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Post by deo on Aug 14, 2014 3:01:42 GMT
ENERGY
Fire/Heat
General: The character can generate intense heat in some way. This applies not only to actual flames, but any attack that damages by burning and scorching. Fire is highly destructive, but can be extinguished and usually lacks penetrative force.
Rank 1: Heat comparable to a lit match or stove. Flammable materials are quickly and easily ignited, and unprotected skin suffers painful burns.
Rank 2: Flamethrower-grade pain. Most building materials are soon torched and melted, to say nothing of a human being.
Rank 3: Blazing heat that will eventually melt through the strongest metal, and vaporize softer objects.
Rank 4: Absolute destruction, reducing the very land itself to ash.
Cold/Ice
General: The ability to dramatically reduce the temperature of an object or area. Note that “cold” doesn't have to mean “ice”, including freezing vacuums and materials shifting between gas/solid/liquid states. The Cold power itself relates to the drop in temperature, and other abilities such as launching chunks of ice or shaping it into blades are better served by powers such as telekinesis or weaponry. Compared to other energy attacks cold is usually not as instantly deadly, but is debilitating and longer-lasting.
Rank 1: Temperature can drop to seriously uncomfortable levels, slowing movement. Easily frozen substances like small amounts of water crystallize quickly unless the environment is hot to start.
Rank 2: Colder than the average freezer. Unprotected exposure becomes dangerous within a few minutes, and the water in the air quickly settles into frost over everything.
Rank 3: Dropped naked into the Antarctic. Tissue damage begins almost immediately, blood thickens and begins to freeze, with a slow, painful death by hypothermia and frostbite around the corner.
Rank 4: Focused cold begins to approach absolute zero, levels of cold beyond what can normally exist in nature. People can be flash-frozen, and various forms of matter exhibit strange quantum side effects.
Electricity
General: Fighter can harness electrical energy, whether by magic, equipment, or simple natural ability. Electrical attacks are powerful and deadly, but frequently difficult to fully control.
Rank 1: A potent shock comparable to a strong taser, able to fry basic circuitry and cause considerable pain.
Rank 2: Strikes approaching the power of natural lightning, able to blast small craters into solid objects or electrocute unprotected targets.
Rank 3: Currents of electricity on par with a power plant. Few materials not specifically made conduct electricity can withstand it for long without melting and burning from within.
Rank 4: Downright unnatural displays of power. Vaporize the sky, the land, and everything in between.
Magnetism
General: Fighter has power over electromagnetic fields, and can attract/repel metallic objects or disrupt electronic devices. Although its manipulation, instead of defiance, of planetary forces can exert significantly more power than Telekinesis, Magnetism requires specific "ammunition" and varies widely in effectiveness based on location and enemy equipment.
Rank 1: Modestly sized objects such as handheld weapons can be wrenched away or repelled with enough force to cause injury.
Rank 2: Most basic electrical devices can be ruined, large objects such as appliances and smaller vehicles can be shoved hard enough to crush bone, and a normal-strength human wearing metal can be dragged about against their will.
Rank 3: Power and control are such that even thick metal can be bent and crushed into desired simple shapes. Launch a bus like a pool dart and scramble advanced defense systems.
Rank 4: Character can do as they wish with almost any magnetic force. Fry the security at the White House, or crush a 747 into a cube and hurl it to the sea a mile away.
Gravity
General: Power over the cosmic force of attraction, which defines what things weigh and what direction they fall in. Gravity effects all matter in some way, and can dramatically change the world around you.
Rank 1: Low levels of force. Push a human enough to unbalance but not throw them around, make a palm-sized rock as heavy as a bowling ball or light as a feather.
Rank 2: Begins to defy the normal pull of the Earth, with enough force to make a human fall up or suffer injury from pressure. Control improves enough to send multiple objects in different directions.
Rank 3: Enormous control over gravitational forces. Juggle some cars that weigh almost nothing, then send them rocketing forward as they “fall” horizontally with five times the weight.
Rank 4: Nearly limitless control. Toss a weightless battleship into space, or crush a city block into a singularity. Control is refined enough to make a staircase out of objects with slightly varying weights.
Sonics
General: The character can produce dangerously intense soundwaves by some means. While sound is generally less outright destructive than other energies, it's agonizing and difficult to directly dodge or block.
Rank 1: The sound will cause pain and disorientation, but little direct damage.
Rank 2: Inflexible materials will begin to crack and shatter, while internal organs struggle.
Rank 3: Bodily functions fail en mass while bones and structures crumble.
Rank 4: Causes terrible devastation, shearing apart flesh and steel alike.
Seismic
General: The individual can somehow control vibration, and shake apart whatever they please.
Rank 1: Massage-chair level shaking. Knock things over, disrupt balance, and ruin delicate devices.
Rank 2: Forceful vibration, as if you were grabbing and shaking something yourself. People are hurled to the ground, bones crack, nail and screw-based structures are gradually torn apart.
Rank 3: Things get violent. Pipes explode, roads split, and structures are dismantled. Softer organisms find themselves turned inside out.
Rank 4: Rock and roll. Crush city blocks with enormous earthquakes, or focus on one target and watch it fly into pieces. Superglue doesn't stand a chance.
Radiation
General: Character emits large amounts of dangerous energy, whether by equipment, inherent ability, or because they just walked out of a reactor. Radiation does not physically damage surroundings, but is pernicious and enduring, continuing to do harm after direct contact has ceased. Repeated/constant exposure will slowly stack the effects.
Rank 1: Energy lingers for a modest amount of time. Those affected are nauseous and weakened, but unlikely to directly suffer harm.
Rank 2: Afflicted areas are radiated for long periods of time. Those directly struck begin to suffer mild internal and external burns, and are subjected to lasting sickness.
Rank 3: Effects last a very long time. Horrible burns and tumors await victims, along with damage to all of their internal systems if they survive long enough to experience it.
Rank 4: Radiation poisons the area all but permanently. Machines fail, plants die, water is contaminated, while the few survivors are perpetually microwaved.
