Powers: Stunts
Stunts
The players will eventually try to use the PCs' abilities in ways that no advantage or modifier provides rules for – particularly in campaigns that emulate myth, high fantasy, or comic books. The GM is free to forbid such attempts, of course, but it's more fun to allow them...as long as the risks balance the potential rewards.
These rules cover some of the more common heroic "stunts." They're completely optional, and it’s up to the GM whether they apply to all advantages, only to exotic or supernatural ones, or only to the abilities of powers. Be aware that these options make abilities much more flexible.
In all cases, a critical failure to perform a stunt involving a power can cripple the power, if Crippled Abilities is being used.
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Combining Powers
In many kinds of fiction, power- wielders – notably wizards, psis, and supers – can cooperate to produce effects that exceed their individual capabilities. This stunt, known as combining powers, is an involved process that directly links the partici- pants’ powers. If the objective is mere- ly to gang up on an opponent, make a Coordinated Attack (p. 165) instead.
Any number of people can com- bine powers, but only if their powers have the same source: all divine, all psionic, etc. Their powers needn’t have a common focus, though. For instance, priests of like-minded gods could combine divine powers, and espers and telepaths could combine psi powers. Those with identical pow- ers (all priests of Loki, all psionic telepaths, etc.) can combine more effectively, however.
The GM has the final say on who can combine powers with whom.
Linking Up
The first step in combining powers is “linking up.” This normally requires the entire group to be in physical con- tact (but see below). Topology is unim- portant as long as each participant is touching at least one other. The most common configurations are touching a common center and holding hands – often in a circle. In combat, some group members might have to take Move maneuvers to get close enough to touch others. Establishing contact with someone in reach requires a Ready maneuver.
Individuals unable to touch the rest of the group physically can still join via a mental link. The remote participant must either contact or be contacted by another member of the group using Mind Reading or Telesend. Use the standard rules to initiate contact; this generally requires a Concentrate maneuver.
There’s one drawback, though: men- tally linked participants can only combine powers that originate from the same source as the ability used to establish contact; e.g., a mental link via psionic Mind Reading would only be useful when combining psionic powers.
Once everyone is in contact, physi- cally or mentally, they must form a link between their powers. Each mem- ber of the group must take a Concentrate maneuver and roll against IQ.
Modifiers: A penalty equal to the number of other people involved (-1 for a group of two, -2 for a group of three, and so on); -2 if connected via a one-way mental link; +0 if using a physical link or two-way mental link (both parties using Telesend, one party using both Telesend and Mind Reading, etc.); Talent (the highest Talent, for those with multiple powers that share the group’s common source); +5 if the entire group has the same power.
Success links that individual’s pow- ers to the group. Failure means he can’t participate, but his power still lets him act as a “bridge” between other group members. Critical failure may cripple his power (see Crippled Abilities, p. 156), and cuts off those whose sole link to the group runs through him.
If the entire group agrees, those who failed can try again. Everyone must reroll, but this only counts as a repeated attempt for those who failed (see Repeated Attempts, p. 159). Use the same rule when a latecomer tries to join – but remember to apply the modifier for the new group size.
The GM is free to impose other con- ditions that suit the powers involved. Onerous requirements should come with compensating benefits. For instance, priests might require a full minute of ritual prayer to link up, but get to roll against the higher of IQ and Religious Ritual skill to do so.
Combined Powers in Action
Linking up lets the group combine its abilities and Talents. For each task, the group must select one of their number as leader. This person can change from task to task. The leader can use any of his abilities for the task, and makes all associated die rolls . . . but he gets a big boost from his companions.
Talent
The leader's effective Talent is his native Talent, plus 1/2 the total Talent of all group members who share the power he’s using, plus 1/4 the total Talent of members who share only the source of that power. Drop all frac- tions. Effective Talent can exceed four levels.
Ability
If the ability comes in levels, dice, ST points, etc., the leader’s effective level is equal to the highest level among those who possess the same ability and power, plus 1/2 the total level of all other participants with that ability and power, plus 1/4 the total level of those who have an ability that uses the same advantage but belongs to a different power of the same source. Drop all fractions.
If the ability doesn’t come in levels, the extra power lets the leader tem- porarily add or improve enhance- ments to his ability, remove or reduce its limitations, or both. Those with the same ability and power as the leader give +50% apiece; those with similar abilities from other powers of the same source give +25% each. The leader can modify his ability in any way his power and the GM allow. The GM should always permit boosts in area, duration, and range.
