Powers

Although victims of crowd control are usually unresponsive and zombie-like while under the influence of commands, they 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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty Cure Disease action, attempted 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 Strength 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 reduced difficulty when developing 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 an increased difficulty 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 (w)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 to every 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 intensity; for instance, a level 14 curse spell may zap its target with ill will for up to two weeks. Every day the target is affected (including the first, upon its application), its victim may attempt an average difficulty Willpower (curse) action 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 (w)
Type: Technopsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

Cyberspatial projection allows one to insert their mind into a digital stream of data, and interact with it environmentally. Functioning on equipment within artillery 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 Intellect score and Strength actions with their Willpower 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 intensity - 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 Intellect score - minus one (for the cyberspatial projection itself). This value is determined normally, and is made more difficult when maintaining special abilities in one's 'real' body.

Cyclone (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, merely reducing the intensity of incoming physical and energy attacks by but one point. The true defense that cyclone offers, though, is that it readily discourages others from closing into melee range of its creator - if they know what's good for them, anyway.

Anyone adjacent to a character wielding cyclone will suffer its power intensity in bashing, slashing, or concussive 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 ounces, to its intensity. Even at a relatively low intensity, 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. Material within near missile distance 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 near missile distance. Such items will fly out at considerable velocity, inflicting damage equal to either the cyclone ability's intensity or the material strength of the items in question - whichever is less. Carrying thrown weapons for such purposes can be particularly deadly.

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Danger Sense (w)
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity.

This allows for a number of useful effects in battle - whether in melee or ranged combat. A character using his or her danger sense may substitute this ability's intensity for their Strength for the purposes of escaping holds, or their Agility for the purposes of dodging attacks. If one's danger sense is possessed of a smaller intensity than these abilities, it will nonetheless improve them by +1 for the purposes of the above uses.

Furthermore, the possessor of a danger sense will never be surprised in combat, being able to declare an action even during an exchange in which they (or a close friend) are the target of a surprise attack.

Darkness Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action against the intensity of darkness, where available.

Darkness control functions within far missile distance of its wielder, being capable of increasing any ambient darkness up to its 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance either way.

Defensively, darkness can be used to blot out sources of light within its possessor's sphere of influence with power intensity 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 intensity 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, must pass an easy difficulty Willpower action against its intensity, or suffer a fear-induced stun for an aura duration.

Daybreak (a)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 far missile 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 upon a successful, easy difficulty Daybreak (strength) action. 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 the previous action is successful against them.

Daybreak only lasts for a short period of time, the light its wielder broadcasts being reduced by -4 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 induce daydreaming on anyone within near missile distance with an easy difficulty Daydreams (willpower) action. Typically, this mental state lasts for an aura duration, and unlike most telepathic influences, one does not gain a resistance action on each subsequent exchange. This is because one can normally be 'snapped' out of a daydreaming state with a bit of effort - a good slap will suffice.

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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 missile distance of their wielder, and inflict their power intensity in metabolic damage with each deadly, deleterious strike.

This entropic damage can be resisted with one's Willpower instead of Strength, as is the case with normal attacks, though it still affects one's Health score normally (it does not do Willpower damage). 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. A death touch, if used offensively, will take effect as a contingent action.

Decontamination (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action 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 near missile distance of its possessor, which means one must usually be directly exposed to such entities to combat them with it.

Defensive Portals (i)
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity protection against incoming attacks that are comprised purely of energy, though this protection is reduced by -1 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 (i)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per -1 (or one power slot per -4)
Related Powers: body armor, 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 intensities, but as a modifier. For every -1 of deflection a character has, he or she will inflict a -1 upon other characters attempting to hit their person with an attack. As long as said attack requires an action to hit, deflection will readily affect that incoming attack no matter what form (or origin) it takes.

While it acts to keep incoming attacks from hitting a body, deflection doesn't attenuate their damage any if they do manage to strike its wielder.

While the cost of deflection is great (every -1 of deflection costs 2 points), 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 skill-equivalent abilities like spells or psionics), reduce the cost by 2.

For example, let us look at Gunter the Hunter. He opts for -3 deflection with no 'holes' in its defense, and wants it to always be on. This inflicts a constant -3 penalty on anyone ever trying to strike him, at a base cost of 6.

On the other hand, Samuel the Sorcerer wants a spell giving him -8 deflection. He gives it vulnerability to metabolic and vampiric attacks. Since it's a spell, it counts as 'temporary' protection. -8 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 achievement bonuses. Better head out on patrol more!

Degeneration (s)
Type: Clerical Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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! This process begins if the wielder of degeneration can pass an easy difficulty action with the power, opposed by their foe's Strength score. Essentially the opposite of regeneration, degeneration functions in the same basic fashion, albeit to remove cards from a body, instead of adding them back.

When applied, degeneration of an intensity between one and ten will cause the target to lose a card of Health upon a negative aura draw. Furthermore, for the duration of the power's effect, they will not gain a card back upon a positive aura draw, as all wounded characters normally would. This represents the reversal of the healing process, which begins the degeneration of the targeted individual's very body.

A higher intensity of degeneration allows its wielder to inflict a highly accelerated version of this process, however. For instance, possessing the power at an intensity between eleven and twenty will prompt the loss of a card of Health on either a neutral or negative aura draw. And even higher intensities of degeneration cause the loss of a card of Health each exchange, regardless of the aura in play.

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

Deific Impersonation (w)
Type: Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty deific impersonation action to hijack an entreaty, opposed by the intensity of 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 intensity. This can even offer the positive modifiers 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 modifier 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 to subvert another's entreaty fails, the narrator should attempt an average difficulty action with this ability, opposed by the entreated intensity. If he or she succeeds, 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 (a)
Type: Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity deionic damage with each deadly use, a type of assault that mere mortal defenses cannot counter in any manner.

A deionic attack functions anywhere within far missile 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 far missile distance of the character with deionic control, he or she can attempt to seize control of them. Using this ability on a deific power effect free of its creator's body requires but an easy difficulty action against its intensity. If the power is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, this action is opposed by the target's Willpower, instead.

Once the possessor of this ability has taken control of another's deific power, he or she or she can do any number of things with it. However, the level of utility he or she has using the commandeered deific effect depends on how successful their control action was. Redirecting the target of a deific power (pointing an antideionic attack away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the fortuity of another) is of only easy difficulty.

Activating or inactivating a deific power requires an average difficulty success. This can be a nuisance or downright lethal, depending on how vital the power being tinkered with is to the survival of its possessor at the moment. Average 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 challenging difficulty action 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 - and most lethal - uses of deionic control.

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

Deliverance (w)
Type: Clericism Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity

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 intensity in effect, but can be far-reaching in scope. The spell itself acts within artillery range, 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 Narrator 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: maintenance plus aura duration
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 the wielder of this ability must pass an easy density control / other (Strength) action to succeed - unless, of course, their target is willing. This is opposed by the MS of inanimate objects.

Increasing the density of a person or object increases its weight by an amount equal to this power's intensity squared. Living entities must pass an easy difficulty Strength (density control / other) action to remain conscious at an increased density. If they pass out under the influence of this effect, the target of this ability may slip into a coma if they fail a second such action.

Assuming this power's target remains conscious, they can act if they pass another easy difficulty Strength action against their new weight; if movement is possible, the target can actually inflict damage as if their very body was a weapon with a plus equal to this power intensity divided by four (rounded down) - which can be something of a surprise when one is expecting such dense individuals to remain motionless.

Decreasing the density of a person or object can be achieved in the same fashion - an easy density control / other (strength) action (or again, opposed by the MS of inanimate objects). Failure causes the target to lose a percentage of their total weight that is equal to this power's intensity times five. An intensity 20 density control / others power can render things weightless, while greater intensities 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. Such characters are far more susceptible to knockback, and actions to resist such effects are opposed by either the attack which would cause it or the density control / others intensity - whichever is greater.

Density manipulations (either way) last for an aura duration after the ability is no longer maintained, and can work on anything within far missile distance of this power's wielder.

Density Control / Self (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity of this ability squared as a multiplier. For example, a man with this ability at intensity 10 who weighs 200 pounds can increase their weight to twenty thousand pounds - ten 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. In a state of heightened mass, a character with this ability develops body armor equal to the power intensity divided by four, rounded down (+2 armor for the intensity 10 power, above). Similarly, while at a heightened density, characters inflict melee damage with a like modifier, as if they were a living weapon.

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 intensity of density control, times five, as a percentage to subtract from one's weight. The above, intensity 10 power could reduce that two hundred pound man's weight by half! Once a character reaches intensity 20 with this ability, they effectively have zero mass while the power is active, and higher intensities 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 intensity 20, 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile 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 intensity, meaning that one's disembodied chunks can last quite a while if they have a high enough score 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 ability, 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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 actions 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. Minute amounts of toxin (regular or fatigue poisons come to mind) are of easy difficulty, considerable material (critical amounts of cholesterol) is of average difficulty, and when overwhelming amounts of foreign material are present (lungs full of sludge) challenging or more difficulty may be called for.

While it's great against regular chemicals, this ability doesn't work well against invaders of the electromechanical sort. Detoxification functions at an increased difficulty level 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity squared, in pounds, each exchange. Building something larger requires that one spend more than a single exchange generating the desired object. For example, intensity 10 device generation can produce one hundred pounds of gear per exchange. To make something that weighs one thousand pounds, one would have to spend ten exchanges creating it.

Spontaneously generating devices is extremely stressful on the body. Wielding this power costs its possessor one Health point each exchange 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 Intellect score squared. 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 Intellect 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 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) are of easy difficulty, while average difficulty actions are necessary when producing complex chemical compounds or artificial elemental material (such as semiconductors or bohrium).

A challenging (or greater) 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, made after an initial success. An easy difficulty device generation action guarantees that the created matter lasts an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of matter's existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created matter will remain extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made device persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's creations are considered permanent objects - they will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when device generation brought them into existence.

Device generation functions within near missile distance of its wielder, and then only within one's direct line-of-sight. The power can generate matter anywhere within that radius, but is blocked by any intervening solid matter, such as a glass window or a force field. Created items have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately upon their springing into existence.

Typically, a 'to hit' action 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, the target's Agility is added in opposition. 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 limitation, the benefit depending on the 'ceiling' of time available to such transient matter. Allowing mass to persist for only an encounter would be inconvenient, indeed!

Device Sympathy (w)
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an Edge score - Edge 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 an easy difficulty device sympathy action, devices controlled by simpler electronics need an average difficulty action (digital alarm clock, stun gun), and machines that are mechanically programmed but lack electronics (player piano, music box) can be spoken with on a challenging difficulty 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 far missile distance of a device to communicate with it in this fashion, though handling a device, or even wielding it, may offer the best results.

Diagnosis (w)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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, an easy difficulty diagnosis action is all one requires to determine whether or not a device is functioning properly - and if it isn't, what's gone wrong. More difficult actions 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 (i)
Type: Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity 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, easy difficulty action against its intensity with an ability that is designed to do so, such as nativity sense or nonapparent vision.

Dimensional Displacement (i)
Type: Physical Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 slashing damage. Furthermore, inanimate objects may be destroyed if they fail an MS check against this power's intensity (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 (i)
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 power level.

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 intensity 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 sharp 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 (i)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 an easy difficulty spell or power action, opposed by the dimensional static power intensity. 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 succeed in the action described above to acquire access to an area in which dimensional static is active.

Dimensional Transit (i)
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 daunting action is necessary when accessing a universe intentionally for the first time, challenging difficulty card play is required when traveling to realms experienced intentionally more than once, but less than six times, and average difficulty actions 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 an easy difficulty 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 card play; the character will appear in any other plane the Narrator 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 intensity, as if it were a Strength score. In other words, a hero possessing intensity 10 dimensional transit may carry up to 800 lbs. with them, while a villain possessing this ability at intensity 14 can bring up to ten tons along for the ride.

Disease (i)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Intellect score squared. 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. On contact, the disease carrier can infect their target as a contingent action, if they can pass an easy difficulty Disease (strength) action. The effects of success 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 intensity 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' at the end of the encounter.

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 challenging Strength (disease) action, though such immunity can only come after the disease has run its course.

Speaking of immunity, the benefit of disease is that its wielder acquires its intensity in resistance to plagues. 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 a disease they're exposed to, they can gain immunity to it - though if caused by another disease power, this may require winning a power contest against its power intensity first.

Disengagement (i)
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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, easy difficulty disengagement action.

Unless powers such as dimensional static or space control are acting to block it, that is, in which event the offending ability in question adds its intensity in opposition to disengagement.

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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an aura duration 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 easy difficulty card play, opposed by their Intellect or Willpower, 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity cubed each exchange.

Disintegration functions within far missile distance of its wielder. When this ability is first acquired, the player may alter the mass limit or the range of the power, exchanging three points of mass for one range category, with a maximum of 6 points of mass alteration (either way). This allows one to either disintegrate small amounts of matter at a ludicrous range or to eliminate very close, large masses... or anywhere in-between.

Wielding this ability against inanimate matter is a relatively simple process, only requiring an easy difficulty disintegration action under most circumstances. 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 its power intensity in damage against its target, after subtracting their Strength score (but not any body armor). This may not be enough to vanish a target in one shot, but such an attack on one's very molecular structure is considered a lethal assault.

Surviving such an attack means that the disintegrated matter was spaced evenly across one's volume, but the more one suffers such damage, the faster their structural integrity will fail. Once one's Health is destroyed in this manner, the target is vaporized. This means they're dead for all intents and purposes, unless someone can collect the dispersed energy that comprises their former mass and reassemble it somehow.

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 intensity 1. Similarly, resistance to energy or metabolic attacks (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 (w)
Type: Alchemy Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 magic inherent to an object. In the event that an alchemist wishes to annul sorcery invested in a transient, one-shot magical item, such as a potion or pill or cigar, they need only attempt an easy difficulty spell action against the intensity of the magic held within.

Successfully disenchanting a permanent magical item is a bit more difficult, though. This involves the alchemist first studying the object to be neutralized for a number of minutes equal to a Narrator draw, 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 a challenging difficulty action against the intensity with which it was enchanted.

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 Narrator, 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 (w)
Type: Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 this power is active, it can prevent the wielding of magic by any spellcaster within near missile distance if its possessor can pass an easy difficulty Distraction action, opposed by the intensity of the spells to be neutered. This action must be made each exchange to keep nullifying an opponent's spells.

Dream Projection (w)
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Willpower in place of Strength, and Intellect in place of Agility. 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 Willpower score. 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 power intensity in hours. For example, a projector with intensity 24 dream projection may send their consciousness into the dreams of another for 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 skill). 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 artillery distance of his or her location.

Drones (i)
Type: Alchemy Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity. 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 (s)
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 intensity; one either has the ability or they do not.

Dyad (a)
Type: Combination Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 exchange, 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 exchange before taking it into account, the character having to divvy up a sum of actions that aren't divisible by two wherever they best fit.

While active, the character's bodies may range anywhere within far missile distance of each other without incident. Exceeding this distance prompts an easy difficulty Dyad action each exchange, the failure of which causes one's bodies to snap back together. This most often 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

Edge Control (w)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: ability boost, amplification, attenuation, grace, keeper, lethality, power amplification, power attenuation, power boost.

The strange and insidious ability of Edge control allows its wielder to manipulate the Edge score of either themselves or others. Though it manipulates a character's Edge, the wielder of Edge control ironically cannot use his or her own Edge to help actions with it succeed. This power may be countered with resistance to warping attacks or, as is most often the case, a sufficiently high Willpower score.

The basic use of Edge control involves adding a 'buffer' of Edge to oneself or another, increasing such by 1. This enhanced Edge typically lasts for an aura duration, and may be stacked, time permitting - with one action for each +1 of Edge provided. Increasing the Edge of a character requires but an easy difficulty Edge control (willpower) action; Willpower opposes even when using this ability on oneself.

Alternately, an Edge controller can perform the opposite action on others, reducing their Edge score by 1. An Edge decrease lasts a bit longer than an Edge increase, usually lingering for the duration of an encounter. It can also be stacked if used on the same person multiple times, reducing one's Edge as low as zero (0). Using the power in this fashion requires an average difficulty Edge Control (willpower) action.

Edges (s)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1/2 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 slashing 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, +2 edged 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 edges is most often the character's Strength plus the value of the card played to gain them. 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 either adding more cards to them (random character generation) or by spending one half of a 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), add the cards played to receive both to determine a final MS for each (when using the random character generation method) while spending points to increase the MS of one power will automatically increase that of the other (when using the point-based character generation method).

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 +4 to their material strength (or lowers their cost by 2 points, instead).

Ego Suppression (w)
Type: Faerie Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous or maintenance (see below)
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 hindrance. 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.

Inflicting this effect requires an easy difficulty Ego Suppression (willpower) action, and the target must pass a Willpower action against their sudden onset 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 an aura duration, unless specifically maintained by its user.

Ego suppression works within far missile distance of its would-be victims.

Eidetic Memory (i)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity beyond one's Intellect score
Related Powers: device generation, disguise, matter generation, organic circuitry, organism generation, ultimate skill.

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 intensity that is equal to one's Intellect score +1. When generating a character randomly, simply add as many cards as one wishes to one's Intellect to get the final eidetic memory intensity. Alternately, when using the point-based character generation system, simply add one point for every +1 eidetic memory has above its possessor's Intellect score.

For the most part, one's power intensity 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 at the Narrator's discretion, its difficulty dependent on how much one was concentrating when experiencing the data in question.

An easy action is necessary concerning most personal memories, while average success is required when recalling less direct, knowledge based information (something read once in the distant past). Challenging (or greater) difficulty actions 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 exchange.

Eldritch Attacks (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Eldritch Attacks result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Eldritch Barrier
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Eldritch Blast
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Eldritch Bolt
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Eldritch Palm
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Eldritch Wave
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Energy Absorption

Eldritch Barrier (i)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 its spell intensity damage upon anyone crossing through them, depending on the form they take. And they can take the form of almost anything in the Saga system.

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 size of an eldritch barrier can be as small or as large as the caster likes, up to anywhere within near missile distance. It cannot extend any further, but this distance may be along any axis, whether horizontal or vertical; this is great for either keeping people out or keeping people in!

Eldritch Blast (a)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

The eldritch blast spell allows the caster to detonate with magical power, affecting everyone within near missile distance 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's intensity.

An eldritch blast can take the form of almost any attack in the Saga system, 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 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 near missile 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 an average difficulty eldritch wave action... and may possibly expose its caster to harm of their own devising.

Eldritch Bolt (a)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

An eldritch bolt is a focused, applied attack generated by the caster. Eldritch bolts inflict their spell intensity in damage upon successfully hitting their target. An eldritch bolt can take the form of almost any material or energy attack in the Saga game, 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 far missile distance, 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 damage)).

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, average difficulty eldritch bolt action.

Eldritch Palm (s)
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

A powerful tool for melee combat, the eldritch palm spell encases part of the caster's body in an offensive mystic aura. This aura can take the form of almost any material or energy attack in the Saga system, and inflicts damage equal to its spell intensity - or the caster's Strength plus the intensity of this spell divided by four, whichever is higher - upon striking its target.

The kind of damage it inflicts depends entirely upon its nature. An electric eldritch palm will inflict 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 damage).

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, average difficulty eldritch palm action. 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.

Eldritch Wave (a)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

The eldritch wave spell functions similar to the standard eldritch bolt in many fashions. It inflicts its spell intensity in damage upon striking something, and can take the form of almost any attack in the Saga system - 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 near missile distance, 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 (one step higher) 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 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, average difficulty eldritch wave action.

Electricity Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance of its possessor, if he or she can first pass an easy difficulty action against either the intensity of the ambient electricity to be manipulated, or the power intensity of a character with electricity generation or control that's currently using it.

Electricity that is under the command of this power can be amplified until it is equal to its own intensity - 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 intensity energy damage to their own body.

Similarly, a direct attack on the neurological energy of a target will inflict like damage, though such an (easy difficulty) action must first overcome the Strength of its target. 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance of its wielder, causing it to inflict up to its power intensity 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 an aura duration by the application of electricity to their body, if they fail an easy difficulty Strength (electricity generation) action.

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 intensity 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 or reducing its cost by 2 points during character generation (or whenever the power is gained, for that matter).

Electronics Disruption (i)
Type: Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

Wielding this ability, a character can induce failure in any one electronic device in his or her vicinity (as defined by far missile distance). 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 an aura duration. Generally, it is induced by overwhelming electromagnetic interference - not a pulse, so much as enough RFI to cause malfunction.