Eldritch Energy
General: The ability to fire destructive blasts of pure energy, whether they be formed from chi, magical force, or eye beams from some internal battery. Unlike other energy attacks that work through an indirect effect (Fire burns, Cold freezes, etc.), Eldritch Energy does straight, immediate damage.
Rank 1: Launches a small attack that can snap a wooden beam or leave a crater in someone's chest, or do worse with steady application.
Rank 2: Blasts have great destructive potential, penetrating walls and blowing off limbs.
Rank 3: Mass devastation, instantly incinerating victims or carving buildings in half.
Rank 4: Beams leave nothing intact, leveling entire cities.
Equipment
Slashing Weapon
General: Fighter wields a weapon that inflicts slashing damage, like swords and claws. Slashing weapons cover a larger area in melee and can be tough to dodge, but are less effective at penetrating armor.
Rank 1: Common cutting blades, capable of damage to soft, unarmored targets.
Rank 2: More dangerous weapons such as masterwork swords, able to tear through most basic types of armor.
Rank 3: Extremely deadly slashing weapons, capable of hacking through metal and any limbs behind it.
Rank 4: The character's weapon can slice through almost anything without ever losing its edge.
Piercing Weapon
General: The character uses a weapon that inflicts puncturing damage, such as daggers, bullets, or horns. The narrow damage zone generally makes the hit harder to land, but they are more effective against armor.
Rank 1: Everyday stabbing objects, like kitchen knives or a dog's bite.
Rank 2: Potent weapons that can easily punch holes through the average person.
Rank 3: Deadly attacks capable of effortlessly tearing through most armor and most bone.
Rank 4: Piercing weapons that can plunge through almost any defense.
Crushing Weapon
General: The character uses a weapon that inflicts blunt force trauma, such as a club or a golem's stone fist. Crushing weapons are "average" attacks, equally effective against different targets.
Rank 1: A basic smashing attack that does standard damage.
Rank 2: Heavy strikes that can easily shatter an unprotected person's bones.
Rank 3: A crushing weapon made from some enhanced or unusually hard material, more than capable of pulping most targets.
Rank 4: Devastating weaponry that can turn any foe into dust.
Concussive Weapon
General: A weapon based on blast force. Bombs, air cannons, and so on, as long as it does damage via devastating shockwave. Concussive weapons do large-scale damage and are difficult to avoid if nearby, but are generally also harder to use and pinpoint.
Rank 1: Small, civilian-grade explosives. Firecrackers large and small, molotov cocktails, potatoes in the microwave.
Rank 2: Blasts most likely found in military hands, such as grenades and landmines.
Rank 3: Devastating weaponry you need to sign a release for just to look at. Capable of blowing a hole in almost any substance known to man.
Rank 4: Explosions the likes of which stars are created from. No one will ever find all the pieces.
Armor
General: The character is protected against physical and energy attacks by some kind of defensive layer, such as a bulletproof vest or a thick hide. Unlike a force field, armor is a physical thing that is always present; a surprise attack will still have to contend with armor.
Rank 1: Basic protective gear, like thick leather or scales.
Rank 2: Uncommonly powerful armor; heavy plate, ogre hide.
Rank 3: Exceptional protection that can deflect most attacks, such as advanced power armor and dragon's scales.
Rank 4: Nearly impenetrable defense, the kind of suit soldiers from the future would wear to survive atomic blasts.
Vehicle
General: A vehicle the character brings into combat that functions as one part movement power and one part equipment. Though vehicles are powerful, they are distinct from the character and can be separated from them, and may get in the way of other powers not attributed to the vehicle itself. Generally, the “deeper” inside the character is the harder they are to get at, but the harder it is for them to interact with the opponent directly. Only one vehicle can be used at a time without additional powers to provide some form of extra pilots/control. If destroyed, the craft is no longer usable for the rest of the fight.
Rank 1: The vehicle provides standard protection and a basic form of locomotion, such as slow flight or faster-than-walking movement on land, such as a car or small hovercraft.
Rank 2: A more impressive device, with heavier armor and greater mobility. May also carry weapons at the expense of some of the other functions' effectiveness. The kind of thing not available to most civilians, like a military or experimental craft.
Rank 3: The machine is extremely formidable, capable of significant combinations of defense, movement, and weaponry. A one of a kind vehicle likely built with an enormous personal fortune.
Rank 4: A mobile fortress of a vehicle, the kind of weapon used to invade and conquer a city by itself.
Skills
Martial Arts
General: The character has had melee combat training, and can use their body as a weapon more effectively than with just physical attributes alone. Rather than a direct damage power, Martial Arts enhances existing ability to inflict and avoid harm in personal combat by adding skill, and as such is more effective when applied to a character with higher attributes or existing melee powers, though anyone can take it.
Rank 1: Extensive official training in some form of combat, such as a black belt or military elite.
Rank 2: Character has reached the pinnacle that practice has to offer, mastering various styles or developing their own.
Weapon Master
General: The character is extremely skilled in the use of a melee weapon through training or talent. Must be connected to another power that represents the weapon to be mastered. Note that mastery only applies to one weapon "type"; if you want your character who wields both a sword and flamethrower to be extra-proficient with both, you must take Weapon Master a second time.
Rank 1: Individual is very capable with a weapon. Military-grade training, such as a samurai with a sword or a soldier with a combat knife.
Rank 2: The person is a true master with their chosen weapon, to the degree generally only reached by a small few who devote themselves to the craft. A wandering swordsman famed for dispatching entire bandit gangs with their blade.
Marksman
General: Skill and accuracy in the use of ranged attacks, including guns, bows, lasers, and so on. The character must have some kind of ranged power to represent whatever they're good at aiming with.
Rank 1: Aim is relatively flawless and unwavering. As long as there is a clear, undisrupted shot, the character is unlikely to ever miss.
Rank 2: Skill with ranged attacks that even the greatest snipers would give anything to have. Hit someone right between the eyes while standing atop a moving vehicle.
Acrobat
General: Fighter is nimble and highly skilled at gracefully moving their body without any stumbles or mistakes. While many gymnastic feats are possible and up to the creator's imagination, applied to combat Acrobat is primarily a dodging skill.
Rank 1: Acrobatic talent is nearly Olympic level. With time to react there are few dangers the character would be unable to handle.