In either case, someone whose abil- ity has limitations can only contribute if the GM agrees that the ability would be useful for that specific task.
Other Effects
If the ability has a FP cost – for nor- mal use or for a special feat like extra effort – the group can divide this among themselves however they please. In the event of a dispute, the GM can split the cost equally or just roll randomly to see who pays.
There are only two drawbacks to combining powers. First, critical fail- ures affect each and every member of the group as if he, personally, had rolled a critical failure. Second, each use of a particular ability by the group counts as a use for every participant, for all purposes (repeated attempts, Limited Use, etc.).
Unlinking
Any participant can end his involvement at any time, as a free action. Unlinking isn’t always volun- tary, though. A group member who’s stunned must make a Will-3 roll, with failure meaning he’s unlinked. One who is knocked out, or suffers an inca- pacitating or mortal affliction (see Afflictions, p. B428), is automatically unlinked. A physically linked partici- pant is immediately unlinked if move- ment, knockback, or anything similar forces him to break physical contact with the group. A mentally linked indi- vidual is instantly unlinked if the abil- ity mediating his link fails due to jam- ming, incapacitation, etc. Those whose sole link to the group is through someone who’s no longer linked are themselves unlinked.
The only effect unlinking has on the group is the loss of access to the gifts of the unlinked individual(s).
Example of Combined Powers
Four of the East Side Mutants are trapped behind 10 tons of reinforced concrete in the collapsing stronghold of the nefarious Dr. Boom. They all have Telekinesis (TK), but even their strongest telekinetic, Singularity, can’t budge the rubble – his TK 40 can only move 3,200 lbs. at Extra-Heavy encumbrance. The Mutants decide to combine their powers to escape. Degauss has Magnetism power, Talent 2, and Telekinesis 30; his TK has the Magnetic limitation, but the GM rules that he can lock onto the steel rebar in the rubble. Poltergeist has Psychokinesis (PK) power, Talent 3, and TK 30. Singularity has Gravity power, Talent 2, and TK 40. Sk8ter has Kinetic Energy power, Talent 4, and TK 18. All four have the Super power modifier, so they can combine powers.
The Mutants’ leader – a brain-in-a- jar known only as Professor Hippocampus – is across town at Mutant HQ. Sk8ter calls the Prof on her cell phone and fills him in on the situation. The Prof has Telepathy power, Telepathy Talent 4, and Telesend . . . and also PK power, PK Talent 2, and TK 40. Luckily, both of his powers have the Super modifier, so he can use Telesend to link up with Sk8ter and lend his PK to the task. With the Prof in her head, Sk8ter touches hands with her three compan- ions and they all concentrate.
Everyone has to roll against IQ, at -4 for four other participants. Talent reduces this to -2 for Degauss and Singularity, -1 for Poltergeist, and 0 for Sk8ter and the Prof (he uses his best Talent) – but the Prof has an extra -2 for a one-way mental link, for a net -2. Being smarter than average, every- one succeeds, establishing the link.
Since the group has two psychoki- netics and knows that identical pow- ers work well together, they designate Poltergeist as their leader (the 10-yard range limit on TK puts the Prof out of the running). Poltergeist gets her PK Talent; plus 1/2 the Prof’s PK Talent, since they share PK power; plus 1/4 the others’ Talents, since they share only a source. That comes to 3 + 2/2 + (2 + 2 + 4)/4 = 6.
As for Telekinesis, Poltergeist uses the highest level possessed by those who share her power, which is the Prof’s 40, plus 1/2 her own TK level, plus 1/4 the others’ levels. This is 40 + 30/2 + (30 + 40 + 18)/4 = 77.
Telekinesis 77 still isn’t enough to move 10 tons . . . but Poltergeist can apply her high effective Talent to use extra effort. At -1 to Will per extra 5%, she goes for an extra 30%. The +6 for Talent cancels the -6 on the roll. She makes her Will roll, pays 1 FP, and adds 30% to the combined TK level. That comes to TK 100 – and ST 100 is just enough to lift 10 tons at Extra- Heavy encumbrance. With a titanic effort, the Mutants toss aside the con- crete slab and escape to freedom!
Temporary Enhancements
Many fictional adventurers blithely modify their abilities on the fly, meet- ing each problem with a creative solu- tion. Players who want to do this kind of thing regularly should consider tak- ing Selectivity (p. B108) alongside many other enhancements, connect- ing several related abilities using the Alternative Abilities rule (p. 11), or just buying Modular Abilities (p. B71). The GM might allow anyone to add tempo- rary enhancements in a pinch, though ... at a cost.
