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Abilities and Effects

Table of Contents

Introduction


Interested in some visuals to help you master the process of making Abilities? Click Here to download a PDF to help you out.

An Ability is anything you can do beyond normal human capabilities. You purchase Abilities with Essence.

Example: Mario of plumbing fame can jump extremely high. That is an Ability. We’ll call it "High Jump."

Effects are what you use to describe exactly what your ability does. Every Ability has one or more Effects, which you describe in detail in your Ability's Description.

Example: Mario’s "High Jump" Ability lets him traverse great distances and also land on people and hurt them. The two Effects associated with Mario’s "High Jump" Ability are Flight and Damage.

Effects are ranked to determine how powerful they are, and how much they cost. For example an Ability with Damage (Rank 1) would have enough power to break something flimsy made of wood, but an Ability with Damage (Rank 4) could shatter concrete.

If you want to adjust the range or duration of an Effect, or customize it in any other way, you use Modifiers. Modifiers can be positive or negative, enhancing or limiting the scope of the Effect. Positive Modifiers make each rank of the Effect more expensive, while negative Modifiers make each rank cheaper. You cannot cheapen an Effect under 50 Essence.

Example: Mario can throw fireballs, so we’re making a new Ability for him called "Throw Fireball." Its main purpose is to burn enemies, so we’ll take the Damage Effect, but we want to be able to burn enemies that are far away, so we’ll add the Ranged modifier to that Effect.

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EFFECTS​


To pick out all the Effects that are a part of an Ability you have in mind, go down the list of questions and answer the brief questions that are at the start of each Effect. If the short question seems to match, see the full description to find out more about how the Effect works.

Keep a list of each of the Effects that you’ve picked out and their price per rank, and then move on to Modifiers in the next section.

Adaptation - Variable Essence Cost PER ADAPTATION
Does this Ability allow your target to endure extreme environmental conditions or scenarios?
The target no longer suffers the ill effects from a specific type of environment or other primarily "story" problem. They are not immune to offensive effects that use these as a descriptor. For example, you cannot resist a Damage Effect that’s described as being poisonous because you have Adaptation: Toxic Environments.

Each different type of adaptation you have costs a different amount of Essence, which is listed beside it.

Incredible Heat Environments (100)​
Incredible Cold Environments (100)​
Need to Breathe (200)​
Space (300)​
Radioactive Environments (50)​
Starvation and Thirst (50)​
Need for Sleep (50)​
Chemical or Toxic Environments (50)​
Disease (50)​
Falling (100)​
Nonbiological Anatomy (Your organs aren’t where they ought to be, or don’t matter) (300)​
Immune to Pain (You still take damage, you just don't feel it) (200)​

Ask a mod about other oddities you come up with. This Effect is always Ongoing, so you don't need to purchase that Modifier.

Agility - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow your target to move more nimbly or react more quickly?
Your target is very nimble! Each rank makes them more Agile, along the following scale:

1: You are far more agile than a regular person. Improved coordination and reflexes.
2:
3: You are agile enough to be a professional athlete or Olympic gymnast.
4:
5: You are superhuman. You can accomplish cartoonish feats of movement like catching a stack of plates before they hit the ground.
6:
7: Contortion and springing leaps on a whim. Balance on a thread.
8:
9: Never disoriented. Reflexes that border prescience.
10:
11: Accelerate, decelerate, or change direction of movement on a dime. You never seem to trip or lose your balance.
12:
13: Change direction or orientation even in midair with virtually perfect freedom.
14:
15: Able to maintain perfect equilibrium and coordination at all times. Reflexes and precision that seem to defy physics.

This Effect is always Ongoing, so you don’t need to buy the Modifier.

Communication- 100 Essence, One Rank
Does this Ability allow your target to communicate by unusual means?
Your target can communicate over a distance using a medium other than normal voice. This can cover radio, telepathy, magic, etc. This communication always allows your target to talk to anyone else with "Communication" regardless of what form of Communication they have. Yes, that means you can call a cell phone with a crystal ball. Weird, right?

You don't need most Modifiers to make Communicate work the way you want. Assume you can do anything with it that you can do with a cell phone, including speaking to multiple people at once, speaking to people at long distances (even other planets), or leaving messages in a narratively sensible way. Most of the narrative restrictions that will be placed on Communicate are self-imposed, so if you can talk, text, or telepathically communicate with somebody else, take Communicate and you probably don't have to worry about Positive Modifiers unless you're doing something really weird with it.

Concealment (Sense) - 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow the target to be more difficult to noticed?
Your target gains the ability to obscure themselves completely from a particular sense, although they can still be detected by other senses. This Effect can take whatever form you choose.

Choose from the following options:
Sight: Your target is rendered invisible to the naked eye while this Effect is active.
Hearing: Your target is completely silent while this Effect is active.
Smell: Your target has no scent while this Effect is active.
Extrasensory: Your target cannot be located by any special sense, such as echolocation, tremorsense, infrared, Bakugan, etc...

Concealment (Sense) is countered by the equivalent rank of Senses. For example, Senses (Sight) 3 counters Concealment (Sight) 3. Even if your opponent has no ranks of Senses, Concealment is never entirely foolproof.

If ranks of Concealment from multiple senses are part of the same Ability, they may share modifiers. For example:

Concealment (Sight) 1 & Concealment (Smell) 1 - 200E (100E per rank for each sense)
--Ongoing (100E) *This Ongoing modifier applies to concealment from both senses.