A character can disrupt an electronic item if they can pass an easy difficulty action against either the operating intensity of non-sentient devices (such as a laptop computer), or its Strength versus 'living' items (such as a cyborg implant). 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 (i)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 far missile distance 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 (i)
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 intensity 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 Saga system - from simple blunt trauma damage to outright deionic damage!

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 (w)
Type: Elementalism Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

An elemental sense is just that, the magical ability to detect elemental energies or masses in one's vicinity. Elemental sense functions within far missile distance, 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 an easy difficulty action, unless it is masked somehow.

If this is the case, the above action is opposed by 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 an average difficulty action, while a challenging difficulty 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. Elongation ranging from intensity 1 to 10 allows a character to stretch anywhere within near missile distance, possessing this power anywhere between intensity 11 to 20 allows one to extend out to far missile distance, and higher intensities of elongation lets a body stretch as far as artillery distance!

A character may wield elongated body parts with a coordination similar to their usual capability, though the amount of Strength they can apply is limited to this power's intensity in value. At the same time, an elongating being may master the ability to apply more than their usual force, if their Strength has a lesser intensity than this power, simulating elongation intensity Strength as a power stunt.

Elongation allows one to engage in melee combat against non-adjacent foes, while mainly preventing those foes from doing the same unless they close to close combat distance. Failing that, enemies attacked in such a fashion can only oppose body part(s) invading their personal space, and not the elongating character's main body. Elongated bits that are severed immediately return to their normal physical dimensions.

Emotion Control (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: encounter + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 within near missile distance; this is less than the scope of empathy, but then it's a much more active skill. Emotion control works against the Willpower of its targets, as is the case with mind control.

If a character with emotion control can pass an easy difficulty action opposed by the Willpower of his or her target, they may invest any emotion they desire 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 the duration of an encounter, 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 to the final power intensity (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 from the final intensity). The broadcast version of emotion control can affect multiple targets simultaneously, but each doubling of victims applies an increased difficulty to the action to control them all.

Empathic Hammer (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Philosophical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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.

The possessor of this power can target others with an easy difficulty Empathic Hammer (willpower) action, the success of which inflicts like karmic damage. When 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 is at an Agility score of zero for the purposes of initiative for an aura duration.

The empathic hammer ability can strike any animate target within far missile distance of its possessor.

Empathy (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 within far missile distance of its wielder; this can increase to artillery distance if the empath is familiar with their target(s). An empath may attempt to read multiple targets simultaneously, but this increases the difficulty of reading emotions (usually easy) by one difficulty level for each doubling of people so read. The exception is gauging the mood of a crowd as a whole - this is an automatic difficulty action.

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 an easy difficulty action, or a crowd with average difficulty card play. Those receiving the empath's message will know who's sending it if they're at all familiar with him or her.

Empowerment (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Universal Spell, Superpsi Art, Technopsi Art
Duration: permanent
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
Related Powers: boon, hindrance generation, investment, link, power absorption, power amplification, power attenuation, power block, power control, power transfer.

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 bashing 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 an intensity 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 Narrator 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 an easy difficulty empowerment action, opposed by the highest power intensity to be installed within the item.

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 spending one achievement bonus, plus an additional achievement bonus for every intensity of each super-power the ascendant item will possess beyond the first.

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 an MS 2 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 Intellect and Willpower scores should be determined randomly (draw a card for each). 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 (s)
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity each exchange; 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 intensity squared. If one attempts to absorb more energy, 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 by adding 'extra' cards, which can only be used to counter Health loss - having as many as twice their usual count.

Likewise, one can use absorbed energy to bolster their physical ability scores, shunting purloined energies into their Strength or Agility on a point-per-point basis, raising them either to this intensity in power (if less than the energy absorption intensity) or by +1 (if equal to or greater than the energy absorption intensity). Such enhancements will only last for an aura duration.

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, 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 (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 easy difficulty energy cohesion action, opposed by either the intensity of the energy to be solidified or the power level 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 intensity - 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 powerful 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 -2, of its normal type, against the person or thing who broke the solidified energy matrix - if they're within close combat distance of 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 is opposed by the target's Strength score. In addition to taking damage from successful attacks of this sort, one must pass an average difficulty 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 far missile distance of its wielder.

Energy Control (i)
Type: Psikinetic Talent, Psimantic Talent, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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, doing so with an easy difficulty Energy Control action, opposed by the intensity of the energy to be altered. Energies of less than this power's intensity can be raised up to its magnitude or completely nullified, while those that are of greater intensity can be lowered by an amount equal to this power's level on a successful action.

Secondly, an energy controller can render themselves resistant, at this power intensity, 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 an easy difficulty Energy Control against, opposed by its intensity. Such redirected power will obey the controller's whims, whether flowing into one's foes, being grounded in the environment somehow, or even when shaping energy into various constructs.

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 far missile distance of its wielder.

Energy Doubles (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 achievement bonus 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 may be able to generate more than one energy double. They may produce one energy double for every two points of intensity they have, with a minimum of one. Intensity 1 energy doubles could only produce one at a time, for example, while intensity 14 could simultaneously generate seven. 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. One's energy doubles typically have but ten Health points (and an Edge score of zero), and if reduced to zero Health 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 intensity squared. 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 (a)
Type: Psikinetic Art, Psimantic Art, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity, inflicting like damage with each application. They can project this energy anywhere within near missile 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 (w)
Type: Energy Control Power, Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 equal to its intensity.

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 duration equal to its intensity squared in hours. For example, a character with intensity 13 energy projection may shed their consciousness and let it wander the earth for just over 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 skill). 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 -4.

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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. As it extends out anywhere within far missile distance, 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 (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 points. As do other forms of this ability, energy vampirism requires contact with its would-be victim. Upon touching the target, an energy vampire can drain a considerable amount its inherent power.

This is accomplished with an easy difficulty, contingent energy vampirism action, which is opposed by either the intensity of the energy to be consumed (for non-living power sources) or the target's Strength score (when attacking living beings).

Inanimate objects possess varying amounts of energy, dependent on their nature; fuel and batteries are great for a quick pick-me-up, for example, while wood and plastic are less so. Ambient energy in the environment, as well as actual energy attacks, can be absorbed directly for nourishment in this fashion. Direct sunlight can provide an energy vampire with one point 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. Every exchange after the first a vampire attempts to feed on a living being, the victim of this attack may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (energy vampirism) action to shrug their assailant off. If this action fails, the energy vampire may drain a like amount of energy from their body again.

The amount of energy this vampire can draw from their victim is determined by the amount by which their vampirism action succeeds. For example, if a character with intensity 20 energy vampirism wins against a victim with an intensity 15 Willpower score by ultimately beating their Willpower (15) plus the easy difficulty (4) and the narrator card (say, 4), any points over that sum (23) is the amount of Strength drained.

If a character with energy vampirism fails the initial vampiric action, or is fended off once they begin to drain a foe, they are repulsed from their target. Said victim will then immediately acquire immunity from that character's form of vampirism (but not against the vampirism of other characters, or other forms of vampirism the vampire may possess). Such immune foes are troublesome opponents to vampires everywhere.

If the character with energy vampirism is at full Health when he or she drains an amount of power equal to this ability's intensity, they receive a +1 to their Strength, Willpower, and all power intensities save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for a full encounter, after which point the character with vampirism returns to their normal capability. Gaining another boost requires another feeding.

The danger in using this ability against living targets is twofold. First off, there's the risk of contagion. Draining a body of its Strength completely is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack is not immediately aided, they will die from being so drained by energy vampirism. Some time after this happens, they'll rise again as an undead creature, an energy vampire that requires immense amounts of power to live.

Secondly, if an energy vampire kills with this ability, he or she must pass an average difficulty Willpower action against the intensity of this power. If this action fails, the energy vampire will become addicted to the metabolic energies of 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 the metabolisms of others.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 to their Strength and Willpower scores, as well as all their power intensities (save for this one, of course). To avoid this loss, the addicted vampire must drain an amount of Strength equal to his or her vampirism intensity each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 lost to such abilities. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the biological energy of others causes these hunger penalties to mount, until the indicated ability scores and power intensities reach zero (0). This prompts an easy difficulty Strength action. If this action fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as an energy vampire as well. If it succeeds, they may attempt an average difficulty Willpower action to overcome their addiction.

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

If a character with energy vampirism has ever been addicted to the energies of others, using it again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses energy vampirism against the living afterwards, he or she must pass an easy difficulty Willpower action, opposed by their own energy vampirism intensity, the failure of which indicates an immediate vampiric relapse.

A successful action of this type means the recovering energy vampire is just fine... at least until they use this power again.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the Strength of others to live cannot shake this requirement. The process of sloughing off energy addiction only applies to still-living wielders of vampirism, and not its many victims.

Enlightenment (w)
Type: Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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, and doing so requires an easy difficulty Enlightenment action, opposed by the Willpower of the person who is to be augmented - whether they are willing or not. If the target is in fact unwilling, increase the difficulty to average.

Once enlightenment has passed these hurdles, its wielder will activate a psionic within his or her target. This requires a second action, which determines precisely which power the enlightener switched on. An easy result means they turned on a random ability, but neither they nor their target will know exactly what it is. Average card play activates a psionic within the desired discipline - but not the desired ability.

A challenging result will not only get the right discipline for the chosen power, but will score something in the neighborhood; a random selection from the correct discipline and power level is allowed, which may or may not get the exact power our enlightener wanted to switch on. Daunting card play, now, that's where the enlightener activated precisely what he or she wanted to in the mind of their target.

Psionics generated by enlightenment function at its power intensity.

Such abilities last for a minimum of an aura duration, 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 one of these transient psionics on a permanent basis, the target must attempt an action per a power stunt, albeit one with considerably more difficulty.

If they've only wielded the power once, this requires a desperate difficulty Willpower action. If the character has wielded this power temporarily from two to five times, this difficulty should drop to daunting, while if they've experienced it more than five times, the difficulty should drop to merely challenging in scope.

Once all ten of these actions are successful, something of a mental 'channel' has been opened, and the character may attempt to develop this ability further. Keep in mind that it must be purchased as would any other new psionic.

But the character now has an avenue for acquiring it - even if they have no other psionics (or other powers) to speak of. Until the cost for this power is paid, it will be available but unreliable. It works, sometimes, and sometimes it works but not as desired. The Narrator 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 intensity and cost for a casual psi - unless the character actually has some sort of psionic discipline. If so, the newly gained power is accounted for (where cost and intensity are concerned) within their ordinary power scheme (if it matches his or her discipline(s)).

This can be handy for psis lacking a proper instructor - or those who have trouble with that whole 'meditation' thing.

Environmental Adaptation (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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.

While the intensity of a character's environmental adaptation determines the potency of abilities it provides them to survive in hostile environs, the level of success one attains when attempting actions with the power determines just how many adaptations they will manifest. A singular adaptation is an automatic difficulty action, with each additional adaptation requiring a heightened level of success.

Thus, a character stuck in the situation described above can gain gills automatically, but must pass an easy difficulty action to add a denser cellular structure to better withstand the pressure, average difficulty to then add thick body fat to avoid the cold, challenging to also gain webbed digits to move about more freely, and finally a daunting action to further add a sensory replacement for their vision. Perhaps sonar?

Only one action need be attempted when acquiring adaptations, the final result determining how many of such will manifest at once. Adapting to a new environment requires from one to ten exchanges, depending on how severe a change is required to keep the character functioning. Mind you, additional actions may be attempted if one's initial attempt doesn't provide enough adaptations to persist.

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 it will inflict on his or her body to keep their character alive. Such changes are normally within the realm of Narrator's fiat, but players can override a given change by succeeding in a challenging difficulty environmental adaptation action, 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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Dimensional Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/4 point per power intensity
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 days, as is based on its power intensity. For instance, an intensity 10 environmental independence lets a character subsist if trapped in a cave-in for up to 10 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 intensity 30, which either costs seven and a half points with the point-based character system or requires two cards using the random character 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 half point from the final cost / add +2 to the power intensity, as each is considered a strong limitation. So, for a net cost of, say, six points, one could forego the need to breathe entirely, but still require food, water, and sleep. Round up any fractional points to the next whole number when finished.

Environmental Pocket (i)
Type: Combination Power, Elementalism Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 near missile 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 intensity 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 intensity, they are at least diminished by its intensity. Thus, an intensity 10 environmental pocket could cut ambient radiation of intensity 20 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 intensity 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 (w)
Type: Combination Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: encounter
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 artillery 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 card play, finding the general nature or location of a disruption requires an easy difficulty action, while pinpointing the specific location or type said disruption is of average difficulty. Challenging 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 the duration of the current encounter, during which time they are inundated with various data regarding their surroundings, and tuning it out for an aura duration requires an average difficulty Willpower action.

Essence Control (i)
Type: Empathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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!

To do this, one must pass an easy difficulty Essence Control (willpower) action against their target. If successful, the empath can either nullify essential energy in a target or draw it forth, inflicting power intensity 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 allows the target to draw cards until their numerical value is equal to or greater than its intensity, to be used only for the purposes of Health loss.

These cards will remain for the duration of the adventure - until used up by incoming damage, that is.

Essence control can be used on life forces anywhere within far missile distance of its possessor.

Evolution Control (a)
Type: Combination Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensities of 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 point-per-point 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 intensity 1 in this manner. This represents abilities that either become vestigial or have yet to develop.

When adjusting the intensities 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 would require 5 points of reductions to other powers - though as is usually the case with intensity 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 intensity (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 (i)
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty Exaltation (willpower) action against it target. 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 Narrator does not rule that the cost in faith paid by the wielder of this ability is sufficient.

Extend (i)
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 intensity 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 (i)
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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. This requires an average difficulty Faerie Dust (willpower) action against unwilling targets; no action required if the target does not resist.

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 skill. 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 (i)
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 5 points per power intensity

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 Saga System 13 power, 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 aura duration. 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 (s)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty Fallout Absorption action, made against the intensity of PF to be absorbed. 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 intensity squared. 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 exchange, 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 (w)
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 with a global range, 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 Narrator to determine these, if they're not readily obvious.

All of these abilities function at the familiar spell intensity. For example, say we're building a sorcerer with this spell at intensity 8. She opts for an Amazonian giant centipede for her familiar. It will be fully intelligent, having an Intellect of 5, as well as an intensity 8 empathic link with the sorcerer. 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 Narrator 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 intensity 8.

Fantastic creatures may be an exception to the above, for they often have their own power sets, which work at different intensities. 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 his or her achievement bonus(es) 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 (teeth) (s)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1/2 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 +2 in slashing 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 with a successful, easy difficulty Fangs material strength (object material strength) action.

The base MS of a character's fangs is their Strength score plus whatever card was played to grant the power. 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, by spending one half point per additional MS (in the point-based character generation system) or by simply adding more cards to fangs (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 +4, or reduces cost by 2).

On the other hand, a noteworthy enhancement to fangs is the lockjaw ability. 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 exchange to exchange, 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 -4.

Fey Sense (w)
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 far missile distance. Though it requires no card play to pinpoint fey things, an 'automatic' spell check also conveys no information about what it finds.

On the other hand, successful fey sense actions provide additional data about the faerie item(s) in question. Easy results indicate what they generally are (a place of power, enchanted being, or artifact), average results fill in additional details (whether it is occupied, possessed, or otherwise in use), and challenging results provide further, specific information at the Narrator's discretion.

Finding (Telelocation) (w)
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 with a global range. If an object is further away (or in a different universe or time frame) vague directions are provided instead.

An easy difficulty action is all that is needed for things a body is intimately familiar with (their teammates, or their favorite blaster). Average difficulty actions are necessary when the character tries to locate something that isn't so familiar (such as the new janitor). A challenging difficulty 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 (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: carrier wave, energy cohesion, fire generation, infravision, temperature control.

The power to control fire is the ability to alter flames as its wielder sees fit. It can readily function on any blaze within far missile distance of the character who possesses it, assuming that he, she, or it can first pass an easy difficulty action, opposed by 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 intensity, 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, whether a fireball or a jet of flames, it can strike any target within far missile distance of its generator, inflicting energy damage with every strike. Doing this requires but an easy difficulty Fire Generation action, opposed by the Agility score of anything attempting to avoid the flames.

While flames are an incredibly effective offense, the problem is that they tend to cause a lot of collateral damage. Fire spreads easily, and carries a damage over time effect; every exchange after the first time one is struck with fire generation, the target must pass an easy difficulty Strength or MS (fire generation) action to avoid lingering flames (as they would any other SD effect).

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 needs a successful action to hit their target, said target might not see an attack coming in time to avoid it.

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 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!

Such a fiery touch will inflict its energy damage upon targets as a contingent action, which allows it to work quite well with inherent physical weaponry.

Flake Armor (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: edges (while one's flake armor is damaged), regeneration.

Flake armor is a variant form of body armor that provides a flat amount of defensive points versus incoming harm; once this amount is exceeded, the armor will crumble (hence the name). The number of protective points flake armor provides is equal to its intensity plus its possessor's Strength (or Willpower, when applicable) score, points which are lost as it negates whatever harm its possessor is exposed to.

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 intensity - though only on exchanges where it is not further damaged.

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 intensity 10. His total amount of protection is equal to twenty (assuming a Strength score of ten), an amount that heals one card of damage to itself on exchanges with a non-negative aura draw that is less than ten.

On the exchange after that where his flake armor is finally broken, the Candy Coated Man is defenseless, but on each subsequent exchange after that he can potentially recover one card worth of flake armor - assuming he takes no damage on said exchange.

Flaw Sense (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. An easy difficulty action will determine a physical weakness or stress point, an average difficulty action can showcase mental shortcomings or problems, and a challenging flaw sense action 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 trump 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 by an amount equal to the flaw sense's intensity, representing a devastating blow.

Furthermore, the target must pass a challenging difficulty Strength (or Willpower, if a mental assault) action, opposed by the flaw sense intensity, to avoid being stunned for an aura duration.

Flaying (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Philosophical Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 its power intensity in slashing damage to its targets.

While flaying may be utilized against any target within far missile distance of its possessor, it is primarily useful against those within near missile 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 -2 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 (a)
Type: Movement Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity by +1 (in the random character generation system).

Flight allows the character to move at a speed equal to its intensity as listed on the speed table, though accelerating to that point may take a few exchanges, depending on his or her Strength. A hero with intensity 10 flight and a Strength of only 2 can move at the speed of sound - but it will take them five full exchanges to accelerate to top speed.

In addition to having an intensity for speed, flight is also rated in maneuverability. This is the relative difficulty a character suffers when performing aerial maneuvers. Any flight-based action with an x code is made at two increased difficulties, a d code gives on an increase of one difficulty, a c code works as per normal, a b code makes flight actions occur at a reduced difficulty, and an a code reduces difficulties by two.

But how is this code generated, you ask? All new fliers are assumed to have a maneuverability of x - showing their inexperience in flight. However, one can increase this code by 1 by subtracting one from their final power intensity, representing someone with a bit more experience flying than a 'newbie'. One may go from x to a if they see fit (and have the intensity 'points' to spare).

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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance 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 intensity velocity.

The power can, at once, manipulate an amount of liquid matter that is equal to its power intensity 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 intensity 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 Agility and Health scores equal to this power intensity, 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 (w)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 functions within near missile distance, meaning that its wielder must get very close to whatever it is they wish to inundate with magic. Flux is always opposed, whether by sentient targets (Willpower) or inanimate objects (material strength check).

If this easy difficulty action is unsuccessful, nothing happens; there's just a puff of smoke or flash of light, signifying nothing. If this action is a success, 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. An easy difficulty flux action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the length of a change for the duration of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time a target can be rendered different.

Challenging difficulty extends it for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. All of this assumes the wielder chooses to render their targets changed for the full duration; they can un-flux something at their leisure early if desired, assuming they can somehow extract the flux they subjected it to.

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 intensity 15 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 manages average difficulty flux card play, 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 PF, prompting successive flux actions for the new victims (including the driver of the transformed car) at this lower intensity. Once they emit this PF, the 'ground zero' items' PF will lower by another -2, 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 (w)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 easy difficulty flux analysis action. 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).

An average difficulty flux analysis action 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 challenging difficulty flux analysis action 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance 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 firearm or electrical assault.

Force Field (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, offering considerable protection from injury. While defended by a force field, a character gains the benefit of either the field's power intensity in protection from injury, or its intensity divided by four and added to his or her own Strength - whichever of the two is higher. Force fields defend against physical and energy attack, but not sorcerous, karmic, or deionic damage forms.

