) with which to inflict Blunt Attack damage, and horns to dispense Edged Attack damage. They possess a like amount of Health, and after suffering enough damage to negate it, they will disperse per the above, leaving no evidence of their existence.

Save for the gratuitous damage to people, places, and things left in their wake.

Transception
Type: Energy Control Power, Technopsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: computer link, electricity control, electricity generation, linguistics, radio wave generation, technical intuition, technological sense.

Transception is the ability to perceive, send, and receive electronic signals - whether of a digital or analog nature.

It allows someone to 'see' the radio waves carrying audio, video, and data in the air or within computer cabling, and then process it in their mind such that they may experience the information stored within. This is great for watching free cable, eavesdropping on mobile phone calls, or even checking out what the neighbor is doing on the Internet... though one may not be able to unsee what transception shows them.

One can similarly use transception to emit like signals, sending them to remote systems such as cell phone towers, satellite receivers, or even through normal network routers via conventional cabling. This allows one the ability to communicate in a truly anonymous fashion, or at least in a fashion that is difficult to trace back to its original source - particularly since no equipment is involved!

The range transception functions at depends on how it is being used. It can decipher any signal passing through a space within Near distance of its wielder - which is also the furthest range it can transmit data to remote systems through the air. If wielding cable to physically interfere with a network or other system, however, transception can send signals anywhere that network is connected to.

This ability is a great way to extend the range of (and the inherent danger posed by) the computer link power.

Doing all of this usually only requires a green power ACTION roll. If the signal a character attempts to interact with is encrypted, however, one must pass the required ACTION at a negative column shift. This penalty ranges from -1 CS to -4 CS, depending on the signal's complexity, as the time spent decrypting the information makes it much harder to interact with signals in real-time.

This penalty can be reduced - if not transformed into a bonus - if the character also possesses the linguistics ability.

Transduction
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: color control, energy absorption, energy cohesion, various energy controls and resistances (particularly if limited to one form).

Transduction is the ability to transform one form of energy into another. It functions on the Very Near range table, but allows its wielder to transform any form of energy within that distance as they see fit. This is done by attempting an ACTION roll against the intensity of the ambient energy to be altered; if successful, the transducer will absorb the energy, process it into its new form, and then emit it at -1 CS intensity.

If this ACTION roll fails, the power to be transformed is too great, and its intensity is not lowered appreciably (at least on this attempt). Used defensively, transduction can make a character incredibly hard to defeat, though overwhelming them is always one distinct tactical possibility. Transduction is an active action, after all, and the character using it can only wield it so many times per turn.

Transduction can affect the nature of any physical or energy power source, either ambient or directed, but cannot alter or emit Sorcerous, Karmic, or Deionic energies - unless its wielder specifically has access to such. For example, a sorcerer could add energy forms which inflict Sorcerous damage to those they can transduce, while a psi could instead transduce Karmic attacks into something more mundane. Or vice versa.

While versatile, transduction can readily be limited to make it much more powerful. Limiting a transducer to either being able to convert or emit just one form of energy is a strong limitation (either adding +2 CS to the power rank or reducing its cost by 4), while limiting the transducer to being able to convert and emit just one form of energy is an extreme limitation (either adding +4 CS to the power rank or reducing its cost by 8).

Transfixture
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 points per rank
Related Powers: logos, mental repair, regeneration, regenerative armor, unyielding will.

A transfixture is a mental state that allows its possessor to quickly recover from psychic injuries. When in use, it allows its wielder to recover lost Mental Health at rate equal to its power rank each minute. Divide this by ten to get the amount one heals each turn; an Excellent (20) ranked transfixture, for instance, heals two lost points each turn. Transfixture of less than Good (10) rank spaces healing out over several turns.

The effects of transfixture are applied at the end of each turn (if applicable). A character may initiate the transfixture ability at any time, but it will not function on any turn where its wielder activates psionic powers of any kind. Similarly, transfixture will not help its possessor on the turn after they suffer any loss of Health, Negative Health, or Mental Health.

Transformation / Others
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: animal hybridization / others, plant hybridization / others, topological control, transformation / self, transmutation.

The power to transform others is the ability to drastically alter the physical makeup of living beings. It works on them in the same way transmutation does, and usually involves an atomic or molecular change in the target. The difference is that said living beings are not changed into an inert mass of material; instead, they are altered such that they can function despite their brand new composition!

When this power is first gained, its wielder will know how to change a living being such that it can act in one new form. This can be any one kind of matter, regardless of its state, or even energy if desired. He or she can acquire the ability to transform others into additional substances either as a power stunt of this ability or by acquiring this ability again (player's choice).

To transform another living being in this fashion, physical contact with the target is required. The target can avoid the effects of this power by preventing contact with its wielder - or having resistance to metabolic attacks. The effects of changes, whether partial or complete, take place almost instantly; the target of this power can be an ordinary human one moment, and made out of titanium the next!

Transforming others into a solid material gives them an effective material strength (and thus, body armor) equal to its normal MS or this power's rank - whichever is less. While in this solid state, characters so transformed may move about and behave as they normally do, even if constructed of something especially rigid. However, if one's MS is higher than their Strength, they can only move as if such were only Feeble (2) rank.

A fluid transformation allows the target of this power to flow as can any liquid, easily working their way through tight spaces and around objects as is required. A character in a liquid state can readily alter their form, pooling up in any shape desired. Furthermore, this molecular configuration allows its recipient the benefit of 1 CS of damage reduction against physical attacks, as their energy partially passes right through such beings.

Characters transformed into a vaporous state gain the movement benefits of the liquid form, along with the power of flight. While in the form of a gas, characters can fly at an air speed equal to this power rank. Gaseous bodies can either condense their form to an approximately human size and shape, or extend their mass out to cover an entire area. They receive 2 CS of damage reduction against physical attack.

Transforming others into a coherent field of energy is also possible. This allows a being so changed to generate energy at this power rank -2 CS, matching that which they've become. Possessing little or no mass, an energy being also has the power to fly like a gas form, but can do so on the space table instead of at air speed. Finally, energy life forms benefit from 3 CS of damage reduction against physical attack.

In addition to the above, transformed characters possess special abilities derived from their new composition. A bird made from plutonium would rapidly contaminate a wide area with radiation, while a rat made from sulfuric acid would wreak havoc in a foundry. Powers granted due to a being's new chemical composition are generally limited to this power rank in effectiveness, unless physics would override such.

Light generally doesn't slow down for anyone, after all.

On the other hand, characters so transformed are similarly hamstrung by their chemistry. While they may gain the power to emit cold after being transmogrified into a block of ice, the target is suddenly quite vulnerable to fire and heat. Any sudden 'weakness' the character has due to a state of chemistry should be treated as a level 1 allergy quirk (or, in other words, affects them at a +2 CS).

When taking damage in a transformed state, a character can visibly show serious damage, and even be split apart, but can be transformed back to a normal state as long as they're not slain. They may be a bit worse for the wear upon changing back (Health point loss, and so on), but such damaged characters will otherwise be fine. A transformed character's 'core' usually rests with the largest mass of their material.

If not changed back by the wielder of this power, a transformed entity will last in his or her altered state for an amount of time determined when the power is used upon their body. A green power ACTION allows transformations to last a number of turns equal to its power rank number, while a yellow ACTION will extend it to a like amount of minutes, and a red ACTION roll allows a transformation to last a similar number of hours.

While biological processes may or may not function in this altered state, the benefit to its target is that they are not necessary, strictly speaking. While transformed, the character so changed may go without eating, drinking, breathing, and even sleep as if they wielded environmental independence for the duration of their change. This makes the power a great emergency life support mechanism in a pinch!

Transformation / Self
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: detachable parts, shape change, transformation / others.

Transformation is the ability to radically change the molecular makeup of one's body. When this ability is first gained, the character possessing it may transform into any one material or energy of their choice. Additional forms, if desired, must be acquired either as power stunts or as additional 'versions' of the transformation ability. Transformation gives a character the physical characteristics of whatever they transform into.

Transforming into a solid material gives one an effective material strength (and thus, body armor) equal to either its MS or the transformation rank, whichever is less. While in a solid state, the character may move about and behave normally, even though they're made from an otherwise rigid material. They may have unanticipated effects upon the environment, however (a person made of lead is very, very heavy).

A character who transforms into a liquid can flow like a fluid, easily moving through tight spaces and around objects as is necessary. Characters in a liquid state can readily change their shape, approximating a human form or pooling up however else they wish. While liquid, a character gains the benefit of 1 CS damage reduction against physical attacks, as much of the energy of such will flow right through the character.

Transforming into a gaseous material allows one to move through tight spaces much like a liquid can, with the added option of flight. A gaseous character can fly at any speed, with a maximum equal to this power rank. Gaseous characters benefit from 2 CS of damage reduction against most physical attacks (see below). They can billow out to fill an entire area, or condense their bodies into a generally human size.

Finally, a character may transform into a coherent energy field. When energetic, a character may wield a transformation rank -2 CS version of the appropriate energy generation power, no matter what kind of energy is transformed into. An energy state has the benefit of being able to fly as if moving through space, and possesses 3 CS of damage reduction against physical attacks of any variety.

While transformed, a character may also possess special abilities based on their new form's composition. Ice is brittle, but the character in an ice form can emit waves of numbing cold. Acid can dissolve many materials, particularly metallic ones. Uranium is inherently radioactive, and the character can release it in battle. Poison gas can easily kill a room full of people. Light can fly at light speed. And so on.

These abilities work at the transformation rank or their 'usual' rank, whichever is appropriate (one cannot rationally reduce light speed, for instance). The other benefit to transformation is that, while transformed, the character so changed has nothing even close to a standard biology, and thus may forego eating, drinking, breathing, and even sleep as if they wielded similarly potent environmental independence.