Damage – 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability injure or destroy its target?
Be it superpowered fists, lasers, or mega canons, if it does damage it has this Effect. You can modify it with the Ranged modifier to make it from a fist into an eye-beam. Ongoing will cause damage that keeps on hurting, such as setting somebody on fire, or a progressive flesh-eating bacteria. Each rank causes more damage with a successful hit, along the following scale:

1: Good at damaging soft, organic material. Easily breaks thin wood. About as powerful as a knife.
2: Can kill a person with a very well aimed attack hitting a vital area, injuring moderately on a normal strike. Breaks sturdy wood. Cutting with a sword or a long dagger.
3: Always hurts badly, but won't always kill. Breaks thin stone, cracks concrete. Small arms or grazing gun fire.
4: Will usually badly injure or kill a person on an undefended hit. Can punch through weak metal or shatter concrete. Heavy arms fire or a two-handed sword.
5: Even defended attacks will leave a normal person on the ground. About the equivalent of getting hit with a car going a high speed.
6: A destructive force that will instantly kill most normal people. Can punch through steel.
7: Even very tough opponents will likely be greatly injured or killed. Goes through almost all traditional construction materials.
8: This is roughly how much it takes to punch through the entirety of a car, end to end.
9: You can put a major dent in a tank.
10: You’re capable of tearing an I-Beam in half.
11: Enough force to punch through even reinforced vehicle armor.
12: Destructive potential of large wrecking or deconstruction machinery. Able to tear through even the framework of entire buildings.
13: Enough force to punch through reinforced blast doors.
14: Comparable to a small, tactical nuclear strike. Enough force to penetrate a reinforced bunker.
15: Even opponents with extremely strong armor or supernatural protection will still be injured. Enough force to blow apart a large hill.
16: Enough destructive force to shatter a mountain.

Debuff - 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability restrict or impede the target?
You can impose some debilitating condition or conditions on a target. Each rank makes the Debuff more debilitating, reducing the average person's ability to function in the chosen Debuff by about 20%. For example, a Rank 1 Debuff is a substantial inconvenience, but a Rank 5 Debuff will completely incapacitate a normal person who hasn’t done anything to counter it. Other effects may help counter a Debuff depending on the descriptor. Endurance may allow you to metabolize a poison, Damage may allow you to break a rope, etc.

If an Effect could effectively counter a Debuff (for example: Move Object allowing you to open a snare trap), approximately one rank of Debuff aligns with one rank of a cancelling Effect in terms of efficacy. So if you had Debuff 7 for a snare trap, a person with Move Object 5 would take roughly 2 ranks of Debuff. If a canceling Effect outranks your debuff, your Debuff will only inconvenience the target until they manage to completely overcome it. Both sides are reminded that winning and losing on this site is decided by writing quality, so try to figure out whatever is most compelling. This is a wibbly wobbly Effect, so do your best to make it work.

Without Ongoing, this affliction is there and quickly resolved, such as having a rope tied around your ankle, or being momentarily blinded. Use the Trigger modifier to make traps.

Endurance 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow your target to work for long periods of time or display great feats of metabolism?
Your target enjoys the benefits of being fit or have a stellar metabolism. Endurance allows your target to have more stamina, and be more healthy and resilient. It doesn’t allow them to take less damage than a normal person or avoid the ill-effects of their environment. Marathon runners are hurt by bullets and die of heat stroke just like everyone else. Each rank gives your target more Endurance, along the following scale:

1: You are VERY fit and healthy and have great stamina. You definitely work out and/or train intensively.
2:
3: You have one of the finest human physiologies around. You have ultimate human fitness, health and stamina. Perhaps only hours of painful intensive training or a superb natural body can reach this level.
4:
5: You are superhuman. You probably don’t have to stop jogging, ever. You can endure immense amounts of pain, such as losing limbs, and still keep trucking.
6:
7: Can perform at peak performance without eating or sleeping for incredible times.
8:
9: Unphased by the harshest conditions, burning heat and blistering cold, or other extremes. Seemingly never tired.
10:
11: Able to endure seemingly constant physical activity and endurance without seeming to lose strength for incredible periods.
12:
13: Recovery rate from even extreme injuries is staggering. Activity that would be exhaustively grueling for others seems restful and invigorating for you.
14:
15: You can persist and endure through almost anything for incredible periods of time.

This Effect is always Ongoing, so you don’t need to buy the Modifier.

Flight - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow the target to move through the air, even if it’s for short periods of time?
The target can fly! Without Ongoing, they are capable of short bursts of speed or something roughly equivalent to super leaping. Each rank allows them to fly faster, along the following scale:

1: 20 miles per hour (30 feet per second) / 32 kilometers per hour (9 meters per second)
2: 30 miles per hour (44 feet per second) / 48 kilometers per hour (13 meters per second)
3: 45 miles per hour (66 feet per second) / 72 kilometers per hour (20 meters per second)
4: 70 miles per hour (103 feet per second) / 113 kilometers per hour (32 meters per second)
5: 105 miles per hour (154 feet per second) / 169 kilometers per hour (47 meters per second)
6: 160 miles per hour (235 feet per second) / 257 kilometers per hour (71 meters per second)
7: 240 miles per hour (352 feet per second) / 386 kilometers per hour (107 meters per second)
8: 360 miles per hour (528 feet per second) / 579 kilometers per hour (161 meters per second)
9: 540 miles per hour (792 feet per second) / 869 kilometers per hour (241 meters per second)
10: 810 miles per hour (1,188 feet per second) / 1,304 kilometers per hour (362 meters per second)
11: 1,215 miles per hour (1,782 feet per second) / 1,955 kilometers per hour (543 meters per second)
12: 1,825 miles per hour (2,677 feet per second) / 2,937 kilometers per hour (816 meters per second)
13: 2,740 miles per hour (4019 feet per second) / 4,410 kilometers per hour (1,225 meters per second)
14: 4,110 miles per hour (6,028 feet per second) / 6,615 kilometers per hour (1,838 meters per second)
15: 6,165 miles per hour (9,042 feet per second) / 9,922 kilometers per hour (2,756 meters per second)
16: 9,250 miles per hour (13,567 feet per second) / 14,887 kilometers per hour (4,135 meters per second)

