The Anteheroes... EDITION 2.0! (1045 Hours FREE for 45 Days!)

[AstralFire]

There is a world that is very much like ours; in fact, let us pretend that this world is ours. In this world, magic has existed for a long time. Always has. Always will. However, it has become more diminished over time. Like any other resource on this planet, there has always been a finite source of magic, but an infinitely growing number of people. Those born with genetic magic - essential, simple, strong - have become relatively rare, and relatively weak. Many pretend that they don't even exist anymore, if they ever did. Magicians, inheritors of the versatile but subtle learned magic tradition, have been long persecuted. Those who publicly bear the title are little more than grand liars - skillful, for sure, but not magical.

Magic took to the shadows, where many other things have as well. Faeries still walk among us, and they're rarely six-inch-tall blond bombshells in an evening dress that are willing to die for you. They lurk in the dark corners and alleys. Most mean no harm, but it only takes one invisible axe-murderer to kill you

And though we use technology every day - in our appliances, in our cars, in our hospitals, in our schools and of course our jobs - its bleeding edge has been guarded carefully by powerful corporations and governments. The same corporate world and governments that only pick the most physically fit, most intellectually gifted people to train and set loose to do their bidding in the shadows.

Most people know better than to lurk in these shadows... but how about you?

Role-Playing Games
The Anteheroes System is a unique and overall simple tabletop role-playing game, designed for use by both role-playing veterans and newcomers to the concept. It is based on the body of fiction by yours truly that I collectively call 'The Anteverse.' If you're familiar with how role-playing games in general work, skip ahead to the System Overview section.

Rest of you still here? Great! Let's start.

What is a Role-Playing Game?

You may well be familiar with the term, as it is used in a variety of ways outside of this hobby. For that same reason, a lot of people aren't quite clear on what one really is. According to Wikipedia, "A role-playing game (RPG; often roleplaying game) is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players can improvise freely; their choices shape the direction... of the games."

Choice and control over your make-believe, while using a set of rules to provide challenge and structure. The former is what differentiates a role-playing game from the many video games which have tried (and succeeded or failed, to varying degrees) to emulate the concept. The latter is what keeps our fantasy counterparts from impulsively killing thousands of innocents without retribution or damage. (Usually, anyway. There are some game systems for those of you who want to live our your inner Godzilla.)

The only goals in a role-playing game are those that you set for yourself. Because it takes several people to play a game, these are generally decided as a team to maximize fun for all involved. Often, the goal is simply to get away from real life for two hours a week - whether it's being Tim in accounting who has to fill out over nine thousand TPS reports a day, or Susan, CEO of her upstart and thriving (but very time-intensive) company. However, your characters may be in a campaign to save the world, take it over, or just stop bank robberies while getting to be a witty jerk to the same four losers who somehow keep breaking out of jail only to immediately fail on their next heist.

As you continue to play a role-playing game, your characters will generally advance in skill and power, and this is often a key source of enjoyment for many - simply designing a 'person' from scratch and getting to see them grow. They may die, too, but that doesn't have to be the end. Death is (usually, but) not always permanent, and you always have the option of creating another character to leap right back in where your last left off.

You may have heard of DMs (Dungeon Masters), STs (Storytellers), or GMs (Game Masters) from other role-playing games. Often jokingly referred to as 'God', 'the Boss', or other terms, she is really a referee for the rules and the lead storyteller. The engine of the game.

It is a necessary position in most role-playing games, including this one. The GM runs every minor and antagonistic role in the game and decides situation, scenario and setting. Being a living person, the GM can react to a much wider variety of choices from players than a computer. Being a GM is more demanding than being a player, to be sure, but the position is equally more rewarding as well, because of the increased importance of any individual choice on the GM's part. Many groups switch the position off regularly, allowing multiple players to share their storytelling ideas and the mental fatigue both.

What makes The Anteheroes System different from other role-playing games?

There are two things that differentiate roleplaying games from one another: the types of stories they encourage, and their ruleset.

Obviously, this system is based around a take on the modern world with magic and robots lurking around the corner, just beyond the average citizen's reach. Many other systems emphasize going back to an era of plate armor and no guns, with elves and dwarves and dragon-headed people. By default, it's mostly humans here, though it wouldn't be that hard to put elves and dragon-people in if you really really wanted to.

The other key, distinguishing feature about The Anteheroes System is that it really emphasizes simplicity. If you know what you want to create, making a new character should not take you more than a half-hour after you've familiarized yourself with the rules. The rules themselves are intended to be read and understood well enough for you to play in twenty minutes. And combat, something that can notoriously take hours in other systems, will be almost as lightning fast as (though significantly less ill-advised to participate in than) the gunfights the system models.