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. A force field can cover either its creator or an area encompassing as far away as near missile distance without penalty, but extending it even further out (to a maximum of far missile distance) will reduce its effective intensity by four, whether as a force bubble or wall.

When struck with damage, a force field wards off 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 an easy difficulty Force Field (damage) action each time the field is punctured. If this action is successful, the force field holds, its creator being able to patch up said damage before the field 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 intensity of the force field with attacks of their own. Expanding a small force field inside something (or someone!) can be used to inflict power intensity 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 (w)
Type: Philosophical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity.

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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an average difficulty forgetfulness action, opposed by the Willpower of its target - though if the target is explicitly willing, this opposition is not applied (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 its intensity in minutes. Thus, a body with intensity 15 forgetfulness could effectively erase to a quarter 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 skills, motivations, or even one's identity!

Using forgetfulness in this fashion causes memory loss for an amount of time equal to the power intensity 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 close combat distance of its wielder.

Fortuity (i)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Entreatism Spell, Theonic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity ability, to skills that can predetermine what they will or will not do.

When others use abilities that attempt to read the future of a character with fortuity, its possessor may attempt an easy difficulty fortuity action, opposed by the intensity of the ability in question. If this action is successful, 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, whichever one is called upon, can negatively affect others if this ability's wielder can pass an easy difficulty friction control action against the ability score in question.

Stickiness that leaves someone stuck in place requires overcoming one's Strength, while causing one's firearms to slip out of their hands (or making them fall on otherwise solid ground) is an action opposed by their Agility. 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 glide off) to wall crawling (you stick to vertical surfaces).

Friction control can be invoked upon any solid object within near missile 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 (i)
Type: Alchemy Spell, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 exchange of use. Similarly, it can only generate so much consumable material on a given exchange - an amount, in pounds, equal to its power intensity squared. If one needs to generate more matter at once than they can in one exchange, they simply need to use fuel for multiple exchanges - whether making many discrete items or a large, singular mass.

The length of time such spontaneously generated matter will persist depends on variables present when the power is used. An easy difficulty fuel action guarantees that the expendable matter lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of the fuel's existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created supplies will remain extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made material persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's creations are considered permanent objects - they will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when fuel brought them into existence.

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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance + aura duration
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 its wielder passes an easy difficulty Fugue (willpower) action against his or her target, said target 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 an aura duration.

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 near missile distance of its possessor.

Fulgor (w)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 near missile 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 intensity 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. Those who do not voluntarily submit to this process may be forced to with an easy difficulty Fulgor (willpower) action. If successful against them, the deific light of Shamash will burn away their falsehoods, inflicting spell intensity deionic damage. Those who this spell fails against may proceed as they had before.

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 intensity of the power which so changed a body.

Future Control (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 single exchange). Future control, on the other hand, actually reaches through time to manipulate imminent events - all this to bind fate to one's will.

Manipulating a solitary action or the outcome of a singular event requires but an easy difficulty action. This includes things which can be resolved with a simple exchange of card play (such as a punch one intends 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. An average difficulty action 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 (perhaps altering a decision the target intends to make).

Similarly, a future controller can attempt incredibly detailed changes in an outcome to be. Challenging - or possibly even greater - difficulty is usually imposed 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.

When reaching into the seething cauldron of probabilities that is the most likely future the timeline will follow, the wielder of future control only has a small window of opportunity to realign things. This is represented by the difficulty involved in reaching forwards in time with future control - and overrides the previously indicated difficulties if greater in scope.

Reaching forwards one exchange is of easy difficulty, reaching ahead of a given encounter is of average difficulty, and challenging difficulty actions can reach up to a day forward. Moving further along the time stream is even harder, with daunting difficulty for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible for anything more.

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 far missile distance of the event to be, unless they can sense it through other means, such as clairvoyance, or perhaps closed circuit television cameras.

G

Genesis (i)
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity cubed.

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 intensity cubed in, well, cubic yards. If the intensity 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 intensity.

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 +3 on all actions 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 (a)
Type: Biological Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 blended together, the wielder of gestalting must first pass an easy difficulty Gestalting action, opposed by the greater of any unwilling beings' Strength.

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 Narrator 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 near missile 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 easy difficulty Strength (gestalting) action each exchange 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 in time, lest they become subject to Plot.

Glamour (w)
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

A glamour is a spectacular display of flashing lights, swirling colors, and mysterious sounds. When a sorcerer creates a glamour, they suffuse near missile distance with this phenomenon, causing general disarray while the 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 an increased difficulty on all actions.

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 is opposed by his or her Willpower score. If this glamour action is successful, the victim will suffer a two difficulty penalty on any action (instead of the normal penalty). If this spell action fails, the target will suffer no penalty whatsoever.

Gliding (a)
Type: Movement Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per power intensity
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 intensity, 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 exchange.

As is described in the Space and Movement portion of the rules, a gliding character can maintain their altitude with an easy difficulty Agility or gliding power action, whichever of the two is higher, each exchange. Gaining one story of altitude requires an average difficulty action, while failing an altitude action for either purpose implies a misstep, causing a loss of two stories of altitude that exchange.

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 intensity, when treated as an equivalent Strength score, is higher than its possessor's weight. A two hundred pound character with intensity 8 gliding, for example, could continue to glide with up to an additional two hundred pounds of gear on his or her person.

Glow (i)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty glow action, unless it's a) living and b) unwilling; at this point, the spell adds the target's Strength in opposition. Glow won't hurt a living target, but their belongings may not be so lucky.

The energy to be emitted can be of any strength, up to this spell's intensity (caster's choice).

Grace (s)
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: causality control, edge control, initiative control, lethality, override.

Grace is the ultimate form of mercy, for it prevents its wielder from killing others. 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 non-lethal damage to reduce one's foe to zero 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 deadly card play aimed at its wielder. How this works is that, while grace is active, its possessor may attempt an easy difficulty grace action, opposed by the damage inflicted, to avoid losing all of their cards while under assault. Failure indicates the attack proceeds as normal, but a successful grace action will leave characters with (at least) one card of Health.

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, the above action is opposed by either the damage inflicted by their attacks or lethality's power intensity if it is to prevail, whichever of the two is higher.

Gravity Control (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 by either multiplying or dividing the effective weight of an object within his or her radius of effect (anything within far missile distance) by their power intensity squared. A level 10 gravity control, then, could effectively reduce the weight of a two hundred pound object to two pounds - or increase it to twenty thousand pounds (ten tons)!

When attempting to move against an enhanced gravity field, a character must pass an easy difficulty Strength against their new weight intensity or be held, immobile, wherever it overcame them. In a pinch, a character can apply other intensities against the might 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 intensity 10 gravity control, above, would weigh a measly forty 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 an easy difficulty Strength (gravity control) action.

* 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 intensity -1 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 near missile 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 attempting to avoid this effect adds their Agility in opposition to the power; if the gravity controller misses, they just levitate air where the target was.

Greater Invulnerability (s)
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 Saga System 13 game, 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 System 13 of the Saga game are as follows:

* Physical Attacks: these kinds of attack are those most commonly experienced by characters. They include all forms of blunt attack damage, edged attack 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 is described as inflicting energy damage or force damage (note the slight overlap with physical attacks), invulnerability to energy attacks will blunt it.

* 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 Narrator 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 invulnerability, you do not gain a discount for purchasing more than one form of this ability; each form of greater invulnerability is simply that valuable. Furthermore, it is recommended that a Narrator not allow a character too many forms of greater invulnerability. In a very high level campaign, a character could 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 near missile distance, 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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity, 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.

Greater resistance is similar in function to 'normal' resistance, in that it provides either its intensity in additional resistance to injury, or its intensity divided by four and added to one's Strength or Willpower score, as is appropriate - whichever is higher. It is different, however, in that instead of providing resistance to a specific attack form, greater resistance instead covers an entire category of assault!

There are eight categories of attack in System 13 of the Saga game, and a character with 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, edged attack 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 is described as inflicting energy damage or force damage (note the slight overlap with physical attacks), resistance to energy attacks 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 Narrator about these. This also covers non-damaging magic effects; if one's Intellect or Willpower may be used to resist such, this ability applies to them as well.

* 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 intensity 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 Intellect or Willpower may be used to resist such, this ability applies to them as well.

* 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, players may take a ranged form of greater resistance. A field effect version of a resistance functions within near missile 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 for the cost for each category of shared resistance (or reduces the net resistance intensity of each by 4).

Group Link (w)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 near missile 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 an average difficulty action, assuming everyone involved in such actions are copacetic with them. If a character is opposed to being added to a hive mind, or instead refuses to be excised from a psychic collective, their Willpower is added in opposition to this card play. Both situations are relatively common where this power is concerned.

A group link can include a very large number of people. The maximum amount of beings allowed in a single collective is equal to 2 to the group link power's intensity. For instance, an intensity 2 group link can include 4 distinct minds pooled together, while one at intensity 11 can network 2,048 minds, and an intensity 25 power can involve a maximum of 33,554,432 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 an average difficulty Willpower (group link) action, which will at least give them an aura duration worth of peace.

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 intensity, 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 +2 bonus 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 skills to bear. While so driven, players letting other characters control their body can either turn them over to the Narrator 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 actualizing something. When so bolstered by the group's will, individuals within gain a reduced difficulty 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 intensity, against the Willpower 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 equivalent intensity growth / self ability (which details the specifics of growth rules).

Objects can be grown with a mere easy difficulty action, but unwilling targets add opposition in the form of their Strength. The effects of growth / others lasts for a duration dependent on variables present when the power is used. To start with, an easy difficulty growth / other action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends this size alteration for the duration of an encounter.

Each additional difficulty scored increases the time a target can be grown. Challenging difficulty makes it last for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. All of this assumes the grower chooses to expand his or her target's size for the full duration; they can deactivate it at their leisure early if desired.

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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Saga system 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 hindrances 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 intensity 6 'growth' at all times to showcase their size relative to normal beings.

When at an enhanced size, a character should receive combat modifiers against a normal-sized opponent. Growing characters should receive a +1 to their effective Strength (and other attacks) for each intensity of growth they possess when fighting normal-sized opponents, while suffering a -1 to their effective Agility. These are, of course, limited to a Strength of 30 and an Agility of zero (0) for all practical purposes.

For example, say a hero is facing off against a giant, extra-terrestrial robot that is forty-eight feet tall. Since it essentially has this power at intensity 10, the robot will have a +10 effective Strength against our hero, while it will suffer a -10 to its effective Agility. It will have a much harder time connecting with our valiant hero, but if it does manage to score a hit, our hero is going to have one heck of a shiner.

When dealing with characters who both possess abnormal sizes, simply subtract the smaller character's growth intensity from the larger one to determine a net difference. If we pitted our alien robot against our giants, we'd have a growth intensity of 10 (the robot) versus the growth intensity of 6 (the giants) for a net difference of 4. The robot would deal with the giants (and vice versa) as if it had but intensity 4 growth.

Here is a collection of growth ratios, with corresponding intensities, for convenience:

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 in the overall power intensity (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!

Consider 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 (w)
Type: Entreatism Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an exchange, 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 intensity 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity velocities.

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 intensity damage in melee, and may block or avoid grappling attacks with gyration's power intensity if it is higher than their Strength. Furthermore, a gyrator can fling objects, either at a single target or at everyone within far missile distance, inflicting damage of the appropriate type equal to their power intensity 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 (s)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1/2 point per additional MS of the hard point
Related Powers: 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 +2 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, 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.

However, characters may also use their hard points for defensive purposes. This provides additional protection equal to their MS divided by four, and then added to one's Strength. Mind you, if a hard point covers a relatively small portion of one's anatomy, its possessor may need to attempt a blocking maneuver to receive this benefit. Hard points covering around half of one's body offer that protection normally.

Unless someone specifically targets an uncovered area, that is.

The base MS of a hard point is generally the character's Strength plus whatever card was used to acquire it. The idea is that this mostly prevents a character from wrecking them with his or her own Strength. Mostly. But one may add to the MS of their hard points by adding more cards to them (random character generation) or by spending one half point per increase in MS (point-based character generation).

Harm (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. This requires a successful, easy difficulty Harm action, opposed by the Willpower of its would-be target. If successful, said target will directly suffer harm's intensity in metabolic damage as the anti-life energies summoned by it 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 missile distance of its target.

Headway (w)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 card play is.

Easy difficulty card play offers cryptic benefit to its caster, while the utility an average difficulty action grants is more obvious in nature, and a success of challenging difficulty 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 increases the difficulties presented above by one level. 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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 power's intensity in lost Health points, up to his or her usual maximum.

Or, when used on a player character, healing will grant him or her one card for every five points of intensity the healer has.

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 point of Strength due to metabolic overload - which must then be recovered normally.

Alternately, healing / others may instead be limited so that the Strength 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 intensity by +4 (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), thus adding his or her Strength to the healing action as opposition. Note that if someone's Health is full, healing / others has no effect (and the daily penalty doesn't kick in).

Healing / Self (s)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 his or her healing intensity in lost Health points, up to their usual maximum amount.

Or, when a player character uses it, healing will grant him or her one card for every five points of healing intensity they have.

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 point of Strength 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of their person. Alternately, if firing a beam of infrared light, a character can instead reach targets within far missile distance of their current location. The latter requires an easy difficulty action 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 on a successful, easy difficulty Heat Generation (strength) action.

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 an aura duration, at least.

Hellfire Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty power action, opposed by 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's, 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 intensity 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 an easy difficulty action, opposed by the Willpower 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 far missile distance of its wielder.

Hellfire Generation (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty Willpower action, opposed by 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 Narrator (and the current situation) demands.

The duration of a hellfire-induced alteration depends primarily on conditions present when the power is invoked. An easy difficulty hellfire generation action, made after something is changed, guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the length of a change for the duration of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time a target can be rendered different.

Challenging difficulty makes hellfire permutations last for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. These latter results, of course, assume that something lasts that long without dying or being further changed in the first place!

Hellfire generation functions within far missile distance of its wielder.

Hindrance Generation (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Voodoo Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
Related Powers: empowerment, investment.

The terrifying power of hindrance generation allows its possessor to temporarily hobble others with debilitating, well, hindrances. If its wielder can pass an easy difficulty Hindrance Generation (willpower) action, their target is subject to the deadly whims of this ability. Once its wielder successfully overcomes its target's resistance, they should use the Narrator's aura draw to determine how severe this hindrance is.

An aura draw with a value ranging from one to three makes for a weak hindrance, or alternately one of those hindrances that provide players a set value of inconvenience. Growing worse for the recipient, aura draws from four through six provide for a strong hindrance, seven through nine make for very strong hindrances, and anything greater saddles the target with an extreme level of hindrance.

With the severity of the weakness to be imparted determined, one can determine how the target has been affected with more card play. An automatic result provides initiative penalties, easy imparts a roster-wide power limitation, average difficulty provides enervation, challenging difficulty grants laugourousness, daunting card play offers a susceptibility, and greater difficulties scored provide the target a weakness.

For example, after bowling over the resistance of one's foe, a hindrance generator uses the aura draw's value of seven, and manages a desperate difficulty Hindrance Generation action. 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 third round of card play, made after its nature is found. A result scoring an automatic difficulty lets it last an aura duration, while easy difficulty extends it to the length of an encounter. Average results make them last for the rest of the adventure, while greater difficulties allow it to last through the next game, as well!

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.

History Control (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action. This includes things which were resolved with a simple exchange of card play (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. An average difficulty action 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 (perhaps altering a decision the target of history control made recently).

Similarly, a history controller can attempt incredibly detailed changes in the past. Challenging - or possibly even greater - difficulty 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 is represented by the difficulty involved in reaching back in time with history control - and overrides the previously indicated difficulties if greater in scope.

Reaching back one exchange is of easy difficulty, back through a given encounter is of average difficulty, and challenging difficulty actions can reach up to a day previous. Moving further back through time is even harder, with daunting difficulty for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible for anything more.

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 far missile 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 Narrator, 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 (w)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 far missile 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 easy difficulty card play. Posing as part of a society drastically different, but still hailing from the same species or world as the caster, is of average difficulty. Seemingly belonging naturally to a wholly alien people, at least behaviorally, necessitates a successful, challenging difficulty action.

Ideal for explorers, travelers, and diplomats, homogenization is of incidental use for infiltrators, as well.

Horns (s)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1/2 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 have a base MS equal to their possessor's Strength plus whatever card was played to grant them. During character generation, a player may increase the inherent MS of their horns if desired. This may be done by adding even more cards to one's horns (random character generation) or by spending one half point for each additional intensity 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 +2 in slashing damage with a head butt, while curved horns instead allow one to inflict their Strength +2 in blunt force 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, though they may also add whatever additional damage would be incurred due to the amount of movement executed before connecting with their target(s).

Hostility Screen (w)
Type: Combination Power, Philosophical Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 near missile 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 at the hostility screen power's 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 potent 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 (i)
Type: Combination Power
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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, while doing so in rain or fog gives it a +1 bonus. Wielding ice generation in especially dry and/or hot country will reduce its effectiveness by -1, possibly even -2 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 (ice column) or edged (ice spear) in nature, 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, 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 it is used.

Illusion Projection (w)
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 missile distance. 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 range category an illusion 'wanders' away from its creator, apply an increased difficulty to attempts to maintain believability. This is normally an easy difficulty Illusion Projection (willpower) action.

Speaking of believability, characters subject to a projected 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 a Willpower action opposed by the intensity 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. Projected 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 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 an aura duration.

A projected 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 further illusion projection actions 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 an increased difficulty to the action, and the intensity required to disbelieve an illusion is reduced. This reflects the difficulty of mentally keeping tabs on what so many people are perceiving at a given moment.

Image Animation (i)
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Strength, Agility, and Health scores that are equal to this power's intensity, 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 intensity.

An image may be animated for only an aura duration, 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 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) 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 (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 missile distance; 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 range category a projection 'wanders' away from its creator, apply an increased difficulty to attempts to maintain believability. This is normally an easy difficulty Image Projection (willpower) action.

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 easy difficulty Willpower (image projection) action, 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 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 an aura duration.

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 further image projection actions to verify if the charade is maintained or not.

Imaginary Doubles (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 power's intensity; for example, a character with intensity 5 imaginary doubles could manifest up to five 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 an average difficulty Willpower (imaginary doubles) action; 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 one in six odds for our intensity 5 friend, above.

When first generated, imaginary doubles will manifest within near missile distance of their creator, but can wander out to far missile distance; 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 is a challenging difficulty action, 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 (s)
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity first, as if the character had a similarly potent weight. If the applied force cannot overcome the imaginary mass intensity, 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 (s)
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 cards, 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: experience loss. When an immortal is slain, even though they'll likely be getting back up relatively soon, they lose all banked achievement bonuses. This may not sound like a big deal, but over time such experience loss can seriously hamper an immortal, particularly in comparison to their peers.

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 power intensity to speak of - one either possesses immortality or they do not. During character generation, immortality is a bonus power, costing the player no cards or character points. If a character acquires this ability after character generation, simply calculate its purchase cost normally.

Inanime (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 3 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Inanime result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Conjuration
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Glow
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Image Animation
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Matter Duplication
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Object Animation
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Topological Control

Inaudibility (i)
Type: Physical Control Power
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity - no racket he or she makes with a volume equal to or less than inaudibility's intensity 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 (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 the power's intensity resistance to sonic attacks (whether the actual damage component or any stunning aspects of such).

Characters that are inaudible don't generally increase the difficulty of others to strike them - 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: one increase in difficulty level. Each additional sense that a character can negate (say, if they're also invisible) adds an additional stage of difficulty to others trying to spot him or her.

Inculcation (i)
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 intensity of one spell into a follower. A follower may be given the ability to cast spells at any intensity desired, as long as the appropriate amount of faith is expended, with an upper limit equal to the inculcation power intensity.

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 intensity so boosted. Alternately, a cleric may simply boost the intensity of their spells via their own achievement bonuses - 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 (i)
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 will harmlessly absorb the damage of any attack equal to or less than its spell intensity (or its intensity divided by four, and then added to Strength, if that would be higher). If damage greater than its spell intensity strikes the individual shield, it will dissipate - but no damage from that specific attack will affect the shield's creator.

Inferiority Complex (w)
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 one pass an easy difficulty Inferiority Complex (willpower) action against their target. An artificial inferiority complex will last for an aura duration, during which time its victim cannot use Edge or Trump at all - even to save their own life. Of course, one may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (inferiority complex) action to shrug off the inferiority complex on each subsequent exchange.