Rank 2: Mobility seems almost unreal, with grace the world's foremost parkour experts would envy.
Detective
General: The character is observant and highly skilled at rational thought and deduction. This allows for a variety of talents, such as figuring out mental and physical weak points in the target, determining the location of a sniper by the shape of a bullet hole, or other abilities specified by the player.
Rank 1: The fighter is aware far beyond average, quick to notice most anything wrong or unusual and skilled and predicting their opponent's behavior.
Rank 2: Observational skills are almost supernatural. Character can skillfully manipulate the situation and put almost any two clues together into a hypothesis.
Tactician
General: Character is highly skilled in strategy, situation assessment, and planning. This relates to both the skillful command of others and in general, more “intelligent” fighting on a personal level.
Rank 1: Any army would love to get their hands on the character. Traps and battle plans are clean, easy, and devious.
Rank 2: Chess is for babies. Everything is going according to plan, before the battle even starts.
Combat Supremacy
General: Fighter has seen the impossible and punched it in the face. Their ability in a discipline exceeds the normal Supremacy is applied to any skill power such as Martial Arts or Acrobat and acts similarly to adding extra ranks to it, allowing unrealistic extremes beyond "really good," like striking a pressure point and making someone's heart explode or dodging every drop of the rain.
Rank 1: The individual has that special something you can't learn in school. The kind of unusual talent you might base a TV series on.
Rank 2: Your exploits are the stuff of urban legend. What most people thought was debunked you do on a daily basis.
Rank 3: You're the envy of cartoon characters everywhere. Your skills are unbelievable even after someone has seen them.
Rank 4: You wrote the book on your ability. In fact, you're probably rewriting the rules mid-swing. Imagination is your only master now.
ALLIES
Ally
General: The character is teamed up with a single assistant of some kind, be it a sidekick, a servant, a robot helper, or what have you. Additional powers can be attributed to this individual instead of the primary character but must be specified as such in the description. What abilities they have that come with the Ally power should be explained within that power's description. An ally is subject to the same fight dangers as the main character.
Rank 1: The Ally has limited default abilities, roughly on the level of an ordinary human. Comparable to a Street character with 4 points.
Rank 2: The Ally is a skilled individual, able to actively assist in matches. Comparable to a Street character with 8 points.
Rank 3: The Ally is powerful in their own right, comparable to a Global character with 14 points.
Rank 4: The Ally is a full-fledged superhuman, by default nearly as strong as a normal Global character with 20 points.
Commander
General: The character commands a sizable force of followers, made up of humans, androids, or other relatively “normal” allies within feasible communication or technology. They are loyal, but subject to whatever powers the enemy has, including any that may turn them against you. By default each individual is comparable to a normal, unpowered human. Abilities may be claimed through advantages (such as taking Ranged to equip them with guns), but more advanced abilities require additional powers to be purchased and attributed to the commanded units. Higher ranks in the Commander power itself increase the possible number of allies and the potential for stronger followers with powers. If no specific ability is tied to them, stronger allies are considered as having higher base attributes.
Rank 1: Character can command roughly 5-10 support units.
Rank 2: 20-30 low-grade followers, or a small number of moderately capable units.
Rank 3: A dozen or so capable followers, over a hundred standards, or a bit of each.
Rank 4: Anywhere between a few skilled followers and an army of fodder.
Beast Master
General: The character leads animal followers into battle. This is generally classified as natural, non-sentient creatures, but doesn't necessarily need to mean normal Earth animals. Followers are subject to any powers the enemy has, and may be enhanced by the purchase of additional abilities. Beasts are harder to control or tactically command than other followers, but are likewise harder for an opponent to manipulate.
Rank 1: Control a small menagerie of creatures such as dogs or birds of prey.
Rank 2: Dozens of lesser animals or several more dangerous ones.
Rank 3: Swarms of common beasts or a sizable group of dangerous ones, such as a pack of wolves.
Rank 4: Anything from an entire forest worth of critters, to a handful of apex predators.
Necromancer
General: The character is followed by supernatural allies, such as undead, demons, spirits, monsters, and so on. They are loyal, but subject to any powers the enemy has, including those that may turn them against you. Compared to other “army” powers, Necromancer's units are typically slightly more powerful, but present in fewer numbers. Abilities beyond physical capability can be purchased with advantages or additional powers. If not described in detail, followers who further exchange numbers for power are considered as having higher attributes.
Rank 1: Character leads several low-grade creatures.
Rank 2: A modest group (about 15-20) of weaker followers, or a few stronger ones.
Rank 3: Dozens of standard-level minions, or a sizable handful of tough ones.
Rank 4: Anywhere between swarms of basic followers or a few powerful ones.
SENSES
Hyper-Senses
General: Greatly improves a single sense. Gain hawk-like vision to pick out details a mile away, or eavesdrop on the conversation in the building across the street. Each use of Hyper-Senses enhances only one sense, but it can be taken again for more.
Rank 1: Individual has highly magnified ability in the chosen sense far beyond the average human. Provides some protection against Inhibit Senses.
Rank 2: Prowess in a sense far exceeds normality, allowing superhuman applications such as x-ray vision. Provides great protection against Inhibit Senses.
Danger Sense
General: Character can sense danger when it is about to strike, whether by instinct or a high-tech radar device, giving them an improved ability to dodge sneak or long range attacks.
Rank 1: Warnings come a split second early, slightly improving general dodge ability and confounding stealth attacks.
Rank 2: Character has advanced awareness of danger, considerably improving dodging ability and all but nullifying the benefit of sneak attacks.
Environmental Awareness
General: The fighter is intensely aware of their surroundings. Typically not by direct knowledge, but through enhanced intuition or observation skills.
Rank 1: Provides a sixth sense about things. Know when someone's lying, whether to turn right or left, or if a trap is about to go off in the room.
Rank 2: If the slightest thing is off, you'll notice. The character can literally feel when they're being watched, and for that matter, from what direction and how far away.
Communication
General: The character has the ability to speak to and understand things for whom this is normally impossible, such as plants, animals, machines, and so on. Exactly what is being communicated with and how is up to the creator.