There is a time and a place for complexity, but sometimes you just want to run and gun. Faster combat means time for more combats (if that's your thing) or more time for peaceful talking or sneaking around (if it's not.) There's more to life, even a fictional life, than destroying robots for a half-minute. There might even be more robots to destroy around the next corner.

System Engine
The system is built around a very simple, basic mechanic that supplies all of the random numbers in the entire game. The following steps describe its use:

1. Roll a six-sided dice. Need one? That old game of Monopoly in your closet probably won't get used for the next two hours.
2. Notice the number on the dice. Check the table to see if a special effect occurs on the rolled number.
3. Add all modifiers and compare to a target number (if there is one). If there is a target number and you meet or exceed that value, you succeed. For a comparative roll, after all modifiers are added or subtracted, your value can never be less than one.
- or -
3. Add all positive modifiers. Multiply any factors. Subtract any penalties as necessary. For a non-comparative roll, after all modifiers are added or subtracted, your value can never be less than zero.

There is also one guiding principle that I'd like you to keep in mind when playing this game.

Mechanical Effect Trumps Visual Effect
Visually and thematically, a man shooting a fireball from his fingertips and a grizzled soldier hurling a high-tech grenade she just ripped off of her belt are very different. Mechanically, however, they both just blew up a small area. They both have the Kinetics ability "Kinetic Attack." I have tried to keep the system's mechanical side as separate from its thematic side as possible in order to facilitate an easy-to-use system that inherently supports a wide variety of character ideas. Try to use your imagination to add flavor wherever and however you wish in order to keep things lively.

You should try to determine which actions you are taking mechanically, as well as what an appropriate role-playing interpretation for both success and failure, prior to rolling any dice or telling the Game Master what your decision is. This allows you to avoid situations in which you expend all of your most creative wordplay on mundane hits and misses, leaving dramatic moments anticlimactic or tired. This doesn't mean that you should avoid role-playing failure and misses, however, as drama comes from all conflict - not just success.

Character Statistics
There are only a few mechanical components to any given Anteheroes character; these should be listed on your character sheet for easy reference.

Threat Level: Your approximate danger rating on the scale used by government officials. Threat levels are determined by the amount of advancement points you have access to.

Life: It keeps you alive. By default, you have a maximum of 10 points of life. The first attack that takes you to 0 life or below makes you fall helpless but you are still alive. Subsequent damage at that point kills you. Without medical care, you have a life regeneration of one point a week. You cannot regenerate life while you are being attacked or otherwise not allowed to rest.

Spirit: What allows you to act, it represents the natural energy in a living creature's body, or the electricity in a robotic creature's body. By default, a player character has a maximum of 10 points of spirit. At 5 spirit or less you become tired. When you reach 0 spirit, you are very tired. Without medical care, you have a spirit regeneration of one point every ten minutes. You cannot regenerate spirit while you are being attacked or otherwise not allowed to rest.

Composure: Your ability to control yourself. By default, a player character has a maximum of 10 points of composure. When you reach 5 composure or less, you become perturbed, which has a number of related subconditions based on what has been reducing your composure. When you are out of composure, you are very perturbed, which is also a variable effect. You have a composure regeneration of one point every ten minutes.

Evasion: How well you dodge an attack. Most conventional weaponry targets your evasion. Player characters have a basic evasion of 6, but non-player characters may have lower.

Resolve: Your sheer willpower is all that protects you against biting remarks, mind control, and unavoidable attacks that try to overwhelm you with pain. Player characters have a basic resolve of 6, but non-player characters may have lower.

Sprint: Your combat movement distance. By default, it's 10 spaces. You might be able to run faster out of combat, but this value represents your ability to safely dodge bullets, make quick turns and aim weaponry while still moving swiftly.

Reaction: How quickly you can respond. Differences in reaction time can be a matter of milliseconds, but that's enough to save a life... or end one. All characters have a base reaction of 6. Each phase, the character with the highest reaction moves first, then the next-highest, and so on, all the way down to the lowest reaction. In the event of a tie, characters act simultaneously; attacks made against a sprinting character with a tied reaction target the character's final space for that phase.

Abilities that require an action or spirit to increase or decrease reaction only do so for the duration of the combat. The minimum reaction a character can have at a given time is 0.

Arsenal: The abilities you have available to you at the moment, and a description of what they do. You typically have a limit of 3 abilities in your arsenal besides your unarmed attacks and your pressure attack. All weapons use up an arsenal slot, and many attacks and abilities gained from advancement trees do as well. The ability description will indicate if it uses up an arsenal slot.