The first step is to specify the game-world effects of the stunt. The player must tell the GM exactly what he wishes to accomplish and which enhancements he feels would let his ability do this. The proposed use must be a simple extension of the ability, consistent with the focus and source of the user’s power, and involve only enhancements normally allowed on the underlying advantage.
If the GM agrees that a few enhancements would do the job, proceed to the next step. If he feels that the desired changes call for an entirely new advantage, see Using Abilities at Default (p. 173). And if he decides that the proposed stunt isn’t possible, it isn’t! In particular, the GM should consider forbidding anything that calls for Link, Reduced Fatigue Cost, Reduced Time, Reliable (but see Trading Fatigue for Skill, p. 161), or enhancements that negate the abili- ty’s permanent limitations, and only allow Cosmic when truly appropri- ate.
Adding temporary enhancements requires a Concentrate maneuver and a Will roll for a mental ability, a Ready maneuver and a HT roll for a physical one. In games that use Skills Enhancing Abilities (p. 161), the GM might permit a Will- or HT-based roll against a suitable skill instead. Use Expert Skill (Psionics) for psi powers, Meditation for chi powers, Religious Ritual for divine powers, Ritual Magic for spirit powers, Thaumatology for magical powers, and so on.
- Modifiers: -1 per +10% of enhance-
ments added, or fraction thereof. The user can offset this penalty (but never get a net bonus) by voluntarily spend- ing FP; each FP cancels -1 in penalties. Those using powers get a bonus equal to their Talent.
Succeed or fail, the attempt costs 2 FP over and above any voluntary FP expenditure.
Success means the ability gains the desired enhancements. If the enhanced ability is transient – Healing, Innate Attack, etc. – it gets one “shot.” The user must prepare and roll again if he wants to repeat the stunt. Ongoing abilities get a minute of enhanced use, and the user can maintain the enhanced effects by making a new roll and paying FP every minute. On a critical success, there’s no FP cost for that use or minute.
Failure means the ability gains no enhancements but continues to func- tion normally. On a critical failure, it becomes so scrambled that it’s unavailable for 1d seconds. This is true even for always-on abilities. In addition, check for crippling (see Crippled Abilities, p. 156) – and note that the consequences apply to the entire power.
Below are some suggested uses for temporary enhancements. The GM is free to allow whatever he likes in his campaign.
Enhancing Active Abilities
Enhancements that increase an ability’s physical scope – e.g., Area Effect to widen area, Can Carry Objects to affect more weight, Extended Duration to increase dura- tion (but never to permanent), and Increased Range to extend range – are generally suitable for all active abili- ties that have the relevant parameters. Selectivity is also acceptable; it lets the user switch off one or more perma- nent enhancements that aren’t required by his power. The GM should judge other enhancements, particular- ly special enhancements, on a case-by- case basis.
Improving Attacks
Some specific temporary enhance- ments are especially suitable for attacks:
- Area Effect: A single level (filling a
two-yard radius) is reasonable for any attack, and represents spreading the attack over a small area. Attacks that already have Area Effect can add any number of levels.
- Armor Divisor: Any attack other
than an area effect, cone, or explosion can add a level of this enhancement to represent narrowing the attack to bet- ter pierce armor.
- Cone: As for Area Effect, except
that attacks that lack Cone are limited to a cone a yard wide. This represents widening or “fanning” the attack.
- Cyclic: Two or three cycles, with
an interval no longer than 10 seconds, are suitable for Corrosion and Burning Attacks that don’t normally endure.
- Drifting, Mobile, Persistent, and
Selective Area: An attack with Area Effect can have Persistent or Selective Area as a temporary enhancement. Drifting and Mobile can always accompany Persistent.
- Low or No Signature: The user
can always try to attack stealthily, unless his ability has glaringly obvious effects (GM’s decision).
- Rapid Fire: The GM might allow
this as a kind of Rapid Strike with a ranged attack. Maximum RoF should- n’t exceed twice regular RoF (giving RoF 2 for most attacks).
- Variable: This lets the attacker
“pull his punch” with an ability that doesn’t normally allow that degree of control.
- Wall: Attacks that have the +30%
level of Wall can boost it to the +60% level, letting the user shape the effects. Attacks that lack Wall in the first place can’t add it.