On the other hand, a transformed character is also vulnerable to attacks that would easily damage their new form's composition. An ice man would wilt before a blast furnace, while one made of metal would easily buckle against a splash of acid, and another made of air would be blown asunder by strong winds. Such attacks affect the character as if they possessed a level 1 allergy against them (they inflict +2 CS damage).

When taking damage in a transformed state, a character can visibly show serious damage, and even be split apart, but can transform back to a normal state as long as they're not slain. They may be a bit worse for the wear upon changing back (Health point loss, and so on), but such damaged characters will otherwise be fine. A transformed character's 'core' usually rests with the largest mass of their material.

One trick transformers can attempt is to only partially transform their bodies. This is considered a power stunt, but allows the character to pull off certain maneuvers when a full transformation would otherwise be inconvenient. Making one's fingertips change into flames is a great trick at parties, for example, not to mention a way to start minor fires without completely igniting oneself.

Transient Magic
Type: Eclecticism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank

Transient magic is a spell which has been temporarily installed within an inanimate object (or objects, depending). When so charging an item with magical power, the possessor of this ability may place any spell or spell-like power they possess into it, doing so at any rank up to that of the transient magic ability's. This is similar to the process of alchemy, except that arcane formulas are not involved.

Furthermore, this process requires a number of minutes equal to the rank number of the spell or magical power deposited into the item. Creating transient magic is time-consuming, but nonetheless allows the character with this ability to share his or her magic with anyone else they desire, often a great advantage when exploring parts - or universes - unknown.

Generally, transient magic can sit idle for any amount of time, but there's only so much of it available to whoever holds the item imbued with magic. These temporary spells can be used for 1d10 turns before running out. This is true whether the power granted has an instantaneous effect (such as an eldritch bolt) or can be maintained (such as a flight spell).

Transient Psionics
Type: Thaumentalism Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank

Transient psionics are powers which have been temporarily placed within an inanimate object (or objects, depending). When charging an item with psionic power, the possessor of transient psionics may place any such ability they possess into it, doing so at any rank up to this power's. If sharing powers thanks to link or a like ability, the wielder of this power can imbue items with any power the link grants access to.

This process takes some time, requiring a number of minutes equal to the rank number of the psionic to be deposited in an item. Creating transient psionics is time-consuming, but nonetheless allows the character with this ability to share his or her powers with anyone else they desire - even those psionics which are not typically able to be used on others (like body armor).

Generally, transient psionics can sit idle for any amount of time, but there's only so much of them available to whoever holds the item imbued with mental might. These temporary powers can be used for 1d10 turns before running out. This is true whether the power granted has an instantaneous effect (such as a psi bolt) or can be maintained (such as a flight power).

Transient Universe
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

The ultimate smuggling tool, a transient universe is a pocket dimension that exists only for a short period of time. When this power is invoked, it will craft an extradimensional space with but one opening - usually at the side of its creator, or perhaps in an actual pocket on their clothing. This universe is of finite size, consisting of a number of cubic yards equal to its power rank number.

The power must be consciously maintained, but while this is done the character who wields this ability can store whatever material they desire in the space they have crafted, whether animate or otherwise - though the former may need its own air supply. If the power is terminated while matter is still resident in the pocket dimension, it will immediately spew forth upon the deactivation of the transient universe ability.

Translation
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: linguistics, telepathy, xenoglossy.

Providing something akin to an instant common ground, translation generates a telepathic field which allows everyone within Near distance of its possessor to understand each other implicitly. The form of communication those affected utilize is irrelevant, as long as it is immediate; translation wouldn't work on written words, for example, unless said words were being written down in front of those affected by it.

Translation doesn't give its wielder the ability to communicate in other languages, so much as it simply allows others to comprehend whatever it is he or she is trying to convey to them. And vice versa.

Transmutation
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: special
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: aggregation, catalysis, color control, environmental pocket, matter generation, object sympathy, organism generation, radiation control, topological control, transformation / others, transformation / self.

Transmutation is the ability to alter the very molecular structure of a material. A transmuter may take any substance, regardless of its chemical composition, and transform it into another of his or her choosing. This new chemical structure may consist of pure elemental matter, simple or complex chemical compounds, or even artificial and/or fictional substances seemingly in defiance of known science!

A green transmutation ACTION roll is typically required for somewhat easy transformations. They are most often called for when changing a substance into relatively simple materials comprised of natural elements. This can include anything from pure elemental materials (like gold or hydrogen) to common chemical compounds (like water or carbon dioxide). Green ACTIONs can only produce one chemical outcome at a time.

More complicated actions with transmutation generally require a yellow ACTION roll. This involves the production of materials that incorporate artificial elements (such as americium), as well as more complicated chemical compounds (such as sugar). A yellow ACTION is also needed when producing two substances simultaneously (such as a solution of one material suspended within another, like salt water).

Extremely complex transmutations require a red power ACTION. These involve transformations related to 'fictional' materials (those which exist solely in the current game campaign) or are incredibly complicated in nature (anything from nanomaterials to strands of deoxyribonucleic acid). Red ACTIONs also cover instances of transmuting more than two ingredients at once (like the formula for Red Bull ™).

The character with transmutation may transmute an amount of material equal, in pounds, to their rank number each turn, and do so on mass within Near range.

It's important to keep the basic properties of matter in mind when using this ability. Transforming five hundred pounds of scrap metal into oxygen is an easy way to blow up the joint, as that much unpressurized air won't stay in a volume the size of a pile of scrap metal for long. Similarly, changing all the air in a room into lead is a great way to neutralize a bunch of targets - and yourself, if you lack environmental independence!

Transmutation is generally permanent when used on inanimate objects, assuming its wielder can make the proper ACTION roll for the complexity of the desired change in their composition. On the other hand, living beings can only be transmuted if the wielder of this ability can successfully target them (or alternately, overcome their resistance to metabolic attacks if they have that).

The effects of transmutation on the living last for a duration dependent on variables present when the ability is used. A green transmutation ACTION will make this ability last for a number of turns equal to the power rank number; a Remarkable (30) rank with this skill causes it to last for three minutes (30 turns). A yellow transmutation roll will change a target for a number of minutes equal to its rank number.

A red transmutation ACTION will change the target's molecular structure for a number of hours equal to this ability's rank number (thirty hours for our Remarkable (30) ranked friend, above). The latter assumes an unwilling target; if a target is willing to be transmuted for some reason (possibly to stave off imminent death), they can be transmuted permanently - at least, until the transmuter reverses the change they've wrought.

Transmutation can easily be limited by constraining its potential output. Limiting transmutation to converting things into only one kind of substance (metals or liquids, for instance) is considered a weak limitation (+1 CS or -3 points), while restraining it to changing things into just one specific material (like the old-time alchemists' favorite, gold) would be a strong limitation (+2 CS or -6 points).

Speaking of gold, a strong consideration regarding transmutation is its potential effects on the character's wealth - and by proxy, the economy around them. Transmutation is an easy way to justify one's current Resources rank, much less any increases in such. This assumes that the character is working intelligently with their mammoth financial power, making wise investments to hide the fact that they're literally making money.

Such 'intelligent' work assumes the character is spending Karma on raising their Resources. If such Karma is not paid, people will eventually take notice of the fact that they're flooding world markets with gold or diamonds or iridium or whatever. Such notice may come in the form of a visit from a suspicious IRS agent, or perhaps some sort of cartel or syndicate who doesn't like their new competition at all.

As with unaccounted for devices and powers, ill-gotten Resources gains are subject to the vagaries of Plot.

Transparent Vision
Type: Sensory Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: atomic sense, flaw sense, microscopic vision, radiation control, radiation generation, radio wave control, radio wave generation, radivision, telescopic vision.

Transparent vision is the ability to see through solid objects - as well as obscuring liquids and gases - as if they were perfectly, well, transparent. This sensory ability works on the Very Near range table, allowing its wielder to peer into otherwise opaque matter up to a number of yards equal to transparent vision's rank number. For example, a character with Amazing (50) transparent vision can see up to 50 yards into the earth.

The method by which this ability works is left nebulous; does it involve some unconscious awareness of nearby matter, or does it wield high-energy radiation to physically penetrate it? This is entirely up to the character who chooses this ability, who may take various related powers depending on its nature (atomic sense or abilities involving radiation, for instance).

One nifty side effect of transparent vision is that it dovetails with both microscopic and telescopic vision. These powers can act to increase the range of transparent vision to a staggering degree - both into the world of the incredibly small and the realm of the insanely distant. With these other visual abilities, a character can see impurities within their own body or objects hiding behind the moon - or both!

Turnabout
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: deflection, telekinesis.

Turnabout is the ability to reflect incoming damage away from oneself. It doesn't matter what form this damage takes, whether it be Blunt Attack, Deionic, or anything else. The easiest way to use this skill is to not aim it in any fashion; when something hits you, you simply bounce it off at a random angle. This requires but a green ACTION roll, and is the only way one can use the power while otherwise doing things.

The only problem with this use of turnabout is that while the character wielding it shrugs off the damage, someone else might not be so lucky. Keeping that in mind, one can attempt to bounce an attack back at its source, instead. This requires a yellow turnabout ACTION roll, and the character can't be engaged in any other action at the time (one can be moving, but they cannot change speed or direction at all).

On the other hand, a character with turnabout can make incoming damage work for them, instead of random victims or its source. With a red turnabout ACTION, the wielder of this ability can redirect an attack towards anyone they choose. This new target will have the same range category of the original attack (bullets can't reach into orbit, for example), but can otherwise be anyone the character can perceive.

Turnabout works in this fashion with any damage form that is equal to or less than its own rank; an Incredible (40) ranked turnabout can easily shrug off conventional bullets, flamethrower blasts, psi bolts, or even the deific attacks of an immortal being, as long as they're of this rank or less. The problems begin to arise when turnabout is used against attacks of greater intensity.