Inferiority complex only functions within near missile distance of its wielder.

Infravision (w)
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 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.

Infusion (i)
Type: Geomancy Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 intensity, whether it serves as a basis for damage, material strength, effective intangibility, or whatever else one attempts. Infusion will only persist for an aura duration, 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 an increased difficulty. 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 (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
Related Powers: grace, lethality, luck, time control.

Normally, initiative occurs in the order of characters with the highest to lowest Agility, with ties being broken in the order of highest to lowest Intellect. 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!

With an easy difficulty action, an initiative controller can change 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.). An average difficulty action lets the initiative controller reconfigure the initiative of everyone present, friend and foe alike, causing actions to take place when they dictate in a given exchange.

A challenging difficulty action allows for a more serious temporal change. With this level of success, the initiative controller may add an action to one's rotation in an exchange, 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 another sometime later.

That's the idea, anyway. Successive challenging difficulty initiative control actions could potentially remove a given character's ability to act for several exchanges, 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 (i)
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity in protection against detection by a sense of smell - whether natural or artificial in origin. Even a lesser intensity of inodoriferous generally works well against most beings, only coming into question when particularly aware characters encounter the inodoriferous individual - who must pass an easy difficulty Willpower (inodoriferous) action 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 one increase in difficulty level. On the other hand, others do suffer such a penalty 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 (w)
Type: Faerie Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 Intellect action when dosed with the inspiration spell, operating at either this spell intensity or the character's Intellect +1, 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 requires an easy difficulty intangibility action opposed by the MS or intensity of coherent energy field one attempts to pass through. A failed action simply causes a seemingly intangible character to deflect off of the item as if they were not intangible, while success indicates they pass through it normally. The automatic action rule is recommended here, lest the intangible character flip cards every exchange 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 pass a challenging difficulty intangibility (material strength) action, the failure of which 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 fall unconscious, or possibly into a coma!

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 of challenging difficulty 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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Voodoo Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 others. Such uses can be beneficial, but for the most part this power is used to the considerable detriment of its targets. When wielded to harm others, integral control will inflict its power intensity in SD metabolic damage, upon passing an easy difficulty Integral Control (strength) action against targets within near missile distance.

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 an increase in the difficulty of Strength actions made by a character during its induced cardiac event.
• Gastrointestinal 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 (increased difficulty on Agility actions) to an inability to concentrate or think clearly (increased difficulty on Intellect 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 (i)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 to make the resultant combination function.

If this is a living being, the interfacer must pass an easy difficulty interfacing action, opposed by the Strength of the target - even if they are willing. If the subject of the power isn't alive or lacks a Strength score (often the case when wiring up an area), an interfacer must merely pass the same 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, 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 (i)
Type: Physical Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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.

A character with an internal universe can open the door to this new reality at will, 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 an easy difficulty Internal Universe (strength) action.

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 intensity squared - 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
Related Powers: boon, empowerment, hindrance generation, link, power absorption, power amplification, power attenuation, power block, power control, power transfer.

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 actions, 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. An easy difficulty action allows them to enhance any of their target's physical abilities, up to their normal maximum. An example of this would be increasing one's Strength or Agility (or whatever) up to ten (10). An average difficulty action allows for the creation of super-human ability scores - at least, as high as investment allows (see below).

A challenging 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 intensity squared, 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 intensity of a newly invested ability depends on the intensity of investment itself. Invested ability enhancements have a maximum equal to the investment intensity (with a minimum boost of +1), while invested powers will manifest at the investment intensity -2. 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 adding his Strength in opposition to the investment action.

At any rate, once the powers have been imbued into the target, it's time to figure out how long they'll last. An easy difficulty action will make imbued powers last for a number of days equal to the investment intensity. An average difficulty will extend this figure to weeks, and a challenging difficulty action can make such abilities semi-permanent, allowing them to linger for a number of months equal to the investment intensity.

Assuming the investor does not remove the powers before that time has elapsed.

Mind you, a challenging action can instead make permanent super-powers or other improvements in the target. This is entirely up to the Narrator, and where player characters are concerned, may require they pay the achievement bonus 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 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 power intensity 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of the character who wields it. Non-living targets can be rendered invisible with an easy difficulty action, but living targets add their Strength score in opposition to avoid the effect (if unwilling).

The effects of invisibility / others will last for an amount of time dependent on variables that are present when the ability is invoked. An easy difficulty invisibility / others action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the invisibility for the duration of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time a target can be rendered invisible.

To wit, challenging difficulty makes it last for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. All of this assumes the wielder chooses to render his or her targets invisible for the full duration; they can deactivate it at their leisure early, if desired.

Once invisible, the 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 an increased difficulty to Agility actions for an aura duration, 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 an easy difficulty 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 (i)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty invisibility action, opposed by the intensity of whatever else is making the invisible object or person invisible).

The power intensity 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 an increased difficulty level.

Invulnerability (s)
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 Saga System 13 game, 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 each.

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 near missile range 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. 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 (a)
Type: Movement Power, Elementalism Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of this power's possessor.

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 intensity 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 intensity 16, 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 its power level - though jelling is usually capped at a maximum velocity of intensity 6 speeds.

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 (i)
Type: Combination Power
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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: with beyond visual range. 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 push it out into rangeless territory. Such a boost to jeopardy allows it to drop its wielder on other planets - or maybe even in other galaxies altogether, when you get down to it.

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 far missile 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, an intensity 12 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 one to ten days (draw a card), 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 challenging difficulty jeopardy action to hold it at bay. This action must be repeated every exchange, 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 exchanges worth of delay might be enough for the character with jeopardy to call in sick from work!

Judicature (w)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an aura duration, 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 intensity. It inflicts a like amount of damage per assault, though a given crime may only be used to facilitate punishment via judicature once. If the opponent of the caster of this spell is a proper scofflaw, however, this may not be much of a concern.

Jumbling (w)
Type: Mental Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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.

Jumbling can affect a target if its wielder can pass an easy difficulty Jumbling (willpower) action against them. If they fall prey to the power, victims of jumbling will have their communications scrambled until they can pass an easy difficulty Willpower (jumbling) action, allowed each subsequent exchange. While it may take characters with a weaker Willpower longer to ultimately shake jumbling off, almost everyone can in time.

Almost.

One must be within near missile distance of his or her foes to wield jumbling against them.

Jury Rigging (i)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. An easy action is necessary when applicable parts and tools are on hand, even if not specifically designed for the task in question. Average actions are 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 challenging (or greater) jury rigging action is called for when one lacks both the parts and the tools necessary to make a 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 amount of time these power-enhanced repairs last depends on a second power check, made after the initial repair roll succeeds. An easy action allows a jury rigged repair to last for a number of exchanges equal to the power intensity. Average difficulty actions extend this time to a number of minutes equal to the power intensity. And a challenging action will let it last for a number of hours equal to the power intensity.

Which might be just long enough for someone to get the jury rigged device to a proper repair bay. Maybe.

K

Keeper (w)
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: edge control.

When invoking keeper, its possessor has the ability to inextricably tie their fate to that of another. While active, this allows keeper's wielder to aid that individual, namely by making use of Edge and Trump, out of their own hand, to benefit their card play. This is the only means by which one player may play cards to directly aid the card play of another, making it an extremely potent ability.

How this works is that, while the beneficiary of keeper is attempting an action, any action, this power's wielder may directly aid them at their discretion. They may play their Edge cards at will, and may also Trump when the suit of their own cards match that utilized by keeper's focus. This bolstered card play is often enough to achieve great successes, or at least blunt the effect of Doom cards.

The only danger in using keeper to assist others is that it might take away opportunities to make use of either Edge or Trump when its wielder attempts actions of their own. That, and the use of keeper itself is somewhat constrained. The first use of keeper during an adventure is of automatic difficulty, while each subsequent activation of the power is increased by one difficulty level.

Kinetic Absorption (s)
Type: Energy Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 bashing, slashing, piercing, or even force damage - any attack form which inflicts these kinds of damage may be affected by kinetic absorption.

Using kinetic absorption, its possessor can automatically absorb an amount of damage from the above forms equal to its intensity, with superfluous damage being inflicted upon them normally. This absorbed damage is placed into a pool of power for the character's use. Said power pool can hold a maximum amount of energy that is equal to the kinetic absorption intensity squared.

For example, wielding this ability at intensity 20 allows one to store a four 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 absorbed energy? Its main use is to recover lost health, doing so by 'purchasing' lost cards of such on a point-per-point basis. In fact, if one's Health is at its normal maximum, an energy absorber can pad it with extra cards, which can only be used to counter Health loss - having up to twice one's usual count. This energy may also be released as a force blast, at any intensity up to this power's.

Alternately, the energy purloined by kinetic absorption may be used to enhance one's physical ability scores, raising their Strength or Agility. This boost lasts for an aura duration, after which point one's enhanced capabilities will return to normal. Enhanced abilities may be raised to the kinetic absorption intensity (if less than it in power) or by +1 (if equal to or greater than it in power).

Kinetic Energy Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Geomancy Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action, opposed by the intensity of its speed (if moving) or its weight (if stationary). If this action 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 intensity in 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 exchange to exchange.

Kinetic Focus (s)
Type: Physical Control Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 would do, and instead replace it with power intensity concussive 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 (i)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 the remaining development time down to but an exchange to produce a temporarily working prototype.

When an item is kit-bashed, it will generally only function for an aura duration before becoming inoperable - possibly spectacularly.

Wielding the kit-bashing power, a character can reproduce the effects of kit-bashing, making the required invention action with either this power intensity or their Intellect score +1, whichever of the two is higher. Furthermore, the kit-basher may disregard the achievement bonus 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 (i)
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: group link, linguistics, ultimate skill, variable skill, 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 skill automatically, with each additional skill adding one difficulty level to the action required to adopt the knowledge in question. Thus, the higher an intensity one possesses, the more skills they can easily simulate at once.

For example, an adventurer with intensity 8 knowledge finds herself in a bind she can't talk her way out of. With knowledge, she can immediately manifest three (3) fighting skills with ease, though each additional combat skill she'd like to momentarily develop will tax her hand a bit more.

Any skill in Saga System 13 may be adopted, however temporarily, by the use of this power. It readily lends itself to skill stacking, allowing a character to gain up to +4 on an action if they can manifest enough skills 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 skill. Adopting a level 2 skill (for additional trump capability) may be done by counting it as two separate skills for the purposes of skill adoption, and a level 3 skill (for overwhelming trump capacity) may be adopted by counting it as four distinct skills. This can be quite hard without a high intensity in knowledge, but is still possible.

Furthermore, knowledge is a great avenue for characters to learn skills in the normal fashion. By training extensively in the use of a skill over time, one can use this self-education to master the skill in question. This may or may not be cheaper than simply adding to the operating intensity of the knowledge power through achievement bonuses, but 'normal' skills don't count against the skills knowledge can grant a character.

Thus, the more skills a character with knowledge possesses normally, the more they're capable of when they actually bring this ability to bear!

L

Layered Shield (i)
Type: Dimensional Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

A layered shield is essentially a heavily reinforced individual shield. It operates in the same fashion, save that it is, well, layered. For every intensity above 1 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 intensity, more than one layer of the shield may be broken. For each additional +1 of damage beyond the first that is above this spell's intensity, another layer will be broken; a +10 assault will, for instance, shatter nine 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 exchange. The specific protection a layered shield offers is identical to that of its individual counterpart. In other words, it offers its spell intensity, or its intensity divided by four and added to one's Strength, whichever is higher.

Learned Invulnerability (s)
Type: Reality Control Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 4 points per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action, opposed by its intensity. If successful, the character develops resistance to that form of damage equal to that which was received - with an upper limit of this power's intensity.

For example, a hero who has just acquired intensity 10 learned resistance is attacked by a group of thugs. After being struck with fists for intensity 6 bashing damage, the hero can acquire like resistance to such damage if he can pass the described action against the amount of damage inflicted. From then on, he'll retain that intensity 6 resistance indefinitely - unless he opts to replace it with a different one.

This power can replace lower intensity resistances with higher level 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. Ideally one will find a form of damage equal to their power intensity to adapt to, to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering. Ideally, anyway.

That hero with intensity 10 learned invulnerability might want additional resistance to blunt 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 resistance to blunt 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 intensity. 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 intensity. 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 bashing protection lapse - until he can recover it later, that is.

Lethality (s)
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
Related Powers: causality control, edge control, grace, initiative 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 (such as striking a foe with a baseball bat) will be treated as if it were (as if, say, striking a foe with a broad sword). Such attacks bear the risk of dropping one's opponent into a coma if reducing their Health to zero (0), much like if one were making use of the Brawling skill.

On the other hand, if attempting a deadly attack while lethality is active (the broad sword strike listed above, for instance), one has the danger of dropping a foe into a coma even before removing all of their Health! When taking damage from an attacker bolstered by lethality, one must pass an easy difficulty Strength action, opposed by the intensity of lethality or the damage taken (whichever is higher) to avoid this occurrence.

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 achievement bonuses, 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 (a)
Type: Movement Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per power intensity
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 intensity, as if it was an equivalent Strength score; for example, intensity 10 levitation could haul up to half a ton into the air with its wielder. This ability can be used to move vertically incredibly quick, doing so at its intensity 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 intensity), though when doing so a levitator has no control over their ultimate velocity or destination.

Lie Detection (w)
Type: Mental Power, Clerical Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 card play 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 an easy difficulty Willpower (lie detection) action. If the target can succeed in this action, 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 near missile distance of its wielder.

Life Ray (s)
Type: Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity. 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 loss of Strength.

By alternating this power with, say, a damage inflicting attack, one can use their life rays to rapidly diminish their target's Strength score, potentially killing them in the process - even if they die with 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 far missile distance of their wielder.

Light Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, they may nonetheless alter any light in their environment as they see fit. Such alterations invariably require that a light controller pass an easy difficulty light control action, opposed by the intensity of light they intend to manipulate.

The intensity of light may either be increased to a level equal to the light control power intensity, or reduced by a similar value. If light of equal or less intensity than the light control power's intensity 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 far missile distance) 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 intensity 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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's intensity. Light generated by this power is most effective within far missile distance, and may be used to illuminate the entire area or a single target, with bright enough intensities of light being capable of temporarily blinding others (easy difficulty Light Control (strength) action).

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 physical 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 energetic 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 exchanges. For each doubling of exchanges a laser strikes the same point, its damage can be increased by +1 - to a maximum benefit of +5. For example, an intensity 10 laser beam trained on the same location for thirty-two exchanges will ultimately inflict intensity 15 Armor Piercing energy damage on each subsequent exchange.

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 (i)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Eclecticism Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: animal sympathy, computer link, device sympathy, knowledge, object sympathy, plant sympathy, summoning, telepathy, transception, translation, ultimate skill, variable skill, 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 intensity squared. To master more, a character must either study additional language skills (during character generation or via character advancement) or raise the intensity 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. Contemporary languages on one's world are easy, dead languages from such are of average difficulty, humanoid alien languages are challenging, data and non-sentient animal 'tongues' are daunting, and nonhumanoid alien and stranger languages (pheromone signals, photonic expression) are of desperate difficulty.

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 reduced difficulty, no matter its form.

Link (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 skill.

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 additional person participating in a link, add a +1 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 +7 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 an average difficulty 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, increases the difficulty to initiate (easy) or alter the membership (average) of this linked power pool by one level for each component individual that doesn't 'match' the rest.

Loathing (w)
Type: Voodoo Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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. With an easy difficulty Loathing (willpower) action, the user of this power can cause his target to loathe something with every fiber of their being, and the victim must pass an average difficulty Willpower action 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 an aura duration, 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 far missile distance of its wielder.

Locational Memory (i)
Type: Eclecticism Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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, 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 an easy difficulty action. Remembering precisely where one has been if that location was visited in a different universe or time period is of average difficulty. Challenging actions 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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action (latitude and/or longitude, distances, et cetera). Average difficulty actions add time to the equation (3.5 hours since I woke up, or some such). A challenging difficulty action 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 (w)
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank
Related Powers: ability boost, luck, nimiety, power boost, 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 or maintaining it, its possessor must pass a Logos action each exchange, the difficulty of such depending on its influence.

While active, the power of logos compels the world to walk in lockstep with one's desires, reducing the difficulty of any action they attempt, save for those which keep it functioning. Each action it bolsters, however, increases the difficulty to uphold logos, from a base of easy, by one level, this increase 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 card play 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 card play to keep logos running, however, the character suffers a causal backlash, which comes in the form of like difficulty increases applied to their subsequent actions.

In other words, for each action that logos enhanced before it failed, the Narrator may 'bank' an increase in the difficulty of any future action its wielder attempts. They may apply these penalties 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) (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Dimensional Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: permanent
Cost: 1/4 point per power intensity
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 one plus longevity's intensity cubed. The formula for longevity is as follows:

(normal lifespan (70) minus age longevity acquired) times longevity power's intensity cubed plus one = eventual lifespan

To show this formula at work, let us look at those dwarves from before. With their 'mere' intensity 2 longevity, we can determine their eventual lifespan by plugging numbers into the formula as described. Seventy (normal human life span) times nine (two to longevity's intensity cubed plus one) is six hundred and thirty 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 intensity 10, we can plug in the numbers and go with thirty-five (life span minus her age) times one thousand and one (intensity 10 longevity cubed plus 1), resulting in thirty-five thousand and thirty-five 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 intensity 30 (point-based system, for 7.5 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 (w)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 cards are played. When card play occurs, a character with luck may draw a card from the top of the deck; if he or she likes the value and/or the suit of the card better, they may choose that card instead of the one being played - whether a player's or the Narrator draw.

In other words, the player wielding luck may declare they are manipulating card play 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 play reveals a doom card (whether or not it is used), the Narrator should collect it and play it against the luck manipulator within a number of exchanges equal to the card's value.

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 within near missile distance (whether good or bad), or even being unable to affect the luck of inanimate objects at all.

This limitation does not increase the power (or discount the cost) of luck.

The intensity for luck is used for few things, and actions for such are rarely invoked. Luck's intensity 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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Dimensional Spell, Superpsi Art, Theonic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 an average difficulty action, while more complex and intimate details may take a challenging difficulty action. Actions of even greater difficulty may be required for particularly obscure, arcane, or secret and forbidden lore.

One thing a character with macro sense can do without card play is track extremely powerful entities in his or her area. They will automatically sense sources of intensity 20 or greater power within their vicinity, thus being described as beyond visual distance.

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.

Each time one uses their macro sense, they must pass an Intellect action. This action increases in difficulty, from automatic, each time the power is used on a given day. Thus, a character with a higher Intellect (or at least the right cards) can manage many uses of the power without undue risk. If this action ever fails, however, the character will slip into temporary insanity, caused by information overload.

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 may cause the generation of deleterious mental hindrances!

Magic Magnet (i)
Type: Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 one passes an easy difficulty Magic Magnet action, opposed by the intensity of nearby sorcery. 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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 within far missile distance, 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 easy difficulty action, unless its user is taking active steps to mask its use. If so, spotting it adds the intensity of the masking power to this action.

Other than detecting sorcery in one's proximity, a magic sense also has additional uses. An average difficulty action allows one 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 challenging action can be used to pinpoint exactly which spell is being used on a person, place, or thing.

Magnetism Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty power action, opposed by 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 by an amount equal to this power intensity, 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 far missile distance of its wielder.

Magnetism Generation (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance with a pulse of magnetic energy, or simply focus it at a specific target within far missile distance of their person. Doing the former requires no 'to hit' action, 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 intensity. 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 intensity strength.

Masking (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Masking result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Age Control / Self
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Animal Hybridization / Self
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Blending
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Disguise
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Illusion Projection
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Plant Hybridization / Self

Matter Absorption (s)
Type: Matter Control Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 exchange that is equal to their power intensity 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 intensity 10 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?

Material internalized by this power can serve as fuel for other super-human capabilities, for one thing. It can also be expelled with power intensity force, causing damage appropriate to its type (generally bashing or concussive, depending) by firing off an amount of matter equal to that which one can absorb in a single exchange. 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 intensity 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 attempt card play if he or she wishes to use it on the proffered material(s). As long as the result of this action is at least easy in difficulty, 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 an average difficulty action.

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 challenging difficulty action.

When copying material, matter duplication can only produce so much at once. It may produce, per exchange, an amount of matter equal to its power intensity in pounds. If one wishes to duplicate an object of larger mass, they must use the power for multiple exchanges, spending the appropriate amount of time to manifest a singular object if its weight exceeds their per-exchange 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. An easy difficulty matter duplication action guarantees that a copy lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of the copy's existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created matter will remain extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made matter persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's copies are considered permanent entities - they will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when matter duplication brought them into existence.