The GM shouldn’t allow temporary enhancements that change the attack’s fundamental game-world effects – for instance, by turning a beam to gas. This restriction might prohibit some of the options above, and nearly always excludes Aura, Blood Agent, Contact Agent, Follow-Up, Guided, Homing, Jet, Malediction, Overhead, Respiratory Agent, Sense-Based, Side Effect, Symptoms, Underwater, and most Damage Modifiers.
Enhancing Passive Abilities
Few passive abilities are suitable for temporary enhancement. Those that have active uses are the exception. When actively using such abilities, the wielder can enhance them as described for active abilities.
Extending Defenses
Most defensive abilities aren’t under the user’s conscious control – they’re passive and always on. The GM should generally forbid temporary enhancements on them, with two exceptions:
Force Fields: Fictional heroes with personal force fields often extend them to protect others. The GM should allow the combination of Affects Others and Area Effect on any ability that already has Force Field. See Affects Others (p. 107) for details on combining these modifiers.
Mind Shield: The Force Field enhancement is intended to protect the user’s eyes and possessions. It rarely makes sense for Mind Shield, which protects the mind. The GM should permit it in conjunction with Affects Others and Area Effect, though. This allows powerful mental- ists to protect their friends – a feat often seen in fiction.
Using Abilities at Default
The GM might permit cinematic heroes to press active abilities into service as related abilities based on totally different advantages. For instance, a super with a laser built from Innate Attack might retool it as a blinding Affliction in an emergency. Such temporary capabilities are called “defaults,” by analogy to skill defaults (p. B173). The flexibility of defaults comes at a price, however. Those who plan to engage in constant improvisa- tion are better off with Modular Abilities (p. B71).
Before allowing any default, the GM should have the player describe the proposed stunt’s precise game- world effects. The player must specify the ability he intends to use, the one he wishes to emulate, and why he thinks his character could make the first serve as the second. There must be an uncontrived relationship between the special effects of the two abilities – and if a power is involved, both abilities must belong to the power. Thus, only related abilities of the same power default to one another. It’s up to the GM what defaults, if any, are possible for “wild” advantages.
The default ability must share the starting ability’s power modifier and all of its usage limitations: Accessibility, Costs Fatigue, Limited Use, Preparation Required, Takes Extra Time, Takes Recharge, Trigger, Unreliable, etc. If the starting ability requires 10 seconds of concentration and costs 5 FP, so does anything that defaults to it . . . and if it only gets one use per day, the default use counts.
Finally, the point value of the default ability can’t exceed that of the one providing the default. Use both abilities’ final costs, after all modifiers. Don’t stop the game to do math, though. The GM should simply esti- mate the point costs involved. Of course, the players are welcome to work out likely default uses before play begins, if they want to run the numbers.
The GM decides whether a default is possible given these considerations. If it is, skip to the next step. Otherwise, he rolls secretly against the hero’s IQ, with +4 for Common Sense but at -2 or more if a disadvantage such as Bad Temper or Overconfidence is involved. On a success, he tells the player that the proposed improvisation isn’t pos- sible. On a failure, he applies the rules below – penalties, FP costs, etc. – but doesn’t say that the stunt is impossible. When the time comes to use the abili- ty, though, it has only its usual effects. Default use is risky for those with an inflated view of their capabilities!
Improvising one ability from another requires a Concentrate maneuver and a Will roll if the starting ability is mental, a Ready maneuver and a HT roll if physical. A Will- or HT-based roll against a skill might be possible instead; see Temporary Enhancements (p. 172) for details.
- Modifiers: -2 per 25% of the start-
ing ability’s point cost the default abil- ity is worth, or fraction thereof; e.g., for a 40-point ability, this would be -2 for a default that costs 1-10 points, -4 for 11-20 points, -6 for 21-30 points, and -8 for 31-40 points. Apply another -2 if the two abilities aren’t of the same general type – both attacks, both defenses, both communications abili- ties, etc. The user can offset these penalties (but never get a bonus) by spending FP; each FP cancels -1. Those using powers may add their Talent.
Succeed or fail, the attempt costs 3 FP over and above any voluntary FP expenditure.
Success means the ability works as intended. If it’s transient, each use of this stunt gives one “shot.” If it’s ongo- ing, the user gets a minute of opera- tion, after which he must roll again and pay FP for another minute. On a critical success, there’s no FP cost for that use or minute. Whatever the abil- ity and however great the success, default abilities get -2 to all required die rolls due to unfamiliarity (see Familiarity, p. B169). In addition, if the user lacks the skill needed to wield the ability, he must use that skill at default. These penalties are cumula- tive. The GM may allow heroes to reduce the penalties for use (not for the stunt itself) by buying a technique.