Advancement Trees: Here, you list your abilities in a given path as well as the origin of those abilities: Magical, Mundane, Technological, or Tool. (A tool is a handheld item almost anyone can use, regardless of magical or technological aptitude). This generally does not have a direct mechanical impact, but it may in a few special cases.

Threat Levels
Characters begin play with a certain number of advancement points to place in advancement trees as determined by their threat level.

YAR THAR WILL BE A TABLE, BUT FIRST I MUST DECIDE WHAT THE VALUES'LL BE. YAR.

To use advancement points, you spend them on advancement trees. There are six ranks of abilities in each, and higher ranks require more points to take. You may take as many abilities in a rank as you like (provided you have the points to spend), but you must have at least 1 ability of a given rank before you can take an ability from the next rank. You could have a hundred Rank I abilities, but you would not be able to purchase a Rank III ability until you had first bought a Rank II ability.

You may save advancement points as your GM awards them in order to buy more expensive abilities.

It is important to note that advancement points are not experience points, a common advancement method in many role-playing games. Though they serve a similar purpose in describing a character's personal improvement, some things are much harder to learn than others. It's a lot harder to figure out how to kill someone with your brain than it is to run faster, but they both cost a similar amount of points.

Also, advancement points come and go situationally. Illnesses can dampen trained abilities. Equipment of all types can be stolen. Magic can be hampered. Implants can be tampered with. The Game Master should take care not to be capricious with advancement points, but players should be aware of their impermanence.

Character Sheet:
YAR THAR'LL BE EXAMPLES HERE LATER

[AstralFire]

System Overview

For the experienced game player who wants to leap right into the system.

Accuracy: This value determines how well a shot, swing, or blow can be placed. An attack only has accuracy or penetration - no one attack has both. Accuracy is opposed by evasion. Roll the die and add all modifiers to see if you meet or beat defense, and also compare the accuracy roll against the attack's effect list to see if a secondary effect occurs.

Each attack has its own bonus, penalty (or lack thereof) to accuracy, and you may have bonuses from certain advancement trees. Special conditions can also cause you to lose or gain accuracy.

Actions: You get one sprint, one primary action, and one secondary action a round. A secondary action requires little time to perform and can be done in either of a round's two phases. You may only perform a sprint or a primary action in any given phase. Most attacks are primary actions. There is also a full action which requires two phases to complete and can be split across rounds. In order to use a full action, you must give up a primary action and a sprint action, two primary actions, or two sprint actions. Most full actions do not take effect until they are completed.

Advancement: You spend advancement points to improve in a specific area. There are six ranks in all advancement paths, and higher ranks require more points to take. The number increases according to the Fibonacci Sequence.

Arsenal: The abilities you have available to you at the moment, and a description of what they do. You typically have a limit of 3 abilities in your arsenal besides your unarmed attacks and your pressure attack. All weapons use up an arsenal slot, and many attacks and abilities gained from advancement trees do as well. The ability description will indicate if it uses up an arsenal slot.

Attack Keywords: Listed in the header next to the attack name, keywords label important features of the attack that are often relevant to customization paths.

Area: An attack that covers more than one space simultaneously.
Heavy: A heavy weapon is unusually large and strong, but more unwieldy. It requires two hands to use. It is too large to use on an adjacent target, but if it is a melee weapon, it strikes opponents two spaces away. Heavy weapons cannot be used in close-quarters combat and are dropped if they were being wielded.
Light: A light weapon requires only one hand to use, and gains a +3 positional accuracy bonus when used in close-quarters combat.
Melee: An attack with a one or two-space range.
Mental: An attack with no physical components and a variable range.
Psychological: An attack that is aimed at the target's composure and belief. A psychological attack can be firing a gun an inch away from someone's eyes, telling an audacious lie to a cynic, seducing a spy for a rival nation, or something similar. Psychological attacks have no set range and may be able to affect multiple targets at once.
Ranged: An attack with a variable range up to a certain distance.
Standard: Standard weapons are of average size and balance. They are best used with two hands, but you can use them in one hand by taking a -1 penalty to your accuracy rolls with the weapon. You may also use a standard weapon in close-quarters combat by taking a -1 penalty to your positional accuracy rolls with the weapon; this stacks with the former penalty if applicable.

Close-Quarters Combat: If you make a successful light melee attack, you may immediately initiate close-quarters combat. Heavy weapons cannot be used in close-quarters combat and are dropped or disabled; standard weapons take a -1 penalty to their accuracy. Close-quarters combat ends when the participants are at least 2 spaces away from each other.