Rank 1: Individual has a general grasp of an entity's wants, needs, and experiences, and can imprint their own upon the subject.
Rank 2: The character can fluently interact with the target as easily as if they were another person.
MOVEMENT
Flight
General: The power to, simply, fly. This may be done by inherent power, wings, technology such as a jetpack, or anything else. Flight is one of the most versatile and seamless movement powers, but confers no extra benefits beyond superior mobility.
Rank 1: Character can fly at high speeds, faster than any normal running speed, with midair agility comparable to a bird.
Rank 2: High speed can be maintained even through stop-on-a-dime midair acrobatics. As well, agility can be sacrificed for bursts of extreme speed.
Super Speed
General: Fighter can move extremely quickly. If not attributed to another power or other specific use, it is assumed to affect basic movement, such as running speed. Note that Super Speed alone does not improve someone's ability to comprehend extreme speeds; you can run fast but not smoothly maintain the speed through a maze, and it doesn't matter if you're fast enough to dodge a bullet if you still can't see it and react.
Rank 1: Movement is extremely fast, but still observable. Catch a bee by its wings or leave every Olympic sprinter in the dust.
Rank 2: Motions start to blur. Outrun cars and clothesline any blackbelt.
Rank 3: The character is barely visible at full speed. Pickpocket everyone in the bank and leave before the first person can finish calling out.
Rank 4: Speed borders at the maximum matter can travel. Toss a ball in the air and run a lap or two around the country before catching it.
Reaction Speed
General: The mental-processing equivalent of Super Speed. If not connected to another power it raises general reflex/reaction time, making the character nearly immune to surprise attack.
Rank 1: Character has an animal-like ability to instantly react by instinct, able to respond to a sound almost before they even recognize it.
Rank 2: Reactions border on unnatural. A flickering subliminal message is easy to read, and anything you drop is always caught before it hits the ground.
Rank 3: The character can recognize a threat, form a plan of action, and begin to act on it before an assassin has finished reaching for their dagger.
Rank 4: The world turns in slow motion. The individual can count a hummingbird's wingbeats or shoot out a single bullet from the spray of a minigun.
Phasing
General: The fighter can attain an intangible, ghostlike state. Phased characters cannot inflict physical harm or otherwise interact with solid objects, but in turn are not affected by such things either. It may be possible to disperse a phased being with physical attack if no other options are available, but doing so is extremely difficult.
Rank 1: Character can phase for several minutes at a time, with some effort. The faster the condition is forced the harder it is to maintain.
Rank 2: Phasing is easy, and may even be the character's natural state. Duration is not a problem unless under heavy attack.
Digging
General: The ability to travel through the ground in some way, such as by possession of a giant drill or having mole-like claws. Digging is generally the slowest travel power, but also the safest.
Rank 1: Character can move through soil, stone and asphalt with ease.
Rank 2: Movement through ultra-hard minerals and artificial materials like steel is possible, while soil poses virtually no obstacle.
Leaping
General: The individual is capable of performing enormous jumps without fear of being injured by the fall or stumbling on the high-speed landing. Compared to other movement powers leaping is fast, easy, and requires little concentration, but offers the least control, as you cannot move mid-jump without other powers.
Rank 1: Jumping onto the roof of a two-story house is nothing, and with a running start you just might clear that football field.
Rank 2: Leaps of hundreds of feet are so effortless that wall-jumping becomes possible, letting you vault off the side of a skyscraper to grab a passing blimp.
Energy Wave Surfing
General: The fighter can travel atop some kind of material specified by the player, such as a bridge of ice forming beneath their feet or a magic carpet. While not as “stable” as other movement powers in that the character can be separated from it, it can also hinder the enemy.
Rank 1: High movement speed and modest mobility is possible.
Rank 2: Extremely high speed and higher mobility/altitude is possible. Alternatively, movement is standard level and the energy wave impedes the opponent in some way, such as leaving behind a trail that is harmful or obstructs physical movement.
Wall Crawling
General: The character has the ability to climb sheer surfaces. This could be due to sticky hands, claws dug into walls, or simply carrying climbing gear with them.
Rank 1: Able to scale walls at a reduced rate to walking on the same texture, or hang indefinitely from a ceiling.
Rank 2: Able to climb walls as easily as walking along the floor, or traverse ceilings at reduced speed.
Teleportation
General: Fighter can instantly travel from one location to another, regardless of speed or obstacles in-between. Teleportation is the most technically effective movement power, but also the most difficult, generally requiring a short recharge between uses depending on how far is traveled.
Rank 1: Character can teleport themselves a modest distance (down the block, from one end of a football field to another). Effort is high, and it cannot be done in rapid succession. Accuracy is lowered if the destination is not within view, or a longer jump is attempted.
Rank 2: Fighter can teleport themselves a longer distance, traversing a small city, with relative ease. Personal objects/equipment not carried on their person can also be brought along (vehicles, allies), but the power will require a short moment to charge/recover before and after teleports. The character doesn't need to come along when teleporting something else, but this will further increase time and effort.
Rank 3: Travel anywhere in range of sight is instant and easy, and anywhere within roughly a mile can visited as long as the character is somehow “aware” of it (has been there before, has a video connection, detection powers). Personal objects are not a hindrance. With extra time and effort objects belonging to the enemy can be teleporting, and if they are restrained or incapacitated, the enemy themselves. Recharge is brief, but very rapid use can “burn out” the power temporarily.
Rank 4: The character can go almost anywhere, and bring along whatever they wish. Lesser teleports can be performed constantly without ever wearing out, and distance is typically only limited by awareness.
MENTAL
Mind Control
General: Fighter is capable of forcibly controlling the victim's actions by taking control of their mind or body. Rank primarily affects the strength of the controller's “grip.” If the character attempts to take control of more than one person at a time, it becomes increasingly difficult, and failure may result in earlier captures escaping as well. Unlike more subtle mental attacks like illusions or emotion control, Mind Control alone is always noticeable and actively resisted.
Rank 1: Control is fairly tenous, and unless the victim is incredibly weak-minded, is mostly limited to distractions such as unwanted nerve impulses and staggering.
Rank 2: At least partial control is easier, allowing for more complete forced actions, though the victim will more readily resist harming themselves or other behaviors that contradict their own ethics.