When this happens, the character can only reflect an amount of damage equal to their power score, and anything exceeding that affects them normally. Furthermore, this reduces the effective rank of turnabout by -1 CS each time it happens for the purpose of ACTION rolls (but not the amount of damage it can deflect). Once this penalty lowers a character's turnabout below Shift 0, it cannot be used again for 24 hours.

Twinning
Type: Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)

Twinning is the process of tying the activation and/or maintenance of two separate psionics together. While maintaining this ability, the psi who possesses it can keep two of their psionics tied together, such that when they turn one on, the other automatically activates with it. The two powers, when simultaneously triggered, only count as one action - and deactivate the twinning power upon becoming active.

As further power stunts (or steps of enhancement, if one wishes to begin play with such an ability), one can add an additional power to be tied together - though each subsequent psionic adds one to the effective amount of powers one is maintaining when keeping them all tied together. Passive 'tripling', for example, would count as two maintained powers, 'quadrupling' would count as three, and so on.

This is most useful for powers that have a duration of 'instantaneous', but is also helpful when one wishes to activate several maintainable defenses (or offenses) all at once. This may be a viable tactic if one wishes to disguise the nature of their psionics until their use is absolutely necessary (one with the ability to detect such might note the twinning, but won't know what is being twinned until the powers are used).

Having no power rank to speak of, twinning power stunts are resolved using a psi's Reason (mem) score.

U

Ultimate Power
Type: Ultimate Power
Cost: 5 points per rank
Related Powers: none. By both name and definition, ultimate power is without peer.

Ultimate power is the ability to have any power one chooses, at any time. It is perhaps the most potent ability in the game, for it by definition embodies every other power available or possible. Less constrained than even power or trace duplication, ultimate power can be used to attempt anything, whether or not its possessor has seen such a feat in action before. They simply choose a power and activate it!

Powers manifested by this ability function at its power rank, no matter how simple or complicated they may be. The trick is that normally, one cannot use ultimate power to manifest more than one ability simultaneously. Switching between abilities with ultimate power requires no time at all, but its wielder cannot easily use ultimate power to activate more than one super-human ability at a time - without enhancing it, mind you.

For each additional ability one wishes to manifest simultaneously with ultimate power, it must either be enhanced by one step upon first gaining it, or its possessor must master each additional simultaneous ability as a power stunt. Wielding two powers simultaneously is a weak enhancement, three a strong enhancement, four a very strong enhancement, and five an extreme enhancement.

Ultimate Talent
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Eclecticism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 8 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: eidetic memory, knowledge, linguistics, super invention, variable talent.

Characters with an ultimate talent possess the ability to use it in a super-human capacity, above and beyond what they (or anyone else, for that matter) can do through training and experience alone. While the ultimate talent can represent a sort of untutored prodigy of some kind or another, it generally assumes its wielder began with some sort of training centered on the talent in question.

In game terms, the ultimate talent allows one to use the enhanced talent at a +3 CS to its ordinary effectiveness. This Column Shift represents a drastic increase in proficiency with the talent, above and beyond anything else someone can attain through training alone. This can quickly add up with higher level talents to create a character who is in all likelihood the most proficient person on the planet with said talent.

Which is kind of the point.

Most talents may be the recipient of the 'ultimate' treatment. Those which may not include heir to fortune and student, for these are more along the lines of backgrounds than skills. Certain talents, such as leadership and performer, offer different benefits besides a CS. One should triple the benefits they provide in lieu of a mere CS, though a +3 CS is also allowed in the event that an ACTION roll is required of them somehow.

Ultravision
Type: Sensory Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: energy sense, infravision, radiation control, radiation generation, radivision, screened senses, telescopic vision.

An enhanced form of standard vision, ultravision expands one's ordinary sight to include information from the ultraviolet spectrum. This grants a character a number of useful abilities, primarily the knack for seeing in otherwise dark conditions. The sun and numerous electrical devices emit ultraviolet light, and being able to perceive UV light makes one both aware of dangers not readily apparent, and able to see when others can't.

The only real downside of ultravision is that it makes one vulnerable to blinding attacks that may not remotely affect others with normal vision. Powerful sources of ultraviolet light (such as some radioactive materials) may blind the ultravisual individual even while their allies are completely oblivious to what ails them, and the character is at -1 CS to resist such effects without the benefit of screened senses.

That ability will protect from this penalty, but it inflicts a -1 CS on ultravision's power rank itself.

Universal Digestion
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: environmental adaptation, fangs, invulnerability or resistance to poison (all types), situational adaptation, universal respiration.

The power of universal digestion allows its possessor to ingest any substance to draw sustenance from it. No matter the biology (or whatever) of the character, he or she can extract or fabricate the chemicals required from anything consumed to continue their life functions. While a character with universal digestion still has to eat to live, they can consume literally anything to get by.

A powerful benefit that this power provides is that its possessor is never affected by ingested poisons. The process by which universal digestion works precludes such toxins from negatively affecting the wielder of this power, thus giving them invulnerability to that form of poison. Of course, he or she is still subject to poisoning by other methods, unless they possess additional abilities with which they can avoid these assaults.

Universal Digestion does not have a power rank to speak of - one either has the ability or they do not.

Universal Respiration
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: environmental adaptation, invulnerability or resistance to poison (all types), situational adaptation, super swimming, universal digestion.

A more potent form of dual respiration, universal respiration allows its possessor to breathe in any gaseous or liquid substance, and either extract or fabricate the chemicals required for whatever gas exchange their physiology requires. While the character with this power still has to breathe, they will get along just fine unless buried in solid matter or exposed to vacuum somehow.

A powerful benefit that this power provides is that its possessor is never affected by inhaled poisons. The process by which universal respiration works precludes such toxins from negatively affecting the wielder of this power, thus giving them invulnerability to that form of poison. Of course, he or she is still subject to poisoning by other methods, unless they possess additional abilities with which they can avoid these assaults.

An important consideration, however, is that while inhaled poisons do not affect the character with this power, hostile chemicals can still affect him or her. Breathing in acid might not harm one's lungs, thanks to the effects of universal respiration, but the rest of its possessor's body is not quite so lucky. In instances such as this, though, breathing will be the least of one's problems!

Universal Respiration does not have a power rank to speak of - one either has the ability or they do not.

Universal Static
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

This potent power allows its wielder to generate waves of mystical force, waves which act to distort the probabilities inherent to the casting of universal magic spells. These waves can extend out into the space within Very Near distance of this ability's wielder, thus acting to prevent the use of spells and spell-like powers which wield universal energies while they are present.

For such abilities to work, they must pass a spell or power ACTION roll against the universal static power rank. If they cannot manage this, such abilities are impossible to use while universal static is active, making this ability a great way to curtail the more explosive abilities of spellcasters - elementalists in particular are especially vulnerable to universal static.

Universal Windows
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

A universal window is a specialized, one-way portal which allows its creator to peer in on other universes. When invoked, this ability will craft a limited doorway between the planes, one which only allows audiovisual information through. This minor rift in space-time is invisible on the other end, at least to conventional sensory apparatus, but certain specialized sensory powers may well spot a universal window's eavesdropping.

The process of creating such a portal is simple, when you get down to it, the only problem being that the multiverse is a very large place. A green power ACTION roll is generally all that one needs to open a universal window - the trick is knowing where to do so. A different color of ACTION is normally necessary only in the face of effects that prevent a portal from opening, such as dimensional static.

Unusual Sensitivity
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: circular vision, screened senses.

This ability describes a sense of sight or hearing (or both) that functions differently than that of a normal human. The sensory apparatus process input in the same way as a regular human's, but the operating range is different. For instance, a character with unusual sensitivity to their hearing may only hear extremely low (less than 20 Hz) or extremely high (greater than 20,000 Hz) frequencies of sound.

Similarly, a character with unusual sensitivity in their vision may not perceive visible light, instead being aware of only infrared or ultraviolet wavelengths. They can see and hear, just not as 'normals' do. This could prove to be both a handicap and a boon to the character, depending on the situation. The exact nature of the unusual sensitivity, and which sense (or senses) are affected is the player's choice.

Unyielding Will
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: berserker, logos, regeneration, regenerative armor, self control, transfixture.

The power of unyielding will describes the ability to impose one's will upon their body, overriding bodily processes to curtail incoming damage to an extent. How this works is that, while unyielding will is active, its wielder possesses resistance to any form of damage - whether physical, magical, or even deific. If an effect can inflict damage, unyielding will can act to oppose it.

This opposition represents the wielder of this ability using his or her resolve to temporarily counter harm to their person, consciously preventing blood from leaking out of wounds and directly maintaining the integrity of various tissues. The power can 'soak up' an amount of damage that is equal to its power rank, at which point it can absorb no more - at least, until the character with unyielding will relaxes this ability.

When they do so, the inflicted wounds will immediately appear across their body, albeit in a lesser form; the damage from each attack suffered will be reduced by -2 CS when it finally manifests on the character. This is representative of the triage of sorts the character performed upon the body when being wounded in the first place, their actions having actually helped to suffer less long-term harm than expected.

Once the possessor of unyielding will has released all this pent-up damage, it can again be used to absorb a like amount of pain and suffering.

Note that damage which exceeds the power rank of unyielding will affects the character normally. For example, say a character with Incredible (40) ranked unyielding will is struck with an Amazing (50) intensity attack. The power will 'absorb' forty points of that, leaving them ten points of damage. When the power is relaxed, they'll also suffer the amount they soaked up (Incredible (40)) -2 CS in damage as well.