Growth - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this ability allow your target to get bigger or make them always much larger than a normal person?
Allows you to increase your target’s overall size. Note that being bigger doesn't impart extra strength, toughness or even movement speed, so you'll need to purchase accompanying effects to make that "I'm a big boy now" dream come true. Take Ongoing if your character is always larger (or can sustain their extra large size for more than a few seconds). Each rank allows you to be bigger, along the following scale:

1: No larger than 10 ft / 3m in any dimension
2: No larger than 15 ft / 4.5m in any dimension
3: No larger than 20 ft / 6m in any dimension
4: No larger than 30 ft / 9m in any dimension
5: No larger than 50 ft / 15m in any dimension
6: No larger than 75 ft / 23m in any dimension
7: No larger than 115 ft / 35m in any dimension
8: No larger than 175 ft / 53m in any dimension
9: No larger than 260 ft / 79m in any dimension
10: No larger than 400 ft / 122m in any dimension
11: No larger than 600 ft / 183m in any dimension
12: No larger than 900 ft / 274m in any dimension
13: No larger than 1,350 ft / 412m in any dimension
14: No larger than 2,025 ft / 617m in any dimension
15: No larger than 3,040 ft / 927m in any dimension
16: No larger than 4,560 ft / 1,390m in any dimension

Healing - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability reverse the effects of injury or damage on the target?
Heals your target through the use of medicine, technology, magic powers, or whatever else you can dream up. Each rank of this skill heals about as much as an equally ranked Damage effect causes.

Illusion - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability trick targets into thinking there’s something there when there isn’t?
You can create false sensory impressions. This ranges from visual images to phantom sounds, smells, or even radar or mental images. Illusions have no substance and cannot have any real-world effect. Illusions cannot provide illumination, nutrition, warmth, or the like (although they can provide the sensations of these things).

You may create anything you so please within the given area of an Illusion Effect. However at the base cost you must choose: visible, audible, olfactory, tactile or taste. Specify what kind of Illusion it is when purchasing this Effect, such as: Illusion (Visible). In order to add an additional sense to your Illusion, you must pay +50 Essence Per Rank of Effect for each additional sense affected. For example, if you’d like to create an Illusion created both sight and sound, you would need to pay 250 Essence per Rank of Effect. In order to affect all the senses as though it was the real thing, you must pay 400 Essence per Rank of Effect. You can mix and match at your pleasure.

Visual Illusions appear to anyone that can see them, at the size designated by the Rank of the Illusion. Anyone that could see the Illusion will do so, like a hologram, unless you choose to select a single target or group of targets (if only one person can EVER see your Illusions, take Limited: Only one target can see). Auditory Illusions originate from anywhere within the selected area and can sound like anything you wish at whatever volume you choose, though you’d need to get a Debuff to deafen people (if it’s only ever an auditory Illusion, you really only need Rank 1). Anyone within the Effect’s range can smell or feel the Illusion if you’ve chosen Olfactory or Tactile.

No use of Illusion, no matter how advanced, can ACTUALLY change your real shape (i.e., even if you used illusions to cover every sense to make others believe you actually became a dog), you would still maintain your natural shape and form, size, and mass/weight, with everything that entails, and competent or crafty targets may still be able to see through or figure out such an illusory 'transformation', as always. True physical changes in that regard would require Shapeshifting, but you could certainly still probably fool the average person with some clever illusions!

For each rank, you are able to create larger illusions, along the following scale:

1: No larger than 1 feet/0.3m in any dimension
2: No larger than 2 feet/0.6m in any dimension
3: No larger than 4 feet/1.2m in any dimension
4: No larger than 8 feet/2.4m in any dimension
5: No larger than 16 feet/4.8m in any dimension
6: No larger than 32 feet/9.7m in any dimension
7: No larger than 64 feet/19.5m in any dimension
8: No larger than 128 feet/39m in any dimension
9: No larger than 256 feet/78m in any dimension
10: No larger than 512 feet/156m in any dimension
11: No larger than 1,024 ft (0.19 miles) / 312m (0.32 km) in any dimension
12: No larger than 2,048 ft (0.39 miles) / 624m (0.62 km) in any dimension
13: No larger than 4,096 ft (0.78 miles) / 1,249m (1.25 km) in any dimension
14: No larger than 8,192 ft (1.5 miles) / 2,497m (2.9 km)in any dimension
15: No larger than 16,384 ft (3.1 miles) / 4,994m (5 km) in any dimension
16: No larger than 32,768 ft (6.2 miles) / 9,988m (10 km) in any dimension

Mimic - 1000 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow you to copy your target’s Abilities?
This Effect allows you to duplicate one or more Abilities of a target. The limit of what you can duplicate is equal to the cost of your total Mimic rank (before modifiers). You must copy entire Abilities, not only Effects within an Ability, and it must operate exactly as it does for the target.

You cannot copy Abilities with any effect Rank higher than your current level cap.