Rank 3: Most average opponents can be almost entirely controlled, unable to stop themselves from all but the most abhorrent and undesired behaviors.
Rank 4: Only very powerful minds can resist being controlled to at least some degree. Fully dominated victims lose all self-control, doing anything at all that the controller wishes.
Telekinesis
General: The power to move and interact with objects without physically touching them. Lift, throw, flip a switch, turn a lock, and so on. Higher ranks increase the "strength" of the telekinesis, and ability to perform more advanced small-scale tasks without fingers in the way, such as rebuilding a shattered vase using even tiny stray fragments, though not at the same time. Without taking the Ranged advantage the power is considered to be effective roughly "within arms reach."
Rank 1: Standard strength, able to interact with simple objects one could grip in their hand.
Rank 2: Super strength, and can move difficult or amorphous objects like liquid.
Rank 3: Supreme strength, with almost no limits on moving things the character can mentally grasp.
Rank 4: Ultimate strength and control refined enough to manipulate objects on a molecular scale.
Telepathy
General: Fighter has the ability to read minds, and communicate with allies or enemies alike with just their thoughts. Mind-reading can tell the character what their foe is about to do and effectively predict attacks, making them much easier to dodge or deal with, but does nothing to improve defense should the attack land anyway.
Rank 1: Character can easily speak with allies or pester enemies with distracting thoughts. Surface thoughts can be read, such as an attack just as it's happening.
Rank 2: Thoughts can be communicated more quickly than normal speech. Even hidden, submerged thoughts can be dug up, allowing a mind to probed for information.
Mind Blast
General: A mental attack that causes simple, direct psychic damage. Whether the mind is foreign or barely there is irrelevant; you don't need to understand something to crush it. After a target's mental capabilities have been torn down, Mind Blast begins attacking basic life functions, shutting down the brain's control over the heart, lungs, etc. At this point it switches from the Mind attribute and damages Body to eventually bring the target down.
Rank 1: The mental equivalent of being punched in the nose. Focus and awareness are shaken, and splitting headaches soon follow. Can be recovered from in a short while.
Rank 2: The victim's psyche is badly shaken. A direct hit will reduce Mind by one rank, damaging mental faculties and causing unpleasant side effects such as mild seizures.
Rank 3: A major attack on all mental activity, potentially causing physical brain damage. Only powerful minds can maintain a degree of basic function, and even then recovery is slow.
Rank 4: A blast with the power to blank someone's mind and short-circuit their entire nervous system. Those who withstand it will probably wish they hadn't.
Psychic Vampire
General: Fighter has some way of robbing the opponent of their mental strength, reducing the rank of the Mind attribute and any mental powers they may have. If the vampire effect is not strong enough to wipe out these abilities at once, powers are reduced first, and then Mind. If Mind is dropped below Weak, the target loses consciousness. Energy stolen by the vampire can then be given to any linked attribute or power until it's used, at which point it returns to normal level. Drained abilities will recover in time if repeat effects are avoided, but slowly.
Rank 1: One rank worth of energy can be stolen per attack, unlikely to disable most opponents but consistently weakening them.
Rank 2: Two ranks of energy are taken at once. Those with ordinary minds are in significant danger.
Rank 3: Three ranks of energy are drained. Recovery is long and difficult, if it's withstood at all.
Rank 4: Mental powers and strength are stripped of four ranks of energy at a time, quickly disabling even powerful psychics.
Illusion Control
General: Whether by hypnosis, magic, holograms, or something else, the character can produce realistic illusions to confuse and manipulate. While these phantoms are not dangerous themselves, they can dramatically influence perception. These may be a specific images or simply generate any illusion on the fly. Illusions do not confuse senses that the creator cannot comprehend themselves, such as extrasensory powers, without assistance from another power of their own.
Rank 1: Able to create illusions that affect two senses. If the ruse is exposed, future illusions are easy to disbelieve if not ignore.
Rank 2: Able to create illusions that affect three senses. If the illusion is exposed, future attempts must be created outside the target's awareness to be believed.
Rank 3: Able to create illusions that affect five senses. These images seem completely real without some form of mental resistance, even if exposed as fake.
Rank 4: Illusions can affect any number of senses. Without considerable defenses they are nearly impossible to distinguish from reality.
Emotion Control
General: The power to manipulate or create emotional states within the target, considerably altering their behavior. Unlike Mind Control, in which the victim is aware but cannot control themselves, Emotion Control changes the actual mental state of the target. Changes in emotion are harder to resist as they are more subtle and inherently interfere with concentration, and may not be an attack at all (such as a monster with a terrifying appearance), but are also harder to use for specific, controlled reactions in the target.
Rank 1: Slight mood shifts, usually dulling or enhancing existing emotions
Rank 2: Major mood change, turning happy to sad or confidence to fear.
Rank 3: Severe, potentially crippling emotional disorders, such as overwhelming phobia or hatred that blinds all else.
Rank 4: Complete mental breakdown. The unfortunate victim may lose all will to live or view their closest friends and loved ones with murderous intent.
Empathy
General: The individual has a deep understanding of emotion, which translates to an instinctive grasp of another person's feelings and responses. With a glance they can tell whether someone is angry or afraid, and why. Although not as powerful as other "information-getting" powers, Empathy is much harder to block, as it cannot be actively detected and defended against.
Rank 1: Character can see basic surface emotions, in a practical sense allowing them to notice which of their attacks instill fear and are thus more/less effective than others, or detect confidence and avoid a coming attack. Powers that allow psychological warfare are more effective.
Rank 2: A person's face is an open book. The character has a complex understanding of what someone is doing and why, knowing what emotions will elicit what behaviors and which actions will bring forth which emotions. Psychological warfare and general mental detection powers are much more effective.
Force of Will
General: The character is a master of mental manipulation, and few can resist or even comprehend their psychic attacks. This is essentially “training” skill like Martial Arts and Weapon Master, but applied to mental powers.
Rank 1: Weaknesses in a person's psyche are easy to see, and abilities that may have normally taken great concentration can be multitasked.