Upgrade
Type: Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Using this ability, its possessor can safely enhance the operation of any electromechanical device. When this power is applied to an item, it will increase said item's operating rank by +1 CS, doing so by imbuing it with psionic energy that serves that purpose. Since the physical characteristics of the device are not altered, this power will not affect it detrimentally (unlike the overdrive power).

When applied to a device, upgrade will enhance its operation for a number of turns equal to its power rank number on a green power ACTION, a number of hours equal to its power rank number on a yellow ACTION roll, and semi-permanently on a red power ACTION roll. This boost is semi-permanent in that if applicable, the Karma cost for such an enhancement must be ultimately paid for by the device's owner.

This must be done, lest the enhancement in question be subject to the vagaries of Plot, as is the case with any other 'free' boost. If ultimately unpaid for, such a boost - possibly if the owner of a device was unaware it had been applied to their gear - will simply wear off after a number of days equal to the power rank number.

An item, while in an upgraded state thanks to this power, is considered a psitronic device - even if the amplification of its effects are only transient in nature. Once it wears off (if it does), an upgrade-granted improvement will leave tell-tale signs of its use for those who can perceive such psionic residue, but the item in question will no longer be considered psitronic in nature.

Upholder
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

Ninshubur is one of the Igigi, a goddess who assists many of the Anunnaki in the pursuit of their goals. This frequently sees her delivering messages to and fro across the multiverse, or occasionally working as Anu's bodyguard. However, she's most famously known as the unshakably loyal sukkal of Ishtar, who will do anything she must to both protect and further the agenda of her friend and mistress.

This is why Ninshubur is often entreated to empower the upholder spell. Upholder is designed to invoke assistance, either for the caster or the target of their choice, in whatever form is practical, possible, or applicable at that moment in time. The effects of this assistance might manifest themselves immediately, or may build over time as events align themselves to properly produce this spell's effect.

The curious thing about upholder is that it often reaches through time and space itself to help its target, seemingly altering reality to ensure that the help it is designed to provide is in place immediately after it is cast - or, perhaps, soon afterwards. Mind you, from the perspective of everyone involved, events seemingly just fall into place such that the aid upholder manifests is a perfectly natural result of cause and effect.

As an example of assistance, say a material of some sort is required by upholder's target. One of their contacts just might be carrying some while they are in the character's area, may be able to point them in the direction of some nearby over the telephone during an unexpected call, or possibly even sent them some previously, carried in an envelope that upholder's focus forgot about - until just now, that is!

Alternately, let us assume that the target of upholder is in mortal peril! One cast, upholder attempts to extricate them from the situation in some fashion, whether via assistance to the character or hindrance to their foes. This can involve anything ranging from a fortuitous visit by a hero on patrol to their enemy receiving a sudden ransom note and being forced to leave the scene!

Generally, the assistance that upholder provides won't be more effective than its own spell rank, though this is more of a balancing act than anything else. The materials in the first example, above, might ordinarily require a Resources ACTION exceeding its rank, but one's contact could simply make the target return the favor to make up the difference - several times over, if it were particularly excessive.

V

Vampirism
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: biological vampirism, death ray, decontamination, energy vampirism, psionic vampirism, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism.

In its basic form, vampirism allows its wielder to drain the life force of another, to recover lost Health. Vampirism always requires contact with the victim, and cannot be used at range. Upon touching the target, a vampire can drain an amount of their Health equal to this power rank number, assuming the target cannot resist; vampirism can be fought off by passing an Psyche (will) ACTION roll against its rank.

If this ACTION fails, the vampire may drain their victim as much or as little as they wish. Every additional turn they do so, the target is allowed another ACTION to resist. If this ACTION is ever successful, the victim immediately repulses the vampire and gains immunity from this form of their assailant's vampirism, but doesn't protect from other characters with the power, or other forms of vampirism the assailant may have.

If the character with vampirism is at full Health when they drain an amount of Health equal to their power rank number, they receive a +1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all their power ranks save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with vampirism will return to normal. Gaining another boost requires another feeding.

On the flip side, a vampire may instead bestow a gift of Health, at a loss of their own. This works in the same fashion, though an ACTION roll usually isn't required (most critically wounded individuals welcome healing), but if the target resists, the same ACTION as the above applies. Upon healing another via vampirism, the wounds so repaired will appear on the body of a vampire, a visual expression of the transfer of Health.

The risk in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the danger of contagion. Draining a body of its Health completely is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they will begin to lose Endurance ranks until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they will rise again as an undead creature, an essential vampire that requires the life force of others to live.

Secondly, if a vampire kills with this ability, whether accidentally or on purpose, they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against the intensity of their own vampirism rank. If this ACTION roll fails, the vampire will become addicted to the essence of others, and will require it to function as well. While addicted, the character with vampirism will suffer a loss of power each day they do not feed upon the Health scores of others.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 CS to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all their power ranks (save for the vampirism, of course). To avoid this loss, the addicted vampire must drain an amount of Health equal to their vampirism rank each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 CS lost to such abilities. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the life force from others causes the CS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power ranks reach Shift 0. This prompts an Endurance ACTION, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as an essential vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Psyche (will) ACTION to overcome their addiction.

If this Psyche ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power ranks at a rate of +1 CS per day. If the Psyche ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Endurance ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Psyche ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or manages to get clean.

If a character with vampirism has ever been addicted to the essence of others, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses vampirism afterwards, they must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into vampiric addiction. If they pass this ACTION they'll be fine - at least, until next time!

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the Health of others to live cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of vampirism, and not its many victims.

In this form, vampirism is the basis for numerous other permutations on the power. Everything ranging from 'traditional' vampires (who gain strength from the blood of others) to energy vampires (who feed on power, whether in nature or within people) to even spectral vampires (who feast upon the souls of others) - and more - have their basis in this ability. Which leaves a Textbook character with vampirism a choice.

He or she may choose this iteration of the ability or any of the others when it becomes available during character generation. Characters with vampirism in any form need not begin play as an undead creature (those monsters have to originate somewhere, after all), but can with the approval of the Judge; this approval is necessary as it gives the character many additional abilities along with the inherent weaknesses.

On top of all the complications of playing such an entity.

Vapor Animation
Type: Matter Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: cyclone, flight, fluid animation, gliding, image animation, jelling, object animation, psychoplasm animation, reanimation, solid animation, super breath, universal respiration.

The ability to animate vapors is the power to control the form, function, and motion of most gaseous matter. Gaseous matter is generally defined as material which expands to fill any available volume, though this power also stipulates that such matter cannot be alive. Any inanimate gas can be controlled by this power, though other materials suspended in a gaseous medium can be indirectly manipulated in this fashion, too.

Vapor animation can be used in as coarse or as fine a fashion as is desired, anywhere within Near range of its possessor. Such manipulations are never permanent, as a gas by its very nature will expand in a formless state once it is no longer animated. Vapor animation can impart movement onto animated gaseous materials, giving them up to power rank velocity as is defined by the air speed table.

The power can, at once, manipulate an amount of gaseous matter that is equal to its power rank as an equivalent Strength score. It can temporarily impart an artificial material strength in gas of a like value, allowing it to more directly interact with and manipulate objects in the environment. Animated gaseous matter will inflict its power rank in damage, of the appropriate type, with each devastating attack.

Vapor animation lends itself to the mastery of numerous power stunts. A vapor animator can learn to animate gaseous matter 'minions' per the object animation power, who possess Fighting, Agility, and Health scores equal to this power rank, lightning generation by rubbing two disparate air masses together, even if fine control of such is difficult at best, or even any of vapor animation's related powers, above.

While the power can manipulate any gaseous matter as a general matter of course, vapor animation can be restricted as desired with limitations. The more uncommon a gas is, the more constraining being limited to such is. Oxygen, for example, is readily available around the world for the most part, and can thus be considered a weak limitation, while something rarer (like radon) would make for at least a very strong limitation.

Vapors
Type: Eclecticism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

The vapors spell conjures strange, otherworldly mists. These mists can issue forth from somewhere on the caster, from seemingly nowhere, or perhaps from something in the environment. They can be of any color, though are usually consistent from casting to casting - but not always. When first cast, the vapors spell immediately fills up the area its creator currently occupies with these mists.

These mists will then spread out from their area of origin, filling out further adjacent areas each turn, until they blanket everything within Near distance. While cloaked within these mystical vapors, the caster cannot be seen whatsoever - whether using standard or enhanced senses. Even nonapparent vision has to work hard against these vapors, needing to defeat its intensity before functioning properly.

Of course, the creator of the vapors can see just fine, thank you very much. This allows him or her a +2 CS in combat against those who cannot see them, and unless they can find them via other senses, the foes of a vapor-cloaked individual suffer a -4 CS to hit them.

Variable Cybernetics
Type: Power Control Power, Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: link, variable power, variable psionics, variable sorcery, variable talent.

A character with variable cybernetics can absorb the properties of any device into his or her body! When variable cybernetics is invoked, it can copy any technology within Very Near distance, and incorporate its characteristics into all, or a part of, its wielder. Variable cybernetics does not affect the source of the technology so copied, and said source may not even know (if it's alive) that it was duplicated.

Once a variable cybernetic is set, it remains available to the wielder of such until they duplicate another technology. This inherent device functions at its original score (if applicable), not the variable cybernetics rank. If the power is idle, the variable cybernetic can be rendered dormant, fading from one's body until used again (though a strong limitation would remove this capability).

Once the wielder of variable cybernetics copies a new technology, they 'forget' the old equipment and 'learn' the new gear. When the old form of variable cybernetics is forgotten, it is gone forever - unless copied again at a later date. While variable cybernetics can be used to acquire any technological capability, it does not function on inherent powers, knowledge-based ascendant abilities, or talents.

In other words, variable cybernetics could copy a flamethrower, but not fire generation or an eldritch blast of flames. Copying the properties of a device merely requires a green power ACTION roll.