With Ongoing, you may have access to a mimicked Ability for the entire duration of a combat encounter or “scene.” If you want to access an Ability after the scene has ended, you must mimic it again to have access for another scene, or purchase the Ability to use it permanently.

Movement - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow your target to move in non-conventional ways at about the same speed as they’d normally move?
Your target can move through or over non-standard terrains normally, such as wall-crawling, burrowing, walking on water. For Each rank, you can move in an additional, odd way. You may take Phasing for 1,000 Essence, but note that this only allows you to travel by means of phasing, and it does not allow you to ignore effects or other environmental problems (for that you'd need Protection or Adaptation).

This Effect is Ongoing by default, and you do not need to purchase it as a Modifier.

Move Object - 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow you to move around large large or heavy targets with ease?
This power allows you to move targets around yourself freely with about as much strain as a normal person does using a sledgehammer. To lift objects without touching them, add Ranged. For each rank, you can lift more weight, along with the following scale:

1: 200 pounds / 90kg (Enough to lift a refrigerator)
2: 400 pounds / 181kg (Enough to lift a full oil drum)
3: 800 pounds / 363kg (Enough to lift an upright piano)
4: 1,600 pounds / 726kg (Enough to lift a cargo trailer)
5: 3,200 pounds / 1,451kg (Enough to lift a car)
6: 6,400 pounds / 2,903kg (Enough to lift a concrete barricade)
7: 12,800 pounds / 5,806kg (Enough to lift a semi truck trailer)
8: 25,600 pounds / 11,612kg (Enough to lift a school bus)
9: 51,200 pounds / 23,224kg (Enough to lift a garbage truck)
10: 102,400 pounds / 46,448kg (Enough to lift a tank)
11: 204,800 pounds / 92,896kg (Enough to lift a blue whale)
12: 409,600 pounds / 185,782kg (Enough to lift a cargo jet)
13: 819,200 pounds / 371,583kg (Enough to lift a crude oil tanker)
14: 1,638,400 pounds / 743,166kg (Enough to lift a giant mining excavator)
15: 3,276,800 pounds / 1,486,332kg (Enough to lift a space shuttle and its fuel tanks)
16: 6,553,600 pounds / 2,972,663kg (Enough to lift a naval destroyer)

(Note: If you’d like "Super Strength," take Move Object and Damage in equal measure. You can Focus to beat people with objects you lift or throw with Move Object!)

Protection - 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does your Ability reliably defend your target from harm?
You can defend your target from harm. Tough skin, force field bubbles with the Affects Multiple modifier, shields with the Removable Modifier, or even floating panels with the Ranged modifier.It can usually defend Damage of about the same Rank.

You can defend your target in any number of ways without Protection, such as with weapons, terrain, dodging or by using the physical aspects of other Abilities, but Protection will RELIABLY defend you. It might not work every single time, but if you can count on an Ability to defend you in most scenarios, it should have the Protection Effect.

It is important to note that even if you have a Protection Effect that is of equal or greater value than a Damage rank, there is likely some amount of Damage passing through. An individual with a knife (Damage Rank 1) can still stab a tank (Protection Rank 9 or 10). The damage would most likely be negligible, some missing paint or a small dent, but there is still something happening. This is much more important when you have similar values in these skills, such as a person having a knife (Damage Rank 1) and a leather tunic (Protection Rank 1). The tunic may save you from the immediate attack, but you’d still likely take a bit of a blow and a few more attempts might make their way through.

Sense - 100 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow you to determine where your target is?
You have highly acute senses or another way of identifying where something is and what its doing. You can make your normal senses more acute (Hearing, Vision, or Smell), or you can have something extra human such as a sensor array, ki-sensing, or thermal sight.

This Effect gains no benefit from Ranged. Adding Indirect will give you remote senses that originate away from where you are now.

*Note: Multiple enhanced senses may share modifiers, provided they're part of the same Ability. For example, if you have enhanced sight and hearing, and you want them both to have Ongoing, you only need to purchase Ongoing once per rank of each sense.

Example Ability:
Sense (Sight & Hearing) 1: 200E
--Ongoing (100E)
Total: 300E

Each Rank increases the range you can accurately sense something, along with the following scale:

1: 150 feet / 46m
2: 200 feet / 61m
3: 300 feet / 91m
4: 450 feet / 167m
5: 675 feet / 206m
6: 1,000 feet (0.19 miles) / 305m (0.3 km)
7: 1,500 feet (0.28 miles) / 457m (0.46 km)
8: 2,250 feet (0.43 miles) / 686m (0.67 km)
9: 3,300 feet (0.63 miles) / 1,006m (1 km)
10: 5,000 feet (0.95 miles) / 1,524m (1.5 km)
11: 7,500 feet (1.4 miles) / 2,286m (2.3 km)
12: 11,250 feet (2.1 miles) / 3,429m (3.4 km)
13: 16,900 feet (3.2 miles) / 5,151m (5.2 km)
14: 25,400 feet (4.8 miles) / 7,742m (7.7 km)
15: 38,000 feet (7.2 miles) / 11,582m (11.6 km)
16: 57,000 feet (10.8 miles) / 17,374m (17.4 km)

Shrinking - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow your target to get smaller or make them always much smaller than a normal person?
Allows you to decrease your target’s overall size. A change in size does not modify the target’s strength or other aspects unless they want it to. Each rank allows your target to be smaller, along the following scale:

1: 3 feet / 91cm
2: 24 inches / 61cm
3: 18 inches / 46cm
4: 12 inches / 30cm
5: 8 inches / 20cm
6: 5 inches / 12.7cm
7: 3 inches / 7.6cm
8: 2 inches / 5cm
9: 1 inch / 2.5cm
10: 0.5 inch / 1.3m
11: 0.25 inch / 0.6cm
12: 0.125 inch / 0.3175cm
13: 0.0625 inch / 0.15875cm
14: 0.03 inch / 0.076cm
15: 0.015 inch / 0.038cm
16: 0.0075 inch / 0.019cm

Speed - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow your target to move overland very quickly?
Your target travels much more quickly than a normal person. This does not increase their reflexes or reaction speed, only their ability to move overland quickly.