Rank 2: Character can dismantle a brain like a puzzle toy. Only powerful mental defenses have much hope of resisting for long.
MANIPULATION
Poison
General: The fighter has the ability cripple the general bodily systems of the target. This can take any form like a syringe, a toxic gas, a biological appendage like a stinger or fangs, or even a disease or psychic attack that strikes the body instead of the mind. These attacks do not cause direct damage without being attached to an additional power, but temporarily lower attributes instead.
Rank 1: The victim has their Strength, Agility, Body, and Mind lowered by one for a short time.
Rank 2: Attributes are reduced by two for a longer time.
Rank 3: All attributes drop by three points, potentially lasting hours.
Rank 4: Stats fall by four points, and the effect will never wear off during the fight without some healing or intervention.
Bio Vampire
General: Fighter can sap the opponent of their physical strength, reducing the rank of the Strength attribute and any strength-based powers they may have. If the vampire effect is not strong enough to wipe out these abilities at once, powers are reduced first, and then Strength. If Strength is dropped below Weak, the target loses consciousness. Energy stolen by the vampire can then be given to any linked attribute or power until it's used, at which point it returns to normal level. Drained abilities will recover in time if repeat effects are avoided, but slowly.
Rank 1: One rank worth of energy can be stolen per attack, unlikely to disable most opponents but consistently weakening them.
Rank 2: Two ranks of energy are taken at once. Those of merely average fortitude are in significant danger.
Rank 3: Three ranks of energy are drained. Recovery is long and difficult, if it's withstood at all.
Rank 4: Physical powers and strength are stripped of four ranks of energy at a time, quickly disabling even the mightiest warriors.
Healing
General: The target is a skilled doctor, possesses healing magic, or is otherwise capable of medical wonders. While Healing generally requires that the user stop what they're doing to focus on the effort, unlike the constant effect of Regeneration, it usually heals more at once and can also more effectively remove non-wounding ailments, such as poison, fatigue, or lingering radiation. Because it's an intentional act, Healing can also prioritize injury, ignoring some injuries in favor of those that reduce fighting ability.
Rank 1: Character is a world-class doctor, capable of flawlessly performing surgery and treating virtually any known illness. Non-fatal injuries can be bandaged up and at least partially recovered from.
Rank 2: All of the above, as well as the equipment or talent to directly close and heal wounds in moments, rather than waiting for natural healing. Major injury can be recovered from per session.
Binding
General: Character has the ability to somehow physically impede and "catch" an enemy, whether by webbing, tractor beam, turning the ground into quicksand, and so on. This will not prevent the target from fighting back, but makes them largely unable to move or dodge. Duration depends on the target's Strength and various attack powers, used to destroy the restrictions.
Rank 1: Agility and movement-based powers of Rank 1 or 2 are nullified, while higher ranks are slowed.
Rank 2: Agility and movement-based powers are nullified, and any abilities of only Rank 1 are unable to break the binding regardless of duration.
Polymorph
General: Essentially, the power to turn things into other things. Difficulty is determined by size, Body stat when dealing with enemies, and how different from the original the change is. Numerous objects may be quickly changed, but the effect will only last a short while as compared to a more direct effort.
Rank 1: Small creatures and objects can be transformed into other, similar options, like a cat into a squirrel or a pebble into a gemstone.
Rank 2: Medium objects and more difficult changes. Turn a bike into a motorcycle or give a dog three heads.
Rank 3: Large creatures, and objects can be polymorphed into fundamentally different things. Turn a bookshelf into a cloud of locusts, or turn a human to stone.
Rank 4: Huge objects can be transformed, and into almost anything. Turn a pocket-sized figurine into an elephant and ride it down the street, or throw eggs that turn into grenades.
Disintegration
General: The character can attack the basic molecular structure of a target, breaking it down into a useless scattering of atoms. This is nearly impossible to defend against, and while higher ranks increase speed and effectiveness, given enough time almost anything can be dissolved eventually. Disintegration is largely ineffectual against sustained, energy-based shields, but will steadily damage physical armor and reduce its rank for the duration of the fight. While a cut might be sewn shut, disintegration damage is very difficult to restore.
Rank 1: Sparse, flimsy materials can be destroyed fairly quickly, and tougher ones over prolonged contact. Especially hard or internally-changing objects, such as organics, are more difficult.
Rank 2: Most objects will suffer superficial damage at a touch, and deep destruction if contact is sustained for long.
Rank 3: Severe injury can be inflicted very quickly, and only extremely durable materials will hold out for long.
Rank 4: Almost any substance can be rapidly destroyed, and softer targets are turned to dust and passed through as if nothing was there.
Inhibit Senses
General: Fighter can disrupt the target's senses in some way, such as a blinding flash of light or deafening blast. Each use of Inhibit Senses applies to one sense, which must be specified in the description.
Rank 1: The target sense is either temporarily blocked, or persistently disrupted. A temporary attack completely prevents use of the sense for a short time, while persistent disruption reduces its use. Hyper-senses, depending on their rank and the nature of the attack, will reduce or negate the effect.
Rank 2: Temporary blocks last longer and will briefly halt even full hyper-senses. Persistent effect makes normal senses almost useless if not at point-blank range and reduce full hyper-senses to normal level.
Growth/Shrink
General: The individual can expand or reduce themselves or another object to extreme sizes, with all the benefits and drawbacks this brings. The average house is still a flimsy prop to a giant of "standard" strength, but a lousy shot has much better odds with a double-sized target. Difficulty depends on scale; it's easier for a man to become twice as large than to make a grape the same size. For each use of this power you must pick either shrinking or growing, not both.
Rank 1: Able to alter a single object at a time, from a little bit to several times larger or smaller. Additional objects will require more turns to be expanded one at a time.
Rank 2: Character can alter a single object to enormous or infinitesimal sizes, such as a human to Godzilla-scale, or vice versa. Growth is quicker and easier for Rank one changes.
Induced Sleep
General: Character has some way of rendering the enemy unconscious; gas, hypnosis, etc. This is a mental state and not a physical impairment, and being attacked tends to wake people back up. If the attribute used to defend against the specific means is not mentioned (such as Body for a drug), it is assumed to be Mind.