Composure: Your ability to control yourself. By default, a player character has a maximum of 10 points of composure. When you reach 5 composure or less, you become perturbed, which has a number of related subconditions based on what has been reducing your composure. When you are out of composure, you are very perturbed, which is also a variable effect. You have a composure regeneration of one point every ten minutes.

Cube #: An attack area, indicating a cube with a width in squares equal to the listed number.

Detection: A character more easily notices things in a Cube 5 (or small room) centered on their location; they are more apt to see hidden objects and creatures in this range, though better hidden objects and creatures may require more time. Characters by default have a detection of 0; every consecutive turn that the character uses a primary action to stay alert increases their effective detection by 1, to a maximum of +3 over their normal value. Moving or acting immediately removes this bonus.

Seeing a creature or object in your detection range requires having a detection value better than the hidden creature or object's hide value. Detecting something is passive and requires no time expenditure.

Anyone who finishes a phase within Cube 2 of a hiding creature (or if the hiding creature ends a phase in this range) and has clear line of sight to the creature automatically sees it, regardless of hide or detection. This area is referred to as the 'immediate detection range'.

Someone can attempt to pickpocket something off of you at times. If their pickpocket value beats your detection, they will succeed; if not, you catch them in the act and you know what they were doing.

Effect: Several special effects may occur on some types of attacks, corresponding to how well you roll on accuracy or penetration. Each attack has its own list of effects, if any. Unless otherwise stated, effects occur only if you successfully deal damage.

Evasion: How well you dodge an attack. Most conventional weaponry targets your evasion. Player characters have a basic evasion of 6, but non-player characters may have lower.

Execution: An attack performed on a helpless target always hits and, at your option, deals up to an additional 5 damage.

Hiding: A character who moves no more than a fifth of their sprint distance and performs no other actions is, at their option, considered to be hiding, provided there is something for them to hide in - shadows, a crowd, trees. Observers that do not already know their precise location are unable to see you with casual observance.

Characters by default have a hide of 0; every consecutive turn that the character uses a primary action to stay alert increases their effective hide by 1, to a maximum of +3 over their normal value. Moving or acting immediately removes this bonus. Hiding successfully requires having a hide value that meets or beats a person's detection value.

Anyone who finishes a phase within Cube 2 of a hiding creature (or if the hiding creature ends a phase in this range) and has clear line of sight to the creature automatically sees it, regardless of hide or detection. This area is referred to as the 'immediate detection range'. Hiding is passive and requires no time expenditure.

Jumping: Once per round, you may jump as part of your sprint. You can jump as high as a fifth of your sprint distance (by default, 2 meters) at any point during your sprint, or as long as your total sprint distance. If you leap near the end of your movement, you may end the turn in mid-air.

Life: It keeps you alive. By default, you have a maximum of 10 points of life. The first attack that takes you to 0 life or below makes you fall helpless but you are still alive. Subsequent damage at that point kills you. Without medical care, you have a life regeneration of one point a week. You cannot regenerate life while you are being attacked or otherwise not allowed to rest.

Line of Sight: With little exception, most attacks and abilities targeting a creature must have line of sight, an unobstructed path between you and the subject.

Penetration: This value determines how well a mindflay, verbal jab, or teleport can overcome willpower. An attack only has accuracy or penetration - no one attack has both. Penetration is opposed by resolve. Roll the die and add all modifiers to see if you meet or beat defense, and also compare the penetration roll against the attack's effect list to see if a secondary effect occurs.

Each attack has its own bonus, penalty (or lack thereof) to penetration, and you may have bonuses from certain advancement trees. Special conditions can also cause you to lose or gain penetration.

Phase: A 'sub-round'. A round is broken into two sequential turn phases. You may perform your secondary action in either phase, but you can only perform a sprint or primary action in each phase.

Pickpocket: As a primary action, you can attempt to pickpocket something off of someone. If their detection value meets or beats your pickpocket, you fail; if not, you lift a single handheld, loosely attached item from their person without them immediately noticing.

Range: The number of spaces an attack can reach.

Reaction: How quickly you can respond. Differences in reaction time can be a matter of milliseconds, but that's enough to save a life... or end one. All characters have a base reaction of 6. Each phase, the character with the highest reaction moves first, then the next-highest, and so on, all the way down to the lowest reaction. In the event of a tie, characters act simultaneously; attacks made against a sprinting character with a tied reaction target the character's final space for that phase.

Abilities that require an action or spirit to increase or decrease reaction only do so for the duration of the combat. The minimum reaction a character can have at a given time is 0.