Matter Generation (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous (unless building particularly large items)
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 equal to their power intensity, in pounds, each exchange. If one wishes to construct something larger, they must spend more than one exchange generating it. For example, a character with intensity 20 matter generation can produce twenty pounds of material per exchange. To make something that weighs one hundred pounds, they would have to spend five exchanges 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 per exchange, 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. An easy difficulty matter generation action guarantees that the created matter lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of the matter's existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created matter will remain extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made matter persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's creations are considered permanent objects - they will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when matter generation brought them into existence.

Matter generation functions within near missile distance of its wielder, and then only within his or her direct line-of-sight. The power can generate matter anywhere within that radius, but is blocked by any intervening solid matter (such as a glass window) or a force field. Such generated materials 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 Intellect score squared. Remembering more requires one to forget an older design, though the eidetic memory power bypasses this limitation.

Typically, a 'to hit' action 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, the target's Agility is added in opposition. 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 an action is required when the item is created. A simple elemental material or molecular compound (such as iron or bronze) is of easy difficulty. Average difficulty actions are necessary when producing complex chemical compounds or artificial elemental material (such as buckyballs or mendelevium).

A challenging or greater difficulty 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 counts as a limitation, the benefit depending on how long such transient matter can exist. Allowing mass to persist for only an encounter would be inconvenient, indeed!

Mechanical Disruption (i)
Type: Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

Wielding this ability, a character can induce failure in any one mechanical device in his or her vicinity, as defined by far missile 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 an aura duration. Generally, it is induced by overwhelming vibrational interference - not an impact, so much as movement sufficient enough to cause malfunction.

A character may disrupt a mechanical item if they can pass an easy difficulty action against either the operating intensity of non-sentient devices (such as a bicycle), or its Strength versus animate items (such as a robotic soldier). Generally, items so disrupted 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 (i)
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 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.

Producing one mental double requires successful card play of easy difficulty. Each additional step of difficulty one achieves with that card play (average, challenging, etc.) produces an additional double in the character's mind, if they so choose. 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), add the intensity of this power to the action made at the beginning of each exchange. This allows the mental doubler to potentially increase the number of such abilities they can effectively wield simultaneously, which is quite a boon.

A mental doubler can attempt a number of total actions equal to the amount of minds present in his or her head, though physical activities are limited to the amount the character can normally perform. Whichever copies of oneself aren't using the character's body, then, would need to utilize skill-equivalent powers instead - though all must divide their pre-card play scores between the number of minds taking action.

Mental Invisibility (i)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity).

To even spot a mentally invisible individual, a psionic ability must first pass an average difficulty action, opposed by 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 an increased difficulty.

Mental Repair (w)
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: clarity, cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, mind lock, mind wipe, psychic probe, recovery, resurrection, resuscitation, telepathy.

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 psychological hindrances to the damage wrought by psionic powers can ultimately be healed by this ability.

When invoked, the character with mental repair must pass an easy difficulty Mental Repair (willpower) action against its target. If successful, they 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, this time opposed by the intensity of the original power if known. If the original power intensity is unknown, draw a random card.

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 hindrances 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 the length of an encounter). 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 hindrances, one must work with their Narrator to resolve how such issues are dealt with permanently.

Mental Trap (w)
Type: Eclecticism Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an aura duration 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 intensity in karmic damage if they pass an easy Mental Trap (willpower) action.

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 an increased difficulty to the power they attempted to use in the first place, two increases if they actually suffered damage while doing so (it impedes concentration).

Mesmerism (w)
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: charm, crowd control, daydreams, dream projection, fugue, mind control, mind duplication, possession, sleep, telepathy.

Mesmerism is an advanced form of the hypnotism skill. 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 with an easy difficulty Mesmerism (willpower) action.

Bear in mind that one must be within near missile 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 intensity squared, and can even override the target's ethics on a challenging difficulty Mesmerism (willpower) action (the target, having stopped smoking for over two months thanks to an intensity 8 mesmerism suggestion, may resume his habit if he chooses at this point - or continue to enjoy his extra pocket change).

Mesmermechanism (w)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity.

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 requires an easy difficulty mesmermechanism 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 adds the impeding Willpower score or power intensity in opposition to to this action.

Metabolic Focus (s)
Type: Physical Control Power, Eclecticism Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: ability boost, power boost.

Something of a self-destructive ability, metabolic focus allows one to sacrifice their own bodily energies to enhance their super-human powers. For each Health point the wielder of this ability sacrifices, they may add a direct, one point boost to the intensity 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 an aura duration - most often enough to last throughout 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 intensity or the enhanced power's intensity +1, whichever is higher.

Microscopic Vision (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity, 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, intensity 1 microscopic vision will allow one to read microfiche, while intensity 6 lets one view single cells. An intensity of 11 allows one to visualize molecules, while intensity 16 microscopic vision may perceive individual atoms. Intensity 21 through 25 allows one to spy ever-smaller subatomic particles, while intensity 26 and up 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 within close combat range, which is highly limited - but appropriate, considering the physics involved.

Mimicry (w)
Type: Eclecticism Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 +2 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 intensity is of an equal or greater level than the spells it would enhance in this fashion.

Mind Control (w)
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 will be placed under the mind controller's thrall if he or she can succeed in an easy difficulty Mind Control (willpower) action.

While the victim of mind control must initially be within near missile distance, the range at which he or she can still be controlled is increased to artillery 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 - unless ordered to do something diametrically opposed to their moral structure (which allows an average difficulty Willpower (mind control) action to shake off this power). While so controlled, the victim of this power may not trump or edge on any action, unless their own existence is in direct jeopardy (which also allows card play to resist).

Mind control lasts for a number of minutes equal to its power intensity, 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous or maintenance, depending
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile 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 level of success achieved when it is used on its subject. Easy difficulty card play only duplicates the target's personality, while an average action adds most major memories. A challenging difficulty involves a comprehensive memory copy, along with any skills the subject possesses. A daunting action even adds in any skill-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 -4 to its 'real' Willpower 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 Willpower 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 contingent mind duplication action, made after an initial success. An easy difficulty mind duplication action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration, while an average action extends the copy's life for the duration of an encounter. A challenging difficulty action allows it to last a day, while daunting stretches the duplicate's time out to a week.

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 skills and skill-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 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance 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 challenging difficulty Willpower (mind link) action 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 they pass an easy difficulty Mind Lock (willpower) action against their target, the user of mind lock will stop their victim 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 attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (mind lock) action to resist this ability each exchange. 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 exchange.

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 a target. 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 exchange or said lock will resume while maintained.

Mind lock only functions within near missile distance of its target.

Mind Transfer (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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, this psionic power requires an easy difficulty Mind Transfer (willpower) action, unless the targets of the power are explicitly willing subjects. If the wielder of this ability passes this action against an unwilling target (or targets), 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 Intellect and Willpower scores, as well as their achievement bonus total, mental hindrances, 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 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. An easy difficulty mind transfer action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the switch for the duration of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time a mind swap lasts.

Challenging difficulty makes it last for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. All of this assumes the wielder chooses to transfer minds for the full duration; he or she can return them to their rightful place early at their leisure if desired.

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 near missile distance of its user.

Mind Walk (i)
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. These 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 an average difficulty Mind Walk (willpower) action against 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 intensity or their normal intensity +1, 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 exchange, but may take a minute or longer depending on the depth of information removed from the target's mind. Unless the target is explicitly willing, one must pass an average difficulty Mind Wipe (willpower) action against their would-be victim to perform this task upon them.

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 average difficulty mental repair action, opposed by the intensity of the mind wipe that caused the damage to begin with.

Mind wipe only functions on targets within close combat distance of its wielder.

Missile Generation (a)
Type: Combination Power, Geomancy Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, edged, or piercing) the initial projectile can inflict.

Projectiles created by missile generation will possess a maximum material strength equal to its power intensity. They also manifest with considerable velocity, having an effective ability to hit foes within far missile distance. Items fired at others by missile generation will inflict its power intensity in damage, or its power intensity divided by four and added to its wielder's Agility, whichever of the two is higher.

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 encounter is equal to its power intensity. 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 (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of their person. Characters with mood swings can do this upon a successful Mood Swings (willpower) action, but its targets won't know the power was used even if it fails to affect them.

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 exchanges involved depending on the nature of the emotional transition.

Mortal Guise (w)
Type: Clerical Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 and divine beings alike. If this power's wielder cannot pass an easy difficulty action, opposed by the targets' Willpower scores, he or she can be seen in their true form - but mortals won't sense any deionic powers unless their use is obvious to standard senses (flashes of light, and so on). Deific beings, if not stymied by this power, can perceive the nature of its wielder's true power.

Assuming they were at all trying to determine such, that is.

Motivity (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Motivity result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Dimensional Transit
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Dream Projection
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Flight
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Mind Walk
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Teleportation
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Time Travel

Mystic Servant (w)
Type: Dimensional Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 intensity. 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 intensity and intensity 5 abilities, save for its Intellect 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 -2 penalty to the ranks of the servants' special abilities and Intellect; maintaining additional transient entities dilutes their overall effectiveness.

N

Nanotechnology Generation (i)
Type: Combination Power, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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. An easy difficulty action guarantees that its creations last for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of its existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created nano-stuff remains extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made nano-device persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's creations are considered permanent objects - they will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when nanotechnology generation brought them into existence.

One can only generate nanotechnology within near missile 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 intensity. 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 intensity metabolic damage against anything not resistant to like attack at a similar intensity - 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 intensity times three. Similarly, by properly aligning the molecules of a device, atomatons can increase its material strength by +2.

* 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 intensity 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 intensity resistance to disease and poison, or eventually even longevity or regeneration!

Nativity Sense (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Skill, Psimotive Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 anywhere within far missile distance of its possessor, and will reveal the presence of such items or persons upon a successful, easy difficulty action. If the target is attempting to hide their outsider status, they may add the intensity of whatever power or contrivance they are using in the attempt in opposition to this action.

Nature Control (i)
Type: Geomancy Spell
Duration: aura duration + 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 power intensity (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 power intensity (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 power intensity (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 power intensity (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 power intensity (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 power intensity (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 power intensity (per weather control).

Geomancers can use whatever elements they hold sway over to inflict spell intensity 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 concussive damage, while fire causes SD energy harm, and earth can dish out bashing or slashing 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 (s)
Type: Geomancy Spell, Theonic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity 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 intensity 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 (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Entreaty Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 a reduction in the difficulty of actions the character with nimiety attempts. For every such reduction the wielder of nimiety receives from his or her fellows, however, those who have been chosen to donate their potential to it suffer a two-step increase in the difficulty of any card play they attempt.

When activated, the vast array of divergent probabilities that nimiety creates is centered upon its wielder, which adjusts causality within its area of effect, one that extends out to artillery distance. 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 difficulty reductions, 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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty nonapparent vision action against the intensity 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: while maintained (for each animated object)
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 missile 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 intensity; animating a diamond ring is more difficult than animating a refrigerator. Furthermore, they must be of a weight equal to or less than this intensity as if it were an equivalent Strength score. An intensity 12 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 an Agility score equal to this intensity, while the damage they can inflict (if any) will be determined by either the objects' material strength or this power intensity (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 (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Geomancy Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity energy damage to everything within close combat distance of where it explodes.

When this occurs, the object so charged must make an easy difficulty material strength check against the intensity of this power. If this action 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 (i)
Type: Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

The chilling power of object cooling allows its user to decrease the temperature of an item or mass in his or her vicinity, that being described as the space within near missile distance of their person. Every exchange a psi wields this skill on an object, they can apply a chilling field that increases the cold of the item by +1, to a maximum limit that is equal to object cooling's power intensity - 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 each exchange, until it returns to normal.

If used on a living being, the power requires an easy difficulty action opposed by the target's Strength. If this action succeeds, the target suffers intensity 1 cold damage the first exchange, intensity 2 cold damage the second exchange, and so on, up to a ceiling of this power's intensity. This action must be repeated each exchange to keep affecting the living. Armor isn't effective against this damage, but resistance to cold or energy is.

Object Hardening (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous, though short maintenance can improve the effect further
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity - or its own MS +1, if that would be higher. Each additional exchange the power is used on an item can boost its MS a further +1, with a practical ceiling of 30.

The duration an item is hardened for depends on variables present when the ability is used. An easy difficulty object hardening action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the stiffening for the duration of an encounter.

Each higher difficulty scored increases the time a target can be rendered hard. Challenging difficulty makes it last for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. This assuming the wielder chooses to render their targets harder for the full duration; he or she can remove the effect at will.

The problem with hardening a living being is that it makes movement for them much more difficult. Each +1 of hardening applied to one's body reduces their Agility and Strength by -1, until movement is rendered impossible at intensity zero (0) for both. Inflicting hardening upon an unwilling target requires passing an easy difficulty Object Hardening (strength) action 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 a bonus to bashing damage equal to the new material strength divided by four.

Object hardening can be wielded against any objects within near missile distance of its possessor.

Object Projection (w)
Type: Mental Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity 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 as if flying at an equivalent power intensity.

Object projecting is an action which must be maintained consciously, but it may be done for quite a while; object projection has a maximum duration equal to its intensity squared in hours. For example, a character with intensity 24 object projection may shed their consciousness and let it wander around in nearby objects for twenty-four 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 skill). 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 (w)
Type: Matter Control Power, Alchemy Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 on an easy difficulty action, relatively simple manufactured items (swords, tools) will talk with average difficulty, and natural items (bones, branches, rock) only release information on a challenging difficulty 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 far missile distance of an object to communicate with it in this fashion, though handling something offers the best results.

Object Warming (i)
Type: Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile distance. Every exchange a psi applies this power to an object, they can increase the intensity of its given heat by +1, to a maximum limit equal to this ability's power intensity. 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 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 power requires an easy difficulty action opposed by the target's Strength. If this action succeeds, the target suffers intensity 1 heat damage the first exchange, intensity 2 heat damage the second exchange, and so on, up to a ceiling of this power intensity. This action must be repeated each exchange to continue affecting the living.

Armor isn't effective against this damage, but any resistance to energy, fire, or heat is.

Object Weakening (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 exchange this ability is applied to an object, its effective MS will sink by -1, to a bottom intensity of 1. When the power is no longer concentrated on the item in question, it will recover +1 of its lost MS each subsequent exchange, 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 near missile distance of its possessor - as long as there are no intervening objects between the target and this power.

Offensive Portals (i)
Type: Philosophical Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity 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 (w)
Type: Theonic Art, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 +2 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 (i)
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 an easy difficulty omnipresence action. 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 (w)
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile distance of one of their faithful.

Ophidia (i)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 3 points per power intensity

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 an increased difficulty. 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.

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Animal Control
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Animal Hybridization / Others
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Animal Hybridization / Self
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Animal Sympathy
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Organism Generation
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Summoning

Opposition (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 an entire exchange, 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 intensity.

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 exchange, 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 an aura duration.

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 (i)
Type: Technopsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty Optimization action. 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 means the item was damaged in the process of optimization, and is now in need of some sort of repair.

Organic Circuitry (i)
Type: Combination Power, Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 exchange, 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 intensity in effectiveness, a dedicated organic device operates at this intensity +2.

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 regeneration score equal to the organic circuitry power intensity, 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 intensity, in pounds, each exchange. Building something larger requires that one spend more than a single exchange generating the desired object. For example, intensity 11 organic circuitry can produce eleven pounds of material per exchange. To make something that weighs one hundred pounds, that intensity 11 organic circuitry must spend ten exchanges 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. Easy actions are required under normal circumstances to create organic circuitry, but more 'exotic' biochemistries require higher difficulty card play, 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 Intellect score squared. No matter how complicated or large it ultimately is (or will 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, made after an initial success. An easy difficulty organic circuitry action guarantees that the created item lasts an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of its existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created device will remain extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made living item persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's creations are considered permanent objects. They will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when organic circuitry brought them into existence.

Organic circuitry functions within near missile distance of its wielder, and then only within one's direct line-of-sight. The power can generate organic devices anywhere within that radius, but is blocked by any intervening solid matter (such as a glass window) or a force field. Such items have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately upon their springing into existence.

Organism Generation (i)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 exchange, which is equal to their power intensity. To build a creature that is of greater size than this amount, an organism generator must spend multiple exchanges bringing it into existence. With intensity 15 organism generation, for example, creating a one hundred and fifty pound clone of oneself would take ten exchanges.

When building a new life form, an organism generator generally need only make an easy difficulty power action, after 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 of average difficulty, and if attempting to create life using a strain of chemistry unknown to modern science, the required action is of challenging (or greater) 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 exchange, 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.

The amount of time such spontaneously generated living entities persist is determined by a second action, made after an initial success. An easy difficulty organism generation action guarantees that the created item lasts an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the duration of its existence for the length of an encounter. Each additional difficulty scored increases the time that created device will remain extant.

Challenging difficulty makes the freshly made living item persist for a day, daunting for a week, and desperate for a month. If one achieves a difficulty of greater than desperate with this action, one's creations are considered permanent entities. They will not discorporate at any point in the future - at least, not due to circumstances extant when organism generation brought them into existence.

Organism generation functions within near missile distance of its wielder, and then only within his or her direct line-of-sight. The power can generate life forms anywhere within that radius, but is blocked by any intervening solid matter (such as a glass window) or a force field. Such items have no inherent velocity, but gravity definitely affects them immediately upon their springing into existence.

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 Intellect score squared) - 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 (a)
Type: Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 exchange.
• Brains: by duplicating one's own brain, a character acquires additional mental capacity, adding a temporary +1 to their Intellect score.
• Exoskeletons: by forming a bony shell around one's softer tissues, a character can receive power intensity protection from attack, per body armor. Such a bony exterior can easily be used to inflict bashing damage in melee (resultant damage is calculated per the edges, above). Mind you, it has the effect of lowering one's Agility by -1.
• Eyes: one can grow spare eyes anywhere, really, and can use this for either a reduced difficulty on visual 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 to one's normal movement rate.
• Muscles: by generating additional muscle tissue, one can temporarily increase their Strength, gaining a +1 for each set of muscles they've 'stacked' on.
• Redundant Organs: creating redundant, spare vital organs increases one's base Health point total by half, or half again their allotted number of cards - round up. Such 'bonus' cards cannot be used on actions, only for Health purposes.
• 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.

Origin Sense (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Eclecticism Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty 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. An average difficulty action can showcase things like the origin of one's powers, determining things like aberrant genes, sorcerous training, deific imbuement, etc. Challenging difficulty actions are required when trying to guess what specific power(s) a body has access to - can they fly or shoot eye beams?

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 (or alternately cost four points less).

Origin sense itself only functions within a relatively close range, working on any target within near missile distance.

Overdrive (i)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity +4, but with each use at such a higher operating level, it is likely to fail in a most spectacular fashion. 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. With an easy difficulty overdrive action, opposed by either the intensity a device operates at (if it is non-sentient) or the device's Strength or Willpower (as is applicable, if it is sentient), the character with this power can put any device into overdrive. Overdriven devices must then pass an average difficulty action against the overdrive intensity or fail.

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 (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 Narrator's card play. The power can be used once per game session for each point the character has in it. For example, wielding override at intensity 1 would let someone change the Narrator's cards once per game, while using it at intensity 10 would instead give them ten overrides.

When such a change is made, the general result is that while it originally looked like the cards 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 aren't automatic, and the difficulty of making them depends on their nature. To override the Narrator's card play, one must pass an easy difficulty Override action, opposed by the narrator aura draw card. This will shift the result of the Narrator's card play by one difficulty level (from easy to automatic, for instance), and every additional shift increases override's difficulty by one difficulty level.

P

Pain (i)
Type: Biological Control Power, Voodoo Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile 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 passes an easy difficulty Pain (willpower) action, their targets will be adversely affected by overwhelming pain.

This action must be repeated each exchange to keep the target indisposed. While in a pain-induced haze, 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 who shrug off this power still feel the pain it inflicts, but can act normally (often against its possessor).

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 hindrances 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 -4 but otherwise works the same.

Paralysis (w)
Type: Universal Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

This powerful ability allows its wielder to completely neutralize the actions of a single target. If its wielder passes an easy difficulty paralysis action, opposed by the Willpower of their target, he or she can completely block their ability to act consciously. In other words, a paralyzed foe can still breathe, and retains full sensory awareness of their surroundings, but cannot move or activate any super-human abilities.