Rank 1: Results are quick and effective, but can be quickly shaken off if resisted.
Rank 2: Those without substantial defenses are easily incapacitated, and those who resist are left feeling groggy and sluggish, and more vulnerable to repeat attempts.
Decay
General: The target is decomposed and rotted away, such as by corroding compounds or the ravages of time applied at high speed. Whatever the means, the result is rarely pleasant.
Rank 1: Slow degrading. Fragile/perishable objects quickly crumble, sturdier materials lose their luster, organisms feel weak and tired.
Rank 2: Living material begins to slowly die on touch, causing shallow necrotic wounds. Metals will eventually rust, softer material soon breaks apart.
Rank 3: Only extremely enduring objects like plastics and stone will last for long. An unshielded human will wither, die, and turn into dust in under a minute.
Rank 4: The character's touch is death. Living or dead, almost anything can be reduced to a pile of sand in moments.
Weather Control
General: The fighter has the power to manipulate weather patterns, including rain, fog, hail, lightning, wind, and so on. Weather Control is considered an attack power by default, and if used to cause other effects (such as visibility-limited fog or mobility-hindering winds) draws that power away from offense. While more far-ranging and varied than other energy attacks, it is also much harder to precisely control or pinpoint.
Rank 1: Character can produce strong but still fairly “normal” effects, such as thick fog or pounding rain, and sporadic lightning.
Rank 2: Weather becomes unusually dangerous, with winds that can bowl people over, hail that breaks glass, and frequent lightning.
Rank 3: At this point weather patterns reach levels that warrant mass evacuations, such as floods, tornadoes, and blizzards.
Rank 4: Character is a walking disaster movie. House crushing-winds, hail that breaks bones, and lightning falling like rain.
CREATION
Object Creation
General: Fighter is capable of creating something from nothing. This could range from a top hat with 100 swords inside or a tidal wave hidden in your coat pocket; the what and the where is up to the player. In general, the "threat level" is no more than a more specific attack of the same rank.
Rank 1: Simple, modestly-sized objects can be produced, such as clubs or basic materials.
Rank 2: Objects can take more specific shapes, such as crude life or technology, in more plentiful amounts.
Rank 3: Nearly anything of reasonable size and within modern technology can be produced, over and over again.
Rank 4: Character is a walking factory. Get whatever you want, as much as you want.
Duplication
General: Grants the power to make more of something, even yourself. Generally, as the number of duplicates goes up, quality goes down.
Rank 1: Able to make a small number of crude or partial copies. A single good, physical copy of yourself can be made, but will have no powers. Small objects can be reproduced well, one at a time.
Rank 2: Character can create several non-powered copies of themselves at a time, or one copy with reduced powers. Small inanimate objects can be duplicated easily, large ones with effort.
Rank 3: Character can create a large number of non-powered copies, several highly reduced copies, or one near-perfect duplicate. Objects your size or smaller can be duplicated easily.
Rank 4: A nearly endless flow of non-powered duplicates can be produced. Weak copies can be made in large numbers, stronger ones in small numbers, or a single perfect double with all your powers, except for Duplication. Other objects are available in almost any amount at a snap of your fingers.
ENHANCEMENT
Power Manipulation
General: The character can "shape" a linked power beyond its normal effects, such as creating a blade of pure fire, ice that doesn't melt, or Communication that allows the target entity to speak out loud so all can hear. Be imaginative, but don't get greedy.
Rank 1: Capable of very basic manipulations, like a stream of fire that can turn a corner.
Rank 2: Advanced control. Use telekinesis to push air out of the room or instantly turn ice into water and back again.
Rank 3: Extreme manipulations, such as fire that only burns who or what you want while an area is bathed in it.
Rank 4: Total control. Take a power and do almost anything you want with it.
Transformation
General: Fighter can change the form of their body. Unlike an illusion, or an Energy Body adopting a shape, this is a true physical change. Any bonuses conferred must be roughly equal to the points spent on the power; if Rank 1 is taken for a bird form and claimed to grant flight, the 2 point cost goes to that alone and the shape has no other benefits. If a dragon form allows huge size, tough scales, and fire breath, a high rank must be taken to benefit from them at standard levels. If the player desires, other powers can be taken and attributed to the transformed state instead of the normal one.
Rank 1: The character can take shapes similar to their own, with the same basic size and number of limbs.
Rank 2: Transformations can include very small or large creatures, as well as creatures with foreign body structures such as gills.
Rank 3: Shape can take almost any plausible form.
Rank 4: Character can transform into nearly anything imaginable, including bizarre forms that wouldn't exist in nature.
Elongation
General: The character's body is stretchy and flexible, or they possess equipment that can physically extend, allowing them to lengthen their reach a great distance. While more than one part can be stretched, the more different directions and complex movements involved, the more difficult and less effective it becomes.
Rank 1: Reach can quickly extend a long, relatively straight way within sight.
Rank 2: Reach can extend an extremely long distance, turning corners or coiling around objects, as long as the character is somehow aware of and can control the movement.
Energy Body
General: Either as their default state or at will, the fighter's body is formed of a mass of simple material, such as sand or fire, rather than complex anatomical structures. The power provides some parts offense, defense, and shapeshifting by default, though none to the same degree as more focused powers. The creator must specify if they want the material to provide bonuses more specific to any one effect. Shape-changing is based more on time/difficulty than physical limit. Unless additional defensive powers are taking, the energy form can still be physically damaged by being dispersed and unable to reform.
Rank 1: Control is limited, and the form is relatively bloblike. Non-focused bonuses are mostly insignificant.
Rank 2: Simple or humanoid shapes can be taken, and normal movement is possible. Slight general or noticeable specific bonuses are gained.
Rank 3: The character can considerably change their shape into various structures, such as extra functional limbs. Roughly standard-level general bonuses or large focused ones.
Rank 4: Almost no shape limit or transformation difficulty. Substantial general combat benefits or a major single one.
Invisibility
General: The ability to become unseen in some way. The writer must specify the balance between visibility and functionality used; do they instantly and totally vanish, but only for a short time that ends even faster if they attack? Wear camouflage that's visible but constant? Or something in-between?