As a spell or psionic, variable cybernetics has a unique duration. While the power has an 'instantaneous' activation time, its effects are continuous. Its wielder need not maintain variable cybernetics to keep what they have acquired in this fashion, and if it is somehow blocked (by, say, an EMP), it will return when that effect expires, leaving only when variable cybernetics is reused to acquire a new ability.

Variable Power
Type: Power Control Power, Dimensional Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: link, roulette, variable cybernetics, variable psionics, variable sorcery, variable talent.

The character with a variable power is capable of trading in one super-human ability for another. When variable power is invoked, it can copy a super-human ability from anyone within Very Near range. This new power will function at the rank of the variable power ability, not its original score. It will not affect the source of the power, and said source may have no idea that his or her ability was duplicated.

Once the variable power is set, it remains available to the wielder of such until they duplicate a new power, at which point they 'forget' the old power and 'learn' the new one. When the old form of variable power is forgotten, it is gone forever - unless copied again at a later date. While variable power can be used to acquire any power, it does not function on technology, talents, or other knowledge.

In other words, it can copy something like a mutant power, but not a device or a learned skill-equivalent like a spell. Copying the powers of another merely requires a green power ACTION roll.

As a spell or psionic, variable power has a unique duration. While the power has an 'instantaneous' duration, its effects are continuous. Its wielder need not maintain variable power to keep what they have acquired in this fashion, and if the power is blocked somehow (with, say, power block), it will return when that effect expires, leaving only when variable power is reused to acquire a new ability.

Variable Psionics
Type: Power Control Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: link, variable cybernetics, variable power, variable sorcery, variable talent.

Variable psionics is similar to the variable power ability, save that it is used to duplicate psionics. These can be either the learned talent-equivalents used by psis, or natural psionics a character may have access to (whether due to a fluke of brain chemistry, physical mutation, or whatever). Variable psionics, when used, can copy a psionic possessed by anyone within Very Near range with a simple green ACTION.

This new psionic will function at the variable psionics rank, not its original score. This won't affect the source of the psionic, and unless they're a superpsi, said source may have no idea that one of their powers was duplicated. Once the variable psionic is set, it remains available to the wielder of such until they duplicate a new psionic, at which point they 'forget' the old one and 'learn' the new one.

When the old form of variable psionics is forgotten, it is gone forever - unless copied again at a later date. While variable psionics can be used to acquire any kind of psionic, it does not function on technology, regular or occult talents, or other knowledge. Furthermore, it cannot be used to copy non-psionic powers; while variable psionics could copy the metapsi body armor power, it couldn't copy the body armor spell.

As a spell or psionic, variable psionics has a unique duration. While the power has an 'instantaneous' duration, its effects are continuous. Its wielder need not maintain variable psionics to keep what they have acquired in this fashion, and if the power is somehow blocked (with, say, an antipsion field), it will return when that effect expires, leaving only when variable psionics is reused to acquire a new ability.

Variable Sorcery
Type: Power Control Power, Eclecticism Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: link, variable cybernetics, variable power, variable psionics, variable talent.

Variable sorcery is similar to the variable power ability, save that it is used to duplicate magic skills. These can be either the learned talent-equivalents used by sorcerers, or natural magic powers a character may have access to (whether due to mystic evolution, freak accidents, or whatever). Variable sorcery, when used, can copy a magic power possessed by anyone within Very Near range with a simple green ACTION.

This new magic power functions at the variable sorcery rank, not its original intensity. This won't affect the source of the magic power, and unless they're a paraprobabilitist, said source may have no idea that one of their tricks was duplicated. Once the variable sorcery power is set, it remains available to the wielder of such until they duplicate another magic power, at which point they 'forget' the old one and 'learn' the new one.

When the old form of variable sorcery is forgotten, it is gone forever - unless copied again at a later date. While variable sorcery can be used to acquire any kind of magic power, it does not function on technology, regular or psi talents, or other knowledge. Furthermore, it cannot be used to copy non-magical powers; while variable sorcery could copy the teleportation spell, it can't copy the equivalent non-magical or psionic abilities.

As a spell or psionic, variable sorcery has a unique duration. While the power itself has an 'instantaneous' duration, its effects are continuous. Its wielder need not maintain variable sorcery to keep what they have acquired in this fashion, and if the power is blocked somehow (such as with annulment), it will return when that effect expires, leaving only when variable sorcery is reused to acquire a new ability.

Variable Talent
Type: Power Control Power, Eclecticism Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers: group link, knowledge, linguistics, link, ultimate talent, variable cybernetics, variable power, variable psionics, variable sorcery.

The character with a variable talent is capable of trading in one skill for another. When variable talent is invoked, it can copy a skill that anyone within one area possesses. This new skill will function at the level its original possessor had with it. Variable talent will not affect the source of the skill, and said source may in fact have no idea that his or her knowledge has been duplicated.

Once the variable talent is set, it remains available to the wielder of such until they duplicate a new skill, at which point they 'forget' the old talent and 'learn' the new one. Once the old form of variable talent is forgotten, it is gone forever - unless copied again at a later date. While variable talent can be used to acquire any skill, it does not function on powers of any stripe.

In other words, it can copy something like the physics talent, but not a mutant power, psionic ability, magical spell, or even a high tech device. Copying the talents of another is automatic - no ACTION roll required (as the power lacks a rank to speak of).

As a spell or psionic, variable talent has a unique duration. While the ability has an 'instantaneous' duration, its effects are continuous. Its wielder need not maintain variable talent to keep what they have acquired in this fashion, leaving only when variable talent is reused to acquire a new skill.

Vibration Control
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: dimensional transit, inaudibility, sound control, super speed, vibration generation.

The ability to manipulate existing vibrational energy in the environment, vibration control allows its wielder a large array of tricks with which to befuddle his or her enemies. While the power cannot actually generate vibrations, per se, this form of energy is so prevalent in the world that almost anything can create a source of such that vibration control can use in a variety of fashions.

Vibration control can manipulate extant vibrations within Near distance of its wielder, assuming said wielder can first pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of ambient vibrations. It can increase the intensity of a vibration up to its own power rank, or reduce it by a like amount, if desired. This alone is great for reducing the damage caused by earthquakes or, alternately, simulating them on the fly.

If the vibrations of a target are manipulated to cause direct harm upon them, this power can inflict up to its power rank in damage. A living target will suffer Metabolic damage from such an act, though he or she is allowed an Endurance (res) ACTION to resist the effect. Unliving targets can be affected automatically, and must pass an MS ACTION against this power rank to retain their structural integrity.

Ambient vibrational energy can also be redirected from its source to any other target. This allows the wielder of vibration control to simulate a resistance to both sound and vibration with power rank ability, by shunting such around oneself, as well as the use of vibration-based distance attacks. These inflict up to power rank Force damage with each application, though they may be dodged by their would-be target.

While vibration control cannot finely control sound energies, save for shunting them away from oneself, it can be used to stop individuals from talking or a stereo from functioning, doing so by preventing the larynx or speaker from vibrating. Similar techniques can even prevent others from hearing extant sounds, by stopping vibrations within the ear from reaching the auditory nerve in the first place!

Vibration Generation
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: aura (vibration), carrier wave, solid animation, sound generation, transformation / self (vibration), vibration control.

Vibration generation is the ability to induce powerful mechanical oscillations in matter.

This is similar to the sound generation power, and the vibrations that this power can create may actually be audible. But sound is not the primary product of this power, nor is it the damaging component of such. No, sound is often simply a hallmark of the use of vibration generation, for while their effects on matter can be quite visible, vibrations in and of themselves are not.

This power can be used in several different fashions. The first involves the creation of a shockwave that travels between a vibration generator and his or her opponent. Such a shockwave can inflict power rank Force damage within Near distance with each attack, which can easily cause considerable damage upon anything between its creator and its target, if the shockwave isn't simply passing through the air.

Another involves inducing vibration in mass. While the former can be avoided by a defensive maneuver, the latter prompts an Endurance (res) ACTION roll to avoid damage, since this use of the power can affect anything within Near distance that its wielder can see. Those failing such an ACTION suffer power rank Metabolic damage, as their entire body suffers mechanical damage due to the intense vibrations it is subject to.

A final, devastating use of vibration generation involves emitting vibrations in every direction at once. This application of the power can affect everything within Very Near distance of its possessor, inflicting damage equal to either its power rank or the material strength of the surroundings as they are thrown about - whichever of the two is less - as if performing a shockwave-style indirect strike maneuver.

Vivification
Type: Matter Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per rank
Related Powers: organism generation, reanimation, resurrection.

Vivification is the ability to breathe life into the lifeless! This power can work on organic or inorganic matter - basically anything that does not already possess a life force. When used on inanimate material, vivification will act to infuse it with essence, creating an all-new, living being. This being's existence will persist until it is destroyed, one way or another.

An entity brought to life by vivification will be capable of performing any action its form allows; the more complicated it is, the better. A die might be able to roll, if awkwardly, but cannot fire a gun. A mannequin can walk and the like, but is particularly fragile. An automobile can drive, and even hit people with its doors when it wants to, but has a hard time getting a fill at the gas station. And so on, and so forth.

When aimed at intelligent, yet non-sentient devices (computers, robots, and so on), vivification will grant such entities the gift of sentience. This has the effect of immediately rendering them free-willed, despite any safeguards to prevent that sort of thing. Digital beings so animated will transcend mere programming, and can literally write their own destiny... unless their owners stop them in their tracks, that is.

If used on formerly living matter, vivification can restore life to the deceased flesh. This is different from both reanimation and resurrection in that the resulting being is actually alive, but is not the same as he or she was before. Vivified beings can make use of any memory their flesh stores, if applicable, but whatever soul may have been tied to them has since moved on to (hopefully) greener pastures.