Paralysis lasts for an aura duration, unless specifically maintained by its wielder, or neutralized by effects such as clarity. It can affect any one target within far missile distance of its possessor.

Passing (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Passing result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Admittance
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Anchor
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Astral Projection
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Density Control / Self
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Intangibility
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Transformation / Self

Personal Static (i)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 an easy difficulty spell or power action, opposed by the personal static power intensity. 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 (s)
Type: Physiomancy Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 inflict damage based on one's Strength score, with blunt weaponry having a slight edge over edged weaponry for raw output; the latter trades brute force for lethality (see the individual powers for more). Special effects (corrosion, et cetera) function at the personal weaponry intensity regardless of the Strength that backs them up, for they merely use physical weaponry as a delivery mechanism.

Pheromones (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell
Duration: encounter
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of a character with the pheromones power will be subject to that character's influence, for good or ill, if said character can pass an easy difficulty Pheromones (strength) action against them, that is.

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 the duration of the encounter. 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 (w)
Type: Philosophical Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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. One can accomplish this with a simple, easy difficulty action Philosophical Sense action.

It can be used to probe a specific target or everything within far missile 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 concealment adds its intensity in opposition before this power 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 (w)
Type: Voodoo Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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.

One can affect his or her target with this skill by passing an easy difficulty Phobia (willpower) action. Characters who succumb to this power receive an easy difficulty Willpower (phobia) action to resist it on each subsequent exchange, but this may take a while for particularly fearful characters - such as those with the phobic hindrance, who will find doing so considerably difficult.

Phobia works within far missile distance of its wielder.

Pishogue (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Pishogue result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Confusion
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Emotion Control
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Forgetfulness
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Mesmerism
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Paralysis
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Sleep

Planar Control (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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, doing so with an easy difficulty planar control action, opposed by that which made them to begin with (or average difficulty versus 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 space-time alterations is similar to that of related powers. Standard dimensions can be shifted with beyond visual range (per teleportation), allowing someone with intensity 10 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 intensity 10 planar control could easily move a few 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 blurred by planar control depends on its intensity. From 1 to 10 can cover the space within near missile distance, while 11 to 20 can cover far missile distance, and 21+ can reach out to artillery distance - that's a lot of real estate! A blended space remains for up to a number of exchanges equal to the power intensity - 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 (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty plant control action, since most floral entities don't have a Willpower score to speak of, though such an action is never considered automatic in nature. If it is sentient, add its Willpower in opposition.

Control of a single plant generally lasts for an aura duration per application of this power, unless its wielder specifically focuses on maintaining his or her influence for longer. It can affect any plant within far missile distance of its possessor, though once control is achieved, it can be exerted anywhere within artillery 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 an average difficulty plant control action, as seizing command of that many plants is rather involved. This action must be repeated each exchange, 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 bashing or slashing damage that is equal to their weight (as an equivalent Strength score), with a minimum intensity of 1 - and a maximum score that is equal to the plant control power intensity.

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 exchange. 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 (i)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity 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. Its effects occur as a contingent action, assuming its wielder can pass an easy difficulty Plant Hybridization / Others (strength) action. 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 an easy difficulty action, it will last for an aura duration. Average successes extends them for the duration of an encounter, and a challenging difficulty action will extend the time such a transformation lasts out to an entire day. Particularly powerful successes can extend the duration of a plant hybridization even further.

Scoring a daunting result will cause a transformation to persist for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. All of this assumes the wielder chooses to render his or her targets plant-like for the full duration; they can deactivate the change early at their leisure, if desired.

On rare occurrences, this power's effects can be permanent despite card play to the contrary. Its wielder 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 Narrator 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity in effectiveness - save for powers, such as personal weaponry, which have no specific intensity to speak of.

Plant Sympathy (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Personal Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an Edge 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 an easy difficulty action. Average difficulties are usually invoked when one tries to communicate with smaller specimens, such as bushes, vines, mushrooms, or most agricultural products. One must achieve challenging (or greater) difficulty 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 (i)
Type: Combination Power
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 far missile distance. 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 Strength 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 (a)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell Metapsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity resistance to bashing, shooting, and force 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 a -4 to its original intensity. 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 intensity in Strength!

Platforming (a)
Type: Movement Power, Universal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity velocity. 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 intensity 6 - 180 miles per hour.

A platformer may automatically lift their own weight with a platform. The power can support additional mass as if the power intensity were an equivalent Strength score, though this amount must also include the weight of the platform to be impelled. Thus, an intensity 14 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 one would have to pass an easy difficulty Platforming (strength) action to do so on living matter. 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 (w)
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 intensity.

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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 on a successful, easy difficulty Poison (strength) action. 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 near missile distance 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 Narrator. 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 an aura duration as a weak limitation, an encounter as a strong limitation, or even a day as a very strong limitation. Such delayed onset times aren't very applicable to combat, but are great for harming others without notice!

Polarization (i)
Type: Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 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 an easy difficulty Polarization action, opposed by 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 (i)
Type: Movement Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity (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 at beyond visual distance, linking two locations that are vastly distant from each other. For example, a character wielding the portal ability at even intensity 10 can construct a bridge between two points that are anywhere on earth!

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 capped number of passengers, or anything else to impede the use of the portal. That and there's no risk of materializing in something.

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 intensity (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 intensity (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 an easy difficulty Portal (agility) action - and the target may attempt a dodge if physically capable of it.

Positron Generation (a)
Type: Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 intensity 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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. Possession succeeds if its wielder can pass an average difficulty Possession (willpower) action against a target within near missile distance. If this action fails, the would-be possessor's consciousness is deflected back into their own mind, possibly giving them a migraine in the process.

If possession succeeds, however, its wielder'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 act and live vicariously through him or her, doing anything they like with the appropriated body. They may use their own hand size and edge while attempting actions 'behind the wheel' of the possessed body, not those of its rightful owner. Once possessed, the target may not actively resist the power - unless its wielder places them in a life-threatening situation.

Successful resistance in the face of one's mortality requires an average difficulty Willpower (possession) action. 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.

Postcognition (i)
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an incredible amount of its history. The length of time a postcognitive individual may peel back and view anew depends on the difficulty he or she can generate when wielding their postcognition - thus, the higher one's intensity, the better.

An easy difficulty postcognition action can peel back time immediately before the current encounter. An average difficulty action extends the viewing of the past for about an hour. Challenging difficulty makes it look back a day, daunting a week, desperate a month, superhuman a year, unfathomable a decade, cosmic a century, godlike a millennium, and impossible for even further back - all the way to The Beginning.

A postcognitive vision mainly gives information relevant to the subject. If something important happened in the area that the subject was unaware of and didn't affect it directly, postcognition might not pick up on it (Narrator's discretion). Similarly, coaxing the desired amount of detail out of a subject with this ability can be tricky; this requires another postcognition action to determine how useful the offered data is.

Passing this action by less than four won't give anything useful, and, may in fact provide counter-productive data. Succeeding by eight will provide accurate, if minimalistic information. Passing by twelve provides accurate and somewhat thorough details about the period of time being examined. Succeeding by sixteen or higher 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 know the intensity of opposition they're playing against. Surprise! This value is set by the Narrator, based on relevance to the item being scanned (that discretion mentioned earlier). The postcog can trump and/or edge to their heart's content, but they don't know how many (if any) cards they need to play to 'win'.

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 +2 to the action, a +3 when used on their property, or close friends and relatives, and a +4 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 (a)
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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Entreaty Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 4 points per power intensity
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, and power absorption occurs as a contingent action if the absorber can pass an easy difficulty Power Absorption action, opposed by the intensity of the power to be absorbed.

If this action succeeds, the power absorber may absorb an amount of the target's power that is equal to this power's intensity. If the power absorption score is higher than that of the target's original power intensity, said target may not use the absorbed ability while so affected. If the power to be absorbed was greater in power than this ability, simply reduce its effectiveness by the power absorption intensity.

If the card play to absorb a power fails, and the power to be absorbed has an intensity higher than that of this ability's, its wielder will be stunned for an aura duration.

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 intensity. If any of one's ability scores are drained below one (1) 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 card play made when the purloined abilities were first stolen. An easy difficulty allows a power absorber to retain the stolen characteristics for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends this to the duration of the encounter, while a challenging difficulty action stretches this amount to a full day!

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 or increasing its cost by sixteen points. Furthermore, permanently swiping the power(s) of another always requires that the power absorption intensity is higher than the power intensity to be absorbed.

If these conditions are met, one can steal the power(s) of another with a challenging difficulty action, opposed by the power to be stolen. If this action succeeds, the target loses the stolen power(s) or enhanced score(s) on a semi-permanent basis. 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: amplification, buttress, empowerment, investment, edge 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 intensity of one power another person possesses, increasing it to either the power amplification intensity or the power's ordinary intensity +1, 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 intensity it provides will only last for an aura duration - 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 during that encounter - without degrading its relative utility, that is. For each additional use on a single target without a 'cool down', power amplification loses -1 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 near missile distance of its possessor.

Power Attenuation (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Faerie Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: attenuation, empowerment, investment, edge control, nimiety, power amplification, power block, power control, psionic attenuation, sorcerous attenuation, theonic attenuation.

Power attenuation is the ability to stifle the operating intensity of one or more powers in one's vicinity. This power works on targets within far missile distance of its possessor, and the effects of the power last for an aura duration unless specifically maintained on a target for a longer period 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. This requires an easy difficulty Power Attenuation action, opposed by the intensity of the power to be attenuated; if this fails, the power in question isn't attenuated. If victorious, attenuators may reduce the intensity of the targeted power by their attenuation intensity, negating it when reducing it to 0.

For example, let us consider a hero who has this power at intensity 17. He's fighting an opponent with a distressing habit of immolating everything in the area with her intensity 13 fire generation. When using power attenuation on this foe, our hero can completely negate her fiery power with card play that is of at least seventeen in value; after achieving that, he just has to overcome the narrator card here.

An attenuator may target multiple powers at once, whether they belong to one character or many, though this is more difficult. This method is a great way to 'even the playing field' against much more effective opponents. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of abilities so dampened by power attenuation will increase the difficulty of actions attempted with the power by one difficulty level.

Returning to our example power attenuator, say his foe has four powers - and will readily use the others on our hero once her fire is snuffed out. The attenuator instead uses his ability against all of her super tricks and, with a successful, challenging difficulty action, will reduce the intensity of every power she possesses by 17. His foe can maybe use some of her powers, but they've all been rendered a lot less dangerous.

Attenuators can reduce the penalty on their power actions somewhat by attempting to hamper less of a power than their maximum. For each -4 he or she chooses not to apply to the power(s) they are attacking, an attenuator can reduce the difficulty of their attempted action by one level. This may not completely neuter their foes, but allows an attenuator to knock their super-powered enemies down a peg or two.

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 increases the difficulty of the requisite action to daunting. By reducing his overall effect to only -9, our heroic power attenuator can attempt this action against only an average difficulty.

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 intensity - 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 within far missile distance, allowing its wielder to rapidly impair the operation of a variety of super-human beings - at least, those affected by an easy difficulty Power Block (strength) action 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 skill-equivalents, such as spells or psionics. Power block lasts for an aura duration, or as long as one concentrates on keeping it active. While affected, victims may attempt to resist the power again each exchange.

Power Boost (w)
Type: Reality Control Power, Personal Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: aura duration
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: ability boost, edge control, logos, 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 intensity of their super-human powers for a short duration. When triggered, it raises the intensity of one power either up to the power boost intensity or to its normal intensity +1, whichever is higher. For example, an intensity 2 power affected by an intensity 20 power boost would be enhanced to intensity 20, while an intensity 25 power would be enhanced to intensity 26.

The boosted power's origins are irrelevant, whether they're mutations, spells, or even psionics. 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 intensity it provides will only last for an aura duration - 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 during an encounter - at least, not without degrading its overall capability. For each additional use without this 'cool down', power boost loses -1 of its effectiveness. This is enough to neutralize its use upon abilities greater than its own intensity, while gradually reducing its power in other instances (that intensity 25 power, above, would gain no further benefit).

Power Control (i)
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 skill-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 far missile distance of the character with power control, he or she can attempt to seize control of such. Using this ability on a power effect free of its creator's body requires card play attempted against its intensity. If the power is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, this action is opposed by the target's Willpower, instead.

Once the possessor of power control has taken control of the power of another, they can do any number of things with it. However, the level of utility he or she has using the commandeered power effect depends on how successful their control action was in the first place. Redirecting the target of a power (pointing a laser beam away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the regeneration of another) is only of easy difficulty.

Activating or inactivating a power already in play requires an average difficulty success. 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. Average 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 challenging difficulty action 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 exchange someone is subject to power control (perhaps the power controller is 'borrowing' their abilities for a while), they may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (power control) action to resist its use on their person.

Power Dampening (i)
Type: Elementalism Spell, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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, easy difficulty power dampening action, opposed by 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 an energy control power of some sort, this action must be made against that power's intensity, instead. This power may be used to affect any form of energy, even those with psionic or magical components, as long as they are active within far missile distance of its wielder. Power dampening immediately works on all energy forms, not needing a separate power stunt for each.

Power Duplication (i)
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 4 points per power intensity
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 near missile distance), the power duplicator may attempt an easy difficulty Power Duplication action, opposed by the intensity of the power he or she wishes to copy. If this action succeeds, they have copied that power!

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 this power's intensity squared. Should the duplicator reach their maximum number of duplicate 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.

Abilities copied by power duplication functions at its power intensity, not that of its source. This saves the duplicator a large amount of accounting, by preventing them from having to record the source and potency of each power they've assimilated. It also prevents them from having to seek out 'better' source material for higher intensity powers (or inadvertently copying powers at an intensity 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 they can pass an easy difficulty Power Transfer action, opposed by the Strength score of the would-be recipient.

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 intensity of the super-power(s) to be granted by -1 for every +1 of power granted to the target of this ability.

The amount of time a power transfer persists depends on the card play achieved when the power is used. That default, easy difficulty power transfer allows it to last for an aura duration. Higher difficulties achieved extend this time accordingly; average difficulty extends a power transfer out to a number of hours equal to its intensity, challenging that many days, and daunting a like number of weeks.

A power transferal may, with a daunting difficulty action or better, 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 achievement bonus cost 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 (i)
Type: Mental Power, Dimensional Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
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 any amount of time, but reaching further and further into the infinity of infinities which comprise possible future timelines that may resolve into one's own becomes increasingly more difficult. Looking one exchange into the future is an automatic difficulty action, while one minute is of easy difficulty. An average difficulty precognition action can peer ahead up to an hour into the future.

Each additional difficulty scored increases the time forward a precognitive character can look. Challenging difficulty looks ahead a day, daunting a week, desperate a month, superhuman a year, unfathomable a decade, cosmic a century, godlike a millennium, and impossible even further forward. If this action is successful, the Narrator will draw a card and use it to describe a future event at the indicated time.

Whether or not the precognitive individual wishes to change anything is another matter entirely.

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 Narrator 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 at least within near missile distance).
• 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 intensity by 1. The limit to this is intensity 1, which makes it a lot harder for a precognitive character to do anything other than predict what's about to happen in the imminent future (without spectacular card play, of course).

Prehensile Hair (a)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile 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 score equal to its power intensity.

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 (a)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of their person. Prehensile skin can manipulate objects (or people) as could a similarly potent Strength score.

One's skin, while extended out, has power intensity (or divided by four, and added to Strength) resistance against non-edged physical attacks, per similarly powerful plasticity. Attacks of this sort will be 'absorbed' by bouncing them back at their source, albeit at a -4 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 (a)
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 exchange, when applicable, as a contingent action.

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 intensity to speak of; a character either has this ability or they do not.

Propulsion (a)
Type: Movement Power, Psikinetic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/2 point per power intensity
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 intensity velocity, whether the propulsion ability is 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 rather stressful on the body without specialized equipment or adaptations to absorb the physical shock of such rapid locomotion. Mind you, even something as simple as roller skates can help to bypass this 'problem', however.

In addition to its wielder's mass, propulsion can carry additional weight equal to its power intensity as an equivalent Strength score. For instance, intensity 18 propulsion could bring up to 75 tons of weight along for the ride. Exceeding this reduces propulsion's speed by -2 for every +1 of weight hauled. As an example, 150 tons (an intensity 22 weight) would reduce that intensity 18 propulsion's speed by -8.

Proxy (w)
Type: Universal Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile distance before being made into such, which occurs when this ability is cast. Once this is done, the proxy may wander almost anywhere, this power functioning with beyond visual range. 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance, and will inflict its intensity in karmic damage if its wielder can pass an easy difficulty Psi Bolt (willpower) action. Psi bolts are ineffective against anything without an Edge 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 traits or even hindrances.

The nature of such quirks, should any manifest as a result of devastating psychic harm, are the province of the Narrator.

Psi Sense (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 within far missile distance, 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 an easy difficulty action, unless its user is taking active steps to mask its use. If so, detecting the psi adds the masking power's intensity in opposition to this action.

Other than detecting the use of psionic power in one's proximity, a psi sense also has additional uses. An average difficulty psi sense action allows its possessor 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 challenging difficulty action can be used to pinpoint exactly which psionic is being wielded (or was used recently) on a person, place, or thing.

Psi Web (a)
Type: Mental Power, Entreaty Spell, Psikinetic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of its creator, whether spread across a narrow opening or covering every available inch within its area of effect.

When someone enters the space warded by a psi web, the wielder of this power may attempt an easy difficulty Psi Web (strength) action against them. If this action is successful, the person so ensnared must pass an average difficulty Strength (psi web) action to escape, which he or she may attempt each exchange the psi web is kept active (starting on the exchange after they're first captured) around their person.

Psion Generation (a)
Type: Superpsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 far missile distance. This beam inflicts damage upon a successful easy difficulty action, damage that behaves like any other energy attack (despite being psionic in nature). Thus, it can even be used to damage inanimate objects, possibly wrecking them in the process.

Note that a psion beam detrimentally affects 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 an easy difficulty Willpower (psion generation) action, or be unable to use such abilities for an aura duration, which is how long it takes its victims to recover the lost antipsionic energy.

Psionic Absorption (s)
Type: Energy Control Power, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity; 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 intensity squared. 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 by adding extra cards, which can only be used to counter Health loss - having as many as twice one's usual count.

Likewise, one can use absorbed psions to bolster their physical ability scores, shunting purloined psionic energies into their Strength or Agility on a point-per-point basis, raising them either to this intensity in effectiveness (if less than the psionic absorption intensity) or by +1 (if equal to or greater than the psionic absorption power intensity). Such enhancements will only last for an aura duration.

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, 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Superpsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity of any one psionic another person possesses, increasing it to either the psionic amplification intensity or the psionic's ordinary power intensity +1, whichever of the two happens to be higher at the time.

This power works within near missile distance of its wielder, and it may only affect one power at a time. It lasts for an aura duration, unless the effect is specifically maintained longer.

Once it wears off, psionic amplification may not be used on the same target again during that encounter - 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 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Superpsi Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: attenuation, nimiety, power attenuation, psionic amplification, psionic control, sorcerous attenuation, theonic attenuation.

Psionic attenuation is the ability to stifle the operating intensity of one or more psionics, natural or trained, in one's vicinity. This power works on targets within far missile distance of its possessor, and affects psionics for an aura duration 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. This requires an easy difficulty Psionic Attenuation action, opposed by the intensity of the power to be attenuated; if this fails, the psionic in question isn't attenuated. If victorious, attenuators may reduce the intensity of the targeted psionic by his or her attenuation intensity, negating it when reducing it to 0.

For example, let us consider a psionic attenuator who has this power at intensity 15. She's fighting a psychoturge with the obnoxious habit of inundating everything in the area with his similarly powerful flux. When using psionic attenuation on this foe, our hero can completely negate his flux with card play that is of a total equal to nineteen - plus whatever Narrator card is in play.

An attenuator may target multiple powers at once, whether they belong to one character or many, though this is more difficult. This method is a great way to 'even the playing field' against much more effective opponents. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of psionics so dampened by this power increases the difficulty of actions attempted with it by one difficulty level.

Returning to our example, say our psionic attenuator's foe has eight powers - and will readily use the others on our hero once his flux is benched. The attenuator instead uses her ability against all of his mind tricks and, with a successful, daunting difficulty action, will reduce the intensity of every power he possesses by 15. Her foe can maybe use some of his powers, but they've all been rendered a lot less dangerous.