Rank 1: Total invisibility can be briefly attained, or chameleonic blurring into the background.
Rank 2: Completely disappearing is easier, and if free of disruption can even be maintained during an attack. A camouflage type can walk into a crowd and be lost almost instantly.
Berserker
General: Fighter is capable of temporarily boosting one of their attributes beyond normal levels. This counts as exceeding normal maximums. An attribute can either be enhanced normally or receive double the increase in exchange for an equally large penalty to other attributes, specified by the writer (for example, an increase in Strength along with a decrease in Mind for a raging berserker). Any attribute reduced below Weak is considered “useless”, i.e., a character with nullified Agility is basically immobilized.
Rank 1: A single attribute can be increased by one rank, or two ranks with a penalty.
Rank 2: A single attribute can be increased by two ranks, or four ranks with a penalty.
Regeneration
General: The character is capable of advanced healing speed, rapidly closing wounds as soon as they occur. This is done automatically and without the character's input, and as such they cannot be prevented from healing by inhibiting powers. However, without control they also cannot prioritize injuries, and their ability can be overwhelmed. Regeneration still draws on the body's energy, and excessive use can be exhausting.
Rank 1: Healing is just fast enough to be visible. Bleeding stops fairly quickly and small lacerations and injuries heal in only a few minutes. Crippling injury is less likely to be fatal, but still takes a long time to heal.
Rank 2: Small wounds are negligible, and injury that would normally drop someone can be shrugged off. Severe injury recovers slowly, but will only incapacitate the individual for a few minutes.
Rank 3: Recovery is very fast, with nothing short of normally fatal wounds slowing down the character for long. Even minor dismemberment can be healed over the course of a fight.
Rank 4: Lesser injury is barely noticed, and any damage less critical than a completely crushed organ is unlikely to slow the character down. If the body isn't heavily mangled, they are likely to be back on their feet in moments.
DEFENSE
Reflection
General: Fighter has the ability to deflect attacks back toward their source. This can be literal reversal of the same attack, retribution of equal force, or a simple counter-attack. The higher the rank, the more the attack can be blocked and the more force that can be sent back. The creator must specify whether this effect is conscious or automatic. Conscious reflection can miss if the attack is hard to deal with, while automatic is less likely to deflect the entire attack. Each instance of Reflection applies to only physical, energy, or mental attack, which must also be specified.
Rank 1: First rank attacks can potentially be blocked completely, higher ranks only partly.
Rank 2: Second rank and below attacks can potentially be blocked completely, higher ranks only partly.
Rank 3: Third rank and below attacks can potentially be blocked completely, higher ranks only partly.
Rank 4: Any attack can potentially be reflected.
Kinetic Absorption
General: Provides the power to absorb the force of physical attack and use it to your own benefit. The creator must specify a specific attribute or separate power to receive this energy, temporarily increasing its rank. This does not exceed Ultimate rank. If energy is stored beyond the limit it risks an overload, depending on the level of the power versus the strength of the attack. An overload harms the character, and delays future use of the absorption power.
Rank 1: Small amounts of power can be absorbed and stored. Overload risk increases quickly with higher attack ranks.
Rank 2: Modest amounts of power are absorbed, providing a small degree of defense against physical attack. Larger attacks can be used but the stored energy must be used soon.
Rank 3: Large amounts of power are absorbed, providing decent protection and relatively safe, efficient storage.
Rank 4: Capacity is almost unlimited, resulting in good defense against attack and virtually no risk of overload.
Energy Absorption
General: The character can absorb the power of energy attacks and use it to fuel their own abilities. The power description must specify what attribute or power benefits from this energy, which can temporarily raise it to Ultimate rank. If energy is stored beyond the limit it risks an overload, depending on the level of the power versus the strength of the attack. An overload harms the character, and delays future use of the absorption power. The smoother energy-to-energy conversion makes the absorption more efficient than Kinetic Absorption and provides better defense, but also overloads more easily.
Rank 1: Small amounts of power can be absorbed and stored. Overload risk increases quickly with higher attack ranks.
Rank 2: Modest amounts of power are absorbed, providing a small degree of defense against energy attacks. Larger attacks can be used but the stored energy must be used soon.
Rank 3: Large amounts of power are absorbed, providing decent protection and safer storage.
Rank 4: Energy transfer is almost perfectly efficient, providing good defense and power supply.
Force Field
General: Creates a shield made from energy, instead of physical armor. Force fields are generally not “damaged” in the sense that armor is, as holes do not last, but if they fail go down on all sides. Ragged armor is still more useful than a deactivated force field.
Rank 1: A light shield, capable of deflecting small amounts of force but not meant for heavy combat.
Rank 2: Strong deflection, the type of shielding you might expect to see on futuristic power armor.
Rank 3: A shield designed to take a major pounding, as might be erected over a military base.
Rank 4: Nearly impenetrable and extremely stable. The sort of force field found protecting an alien mothership.
Mental Defense
General: Mental Defense, naturally, protects the character against mental attack, such as Mind Blast and Telepathy. The exact form of the defense is up to the player, from a tinfoil hat to sheer willpower.
Rank 1: Standard-level attacks are about half as effective, while superior and supreme are dulled.
Rank 2: Standard attacks are at roughly one-quarter effect, superior are halved, and supreme and ultimate are dulled.
Rank 3: Standard attacks are nearly useless, superior are severely reduced, supreme are halved, and ultimate is dulled.
Rank 4: Character is immune to standard mental attacks, highly resistant against superior and supreme, while the force of ultimate attacks are halved.
Iron Will
General: The fighter has an immovable willpower and great inner strength. They will never give up, and never stay down. Iron Will provides a small degree of defense against all attacks, and considerable resistance to the various side effects of injury such as pain, fear, and loss of focus.
Rank 1: Mild injuries are negligible, and small ones are almost unnoticed.
Rank 2: The character will stare down the barrel of a gun without batting an eye, and trying to wear them down with needling attacks is an exercise in futility.
Rank 3: The fighter is unshakeable. Whatever you think you can throw at them, they've shrugged off worse.
Rank 4: Effectively immune to standard-level attacks. The individual is certain to rise again at least once after taking a normally fight-ending hit.
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