If they’re great at swimming, pick up the Limited Modifier to make it only work underwater. Or in Space. Whatever. Without Ongoing, you have bursts of speed.

Each rank allows you to move faster, along the following scale:

1: 20 miles per hour (30 feet per second) / 32 kilometers per hour (9 meters per second)
2: 30 miles per hour (44 feet per second) / 48 kilometers per hour (13 meters per second)
3: 45 miles per hour (66 feet per second) / 72 kilometers per hour (20 meters per second)
4: 70 miles per hour (103 feet per second) / 113 kilometers per hour (32 meters per second)
5: 105 miles per hour (154 feet per second) / 169 kilometers per hour (47 meters per second)
6: 160 miles per hour (235 feet per second) / 257 kilometers per hour (71 meters per second)
7: 240 miles per hour (352 feet per second) / 386 kilometers per hour (107 meters per second)
8: 360 miles per hour (528 feet per second) / 579 kilometers per hour (161 meters per second)
9: 540 miles per hour (792 feet per second) / 869 kilometers per hour (241 meters per second)
10: 810 miles per hour (1,188 feet per second) / 1,304 kilometers per hour (362 meters per second)
11: 1,215 miles per hour (1,782 feet per second) / 1,955 kilometers per hour (543 meters per second)
12: 1,825 miles per hour (2,677 feet per second) / 2,937 kilometers per hour (816 meters per second)
13: 2,740 miles per hour (4019 feet per second) / 4,410 kilometers per hour (1,225 meters per second)
14: 4,110 miles per hour (6,028 feet per second) / 6,615 kilometers per hour (1,838 meters per second)
15: 6,165 miles per hour (9,042 feet per second) / 9,922 kilometers per hour (2,756 meters per second)
16: 9,250 miles per hour (13,567 feet per second) / 14,887 kilometers per hour (4,135 meters per second)

Teleport - 300 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow your target to move long distances instantly, without traversing the space between?
Your target goes from point A to point B instantly. The "range" of this Effect applies to the target’s distance travelled from its starting location.

By adding Ranged you may teleport a Target that starts further away from you. Add Affects Multiple to group teleport all at once, or Ongoing to create a personal-sized portal.

Each rank increases the distance you can move your target, along the following scale:

1: 10 feet / 3m
2: 20 feet / 6m
3: 40 feet / 12m
4: 80 feet / 24m
5: 160 feet / 49m
6: 320 feet (0.06 miles) / 98m (0.098 km)
7: 640 feet (0.12 miles) / 195m (0.195 km)
8: 1,280 feet (0.24 miles) / 390m (0.39 km)
9: 2,560 feet (0.48 miles) / 762m (0.75 km)
10: 5,120 feet (0.97 miles) / 1,561m (1.56 km(
11: 7,680 feet (1.45 miles) / 2,341m (2.34 km)
12: 11,520 feet (2.2 miles) / 3,511m (3.5 km)
13: 17,280 feet (3.3 miles) / 5,267m (5.3 km)
14: 25,920 feet (4.9 miles) / 7,900m (7.9 km)
15: 38,880 feet (7.4 miles) / 11,851m (11.9 km)
16: 58,320 feet (11 miles) / 17,776m (17.8 km)

Variable Creation - 200 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Ability allow you to manifest various different kinds of tools or terrain features?
You can form solid objects from nothing or shape other material into something else. Objects you create with Variable Creation are physical objects that can be interacted with. So if you created a platform with Variable Creation, you could stand on it. If you created a sword, somebody could grab it.

Variable Creation is differentiated from other effects in that it allows you to pair other Effects to make incredibly variable objects or tools. If you wanted to change the terrain to block attacks, you could match it with Protection. If you wanted to create a wide variety of handheld weapons out of a single medium, you’d take Damage. You can create any object that does the things that the Effect associated with Variable Creation does, meaning that you can shift and alter the way something appears or the specific functionality, so long as you have all the effects that describe what it does purchased in tandem.

If you can call a specific sword into your hand, you don't need Variable Creation. If you can call any type of melee weapon into your hand, you do.

For each rank, you are able to create larger objects, along the following scale:

1: No larger than 1 feet/0.3m in any dimension
2: No larger than 2 feet/0.6m in any dimension
3: No larger than 4 feet/1.2m in any dimension
4: No larger than 8 feet/2.4m in any dimension
5: No larger than 16 feet/4.8m in any dimension
6: No larger than 32 feet/9.7m in any dimension
7: No larger than 64 feet/19.5m in any dimension
8: No larger than 128 feet/39m in any dimension
9: No larger than 256 feet/78m in any dimension
10: No larger than 512 feet/156m in any dimension
11: No larger than 1,024 ft (0.19 miles) / 312m (0.32 km) in any dimension
12: No larger than 2,048 ft (0.39 miles) / 624m (0.62 km) in any dimension
13: No larger than 4,096 ft (0.78 miles) / 1,249m (1.25 km) in any dimension
14: No larger than 8,192 ft (1.5 miles) / 2,497m (2.9 km)in any dimension
15: No larger than 16,384 ft (3.1 miles) / 4,994m (5 km) in any dimension
16: No larger than 32,768 ft (6.2 miles) / 9,988m (10 km) in any dimension

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NON-STANDARD EFFECTS​


Fusion - 500 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does your ability allow you to merge with another person?
Your character can fuse with another character in order to create a merged form that may have a (single) different look and personality than you had apart. A fusion is able to use the abilities of both players as though they belonged to them, and posting may be done by either fusee while it is going. The fusion in question does not gain any extra abilities from fusing, but may add the limited modifier to abilities specifically used by the fusion. If you’d like to have multiple forms within a fusion, make sure you have a shapeshifting ability to use during the fusion.