Such vivified entities are technically new beings, essentially making use of recycled flesh. If said flesh is in bad shape, the power will slowly knit it back together after animating it, doing so as if the body in question possessed power rank regeneration. Once the body has been fixed such that it can independently support the life force of the vivified matter, this tendency for rapid healing will fade away.

To create life where there previously was none, the character with vivification must make a simple power ACTION, its difficulty depending on what is to be vivified. Formerly living organic matter is easy to invigorate, since it held life force previously (green ACTION). Something that is intelligent but not alive, such as a robot, is a bit harder (yellow ACTION). Inert objects and matter are particularly hard to vivify (red ACTION).

A vivified object will often have personality traits that reflect its nature - though not always. A baseball bat might love being used to hit things, while a car may enjoy nothing more than going for a ride with its owner. Vivified things can become sentient if their animator desires, depending on their needs at the time, though this may be automatic in the form of invigorated robots or formerly dead human bodies.

The beings given life by this power will generally possess physical abilities and special powers (if any) appropriate to their form, if these have not already been determined previously. Mental ability scores (if any) can be of any rank desired by the vivifier, with an upper limit of this power's rank. If given sentience (or this quality is developed due to their nature), created life forms will also possess a Karma score.

The critical thing to keep in mind is that, while it is incredibly easy to create new life with this power, its products do have feelings. One might be liable for Karma loss if they create life only to sacrifice it for their own, immediate success - depending on the character, that is.

The process of vivification requires physical contact with the matter to be given life.

Vocal Control
Type: Physical Control Power, Eclecticism Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: blending, disguise, mesmerism, sonar sense, sound control, sound generation.

While many characters can easily manipulate their voice to some extent, altering its pitch or sometimes producing a relatively accurate impersonation of someone else, the power of voice control enhances this ability to a super-human degree. This allows the character with vocal control to engage in all manner of feats with their voice that are seemingly impossible - or that usually require a lifetime of training.

The simplest trick one can produce with vocal control is audio mimicry. A mere green power ACTION roll allows a character with vocal control to precisely reproduce any sound they have ever heard. The best sources of sound to mimic are live, as recordings invariably introduce some manner of distortion to the sound. However, most human ears cannot discern such in digital copies of sufficient quality.

Instead of just reproducing sounds one has heard previously, vocal control can also simulate similar noises. This derivative use of vocal control can create original sonic events, which is a great way to speak in someone else's voice if they haven't uttered the precise words one wants them to say. Others are allowed an Intuition (alt) ACTION, opposed by the vocal control power rank, to see through such a ruse.

Another valid use of vocal control is the fine art of speech throwing. By subtly altering the output of their vocal chords, characters with this power can create the illusion that sounds issuing forth from them are, in fact, coming from elsewhere. This use of vocal control also allows an Intuition (alt) ACTION to detect such trickery, but can be used anywhere within Very Near distance of its wielder.

It's important to note that while a character with vocal control can produce all manner of sounds, they are still limited in the overall volume of such that they can produce. Without additional powers (such as sound generation), a vocal controller cannot produce inherently damaging noise; imitating the sonic attacks (or whatever) of another character will simply produce their racket at a non-damaging level.

Vodun
Type: Voodoo Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank

Intrinsic and vital to the Voodoo school of magic, vodun is an invitation for a Loa, a sort of spiritual entity, to 'ride' one's body for a while. Vodun can be cast in one of two ways, each having a good and bad side. The first is the immediate form, which allows a mage to open themselves up to spiritual possession instantly. This takes a few seconds (which is good) but you never know which spirit will show up (which is bad).

Alternately, one can perform something of a ritual, if they hope to acquire the attention of a particular Loa. This takes considerably longer, and the base odds of the desired Loa taking enough interest to show up is one percent, increased by one with each turn spent performing the ceremony. Ensuring with relative certainty that the chosen Loa will 'ride' oneself takes a full ten minutes (one hundred turns).

While being ridden by a Loa, a mage will take on aspects of such. This can be a literal interpretation (Damballa, for instance, often manifests as a large white snake; one could receive a bonus to their Agility and Escape attempts while being ridden) or more spiritual in nature (Damballa is considered the father of all Loa, and as a source of life may thus grant abilities related to water or rain while riding a mage).

The effective ranks of such abilities (whatever they wind up being) will not exceed the rank of the vodun spell. There are a countless number of Loa, and these entities can grant all manner of abilities depending on their nature. This may require a bit of research on the player's part, but said research may pay off after they realize just how versatile a working knowledge of Loa capabilities can make them.

While being ridden, a mage is somewhat aware of what they are doing during this time, but their mind is temporarily merged with that of the Loa, who will help (or not) as it sees fit. In fact, the Loa may use the mage's abilities as well as its own to further its personal agenda, which may or may not coincide with the mage who called it forth. Such is the nature of powerful, otherworldly beings.

One can attenuate this problem somewhat by developing specific entreaties to the Loa of choice; this may take a lot more effort, but can save the mage several headaches in the long-term. Of course, some wizards are perfectly happy to roll the dice, such as they are, to get something of a random set of extra abilities each time they wield the vodun spell.

W

Warding
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank

Wards are a defensive magic, designed to protect an object or area from tampering. A sorcerer may cast the warding spell to protect anything they wish, covering a maximum area as is determined by the Very Near range table. For example, wielding an Incredible (40) ranked warding spell, a mage could almost cover an entire area (which is 44 yards square) with their ward of choice.

Such wards can be set to trigger under a variety of conditions, though usually depend on someone (or something) either entering a warded space or touching a warded object. When triggered, the ward will unleash the energies contained within, usually directed at whatever set it off in the first place. Most often, this will be an explosive discharge of an intensity equal to this spell rank (Force damage).

On the other hand, the creator of a ward may instead invest any of their spell effects into the defensive construct. This causes said spell to be held, as if cast with the contingency spell, until the ward is triggered. Variant wards may involve anything from a different deleterious effect (a burst of fire, instead of raw explosive power), to something such as teleportation to a predetermined location, or even banishment!

Not that a ward need be so direct. Curses are popular wards to set upon tombs, some more virulent than others. Enough cursed wards applied to a body can really ruin their day, and the worst part is that they won't even know what has happened to them... possibly until it is too late. One could even rig beneficial spells into a ward if they wanted, though that sort of defeats the purpose of a ward in the first place.

The trick is that a spellslinger may only create a limited amount of wards at any given time. This number of wards is equal to the caster's spell rank number; that Incredible (40) ranked warder, above, could maintain up to forty at a time. Attempting to make more will cause the oldest ward active to dissipate, and unless the caster has an exhaustive list of what they warded, and when, this might be cause for alarm.

One can bypass this limitation with permanent wards. This requires the use of the enchantment spell, as it involves weaving the ward (and any additional spell effect chosen) into something to be warded, such as a 'trick' cobblestone or protective casing. Luckily, since the creator of the ward knows both the warding spell and any other spell(s) to be installed in the booby-trapped item, the Karma cost for this is relatively light.

A permanent ward has the benefit of not counting against the limit of one's active wards, thus letting them protect an additional object or area. Furthermore, it is regenerative; permanent wards, once discharged, will renew themselves in twenty-four hours (one day). This means its creator need not continually refresh the ward if burglars or other intruders have a bad habit of checking the area out for fresh loot!

Warrior's Art
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: 1d10 turns plus maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank

Though Ishtar's sphere of influence is ever-growing, what with her propensity for hitting other gods over the head and stealing their stuff, one of the things she's always been famous for is being a goddess of war. As such, when called upon for aid, she is more often than not asked for assistance in battle. And Ishtar, ever wishing to expand her popularity, readily dispenses such assistance.

When casting the Warrior's Art entreaty, a spellcaster implores Ishtar to craft a special weapon, which is comprised of the imaginary form of matter known as psychoplasm. This weapon can be any implement they wish to use in a fight, whether it be wielded in melee or ranged combat, is primitive or advanced in nature, or possesses a mix of offensive and defensive applications, as would a shield.

Once created, this weapon allows the caster to wield it with a +2 CS bonus. This bonus is enough to transform the penalty for unfamiliarity with a weapon into the bonus one would typically receive if they'd trained in its use long enough to develop the appropriate talent. Said bonus applies even if the recipient of the spell has the requisite talent, making the weapon it creates incredibly dangerous in their hands.

The weapon forged by Warrior's Art will last for 1d10 turns, or for as long as the entreaty that created it maintains this spell.

Weakness Generation
Type: Power Control Power, Voodoo Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: empowerment, investment.

The terrifying power of weakness generation allows its possessor to temporarily hobble others with debilitating character limitations. The target is allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist the effects of this ability, but failing that, they are subject to its dastardly whims. Once its wielder successfully overcomes its target's resistance, they should roll a second ACTION, used to determine how severe this limitation is.

A white weakness generation ACTION indicates that a weak limitation or level 1 quirk has been imposed upon the target. Green ACTIONs with this power gift the target with a strong limitation or level 2 quirk. A yellow power ACTION using weakness geneartion grants others a very strong limitation or a level 3 quirk, and a red weakness generation power ACTION saddles another with an extreme limitation.

With the severity of the weakness to be imparted determined, one can determine how the target has been affected on the table below:

* If determining an 'extreme' limitation, ignore this result and roll again, for there is no such thing as a level 4 quirk.

For example, after bowling over the resistance of one's foe, a weakness generator rolls a yellow power ACTION, and then rolls on the above table to come up with a weakness. This means they impart a very strong weakness onto their enemy, which according to the Power Customization rules means their powers will fail in the presence of a substance that can be acquired without too much trouble (player's choice).