Resolve: Your sheer willpower is all that protects you against biting remarks, mind control, and unavoidable attacks that try to overwhelm you with pain. Player characters have a basic resolve of 6, but non-player characters may have lower.

Round: A round lasts five seconds. You have time to move and perform one sprint, one primary action, and one secondary action a round.

Special Conditions:

Bleeding: Most physical damage attacks cause you to bleed significantly. When bleeding, you take one life and spirit damage every minute.
Blind: You are deprived of your primary sense. You take a -3 penalty to your accuracy and detection, and must rely on other cues to determine a target's position, targeting grid squares rather than creatures. All attacks against you are surprise attacks.
Hamstring: You sprint at half speed (round down) until treated.
Helpless: You lose the ability to act until this condition ends and are subject to Execution. A sleeping creature is helpless.
Perturbed: At 5 Composure or less, you become perturbed, which has one of the following effects:
[size="1"]Angered: If you have no good reason to be one of the other categories, you're getting angry and take a -1 penalty to penetration and evasion.
Faltering: You're starting to lose hope, taking a -1 penalty to penetration and resolve. You're hesitant to do much.
Scared: You've become shaky; you take a -1 penalty to accuracy and evasion, and are hesitant to near or fight the source of your distress unless pressed.
Wavering: You begin to consider the words and actions laid before you, with a bit of guilt.[/size]
Stun: You cannot act for a full round.
Tired: You are tired and worn. -1 penalty to accuracy, evasion and reaction.
Very Perturbed: As 'Perturbed', but a -2 penalty. (Except in the case of Wavering, which becomes Seduced. If you had an inner urge you were suppressing, you go along with it gleefully (or perhaps guiltily).)
Very Tired: You are exhausted. You take an additional -1 penalty from tired.

Spaces: One square meter segment on the tactical movement grid. Synonymous with 'Squares'.

Spirit: What allows you to act, it represents the natural energy and magic in a living creature's body, or the circuitry and electricity in a robotic creature's body. By default, a player character has a maximum of 10 points of spirit. At 5 spirit or less you become tired. When you reach 0 spirit, you are very tired. When you are out of spirit, abilities that drain spirit will drain your life instead.

Sprint: Your combat movement distance. By default, it's 10 spaces. You might be able to run faster out of combat, but this value represents your ability to safely dodge bullets, make quick turns and aim weaponry while still moving swiftly.

Surprise Attack: An attack made on an unsuspecting or unaware target. Surprise attacks gain a +3 bonus to their accuracy or penetration.

[AstralFire]

Aeolus didn't notice Iris grabbing the assault rifle  until it was almost too late. A rush of wind sent the bullets flying scant inches from his head.  Enraged and exhausted, she charged. He pulled a hand back and smirked.

"Stupid move, th- ohcrud." The wind didn't even breeze. He was out of energy. Maybe one or two more small bursts. He grunted and ducked behind a stack of crates as Iris wildly fired another salvo. Shards of metal shot off, slashing Aeolus' cheek open.

"Jesus, woman, how many magazines do you have?"

"Die!"

"That is a verb, not a number- goddamn!" A bullet shot straight through the crates and nailed Aeolus in the cheek, splintering his jawbone.

The Rules

Combat Rounds and Actions
The Anteheroes System uses a turn-based combat resolution mechanic, and this is key to how it all works.

After at least one character has decided that she or he wants to fight, actions are resolved as cyclical rounds and phases - a round lasts 5 seconds, and is made up of two phases that are approximately 2.5 seconds long each.

You get one sprint, one primary action, and one secondary action a round. A secondary action requires little time to perform and can be done in either of a round's two phases. You may only perform a sprint or a primary action in any given phase. Most attacks are primary actions.

There is also a full action which requires two phases to complete and can be split across rounds. In order to use a full action, you must give up a primary action and a sprint action, two primary actions, or two sprint actions. Most full actions do not take effect until they are completed.

Combat uses the following sequence:

1. The character with the highest reaction acts first, beginning Phase 1. He may use a secondary action if he so desires, and either a primary or a sprint action.
2. If there is a tie for a reaction value, the characters act at the same time. Attacks made against a character with a tied reaction target the character's final space for that phase.
3. The character with the next highest reaction goes next, repeating steps 1 and 2.
4. When all characters have completed this sequence, Phase 2 begins. Phase 2 is exactly like Phase 1, except that players may not use any actions they used in Phase 1.
5. When all characters have completed that sequence, Round 2-Phase 1 begins. Repeat until combat ends.