Keep in mind, just like normal, ability ranks do not stack even for a fused character - you’d simply pick the highest in any situation where abilities overlap.

This Effect is Ongoing by default, so no need to purchase it as a modifier.

Ranks:
1: 500 Essence for "Can only Fuse with a single person at a time who also has this Effect"
2: 1000 Essence for "Can only Fuse with a single person at a time who does not need to also have this Effect"
3: 1500 Essence for "Can Fuse with any number of people who also have this Effect
4: 2000 Essence for "Can Fuse with any number of people who do not need to have this Effect"

Summoning - 300 Essence, One Rank
Do you have a friend, ally, minion, summon or other autonomous companion that can act on their own?
Summon another thing to help you: a summoned monster, a ship with all the bells and whistles, or any other free-standing thing that can assist you. Summons are things that can act independently, and generally have the same action flexibility as a normal "person" might have. If you want to create a living being that only does one specific thing for a specific purpose, you probably don’t need a Summon.

Each purchase of the Summon Effect will create a single autonomous being, meaning that if you want more than one, you’ll need to buy a new, individual Summon ability multiple times. For each Summon, you purchase effects for them as you would for your own character, paying for them separately from your own. Your Summons have the same Effect Rank Cap as you do, and do not have Focus of their own.

Summons cannot be killed or destroyed by an opponent without your consent. Additionally, Summons cannot be entered in competitive site events solo. That is, your account character must be accompanying them and be a primary actor in the event.

(Special note: If you plan to ride your Summon, you do not need to pay anything extra. Just give your mount Super Speed or Flight, and by nature of you being on top of it you will also gain the benefit.)

Summon is always Ongoing so you don’t need to purchase it as a Modifier. If you’d like your Summon to only be around for a short period of time, take Finite.

Shapeshifting - 500 Essence PER RANK OF EFFECT
Can you transform into something totally unlike your normal self?
Your character can shift their physical form to take on the appearance and identity of any living entity of the same approximate size.

Any iconic or repeated forms should be described in your character's profile, and any Abilities/Effects that are only usable in one of your shapeshifted forms qualifies for a Limited (Shapeshift/Single Form) modifier of -50E/rank. You can add any other Effects to your Shapeshifting Ability to unlock those Effects in any or all shapeshifted forms (again, if only used in one the Limited modifier applies).

Note: If you want to use an altered version of Shapeshifting, such as getting bigger or smaller when you Shapeshift, you can take the corresponding Effects on the same Ability as Shapeshift- in this case, Growth or Shrink.

This Effect is Ongoing by default.

Ranks:
1: Take on a single, defined alternate form.
2: Take on an array of alternate forms, based within a single type (i.e., humanoids)
3: Take on the shape of any living entity of the same approximate size as your base form; this can include non-living matter of objects (i.e, a statue or topary hedge, or a couch)

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RANK CAP​


The maximum rank that any Effect in any Ability can have is 5. This goes up by 1 every other level.

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HOW EFFECTS START​


An Effect with no Modifiers can happen at will and with no big downsides, within narrative reason. It occurs somewhere within your immediate area, about 10 feet/3m or so. Once an effect happens, it resolves itself quickly and doesn't continue to work after the initial activation, usually a few seconds at most.

Effects originate from their owner, and select a single target. This target may either be you or others, but not either. You must describe (or clearly infer) if your Effects target you or buff another in the Effect description. This means that you can create Abilities that target others as buffs for no extra charge, so long as they only effect others and not yourself, or you can create things that your character can do only to themselves.

All of that can change with the use of Modifiers! Just ask the question at the beginning of each Modifier about EACH EFFECT within an Ability. Modifiers can be applied to some but not all of the Effects within an Ability, so ask each question for each one.

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POSITIVE MODIFIERS:​


Positive Modifiers make an Effect more than the baseline, and make an Effect cost more per each rank of it you purchase.

Remember: Modifiers cost Essence for every rank of the Effect they are associated with. So they are cheap to attach to Level 1 Effects, but can get very expensive when added to, say, Level 7 Effects.

AFFECTS MULTIPLE +50 (OR MORE) PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect work on multiple people at the same time?
Normally Effects usually only have one target. This Modifier allows you to use an Effect on any number of targets within an area. The area of affected targets can be in any shape, but no dimension of this area may be greater than 20 feet in diameter. This means that the length, width, height, and any other pertinent measurements can be no larger than 20 feet.

Anything within the given area may be selected as a target at your discretion. If it targets everything within the given area, it has the Indiscriminate Negative Modifier. You can take this Modifier multiple times, each time adding 20 feet to the maximum dimension of the affected area.