The amount of time one's foe is subject to this artificial limitation is determined by a second power ACTION, rolled once its nature is found. A white weakness generation ACTION lets it last for only 1d10 turns. A green ACTION extends the duration to a number of turns equal to its power number, yellow ACTIONs to like number of minutes, and a red weakness generation ACTION allows it to last for that many hours.

Once this time expires, the target returns to normal. Assuming this surprise curtailment didn't get him or her killed in the meantime, that is.

Weather Control
Type: Combination Power
Duration: 1d100 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per rank
Related Powers: cold generation, cyclone, electricity control, electricity generation, environmental sense, flight, gliding, heat generation, ice generation, invulnerability or resistance (cold, electricity, heat), sound control, sound generation, temperature control.

The power to control the weather is one of mankind's most sought-after abilities. Characters with this power need not rely on unproven science and snake-oil salesmen to induce changes in the weather - they simply inflict such alterations as they see fit! A combination of various matter animation abilities, one can perform a wide array of tricks with weather control, both immediately and over time.

In play, a controller of the weather can alter it as he or she sees fit, inducing changes ranging from the subtle to the extreme. To do so, however, a weather controller must first pass a power ACTION roll against the intensity of whatever weather is currently active - or, if in competition with another weather controller, against the rank of the opposing weather control power.

Weather alterations come about at a rate of 1 CS per turn. For example, a beautiful summer afternoon with only the slightest of breezes is menaced by a Remarkable (30) intensity weather controller, who feels that it's literally time to rain on the parade of the 'unwashed masses'. Each turn her weather control is applied, the weather within her area of effect will change to reflect her wishes.

Rain begins to fall (increasing from Shift 0 intensity to Feeble (2) intensity on the first turn) out of nowhere, until it peaks at a maximum intensity equal to the weather control power rank on the sixth turn, which is described in the Advanced Battle Concepts as a raging thundershower! Once the power is no longer maintained, weather will return to its 'normal' state in a like fashion.

The immediate weather that a character can control is that within Near distance. Our Remarkable (30) weather controller, for example, may control weather as she sees fit within eight areas. The weather within this area will interact with that without, however, leading to a buffer zone between the normal weather and the weather controller's, which extends out to Middle distance (one mile, for the above weather controller).

By themselves, weather changes can cause a wide variety of penalties to combatants in its area of effect. Powerful winds, extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation, and even fog are serious hindrances to a character's ability to fight, particularly when experienced in tandem. The only problem with this, of course, is that the weather does not discriminate, and affects everyone present in an equal fashion.

All of the above, in addition to the ability to reliably predict the weather, even without changing it, can be managed without mastering a single power stunt. However, weather control truly shines in how readily it can be modified with stunts to greatly extend its capabilities. Perhaps the most obvious power stunt of weather control is the ability to generate lightning - and direct it at one's foes!

Whatever
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank

An unpredictable lout in life, Qingu was looked upon as the god of unskilled laborers, implored for aid by those who toiled without a trade to call their own. His fortunes varied wildly over the millennia, his role amongst the Ziggurati ranging from shiftless layabout to, for a very short period of time, King of the Gods. While not chaos personified, Qingu was definitely chaotic, which is why he often empowered this spell.

Though slain for his crimes against the Anunnaki, his essence consigned to the Valley of the Dead Gods, Qingu is nonetheless entreated for power to this very day, albeit rarely. Those few who know of his existence, much less the persistence of his personality, know that this chaotic soul defies death itself to lend assistance to those who ask it of him. However, the form this aid takes is unpredictable at best.

Whatever is roughly akin to roulette in effect, each spell rarely producing the same result with any frequency. The difference between the two is that while roulette's outcomes are truly random, the nature of what whatever manifests depends on whatever effects Qingu wishes to manifest through it (hence the name). In game terms, they are chosen by the Judge, generally in accordance with the situation at hand.

Broad strokes of what whatever wreaks upon the world are determined by the ACTION rolled when it is cast, however, with green and white rolls being decidedly unhelpful. White ACTIONs produce mildly detrimental results for the caster (perhaps it starts raining on them - and only them), while a green ACTION causes something which is neither helpful nor harmful to occur (maybe Qingu wishes them luck from beyond the grave).

More successful spell ACTIONs generally impress the spirit of this slain deity enough to motivate him to actually be useful, though. A yellow whatever ACTION definitely causes events to unfold in a fashion favorable to the caster (perhaps lighting strikes amongst their enemies, if not necessarily hitting them directly), while a red ACTION pulls out all the stops (maybe Qingu's specter itself manifests to do battle for a bit).

As with quid pro quo, it doesn't hurt to have a treat handy when casting whatever. While the effects of the entreaty he most often empowers are generally unpredictable, the spectral essence of Qingu (or etemmu who were dedicated to him, at least) appear when cast with distressing frequency. But then, what else is there to do with one's afterlife than try to beg beer off of the living in exchange for simple efforts?

Wings
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (flat cost)
Related Powers (for the wings only): flight, gliding, hard points, missile generation.

Wings are appendages evolved to provide a highly favorable lift to drag ratio.

A character with these additional limbs will typically have them growing out of their back, though this may vary based on their form and application. Whether feathered, membranous, or scaly, wings generally provide their possessor the ability to fly, after a fashion. However, flight provided solely by wings (instead of the actual flight power) will generally be somewhat limited.

Using their wings alone, a character can fly at a speed that is dependent on the ratio of their Strength versus their weight. As one does when determining jump distances, subtract a character's weight from how much they can lift, and use the resulting difference to determine one's flight rank. An equivalent to 'walking' involves a winged character flying at velocities determined by the land/sea speed table.

The winged individual can keep up this level of flight generally as long as they could walk. However, when a burst of speed is preferable, they may ascend onto the air speed table. Doing so is treated as if the character is running, meaning that one cannot maintain such velocities indefinitely through the use of this power alone - unless, of course, they possess an Endurance score that is of Unearthly or greater value.

But what of winged characters who can fly (much) faster for (much) longer, you ask? They simply make use of the actual flight power along with their wings. Winged characters with flight generally use the wings themselves for steering and/or gliding, while something else (or perhaps some other ascendant property of the wings) provides the ability to achieve such high speeds for so long.

While wings offer a less versatile form of flight than flight itself does, they do have advantages all their own. The wings power may be combined with a variety of other abilities depending on the character's physiology, ranging from missile generation (the wings can fire or fling sharpened feathers or scales or something somehow) to hard points (the wings are rigid, and thus can be used as shields).

If a player would like their character to have the more potent, standard flight, they can either add the difference in points between the base cost of wings and their final flight rank minus one (as the wings then count as a weak limitation) with the point-based character generation system, or simply gamble on the flight rank determined above when making a character randomly.

Witchery
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per rank

Witchery is one of the thirteen known group spells available to wizards. The counterpart of alteration, it is a collection of abilities that allows the caster to change the bodies of others in numerous ways, as the situation may demand. Once a day, upon first casting the witchery spell, a mage may choose any one of the six following spells, at which point witchery will be set to reproduce that effect for the rest of the day:

Density Control / Others, Growth / Others, Healing / Others, Invisibility / Others, Shrinking / Others, or Transformation / Others.

However, should the caster of witchery desire to retain its fluid nature for a time, he or she may forego choosing which effect it will manifest, leaving such to the whims of chance. If one does so, witchery will produce one of its potential outcomes randomly, as indicated below, though thaumaturges achieving a 'bonus' result may choose witchery's effect and keep its effects fluid for its next use.

Wondrous Warehouse
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank

One of Haia's most important roles involves stewardship of the Wondrous Warehouse, a location outside of conventional space-time that he uses to store the most precious possessions of the Anunnaki. Though he can never enter this space, himself being the metaphysical doorway to reach it, Haia nonetheless has numerous minions, both divine and mortal, through which he can deposit and withdraw its treasures.

When making use of this entreaty spell for the first time, a spellcaster enters a pact with Haia, which reserves a space within the Wondrous Warehouse for their own, personal use. This space will be of a size equal to that one could produce with the transient universe ability, namely a number of cubic yards equal to this spell's rank number, but it will persist indefinitely, as does an internal universe.

On subsequent castings, the spell will open a portal to its caster's specific unit within the Wondrous Warehouse, which appears as a vault of the appropriate size, made from sun-baked mud bricks mortared together with bitumen. Though seemingly fragile, at least compared to more modern materials, one will quickly find nothing but an interdimensional void outside the vault's walls should they break through them.

Within 1d10 turns of each casting, one of the Warehouse's minders will appear, and can answer questions regarding the unit's history of deposits, withdrawals, and its current holdings. This minder of the Warehouse can be any of its support personnel, from guards to construction workers to Haia himself, depending on who's available to perform this duty at the time - which can make for a great distraction in a pinch!

The benefit of a personal plot within the Wondrous Warehouse, aside from its obvious utility, is that the realm is maintained by Haia and his subordinates. While he isn't the most important or powerful deity associated with the Anunnaki, they all make use of his services to some extent, and anyone meddling with the Wondrous Warehouse or its priceless contents will ultimately face the wrath of these dangerous entities.

Wrest
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank

The Chaos is a component of reality that existed long before space-time as we know it, the unpredictable wellspring from which numerous multiverses have sprung forth. The Anunnaki and the Olympians, among many other pantheons of gods, consider the Chaos their ultimate birthplace. Both they and the realms they oversee simply would not exist had their ancestors not managed to escape from this primordial crucible.

All manner of things spontaneously manifest in the Chaos, including entities that should not be, devices that function without rhyme or reason, and even ideas which can tear minds asunder. These inexplicable creations bubble up to the event horizon of the Chaos, desperate to escape into the rest of reality before it draws them back in, ultimately facing annihilation if they cannot fight their way free.