Reaction
All player characters have a base reaction of 6. Each phase, the character with the highest reaction moves first, then the next-highest, and so on, all the way down to the lowest reaction. Reaction has a minimum value of 0.

A character may voluntarily lower themselves in the reaction hierarchy, declaring they'll wait - they need not declare what they're waiting for. Whenever they've decided they've waited long enough, even right before someone else performs an action, they can take their turn. Upon doing so, the character's reaction value shifts to match that of the person they just interrupted or acted before.

Some abilities may increase or decrease your reaction. If the change requires an action or point expenditure of some kind on your part, it is not a permanent boost to your reaction, and the benefits reset at the end of a combat.

Attacks

There are a variety of offensive actions one can make in a given round. These are collectively called attacks. Attacks are made up of a variety of shared features:

Readied: Many attacks (and some non-attack abilities) use up a slot in your arsenal, discussed later. Some attacks do not use up slots, however. If an attack is not both in your arsenal at the time and readied, you cannot use it.

Line of Sight: With rare exception, most attacks made must have line of sight; an unobstructed path between the attack's originating source and the target.

Action: Almost all attacks require the use of a primary action.

Cost: Many attacks require the use of a point of spirit (or occasionally, life). The advancement tree that gave you access to the weapon will state if this is the case or not.

Attack Keywords: Listed in the header next to the attack name, keywords label important features of the attack that are often relevant to customization paths.

Area: An attack that covers more than one space simultaneously.
Heavy: A heavy weapon is unusually large and strong, but more unwieldy. It requires two hands to use. It is too large to use on an adjacent target, but if it is a melee weapon, it strikes opponents two spaces away. Heavy weapons cannot be used in close-quarters combat and are dropped if they were being wielded.
Light: A light weapon requires only one hand to use, and gains a +3 positional accuracy bonus when used in close-quarters combat.
Melee: An attack with a one or two-space range.
Mental: An attack with no physical components and a variable range.
Psychological: An attack that is aimed at the target's composure and belief. A psychological attack can be firing a gun an inch away from someone's eyes, telling an audacious lie to a cynic, seducing a spy for a rival nation, or something similar. Psychological attacks have no set range and may be able to affect multiple targets at once.
Ranged: An attack with a variable range up to a certain distance.
Standard: Standard weapons are of average size and balance. They are best used with two hands, but you can use them in one hand by taking a -1 penalty to your accuracy rolls with the weapon. You may also use a standard weapon in close-quarters combat by taking a -1 penalty to your positional accuracy rolls with the weapon; this stacks with the former penalty if applicable.

Accuracy and Penetration: There are two ways to determine how well an attack hit: Accuracy, which determines how well you can place a shot, and Penetration, which determines how well you can overcome someone's physical and mental toughness. Any given attack uses one (but not both) of these two accuracy measures to determine its chance of success.

Each attack has its own bonus, penalty (or lack thereof) to this value, and you may have bonuses from certain customization paths. Special conditions can also cause you to lose or gain accuracy. Roll the die and add all modifiers to see if you meet or beat the defending value - evasion if you're using accuracy, resolve if you're using penetration. If you succeed, you may determine damage and use any other effects of the attack.

Damage: Most attacks deal damage on a successful accuracy or penetration check. To find out the damage, use the listed value, add any modifiers, and multiply any values if necessary. After that, subtract any damage absorption the target may have.

Effects: Several special effects may occur on some types of attacks. Some effects always occur on a successful hit, others correspond to the number which you rolled on your accuracy or penetration die. Each attack has its own list of effects, if any. Effects occur only if you successfully deal damage; if your attack hits but the damage was somehow negated, the listed effects do not occur.

Range: Ranged attacks have a range; they can attack any square within the listed distance.

Area: Some attacks attack multiple squares at once. Area describes which squares they get to attack. A common attack area is Cube #, indicating a cube with a width in squares equal to the listed number.

Special: There may be something unique about the attack that is not covered in the other categories.

The Arsenal and Wielding Weapons
The arsenal encompasses what abilities you have available to you at the moment. You typically have a limit of 3 abilities in your arsenal besides your unarmed attacks and your pressure attack. All weapons use up an arsenal slot, and many attacks and abilities gained from advancement trees do as well. The ability description will indicate if it uses up an arsenal slot.

You can ready any ability in your arsenal as a primary action; by default, all of your arsenal abilities are already readied, though you may be required to holster your pistol at a formal gala, for example. Some advanced attacks can disable or disarm you of these abilities, however.

You can change attacks in your arsenal whenever your GM rules you have sufficient time to switch out, load and arm a new gun, mentally prepare yourself, etc. Usually half a minute is sufficient.