INDIRECT +100 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect allow you ignore obstacles between you and the target?
This Modifier allows you to use Effects through terrain and traditional boundaries. If it bounces around corners, can be used through TV screens, or dodges things that are in the way, it is Indirect. You must still be able to accurately perceive the target, and you can’t negate the target’s Protection by the use of this Modifier. Summons can act on their own without the use of this Modifier.

ONGOING +100 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect continue operating after its been activated, or does it never turn off? (Effects that do not require Ongoing: Adaptation, Agility, Endurance, Movement, Fusion, Summoning, Shapeshifting)
An Ongoing Effect continues to function until it is defeated, overcome, dismissed, or run its natural course. Anything that keeps going after its been activated. Effects that are permanent in nature are also considered to be Ongoing.

RANGED +50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect operate outside of your immediate area? (Effects that do not require Ranged: Sense)
The Effect can target you or anything you can perceive without any obstacles between you. If it can both go a long distance and also goes around physical obstacles, it’s probably also Indirect.

SELF/OTHER +25 ESSENCE PER RANK OF EFFECT
Can you target either yourself or another with this Effect?
Normally and Effect requires that you designate if it targets yourself or others. The Self/Other Modifier allows you to ignore this restriction and target either yourself or others at will. .

If an Effect targets both you and another target at the same time, take Affects Multiple, and you do not need to use this Modifier.

TRANSFERABLE +50 ESSENCE PER RANK OF EFFECT
Can you give this Effect to an ally to use at their discretion?
Effects with the Transferable Modifier allow others to use your Effects instead of you. This means they gain not only the benefits of an Effect (such as being healed by somebody using the Healing Effect) but also the ability to activate it on their own (such as them being capable of healing others). You essentially “loan” the use of your Effect to another, allowing them to use it.

Effects transferred in this way always operate in the same way they would if the original owner used them. For example if you transferred a Damage Effect that appears as a fireball, the target of the transfer wouldn't suddenly have a flaming sword or a fire aura.

If the Effect doesn't have the Ongoing Modifier, they may only use the transferred Effect for a few moments, or for a single use. Transferred Effects with the Ongoing Modifier last until the end of the scene, conflict, or some run their natural course. You can’t grant somebody and Effect forever.

If both you and the target of the transferred Effect can use it simultaneously, you’ll either need to buy it a second time or use Affects Multiple.

The recipient of a transferred Effect cannot transfer the Effect a second time.

TRIGGERED +50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect start working after certain conditions are met?
You can "set" an Effect with this modifier to activate under particular circumstances, such as in response to danger, after a set amount of time, in response to a particular event, and so forth—chosen when you apply the modifier. Once chosen, the trigger cannot be changed.

For example, a landmine would have the Triggered Modifier that was triggered by "being stepped on."

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NEGATIVE MODIFIERS​


Negative Modifiers are things that give your Effects narratively exploitable weaknesses, and help tell the people you’re writing with what might be a good opportunity to act on. Expect them to be used against your character for the benefit of the story!

Important: You may apply as many Negative Modifiers as you want to an Effect, but the overall Cost will not drop below 50 Essence per rank of Effect.

ACTIVATION -50 OR -100 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect take some time to start working?
A power with this Modifier requires an action to prepare or activate before any of its effects are usable. If the power requires 10 seconds or more to activate, the Modifier is –50. If it requires 30 seconds or more, it is –100 Essence. Activation taking less than 10 seconds is not a Modifier. Activation has no effect other than making all of the power’s effects available for use. The effects themselves still require their normal time to use. If the power is deactivated—either voluntarily or involuntarily—you must activate it again in order to use any of its effects.

CHAOTIC -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Is this Effect difficult to control?
These Effects are wildly difficult to use for their intended purposes. Weapons that often miss due to their inaccurate or unwieldy nature, a broomstick that you just can’t seem to control, or am Alternate Form that doesn’t want to cooperate with your intentions are all Chaotic.

CONCENTRATION -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Do you have to pay attention to make this Effect work?
Using a Concentration Effect requires more concentration than usual, causing you become vulnerable when you use the effect. If you begin using an effect with the Concentration Modifier, you cannot maintain Concentration Effects that you had been using prior to its activation. If your concentration is broken by a significant distraction, the effect ends.

FINITE -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect run out or fade over time?
Effects that can "run out" or lose their ability to operate after sustained use are Finite. This means that they may have limited ammo or number of uses (like some weapons), a limited durability (such as ablative armor, a physical barrier that can be worn away, or other things that can be destroyed), slowly fades in effectiveness (like strength that slowly gets weaker or a booster engine that slowly loses power) or basically anything else that can suddenly stop working because you ran out of whatever it is that makes them work. You can regain the use of these Effects by reloading, recharging, fueling up, or doing something else, but it must take a narratively significant amount of time where you are focused exclusively on replenishing your supplies. In order for it to qualify as Finite, Effects that are continuously used should need to be "recharged" at least once per scene.

LIMITED -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect not work sometimes?
An effect with this Modifier is not effective all the time. Limited powers generally break down into two types: those usable only in certain situations and those usable only on certain things. For example Only While Singing Loudly, Only While Flying, Only on Men (or Women), Only Against Fire, and so forth. As a general rule, the effect must lose about half its usefulness to qualify for this modifier. Anything less limiting is better handled as an occasional complication.

When selecting this Modifier, make sure to list what the limiting factor is.

Even if there are multiple limitations on an Effect, you can only purchase this Modifier once per Effect. You can list all the separate limitations under the same Limited descriptor, but you can’t stack up multiple discounts.