Failure means nothing happens, but the ability continues to function normally. This is obvious except when the stunt is impossible and the person attempting it fails his IQ roll and tries it anyhow. On a critical failure, the ability – even one that’s always on – goes offline for a second, and the user must check for crippling (see Crippled Abilities, p. 156), with the results affecting his entire power.
Below are some common options for default use. The GM is the final judge of what’s possible.
Amplify
Fictional heroes often “overload” nonlethal attacks, turning them into Innate Attacks. This is especially likely for Afflictions – a blinding light beam becomes a scorching laser, a paralysis ray becomes a neural disruptor, and so on. In the case of Binding, amplifica- tion typically involves bludgeoning victims with the projected force or matter. Even Obscure can have lethal potential; e.g., thickening blinding smoke into choking gas.
Occasionally, amplification lets a non-attack ability work as an attack. For instance, a desperate hero might use Control to concentrate ambient energy into a weapon, or ramp up the output of Scanning Sense or
Telecommunication for offensive use. This can result in Affliction or Innate Attack. The -2 for different ability types is mandatory here!
Moderate
It’s also possible to “tone down” an ability to produce more subtle effects. The usual application is to turn Innate Attack into a nonlethal weapon; e.g., dial back a sonic blast to a deafening Affliction, or strategically place ice bolts to act as an icy Binding. If the power’s focus is fundamentally dan- gerous – like death magic or gamma rays – the GM shouldn’t allow non- lethal effects as defaults, though. By accepting the extra -2 for chang- ing ability types, attacks can also emu- late non-attack abilities, such as Scanning Sense and Telecom- munication. For instance, a sonic blast could become Sonar or Directional Sound.
Moderation isn’t just for attacks. Many advantages could be “less extreme” versions of others: Possession might act as Mind Control by influencing the target’s mind with- out utterly dominating him, Terror might serve as Rapier Wit by unnerv- ing victims without terrifying them, Flight might scale back to Super Jump, and so on.
Target
Another option is to wield the ability with greater precision than usual. Examples include modulating Scanning Sense as makeshift Telecommunication; aiming Binding at the eyes to act as a blinding Affliction; employing Neutralize to burn out one specific ability, turning it into an Affliction with Negated Advantage; and using subtle Mind Control to convince the subject he’s afraid, causing Terror. If the default use corresponds to physical precision – e.g., aiming at the eyes – use the larg- er of the -2 for unfamiliarity and the usual penalty to hit.
Broadcast
Conversely, a normally precise abil- ity might act entirely differently when spread over an area. Tight-beam Telecommunication might serve as Scanning Sense; someone with Illusion could generate “noise” that acts as Obscure; some types of Innate Attack might disperse enough to func- tion as Create (especially those that project electricity, light, or sound); and Telesend could project a disconcerting aura that works as Terror.
Reverse
Even “opposite” abilities might default to one another, if they’re part of a power that regards them as halves of a single, two-way capability (GM’s decision). For instance, the wielder of a power that includes Control (Air) and Control (Vacuum) might reverse the flow of air, allowing one Control to default to the other. Likewise, the user of a power that offers Precognition and Psychometry might actively use one as the other by looking in the opposite “direction” in time. Reversed uses are always at -2 for changing ability type.
Creative Uses of Special Effects
Most abilities are "second nature," like walking and talking. The GM shouldn't require die rolls for trivial feats that take advantage of their special effects (see Special Effects, p. 113) – any more than he would make the PCs roll against DX to cross the street or IQ to engage in casu- al conversation. For instance, if Laser Lad buys Burning Attack (Variable), the GM should let him reduce it to 0d and use it as a laser pointer without a roll against Innate Attack skill.
Exploiting special effects in a manner that affects the plot (see When to Roll, p. B343, for guidelines) does require a roll, just as crossing a tightrope or inciting a riot requires a skill roll for walking or talking. The roll needn’t be against the score that usually controls the ability, howev- er. Use DX if reflexes matter, IQ if strategy or planning is important, and a skill if knowledge is involved. The GM might require Laser Lad to roll against Artist skill to burn a complex diagram on the wall, for example. As long as the stunt is still a minor use of special effects, though, it requires no penalties or costs to be balanced.
If a hero wishes to use one of his abilities as a different ability with similar special effects, that should require a die roll and involve costs or penalties; see Using Abilities at Default (p. 173). This would be the case if Laser Lad tried to blind someone with his laser, using his Innate Attack as an Affliction.