Surprise Attacks
If you catch an opponent unawares with an attack, it is a surprise attack. Surprise attacks gain a +3 bonus to their accuracy or penetration. To catch an opponent unaware, she or he must be unaware of your position – such as when they are blind, if you have been hiding, or if you teleported behind a character who has never seen a teleport before – or unaware of your intent to harm them, such as if you betray an ally or attack a random man on the street.

If you use a surprise attack to begin a combat, you and your aware allies may act the first round, while your victims may not. On the second round, combat progresses as normal.

Executions
If you attack a helpless character, you have the option of executing them. Executions always hit, and deal up to 5 additional points of damage. You cannot execute with a psychological attack.

Close-Quarters Combat
If you make a successful light melee attack, you may immediately initiate close-quarters combat. Heavy weapons cannot be used in close-quarters combat and are dropped if they were being wielded; standard weapons take a -1 penalty to their accuracy. Close-quarters combat ends when the participants are at least 2 spaces away from each other.

Movement
By default, a player character can sprint up to 10 spaces in one turn. You can perform sprinting in the same turn as you perform a primary action, but at a -3 accuracy penalty to that other action (if it has an accuracy.) The primary action can be performed at any point during the sprint. This is the distance at which you can combat sprint, avoiding obstacles, fire, etc. Your character may (or may not) be able to run faster out of combat.

Obstacles or difficult ground may reduce the distance you can move, usually counting as two squares for each one square crossed.

Once per round, you may jump as part of your sprint. You can jump as high as a fourth of your sprint distance (round down to the nearest full meter; by default, 2 meters) at any point during your sprint, or as long as your total sprint distance. If you leap near the end of your movement, you may end the turn in mid-air.

You can swim or climb up a fourth of your sprint distance (round down to the nearest full meter; by default, 2 meters) in combat.

Detection, Picking Pockets and Stealth
A character more easily notices things in a Cube 5 (or small room) centered on their location; they are more apt to see hidden objects and creatures in this range, though better hidden objects and creatures may require more time. Characters by default have a detection of 0; every consecutive turn that the character uses a primary action to stay alert increases their effective detection by 1, to a maximum of +3 over their normal value. Moving or acting immediately removes this bonus.

Seeing a creature or object in your detection range requires having a detection value better than the hidden creature or object's hide value. Detecting something is passive and requires no time expenditure.

Anyone who finishes a phase within Cube 2 of a hiding creature (or if the hiding creature ends a phase in this range) and has clear line of sight to the creature automatically sees it, regardless of hide or detection. This area is referred to as the 'immediate detection range'.

As a primary action, a creature can attempt to pickpocket something off of someone. If their detection value meets or beats the pickpocket value, the pickpocket fails; if not, they lift a single handheld, loosely attached item from the victim without them immediately noticing.

A character who moves no more than a fifth of their sprint distance and performs no other actions is, at their option, considered to be hiding, provided there is something for them to hide in - shadows, a crowd, trees. Observers that do not already know their precise location are unable to see you with casual observance.

Characters by default have a hide of 0; every consecutive turn that the character uses a primary action to stay alert increases their effective hide by 1, to a maximum of +3 over their normal value. Moving or acting immediately removes this bonus. Hiding successfully requires having a hide value that meets or beats a person's detection value.

Taking Aim
Sometimes, you just need to land one good shot. As a full action, you can take aim with your weapon. If you are not damaged and neither you nor your target move before your next attack, you gain a +3 bonus to your accuracy next round.

Taking Cover
Hiding behind a wall obviously protects you from most attacks from the other side of the wall, since it breaks line of sight on those attacks. The Game Master should use common sense judgment to determine which angles of attack are defended against; a cubby hole would protect from a very wide angle compared to a newspaper stand. This is considered complete cover.

While it's possible to just cower behind your cover if it's big enough, it's not always big enough - say a lamp post or a riot shield (attacking from underwater to above water, and vice-versa, is another good example due to refraction) - and sometimes it's just not convenient to be a sitting duck.

If you wish to attack while gaining the benefit of your cover, you take a -1 penalty to melee accuracy in return for a +1 bonus to your positional defense. This is considered to be partial cover. The Game Master may deem different values as appropriate to an extraordinary situation; firing through safety slits on an armored personnel carrier would grant a very large bonus to defense, though you'd have a limited field of attack.

Status Effects
Bleeding: Most physical damage attacks cause you to bleed significantly. When bleeding, you take one life and spirit damage every minute.