INDISCRIMINATE -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect not let you select a target?
Indiscriminate Effects don’t let you select what they are used on. This Modifier is usually used with Affects Multiple, meaning that everything in its area is affected regardless of whether or not you want it to be. Other cases might include damaging auras, traps that can go off without your knowledge or desire, or anything else that can accidentally alter things you didn’t want it to. Things like swords and guns are not usually Indiscriminate because you get to select who you swing or shoot at, even if you miss or accidentally select the wrong target.

REMOVABLE -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Is this Effect a physical object that can easily be taken away from you?
Effects with this Modifier can be "taken away" from you, removing your access to the effects until you regain it. A removable power can be taken away with a disarm or grab. This typically represents a handheld device (such as a weapon, magic wand, remote control, or the like) or some worn item easily snatched from you, like a hat or cloak. (Note: Almost any carried weapon or item can have this Modifier!)

SIDE EFFECT -50 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Does this Effect have a negative outcome on you when you use it?
Using an Effect with this Modifier causes some problematic effect. The exact nature of the side effect is for you to determine, but might include: it being tiring, it damaging you each time you use it, or it applying some other negative outcome onto you, the user.

WEAKNESS -25 PER RANK OF EFFECT
Is there a specific thing that this Effect doesn’t work on?
Whereas the Limited Modifier only works in certain scenarios, the Weakness Modifier does NOT work in certain scenarios. For example, A Damage Effect that damages everything EXCEPT for water, or a Protection Effect that defends against everything EXCEPT for fire. This doesn’t work in the standard vampire in the sun or Superman in front of Kryptonite scenarios, and shouldn’t be applied to every move that stops working if your character is otherwise personally weakened or failing in some way.

Even if there are multiple weaknesses on an Effect, you can only purchase this Modifier once per Effect. You can list all the separate weaknesses under the same Weakness descriptor, but you can’t stack up multiple discounts.

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PRICING EFFECTS​


So, what you’ve read may have been a little confusing, and you may be wondering how to price your effects. The math is all very simple once you understand how all the piece fit together!

First off, let’s start with the most basic form of an Effect. Each Effect comes with an Essence price per rank. Let’s say you pick Damage for your ability, which has a price of 100 Essence per rank. So if you had Damage rank 3, it would cost you 300 Essence.

100 x3 = 300

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USING MODIFIERS​


If you want to adjust the distance or length of an Effect, or customize it in any other way, you use Modifiers. Modifiers can be positive or negative, enhancing or limiting the scope of the Effect.

Example: Mario can throw fireballs, so we’re making a new Ability for him called "Throw Fireball." Its main purpose is to burn enemies, so we’ll take the Damage Effect, but we want to be able to burn enemies that are far away, so we’ll add the Ranged modifier to that Effect.

Positive Modifiers make each rank of the Effect more expensive, while negative Modifiers make each rank cheaper. You cannot cheapen an Effect under 50 Essence.

Here's a simple equation you can use to figure out how much an Effect with Modifiers costs:

Total Cost = (Effect Cost x Rank) + (Modifier Cost x Rank)

So in the Mario example, the Effect is damage, which costs 100 Essence per rank. The Modifier is increased range, which adds 50 Essence per rank.

Total Cost = (Damage Cost x Rank 1) + (Ranged Cost x Rank 1)
Total Cost = (100 x 1) + (50 x 1)
Total Cost = 150

If Mario had enough Essence for it, we could increase the Damage Effect to rank 2, letting him do more damage. This would also increase the cost of the modifier, since it's modifying a more powerful Effect.

Total Cost = (Damage Cost x Rank 2) + (Range Cost x Rank 2)
Total Cost = (100 x 2) + (50 x 2)
Total Cost = 300

Now we decide to add the negative Modifier: Removable, because Mario can only throw fireballs when he is holding the fire flower and someone could take that away from him. All we have to do is add…

Total Cost = (Damage Cost x Rank 2) + (Range Cost x Rank 2) + (Removable Cost x Rank 2)
Total Cost = (100 x 2) + (50 x 2) + (-50 x 2)
Total Cost = 200

If you have more modifiers, just add them on the end, but always remember to multiply them by the current rank of the Effect.

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ASSEMBLING EFFECTS INTO ABILITIES​


An Ability is just a collection of Effects, so the overall price of an Ability is just all of the Effect with their individual Modifiers and ranks added together. Let’s imagine a Poison Dart ability, which stabs the target and then poisons them. That sounds like Damage (100) and a Debuff (100), with the Damage being pretty low and the poison aspect being pretty high. We’ll assign the Damage rank 1, and the Debuff rank 3. The dart can be used at a distance, so we’ll need the Ranged Modifier (+50) on each. The poison lingers for a while after the dart has hit the opponent, so the Debuff will need the Ongoing Modifier (+100) to make it Sustained. The dart itself can be knocked out of your hands or taken away, so that gives both Effects the Removable Modifier (-50).

So the final Effects would look like:

Damage (100) Rank 1
Modifiers: Ranged (+50), Removable (-50)
(100 x 1) + (50 x 1) + (-50 x 1) = 100
Cost: 100 Essence

Debuff (100) Rank 3
Modifiers: Ranged (+50), Ongoing (+100), Removable (-50)
(100 x 3) + (50 x 3) + (100 x 3) + (-50 x 3) = 600
Cost: 600 Essence

The overall Ability cost is 100 (Damage) + 600 (Debuff) = 700

The Poison Dart Ability costs 700 total Essence.

General Note: Please do not lump large numbers of effects and modifiers under gigantic abilities; make separations where you can. This will make everyone's life easier when viewing profiles and processing abilities.

  • Published
    Jul 23, 2018
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