Attenuators can reduce this penalty somewhat by attempting to hamper less of a psionic than their maximum. For each -4 he or she chooses not to apply to the psionics they are attacking, an attenuator can reduce the difficulty of the required action by one level. This may not completely neuter their foes, but allows a psionic attenuator to knock one or more enemies down a peg.

One day, a dozen rogue epsilons gang up on our psionic attenuator, tired of being humiliated by her in singular combat. The attenuator may spread her power across all twelve of her foes, attenuating one psionic each, though this increases the difficulty involved to desperate. If limiting her effect to but 7, she can dial the difficulty of her action to lower the volume on her enemies' psionics down to 'just' challenging.

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 intensity - 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Superpsi Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 skill-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 far missile distance of the character with psionic control, he or she can attempt to seize control of such. Using this ability on a psionic effect free of its creator's body requires but an easy difficulty action against its intensity. If the power is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, this action is opposed by the target's Willpower, instead.

Once the possessor of this ability has taken control of another person's psionic, they can do any number of things with it. However, the level of utility he or she has using the commandeered psionic effect depends on how successful their control action was in the first place. Redirecting the target of a psionic (pointing an empathic hammer away from oneself, or 'borrowing' the invulnerability of another) is of only easy difficulty.

Activating or inactivating a functioning psionic requires an average difficulty success. 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. Average 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 challenging difficulty 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 exchange someone is subject to psionic control (perhaps the controller is 'borrowing' their psionics), they may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (psionic control) action to resist its use on his person.

Psionic Vampirism (i)
Type: Mental Power, Thaumentalism Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 establishing such, the psionic vampire may attempt an easy difficulty, Psionic Vampirism (willpower) contingent action.

This action, if successful, will drain the Intellect and psionics (if any) of the target by an amount equal to its success. For example, if a character with intensity 9 psionic vampirism succeeds against a victim with an intensity 4 Willpower score by beating their Willpower (4) plus the easy difficulty (4) and the narrator card (say, 5), any points over that sum (13) is the amount of Intellect or power intensities drained.

Once the psionic vampire has begun his or her attack, their victim can only escape by shrugging it off (or if released). The victim of any vampiric assault may attempt an action to do just that each exchange after the first. This involves an easy difficulty Willpower (psionic vampirism) action. If it fails, the character with vampirism may inflict the same damage again each exchange, until they have had enough or they are finally repulsed.

If a psionic vampire fails an initial feeding action, or is fended off once they begin to drain a foe, they are repulsed from their victim. Said victim immediately acquires immunity from that character's form of psionic vampirism (but not against the psionic vampirism of other characters, or other forms of vampirism the psionic vampire may possess). Such immune foes prove to be troublesome opponents to vampires everywhere.

Psionic vampires, if they drain an amount of mental energy equal to their intensity when at full Health, receive a +1 to their Strength, Willpower, and all their power intensities save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for a full encounter, after which point the character with vampirism will return to their normal capability. Gaining another 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 is not immediately aided, they will die from being so drained by psionic vampirism. Some time after this happens, they will rise again as an undead creature, a psionic vampire that feeds upon the minds of others to live.

Secondly, if a psionic vampire kills with this ability (whether accidentally or on purpose), they must pass an average difficulty Willpower action against the intensity of this power. If they fail, 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 vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon others' minds.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 to their Strength and Willpower scores, as well as all their power intensities (save for this one). To avoid this loss, the addict must drain an amount of mental energy equal to their psionic vampirism intensity each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 lost to such abilities. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the mental energy from others causes these hunger penalties to mount, until the indicated ability scores and power intensities fall to zero (0). This prompts an easy difficulty Strength action. If this action fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a psionic vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt an average difficulty Willpower action to overcome their addiction.

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

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 an easy difficulty Willpower action, opposed by their own psionic vampirism intensity, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into vampiric addiction.

A successful action of this type means the recovering psionic vampire is just fine... at least until he or she uses this power again.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the consciousnesses 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance of its wielder, and will affect everyone within this area of effect (unless an exception is made) that its wielder can pass an easy difficulty Psychic Invisibility (willpower) action against.

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, striking someone shielded by psychic invisibility is done at an increased difficulty.

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 doubling of individuals so affected increases the difficulty of doing so by one difficulty level, and making more than oneself psychically invisible reduces this ability's range to near missile distance.

Psychic Probe (w)
Type: Mental Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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. This deeper breach of a target's mind is more difficult than normal telepathy, and requires an average difficulty Psychic Probe (willpower) action to succeed. If this action fails, the target cannot be probed (by this particular psychic prober) for twenty-four hours.

If it succeeds, 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 an average difficulty Willpower (psychic probe) action. If this action fails, he or she will suffer a -1 to their Willpower score 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 within far missile distance.

Psychokinesis (i)
Type: Energy Control Power, Psikinetic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, its wielder must pass an easy difficulty Psychokinesis action, opposed either by the Strength of a living being or the material strength of an inanimate object. If this action fails, so does the power - and nothing will happen.

But if this action is successful, psychokinesis will inflict 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 intensity damage, inflicted upon living beings, is metabolic in nature. Body armor does not affect it unless all of one's cells are similarly hardened. Resistance to kinetic energy applies, however.

Psychokinesis only functions on matter within far missile distance of its wielder.

Psychometry (w)
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psikinetic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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, easy difficulty psychometry action, 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 is applied for each subsequent individual back in time that handled the item, at least until this power dips below intensity 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 (i)
Type: Mental Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensity - in every possible aspect of their existence.

Psychoplasmic objects are limited to an MS equal to this intensity, 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 intensity in 'pounds' each exchange; making larger objects simply takes multiple exchanges, until all the necessary material has manifested.

The products of this power are very short-lived. Unless their existence is specifically concentrated upon, a psychoplasmic object will persist for an aura duration on an easy difficulty action, an encounter upon an average difficulty action, or an hour on a challenging difficulty action. Objects made with this power rarely last longer, 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 (i)
Type: Philosophical Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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, easy difficulty Purge action, opposed by the intensity of the taint within. If this is successful, the taint is removed permanently in an inanimate object, willing subject, or an area within near missile distance in a non-aligned universe. A purging of unwilling beings, animate objects, or plots of land in aligned universes lasts for an aura duration.

Q

Quarantine (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 easy difficulty Quarantine action is all that is needed to quarantine something, though a living target adds its Willpower in opposition to this action to resist being shunted... elsewhere. Unless they're inexplicably willing, that is.

Quash (i)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 card play 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 two-step increase in the difficulty on every action they attempt.

This is devastating in and of itself, but the ensnared individual must attempt a Willpower (quash) action to avoid further entanglement with Nungal's net on each subsequent exchange. Made at whatever penalty quash is currently imposing upon them, the failure of this action applies an additional level of difficulty to their card play, while success will reduce quash's penalty against them by one difficulty level.

This process continues until either a) the caster releases the character wrapped up in the net of Nungal, b) the entangled character eliminates the card play penalties quash inflicted upon them, thus freeing themselves, or c) the difficulty of escaping from quash exceeds impossible levels. 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 (w)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 near missile 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 standard human ability scores all around, and wield no special powers to speak of. However, they may have skills that will aid the cause of this spell's caster, and can be armed in any fashion that is desired. Such skills 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 an aura duration 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 intensity in the spell they possess, for each casting of the spell they maintain. A sorcerer with intensity 4 quid pro quo and a like Intellect score, for instance, could easily cast and maintain the spell once to conjure forth four etemmu, with each additional spell they can maintain at the moment increasing the number of etemmi they can summon by a like amount!

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 (s)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1/2 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 will inflict slashing 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 +2 in slashing 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 in piercing 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 plus whatever card was used to acquire them.

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 simply add more cards to them (random character generation), or simply spend and additional half point for each +1 of improved MS (point-based character generation).

Quintessential Variation (w)
Type: Superpsi Talent, Deific Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 equal to this power's intensity. There may be even more of him or her, but they cannot readily be contacted. Contacting past selves simply requires an easy difficulty action with this power, though opposition to this action increases by one per step backwards one attempts to communicate, all the way back to the beginning of civilization (more or less).

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 (w)
Type: Entreaty Spell
Duration: aura duration + 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 if they resist they add their Willpower in opposition to quittance card play.

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 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 an aura duration, 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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 at artillery distance, allowing its wielder to perceive a wide area around their person - though in a heavily cluttered or urban area, this may be reduced to far missile - or even near missile - range! Furthermore, this sense, while active, assumes a greater receptivity for radio and microwave radiation, causing its wielder to suffer a -1 resistance to such (+1 to damage if no resistance is available).

Radiation Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance of his or her person, as they see fit.

This requires an easy difficulty power action, opposed by the intensity of the radiation to be controlled - or the intensity of the radiation controller currently wielding it.

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 - 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 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 an increased difficulty.

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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Saga System 13 game, 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 far missile distance of his or her person, inflicting power intensity 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 in value.

Furthermore, radiation with a wavelength 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 they fail an easy difficulty Strength action against its intensity. On the other hand, SD radiation damage is automatic against blocking 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 per exchange). 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 per exchange).

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 intensity - 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 to its intensity or reducing its cost by 1 point - and can consist of any form of radiation described above, photonic or otherwise.

Radio Wave Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action against either its intensity or the complexity of the information it conveys, whichever of the two is higher. Once this action is successful, 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, 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 is of easy difficulty, video necessitates average difficulty, and wireless computer code is of challenging difficulty to be legibly changed.

Radio wave control can manipulate radio energies within far missile distance of its possessor.

Radio Wave Generation (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 line-of-sight distance.

When used offensively, radio waves inflict power intensity energy damage within far missile 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 intensity of the radio wave exposure 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 artillery distance. The SHF band, commonly known as microwaves, can rapidly heat objects to inflict SD energy damage on top of the straight-forward damage such beams will cause.

Beyond microwaves, EHF signals can induce pain (easy difficulty Strength (radio wave generation) action to resist), instead of inflicting actual damage, as they only penetrate 1/64th of an inch into skin. This is the entire principle behind directed-energy weapons such as the Active Denial System, meant to provide non-lethal crowd control (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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 to resist such effects).

Avoiding this penalty requires the use of the screened senses ability, though it inflicts a -1 on this sensory power in exchange.

Razor Skin (s)
Type: Physical Weaponry Power
Cost: 4 points (base cost), plus 1/2 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 +2 slashing 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 weapons.

The edges inherent to one's flesh are assumed to have an MS equal to their Strength score plus whatever card was played to grant the power, which should prevent their being broken or dulled by any attack the character with razor skin can make. Shredding one's way through an inanimate object requires an easy difficulty Razor Skin material strength action, opposed by the material strength of one's target.

Thus, players may wish to add to the MS of their skin's razors, either by adding more cards to it (in the random character generation system), or by simply spending one half 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 +4).

Reanimation (i)
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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) is of easy difficulty. Average difficulties 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). Challenging difficulty 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 one card of Health. 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 an easy difficulty Reanimation (willpower) action against said creature. This is almost always successful against mere zombies, who have a Willpower score of 1. 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 an average difficulty 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 intensity. 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 an easy difficulty reanimation 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 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 (i)
Type: Technopsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty 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).

An average difficulty action 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.

Challenging (or greater) difficulty actions can drastically alter something's function. This may involve transforming a nuclear generator into a battle suit (or a battle ship), or something similarly different. Such difficult actions are typically invoked only when the character using reassembly can't reasonably justify how a change retains any 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 (w)
Type: Reality Control Power, Physiomancy Spell, Psimantic Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 intensities 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 scores 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 abilities or powers to another on a point-per-point basis. For example, a body with a Strength of 4 and an Intellect of 14 likes to swap between the two to surprise people who underestimate his physicality. Every -1 he applies to his Intellect can be added as a +1 to his Strength (or any other ability score, really).

This can get a bit more complicated when reassigning the point values of 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 intensity during character generation, one must reduce another ability by that many points to give it but one point (so yes, boosting ultimate power is very costly).

Mind you, the reverse is also true. Say a character has intensity 5 planar control, which is quite expensive to acquire during character generation (fifteen points). Each -1 the character with reassignment applies to her planar control allows her three intensity points 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.

Changing intensities around is a full action, but reassignment's wielder may shift as many as they like at one time. The primary built-in limit to altering one's ability and power intensities is that the former may not drop below intensity 1, may not change by an amount greater than the reassignment power intensity, and cannot exceed the campaign's overall power ceiling.

Furthermore, reassignment cannot be used to change its own intensity.

Of course, one can add limits to reassignment as they see fit, to enhance that intensity. Limiting oneself to rearranging either ability scores or powers (not both) is considered a weak limitation. Constraining reassignment to altering only physical (Strength, Agility) or mental (Intellect, Willpower) ability scores counts as a strong limitation.

A further, very strong constraint of reassignment involves the character only being able to reassign their ability score and power intensities between two distinct, fixed forms, sort of like a voluntary alter ego. Finally, restraining the power such that it can only swap the intensities of two specific ability and/or power intensities can be counted as an extreme limitation.

Recovery (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Strength loss due to excess healing, as it is considered a healing power itself, and will in fact inflict a -1 to one's Strength 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 intensity. 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 (i)
Type: Physical Control Power
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity in potency. The intensity of a scent determines how difficult it is to get rid of it; odor of intensity 2 strength will scrub off easier than that which has an intensity of 20. Tagging an object (or entity) with redolence requires an easy difficulty Redolence (agility) action.

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 near missile distance of them. Mind you, the actual scent used will readily carry, eventually radiating (the direction of the wind notwithstanding) such that everyone within far missile distance can easily detect it - if not precisely where it issues forth from.

The effects of redolence will last for a duration dependent on variables present when the ability is used. An easy difficulty redolence action guarantees that the effect lasts for an aura duration. An average difficulty action extends the scent (for good or ill) for the duration of an encounter.

Each additional difficulty scored increases the time a target can be tagged. Challenging difficulty makes it last for a day, daunting for a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. Not that most objects will continue to exist throughout these extreme durations, but there you go.

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 easy difficulty Strength (redolence) action - probably at an even higher difficulty 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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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.

In this fashion, reformation can restore a card of lost Health on any exchange with a positive aura draw, or a neutral aura draw whose card value is less than its own intensity. The power works in this fashion from intensities one through fifteen, meaning that anyone with reformation at an intensity between eleven and fifteen will always regain one lost card of Health on each exchange with a non-negative aura draw.

While already impressive, greater intensities of reformation yield even more dramatic recovery from injury, generally improving in five-point intensity blocks. Reformation of intensity 16 to 20 always recovers a lost card of Health each exchange, intensity 21 to 25 recovers two lost cards of Health every exchange, and higher reformation recovers all lost Health cards each exchange.

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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Strength penalties for multiple uses.

At intensities ranging from one through ten, regeneration / others will allow its target to recover one card of lost health on either a positive aura draw or a neutral draw that is less than its power score. For example, this power at intensity 6 will let one recover a lost card of Health if the narrator aura draw was either positive or neutral and had a value of five or less.

While already impressive, greater intensities of regeneration / others yield even more dramatic recovery from injury, generally improving in five-point intensity blocks.

At intensities ranging from eleven to fifteen, a card of Health can be recovered on any non-negative aura draw. Regeneration / others at intensities sixteen to twenty will allow a lost card to be recovered no matter what. Intensities twenty-one through twenty-five allow two cards of lost Health to be recovered each exchange, while higher intensities allow one to regenerate all lost Health points in a single exchange.

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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell, Empathic Art, Metapsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
Related Powers: age control / self, degeneration, environmental independence, harm, healing / self, longevity, resistance (disease and/or poison), revival, stasis, unyielding will.

Those characters blessed with regeneration are incredibly hard to kill, for they recover from inflicted damage far more rapidly than ordinary folks. Instead of the healing rate possessed by others (replacing a lost card of health every exchange that begins with a positive aura draw), a character with regeneration will gain lost cards more frequently, depending on the intensity of this ability.

Possessing regeneration at an intensity between 1 and 10 allows characters to recover one card on an exchange with a positive aura draw or a neutral aura draw with a card value less than its intensity. While already impressive, greater intensities of regeneration yield even more dramatic recovery from injury, generally improving in five-point intensity blocks.

Regeneration from intensity 11 to 15, for instance, recovers one lost card of Health on exchanges beginning with any non-negative aura draw, while intensities 16 through 20 give one card back each exchange no matter what. Intensity 21 through 25 regeneration doubles this amount of card recovery, while higher intensity regeneration powers give back all of one's lost Health at the beginning of each exchange.

All of this assumes that the character who regenerates isn't actually suffering continuous damage. If the cause of one's damage is still being applied (say, because they're on fire), regeneration cannot occur until the damage is no longer being inflicted. As it prevents regeneration from occurring at the beginning of each exchange, SD damage of any type can easily be the bane of regenerators.

Regenerative Armor (s)
Type: Combination Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per power intensity
Related Powers: age control / self, environmental independence, healing / self, longevity, resistance (disease and/or poison), revival, stasis, 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 intensity - while recovering the rest soon afterwards, as if the character also possessed like regeneration.

For example, say a hero with intensity 10 regenerative armor was struck by intensity 20 lightning. He takes the full brunt of this energy damage, but immediately heals back his power intensity - 10 - in response. That still puts him down by 10 Health points, which will subsequently regenerate on exchanges with either positive aura draws or neutral aura draws of ten or less (which means most of the time, really).

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.

Regenesis (i)
Type: Theonic Skill, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 deionicist 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 intensity of physical ability above 3, as well as one point for each intensity 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 intensity.

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 skills and skill-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 pass an easy difficulty regenesis 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 intensity each exchange. Thus, building a two hundred pound body with an intensity 10 regenesis would require twenty full exchanges.

As are all other matter generation abilities, regenesis is highly strenuous on the body. The personal energies lost with regenesis' use is equal to one Health point per exchange, 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 power intensity

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 intensity.

When reborn, a reincarnator's body will develop to maturity at a speed equal to their current species' normal rate times their power intensity cubed. A human who reincarnates, for example, would speed from birth to adulthood in about eight months with intensity 3 reincarnation, or just under six hours if they attained this power at intensity 30 - which is much less common, 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. Skill-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 (i)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty action. More tricky repairs (open or shorted electronic components, broken gear teeth or screws, blown tires, or torn belts) can be undertaken with an average difficulty action. Extensive problems (shattered axles, bent aircraft wings, burnt PC boards) may be resolved with a challenging difficulty action.

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.

Only one repair may be made on a device at a time, each requiring one exchange, but any number of fixes may be applied to make an item work again.

Reprise (i)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 card play at the beginning of each exchange to echo spells cast under its influence.

A successful, easy difficulty action echoes any spell that was cast on the previous exchange. Card play of average difficulty does the previous plus echoes any spell that was echoed for the first time in the last exchange. A challenging difficulty action does the previous plus echo a spell that was echoed for the second time in the last exchange. And so on and so forth, for successes of even higher difficulty.

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, the narrator's card(s) are usually beyond 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 when necessary, 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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1/4 point per power intensity, 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 additional resistance to an attack form of their choice. This resistance can oppose any kind of assault within the Saga System 13 game, 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 resistance from the incoming effect's intensity or damage, which may be enough to negate it entirely.

Bear in mind that resistances may be calculated in two different fashions. The first applies the intensity against the resisted form of damage directly. The second consists of a sum equal to the character's resistance intensity divided by four and then added to either their Strength or Willpower (whichever is applicable). Players may use the higher numerical value as their net resistance against the indicated damage form.

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 points to the cost as a whole, instead of the normal price for five distinct resistances.

Also, players may choose a form of this ability that they can share with their allies. A field effect resistance only functions within near missile range, but can be 'broadcast' to anyone the character chooses within that distance. This counts as an extreme enhancement to resistance, and adds 1 to the cost for each shared resistance or subtracts 4 from its final intensity (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 five (before the actual intensity of said resistances) or reduce the final effective resistance to all five attack forms by -4.

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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Empathic Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 resurrection actions.

The first has a difficulty based upon how much of a corpse remains. Easy actions can resuscitate an intact (or nearly so) body; this corpse has minor, if any damage. An average difficulty is extant if the body is only partially intact, or suffered severe damage (died in a fire, or is missing one or more limbs). Challenging actions can restore life to a body that is mostly gone (skeletal remains, 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 an easy difficulty 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. This is an easy difficulty action if the body died within the last year, or average if it died within the last century. Reaching back further than this requires challenging difficulty resurrection card play, 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 an aura duration, 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, card play 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 an easy difficulty Intellect action, opposed by the meddler's Intellect, 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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Clerical Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity.