Using wrest, a spellcaster can seize one of the Chaos' spontaneous creations from its event horizon of actuality, liberating it from the grim specter of unbeing. Instead of sinking back into the Chaos and dissolving into nothingness, the energies of its former existence recycled to produce ever more bedlamic things, this manifestation of the seething cauldron of the Chaos will suddenly appear near the caster of wrest.

The vital thing to remember, however, is that wrest is not a summoning spell. You get what you get with wrest, and the chaos spawn it lays before its caster is in complete control of its actions, where applicable. Furthermore, the product of its casting isn't going anywhere once it is brought forth, at least via the use of wrest alone. Finally, there is no limit to the effective rank(s) of... whatever wrest fetches.

When invoking wrest, roll a d10 to determine the raw class of what it will liberate from the Chaos:

1. An inanimate mass. Can be large or small, shaped or unshaped, worthless or valuable, inert or energized, solid, liquid, or gaseous.
2. A conventional device, already invented somewhere in the multiverse, though possibly beyond the technology level of the world around it.
3. A fantastic device, one which has never before been built, whether conventional or imbued with ascendant power, and possibly sentient.
4. A conventional, non-sentient creature of any sort, which previously evolved somewhere in the multiverse, but may well be otherwise extinct.
5. A conventional sentient entity, which may have previously evolved on the caster's world, or any other throughout reality.
6. A (previously) fictional being, which originally only existed in the zeitgeist of any extant or extinct culture, but is now entirely real.
7. An idea, concept, secret, or other form of knowledge. Can be old or new, harmless or dangerous, and quite possibly invasive.
8. A nascent deity of some sort, either immortal or abstract in nature.
9. A chimeric creation of the Chaos. Roll 2d10 and combine the two results - if at all possible.
10. An additional Chaos spawn slipped through its event horizon of actuality when casting wrest. Reroll this d10, and then make an additional roll.

With the basic category of Chaos spawn determined, roll the wrest spell ACTION to narrow down just what has appeared.

A white spell ACTION generally indicates that nothing directly useful to the caster has appeared. That inanimate mass might be a lump of pumice as large as a station wagon, while the nascent deity could just be, say, the embodiment of unconstructive criticism... one who just can't stop dishing it out. Though generally a bust, even these ostensibly useless products of the Chaos can occasionaly serve one's ends.

Green wrest ACTIONs draw forth something that may not be too dangerous, but can be put to use. This could be a chimeric school bus propelled by giant centipede legs instead of wheels, for example, or a psychotronic ray gun powered by its wielder's fear. These sort of things aren't the kind of additions that might adversely affect the direction of the universe, but can nonetheless be handy on occasion.

Managing a yellow success with wrest will draw forth... something... that will have a definite effect on the situation at hand. It may produce a missile launcher mounted on a hover pad that is controlled by a neural induction field, a veteran adventurer or super-human being that previously only existed in feature films, or even terrible knowledge about someone within Near distance. Total game changers, here.

On the other hand, rolling a red ACTION when casting wrest manifests something that will invaraibly alter the flow of events nearby - if not the course of history. A seemingly indestructibe artifact with dread powers over some aspect of the world, or perhaps some giant, horrifying monster ostensibly comprised of the parts of dozens of different hostile creatures - one in a very bad mood. That kind of thing.

Within these guidelines, the Judge may decide what wrest has wrought, and must then determine the disposition of it.

Sure, it will be aware that the wizard was behind its liberation from the Chaos, if possesing any awareness of its environment, but that may or may not free the caster from any adverse reaction. One never knows where Chaos spawn are concerned. Sorting this out can be accomplished with a simple NPC reaction roll, which substitutes this spell rank for the caster's Popularty (since, you know, it won't know them at all).

A white reaction roll means that creature is hostile to wrest's caster, or the weapon they plucked from imminent nonexistence appeared at their enemy's feet. Green ACTIONs produce an unfriendly spawn of the Chaos, yellow ACTIONs bring forth a neutrally inclined Chaos entity, and red ACTIONs cause the thing wrest helped to be to regard its caster in a friendly fashion, or to manifest under their direct and immediate influence.

As is readily apparent, casting wrest is a mixed bag, to say the least. It can easily help or hinder its wielder, its results ranging from nothing significant whatsoever to unleashing unspeakable horrors upon their reality. Furthermore, its casters may find themselves the victim of wrest's product just as easily as their foes, depending on what it manifests in the universe and how that manifestation feels about them once it arrives.

Thus, it behooves a sorcerer to cast wrest with care. The spell can readily get one out of an immediate jam, but may have devastating consequences down the road. In other words, it might be detrimental to one if, in a campaign using the four color Karma rules, something they liberated from the Chaos ate a few neighborhoods full of people. But, for those unconcerned with such issues, have fun!

X

Xenoglossy
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Universal Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: knowledge, linguistics, translation.

In lieu of taking the time to learn a language naturally, mastering the ability to effectively read, write, and speak using it, the character with xenoglossy can simply acquire the means of doing so instantly. Upon a successful power ACTION with this ability, a xenogloss can adopt any one language of his or her choice, wielding it with a fluency equal to that of their original, native tongue.

This suddenly developed tongue is transient in nature, lasting for an amount of time equal to its power rank number in turns. A xenogloss may either repeat the use of an artificially acquired language, switch to a different language before the first has expired, or end the power's effect entirely, simply by passing another power ACTION roll whenever one of these situations comes to pass.

One means of weakly limiting xenoglossy is by having it replace the character's other language(s) while it is active, raising such a limit to strong if it cannot be aborted during its usual duration. Similarly, one can enhance this power by providing additional languages that can be temporarily acquired by it, adding one step of enhancement for each additional tongue that xenoglossy provides simultaneously.

Y

Yclept
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect or maintenance, depending
Cost: 3 points per rank

One of the original gods, second in creation only to Tiamat herself, Abzu saw a lot in his time. While his predecessor and eventual wife exulted in the Chaos from which she issued forth, Abzu recoiled in horror at the idea of a disordered reality. As such, he constantly strove to impose the rule of law upon our multiverse, an effort which culminated in the creation of his greatest work: the Tablet of Destinies.

Along the way, however, Abzu discovered numerous other tools with which he could organize the realms before him. Amongst the oldest of magical principles, he found that words have power, and that names have power. Along these lines, he determined that whether you know the name of a thing or you name a thing yourself, you hold great influence over it. Thus, he is most often entreated to empower yclept.

Sure, Abzu is long dead, slain by Enki untold eons ago, but his personality nonetheless persists despite this. Residing within the Valley of the Dead Gods, deep inside Irkalla, prehistoric Abzu is barely known to humanity, much less spellcasters of other species. A dim awareness of him clings to those who research the Ziggurati, though, and as such, Abzu is still capable of empowering yclept entreaties.

The first use of yclept is to determine what the true name of a being is. This isn't necessarily their given name, or even their assumed identity, so much as a precise desription of their unique existence. Generally, true names are the sort of thing that belong to living entities, but even inanimate objects can have one of these, particularly if they've served an important role in the history of a world.

True names are typically difficult to discern, which is why this use of yclept requires supplemental, intensive research to uncover them. The requisite work can take the form of an adventure, or simply 'down time' when the caster isn't otherwise in costume. This use of yclept culminates in a spell ACTION to determine if the caster's research is successful, its difficulty depending on the level of one's effort.

Some of the difficulty in that regard depends on whoever else is privy to the knowledge yclept's caster seeks. As such, a second use for this spell is indicating the exact number of others who are aware of the true name the wielder of yclept strives to learn, and where they approximately are. Yclept can track these beings anywhere within the multiverse, though the caster may not be able to reach everyone involved.

Yclept will not indicate exactly who these individuals are, but can pin their location down with a precision dependent on the ACTION rolled when this is attempted. White ACTION rolls send the caster off in a random, incorrect direction, while green results point them the right way, a yellow ACTION can narrow it down to within about a square mile, and a red roll will approximately tell yclept's caster where their quarry is.

Once a spellcaster has the true name of something, they hold overwhelming sway over him, her, or it. Invoking the third function of yclept, a caster who knows the true name of their target inflicts a -2 CS penalty on any attempt to resist their powers, whether or not they are magical in origin. This benefit lasts for as long as the wizard with yclept actively maintains the spell.

Similarly, the caster's magic spells can function against the target at a far greater range. The base level of range boost that yclept offers its wielder is one range category, regardless of the spell's rank. However, if one's yclept spell rank exceeds the Psyche (will) rank of the target, this extends its overall range by yet another range category, which may very well affect said target anywhere in existence!

The fourth and final usage of yclept involves the intentional alteration of someone or something's true name, whether rearranging the words that comprise it or changing one word for another entirely. This always requires a red yclept spell ACTION, against which the target always receives a Psyche (will) ACTION roll to resist. Those affected by this use of yclept are subject to the reality imposed by its caster.

This alteration can involve just about anything, really, whether being toggled from good to evil, male to female, human to animal (or plant!), or anything else that yclept's caster wishes. Such alterations generally are not permament in nature, merely lasting for a number of days equal to yclept's spell rank, though in rare instances where the change agrees with the target, it just might persist indefinitely.

Z

Zest
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: danger sense, longevity, revival, stasis.

The character with zest tenaciously clings to life, seemingly to an unnatual degree. While zest is active, its possessor benefits from a +1 CS bonus to any effort to avoid harm, whether it involves attempting a defensive maneuver, a roll to resist the damaging capabilities of untargeted powers, or ACTIONs to shake off effects that inflict continuous damage after they have initially taken hold in the character.

Furthermore, zesty folks gain a +1 CS bonus when rolling to resist Kill? results. Failing this, if the character with zest is losing Endurance ranks due to a killing blow, they may attempt a free ACTION to staunch the loss of such every other turn - no Karma required! Finally, if one falls to Shift 0 Endurance and dies, zest allows them to be revived up to a number of minutes afterwards equal to their power rank number.

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