The difficulty of restoring life to the recently dead depends on how damaged the body was upon its demise. Easy actions can resuscitate an intact (or nearly so) body. An average difficulty is extant if the body is only partially intact, or suffered severe damage. Challenging actions can restore life to a body that is mostly gone. In addition to restoring life, resuscitation repairs just enough damage to sustain it.

The resuscitated character resumes life with a one card of Health - no more. Said character must then repair any further damage (read: Health and ability score loss caused by their injuries) in any other way they can. The only problem there is that resuscitation does count 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, already weakened from his or her ordeal, will already suffer a four point penalty to their Strength score (to a minimum of 1). Additional healing will reduce this further, and if dropped to zero (0) Strength, the character must pass an easy difficulty Strength action or slip into a coma due to the bodily stress, possibly killing them (again) in the process.

Retrospection (w)
Type: Geomancy Spell, Empathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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. An easy difficulty action can look back to reveal emotions experienced at a location a number of days previous that is equal to this power's intensity. Average difficulty action can extend this temporal range to weeks instead of days, and a challenging success will actually lengthen that range of time to months!

Revival (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Physiomancy Spell, Theonic Art
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 - at least, most of the time. 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 its 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 loss or various bullet holes), an easy difficulty revival action will resuscitate the fallen character. An average difficulty action is necessary if some larger chunks are missing, but most vital bits remain. A challenging difficulty action is usually necessary when just under half of the original body remains.

More serious damage usually calls for even more difficult revival actions, unless the Narrator is feeling generous. The main thing, though, is that this card play is made upon one's death - which means the character must draw two cards 'blind' and hope for the best. That's why this power is not true immortality; even if you have it, and have it at a respectable intensity, you can still die (permanently) from a bad card draw.

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 (s)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Empathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 this power's intensity in SD metabolic damage each time it is applied, if its user can pass an easy difficulty Rotting (strength) action against them.

When used against non-living organic matter, whether clothing or rope or a corpse, rotting may destroy it if it fails a material strength check against its power intensity. The amount by which a rotting action succeeds against the organic item (if it does) will reduce its MS by that amount, either wrecking it entirely or weakening it - thus making it subject to more serious damage if the power is used on it again.

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. Rotting requires physical contact to function, usually occurring as a contingent action in melee combat, and its entropic effect is at a -4 to affect inorganic targets (it works, just less effectively).

Roulette (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 Narrator 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 intensity, 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 an aura duration, though this can be bolstered to an encounter as a weak enhancement, a day as a strong enhancement, a week as a very strong enhancement, or a month 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 (i)
Type: Theonic Talent, Faith Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity squared.

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 deity can add a number of cubic yards to it that is equal to their power intensity squared; if the intensity 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 +4 on all card play 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 (w)
Type: Technomancy Spell, Technopsi Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 an easy difficulty action, the possessor of schema can analyze and internalize all the physical characteristics of an item. An average difficulty action can observe the hard-wired programming of an item (whether on an EEPROM chip or set mechanically). A challenging difficulty 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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power, Personal Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 its intensity in 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 to the character's Willpower score.

Or alternately, at a -1 to the intensity 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 (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 3 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Scrying result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Augury
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Combat Edge
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Finding
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Nativity Sense
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Postcognition
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Precognition

Self Cannibalization (w)
Type: Superpsi Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

When one's ability 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 intensity of an ability score, doing so by converting their Health into a direct, point-per-point enhancement of the ability in question. Such sacrificed Health must be recovered normally, but lets one enhance themselves for an aura duration.

Generally, there's no limit to the number of times one can augment oneself with self cannibalization, though the amount of enhancement per use is limited to either the self cannibalization power intensity or the enhanced ability score's intensity +2, whichever of the two is higher. This allows for considerable utility when one isn't expecting any sort of incoming damage (or otherwise has Health to spare).

Self Control (w)
Type: Mental Enhancement Power, Eclecticism Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: permanent (no maintenance required)
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity or their Intellect score +1, 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 intensity (as if it were an Agility score) or one's Agility score +1 - 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 intensity or the Willpower score of its possessor +1, whichever of these two is higher in value.

Sending (w)
Type: Mental Power, Personal Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 within visual distance), 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 it possesses psi resistance for some reason), 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 intensity). This is easier said than done, however, as the things do move at the speed of thought.

Sensing (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Sensing result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Biological Sense
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Danger Sense
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Energy Sense
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Flaw Sense
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Locational Sense
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Magic Sense

Sensory Attenuation (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an aura duration 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 far missile distance of its wielder. However, this first requires an easy difficulty Sensory Attenuation (strength) action, which must be made each time the power is applied to its target. Similarly, resistance to metabolic attacks serves to blunt or negate the effects of this power, adding its own intensity in opposition to this action.

Sensory Distortion (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an increased difficulty on all physical or sensory actions attempted while one's senses are so effectively 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 doing anything when one's clothes feel lined with razors.

Sensory distortion itself lasts as long as one concentrates on maintaining the effect, and can affect anyone its wielder can pass an easy difficulty Sensory Distortion (willpower) action against. Of course, one can try to resist sensory distortion anew on each subsequent exchange, via an easy difficulty Willpower (sensory distortion) action. This ability can be used upon anyone within far missile distance of its wielder.

Sensory Link (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous, maintenance or permanent (see below)
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile 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 challenging difficulty Willpower action or fall into a deep coma.

A sensory link can affect willing or unwilling targets. Linking unwilling individuals involves passing an easy difficulty Sensory Link (willpower) action against them first. If either party is unwilling, the link will only last for an encounter, 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty Willpower action, opposed by this ability's intensity. 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 near missile 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Psipathic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance; 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. Would-be sensory donors can do so via an easy Willpower (sensory reception), 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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.

An automatic difficulty 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). Easy difficulty gets them near the target shape, though a close inspection will reveal the truth (those knobs on the television look kind of like toes). An average 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 (i)
Type: Group Spell
Duration: per each individual spell granted
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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.

Draw one card to generate a random Shields result:

1. Draw either a one or ten card: Bonus!
2. Draw any other odd numbered card of negative aura: Body Armor
3. Draw any other odd numbered card of neutral aura: Deflection
4. Draw any other odd numbered card of positive aura: Force Field
5. Draw any other even numbered card of negative aura: Individual Shield
6. Draw any other even numbered card of neutral aura: Layered Shield
7. Draw any other even numbered card of positive aura: Resistance

Shrinking / Others (i)
Type: Matter Control Power, Universal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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).

Targets can be shrank with a mere easy difficulty action, but living targets add opposition in the form of their Strength (if unwilling). The effects of shrinking / others will last for a duration dependent on variables present when the power is used. Most commonly, easy difficulty shrinking / other actions shrink a target for an aura duration, while average difficulty actions extend that throughout the current encounter.

Less common results, which last much longer, are the result of more potent card play. Challenging difficulty allows shrinking to last for a day, while daunting expands the duration to a week, desperate for a month, superhuman for a year, unfathomable for a decade, cosmic for a century, godlike for a millennium, and impossible forever. All of this assumes the shrinker chooses to contract their target's size for the full duration.

He or she can deactivate it early at their leisure, if desired.

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 intensity 20 shrinking, at which point their very form becomes simpler as far fewer molecules are left to represent it. At intensity 30, 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Personal Spell, Metapsi Talent
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 Saga system 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 hindrances 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 intensity 4 'shrinking' at all times to showcase their size relative to normal beings.

When at a diminished size, a character should receive combat modifiers against a normal-sized opponent. Shrinking characters should suffer a -1 to their effective Strength (and all damage) for each intensity of shrinking they possess when fighting normal-sized opponents, while receiving a +1 to their effective Agility. These are of course limited to Strength scores of zero (0) and Agility scores of thirty (30) for all practical purposes.

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 intensity 6 shrinking. Their effective Strength may be -6 against our hero, but on the other hand, their Agility is +6. They may not bite hard, but they'll usually manage to connect each time. And there's lots of them!

When dealing with characters who both possess abnormal sizes, simply subtract the smaller character's shrinking intensity from the larger one to determine a net difference. If we pitted our pixies against those horrid ants, we'd have a shrinking intensity of 4 (the pixies) versus the shrinking intensity of 6 (the ants) for a net difference of 2. The ants would have a 'mere' 2 point adjustment to their Strength and Agility versus our pixies.

Here is a collection of shrinking ratios, with corresponding intensities, for convenience:

Fun Fact 1: the smallest thing the human eye can see is .1 millimeters in size, or approximately .004 inches. Shrinking of intensity 15 or greater reduces a normal human below this size, and anything that small 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 an increased difficulty to be hit.

Fun Fact 2: shrinking of intensity 20 reduces a normal human to 1.8 micrometers in size, smaller than most cells. Intensity 25 shrinking makes a human about 1.7 nanometers in height, enabling interaction with individual molecules, and intensity 30 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 to intensity 20 size, at which point their very form becomes simpler as far fewer molecules are left to represent it. At intensity 30, 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 in the overall power intensity (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 (i)
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 targeting action will do so at a -4 - 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 an action simply to connect (but instead overcome resistance of some sort), 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 Saga System 13 game - 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 (a)
Type: Physical Control Power, Physiomancy Spell
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 exchange 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 intensity in effectiveness. For instance, if a character with intensity 8 situational adaptation is trying to adapt to an intensity 20 heat source, they can only manage up to 8 points of protection from it via this power alone. Mind you, like a resistance, one can divide its intensity by four, and add it to a relevant ability score if that would be more beneficial.

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 (w)
Type: Biological Control Power, Universal Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 near missile distance of its wielder, upon a successful, average difficulty Sleep (willpower) action. 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 an aura duration, though unlike a lot of mind-altering powers, the targets do not gain a Willpower action to resist each exchange. 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 (i)
Type: Matter Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile distance 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 its power intensity in velocity.

The power can, at once, manipulate an amount of solid matter that is equal to its intensity 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 intensity 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 Agility and Health scores equal to this power intensity, 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 (w)
Type: Sensory Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 to the final sonar intensity, or alternately, a 2 point reduction in the cost of sonar. Sonar operates within far missile distance - 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 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 effectiveness.

Sorcerous Amplification (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity of any one spell or spell-like power another person possesses, increasing it either to this power intensity or the spell or spell-like power's intensity +1, whichever of the two is higher.

This power works within near missile distance of its wielder, and it may only affect one magic ability at a time. It lasts for only an aura duration, 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 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: attenuation, nimiety, power attenuation, psionic attenuation, sorcerous amplification, spell control, theonic attenuation.

Sorcerous attenuation is the ability to stifle the operating intensity one or more magical powers, natural or learned, in one's vicinity. This power works on targets within far missile distance of its possessor, and the effects of the power last for only an aura duration, 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. This requires an easy difficulty Sorcerous Attenuation action, opposed by the magical power intensity to be attenuated; if this fails, the power in question isn't attenuated. If victorious, the attenuator may reduce the intensity of the targeted sorcery by his or her attenuation intensity, negating it when dropping it to 0.

For example, let us consider a sorcerous attenuator who has this power at intensity 20. He's fighting an opponent with the destructive tendency to freeze everything in the area with his intensity 22 eldritch bolt (cold). When using sorcerous attenuation on this foe, our hero can completely negate his eldritch bolt if his card play on a successful, easy action opposed by 22 - and the Narrator card(s) in play.

An attenuator may target multiple magics at once, whether they belong to one character or many, though this is more difficult. This method is a great way to 'even the playing field' against much more effective opponents. The trick, though, is that each doubling (always rounding up) of spells so dampened by sorcerous attenuation will increase the difficulty of actions attempted with the power by one difficulty level.

Returning to our example attenuator, say his foe has five spells - and will readily use the others on our hero once his eldritch bolt is neutered. The attenuator instead uses his ability against his foe's other four spells which, on a successful, challenging difficulty action, will reduce the intensity of every other spell he possesses by 20. His foe can still use that eldritch bolt, but his other spells are now much less dangerous.

Attenuators can reduce the penalty on their actions somewhat by attempting to hamper magic at less than their maximum ability. For each -4 he or she chooses not to apply to the spell(s) they are attacking, an attenuator can reduce the difficulty of their attempted card play by one level. This may not completely neuter their foes, but allows an attenuator to knock their super-powered 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 four spells on each of his four foes, though this would require desperate level card play. By reducing his overall effect to only -12, our heroic sorcerous attenuator can instead attempt to (mostly) neutralize his many foes' many spells with but challenging card play.

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 intensity - 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 (w)
Type: Dimensional Spell, Psimantic Skill
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 minds of anyone within far missile distance of the caster. If the caster passes an average difficulty Sorcerous Invisibility (willpower) action against those present, 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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty Willpower (soul control) action against this power intensity, that is. The size of such a forbidden zone is a sphere with a radius that extends out to far missile 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 days that is equal to its power intensity.

Secondly, soul control can be used to imprison a spectral entity. If a soul controller can pass an easy difficulty Soul Control (willpower) action against his or her target, they can contain them within their very body! Once imprisoned, a soul cannot leave until it can pass an easy difficulty action, opposed by either the soul control power intensity or its wielder's Willpower - 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).

Binding spectral entities thus requires an action akin to imprisoning them, while escaping from such a bond requires overcoming the power as if warded from a locale - 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 (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty action against its current intensity, and that it be within far missile distance.

Once this is done, the sound controller may alter a sound 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 a level equal to their power intensity, 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 intensity, 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity. Focused bursts of sonic energy have an immediate physical effect on their target, inflicting power intensity concussive damage with almost every attack.

Furthermore, whenever a character is struck by a beam of sonic energy, they must pass an easy difficulty Strength (sound control) action or be deafened for an aura duration. 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 (Narrator'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 Strength action to avoid being stunned for an aura duration. 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 (i)
Type: Reality Control Power, Psimotive Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 intensity (or the object's own speed +1, 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 involves passing an average difficulty action with whatever ability is involved, opposed by this power's intensity. If this action fails, the movements of individuals within far missile distance of the space controller are subject to their whims.

Spectral Flame Control (i)
Type: Energy Control Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 an easy difficulty power action against their intensity... or the opposing intensity of another spectral flame controller attempting to manipulate the same energy. Spectral flame control operates on any source of these psi-active flames within far missile 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 level of its subject up to its power intensity 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 (a)
Type: Energy Generation Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 far missile 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 an aura duration.

What this means is that, when inundated with PS, characters must attempt an easy difficulty Willpower action 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 near missile distance of their person.

Spectral Freedom (w)
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 must substitute their Intellect for Agility, and Willpower for Strength, when necessary. Magic, psionic, or deionic items brought along as part of one's self-image function at a -1.

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 skill-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 Health is depleted while bodiless), he or she will go comatose and possibly die, 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 an unfathomable difficulty Willpower action 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 a psionic, is one of those rare abilities which do not count 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 (a)
Type: Power Control Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 for each individual merged with this power's wielder.

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 levels a spectral gestalt uses its special abilities at gain a bonus 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 +7!

Limited to a ceiling of the spectral gestalt power intensity 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 intensities by +2.

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 an increased difficulty on every single action 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 an easy difficulty Willpower check on its constituent minds, opposed by the final attack on the gestalt, to see if they lose consciousness. If its creators' minds are actually within it when defeated, they will definitely pass out for an aura duration.

If not longer, when the defeat of their spectral gestalt was particularly brutal.

Spectral Sense (w)
Type: Sensory Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Skill
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
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 in one's area 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 with an easy difficulty action.

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 (i)
Type: Mental Power, Voodoo Spell, Superpsi Art
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 making contact with their target, the spectral vampire may attempt an easy difficulty Spectral Vampirism (willpower) contingent action.

This action, if successful, drains the Willpower of the target by an amount equal to its success. For example, if a character with intensity 13 spectral vampirism succeeds against a victim with an intensity 6 Willpower score by beating their Willpower (6) plus the easy difficulty (4) and the narrator card (they drew, say, a 4), any points over that sum (14) is the amount of Willpower drained.

Once a spectral vampire has begun an attack, his or her victim can only escape by shrugging it off - or if their assailant lets them go. The victim of any vampiric assault may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (spectral vampirism) action to do that on each exchange after the first. If this action fails, the character with vampirism may inflict the same damage again each exchange, until they've had enough or are repulsed.

If a character with spectral vampirism fails the initial feeding action, or is fended off once he or she begins to drain a foe, they are repulsed from their victim. Said victim immediately acquires immunity from that character's form of spectral vampirism (but not against the spectral vampirism of other characters, or other forms of vampirism the attacker may possess). Such immune foes are troublesome opponents to vampires everywhere.

If the character with spectral vampirism is at full Health when they drain an amount of spiritual energy equal to this power's intensity, they receive a +1 to their Strength, Willpower, and all power intensities save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for a full encounter, after which point the character with vampirism returns to their normal capability. Gaining another 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 is not immediately aided, they will die from being so drained by spectral vampirism. Some time after this happens, they will rise again as an undead creature, a spectral vampire that feeds upon the souls of others to live.

Secondly, if a spectral vampire kills with this ability (accidentally or otherwise), they must pass an average difficulty Willpower action against the intensity of their own vampirism. If this action fails, they become addicted to the spiritual energies of others, and now require them to function. While addicted, the character with 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 to their Strength, Willpower, and all power intensities save for this one. To avoid this loss, the addict must drain an amount of spiritual energy equal to their spectral vampirism intensity each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 lost to such abilities. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Cutting oneself off from spiritual energy causes these hunger penalties to mount, until the character's indicated ability scores and power intensities fall to zero (0). This prompts an easy difficulty Strength action. If this action fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a spectral vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt an average difficulty Willpower action to overcome their addiction.

If this action succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost ability and power intensities at a rate of +1 per day. If the Willpower action fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Strength action to see if they live long enough to attempt another Willpower 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 spiritual energies, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses spectral vampirism afterwards, they must pass an easy difficulty Willpower action, opposed by their spectral vampirism intensity, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into vampiric addiction.

A successful action of this type means the recovering spectral vampire is just fine... at least until he or she uses this power again.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the very 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 (i)
Type: Power Control Power, Paraprobabilitism Spell, Psimantic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 skill-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 far missile distance of the spell controller, he or she may try to co-opt such. Using this ability on a magic effect free of its creator's body requires an easy difficulty action against its intensity. If the magical ability is not in use or is otherwise internalized to its target, this action is opposed by the target's Willpower, instead.

Once a magic controller has taken control of the sorcery of another, they can do any number of things with it. However, the level of utility they have using the commandeered magical effect depends on how successful their control action was in the first place. Redirecting the target of a magic power or spell (pointing an eldritch bolt away from oneself, or 'borrowing' someone's body armor) is only of easy difficulty.

Activating or inactivating magic is of average difficulty. 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. Average actions also allow one to change minor details of a power's nature somewhat; perhaps changing that eldritch bolt into something the spell controller is more resistant to, like a beam of feathers?

A challenging difficulty 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 exchange someone is subject to spell control (perhaps the spell controller is 'borrowing' their magic for a while), they may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (spell control) action to resist its use on their person.

Spiritual Link (w)
Type: Personal Spell
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per power intensity

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 beyond visual distance) 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 +2 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 Narrator (as with all the other details of the linked essence). The caster can wield these spells at the spiritual link intensity, instead of their original spell intensities, 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, requiring an average difficulty Willpower (willpower) action. If the caster fails against this action, they lose control of their own body for an aura duration, at which point they may attempt an easy difficulty Willpower (willpower) action to regain control. 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 to the spell intensity (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 / -6 points for the grave). While the link is only active under these conditions, it's much more powerful in effect.

Stasis (s)
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 (w)
Type: Mental Power, Faerie Spell, Psipathic Talent
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: illusion projection, sensory projection, thought projection.

Telepathic powers generally work in a straight-forward 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 near missile distance of their person with psionic hogwash. Either while within or targeting someone inside the radius of a static field, telepaths must pass an easy difficulty action, opposed by 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 intensity 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 (i)
Type: Paraprobabilitism Spell
Duration: aura duration + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per power intensity

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 intensity 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 intensity 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 (i)
Type: Biological Control Power, Dimensional Spell, Psimotive Art
Duration: special
Cost: 2 points per power intensity
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 attempt an easy Summoning (willpower) action against the target of this ability. If this action 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 increases the difficulty of the action by one difficulty level. This may not be a huge deal when conjuring up a cloud of Africanized honey bees (who have no Willpower 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 (s)
Type: Physical Enhancement Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per power intensity
Related Powers: environmental independence (breathing), matter absorption, vapor animation.