Blind: You are deprived of your primary sense. You take a -3 penalty to your accuracy and detection, and must rely on other cues to determine a target's position, targeting grid squares rather than creatures. All attacks against you are surprise attacks.

Hamstring: You sprint at half speed (round down) until treated.

Helpless: You lose the ability to act until this condition ends and are subject to Execution. A sleeping creature is helpless.

Perturbed: At 5 Composure or less, you become perturbed, which has one of the following effects:

Angered: If you have no good reason to be one of the other categories, you're getting angry and take a -1 penalty to penetration and evasion.
Faltering: You're starting to lose hope, taking a -1 penalty to penetration and resolve. You're hesitant to do much.
Scared: You've become shaky; you take a -1 penalty to accuracy and evasion, and are hesitant to near or fight the source of your distress unless pressed.
Wavering: You begin to consider the words and actions laid before you, with a bit of guilt.

Stun: You cannot act for a full round.

Tired: You are tired and worn. -1 penalty to accuracy, evasion and reaction.

Very Perturbed: As 'Perturbed', but a -2 penalty. (Except in the case of Wavering, which becomes Seduced. If you had an inner urge you were suppressing, you go along with it gleefully (or perhaps guiltily).)

Very Tired: You are exhausted. You take an additional -1 penalty from tired.

[AstralFire]

Attack List
Universal Access:

Unarmed (Light, Melee)
Accuracy: +3
Damage: 2 Physical
Effects: None
Special: This ability does not count against your limit of attacks in the arsenal.

Unarmed (Heavy, Melee)
Accuracy: +1
Damage: 4 Physical
Effects: None
Special: This ability does not count against your limit of attacks in the arsenal.

Melee Weapon (Light, Melee)
Accuracy: +4
Damage: 2 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 6 Stun.

Melee Weapon (Standard, Melee)
Accuracy: +2
Damage: 3 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 6 Stun.

Melee Weapon (Heavy, Melee)
Accuracy: +1
Damage: 5 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 5 Hamstring, 6 Stun.

Ranged Weapon (Light, Ranged)
Accuracy: +2
Damage: 3 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 6 Hamstring.
Range: 15

Ranged Weapon (Standard, Ranged)
Accuracy: +1
Damage: 6 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 6 Stun.
Range: 30

Ranged Weapon (Heavy, Ranged)
Accuracy: +0
Damage: 7 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 5-6 Stun.
Range: 50

Explosive (Light, Ranged, Area)
Accuracy: +1
Damage: 6 Physical
Effects: Bleed. 5-6 Stun.
Range: 10
Area: Cube 3

Pressure (Psychological)
Penetration: +1
Damage: 2 Composure
Effects: None
Range: Variable
Special: Targets only living creatures. This ability does not count against your limit of attacks in the arsenal.

Restricted Access:

Energy Flash (Standard, Ranged, Area)
Penetration: +2
Damage: None
Effects: Blind (2 rounds).
Range: 10
Area: Cube 3

Energy Wave (Standard, Ranged, Area)
Penetration: +3
Damage: 2 Energy
Effects: None
Range: 5
Area: Line 5

Displace (Mental, Ranged)
Penetration: +2
Damage: None
Effects: Teleports subject. Ignores Line of Sight.
Range: 6

Override (Mental, Ranged)
Penetration: +2
Damage: 4
Effects: Scramble the target's signals.
Range: 20

Parasitic Touch (Light, Melee)
Penetration: +2
Damage: 1 Physical, 1 Spirit
Effects: Heals 1 life for each target damaged.

Purify (Mental, Melee)
Penetration: +2
Damage: 2 per Effect removed.
Effects: Purify can immediately end any active Telepathy effects on the target, dealing 2 damage for each effect removed in this way. Effects created by someone with more ranks in Mind and Soul than you cannot be removed, nor can Possession.

Telepathy (Mental, Ranged)
Penetration: +2
Damage: None
Effects: Read the target's surface thoughts and emotions and transmit your own.
Range: 10

[AstralFire]

To use advancement points, you spend them on advancement trees. There are six ranks of abilities in each, and higher ranks require more points to take. You may take as many abilities in a rank as you like (provided you have the points to spend), but you must have at least 1 ability of a given rank before you can take an ability from the next rank. You could have a hundred Rank I abilities, but you would not be able to purchase a Rank III ability until you had first bought a Rank II ability.

You may save advancement points as your GM awards them in order to buy more expensive abilities.

It is important to note that advancement points are not experience points, a common advancement method in many role-playing games. Though they serve a similar purpose in describing a character's personal improvement, some things are much harder to learn than others. It's a lot harder to figure out how to kill someone with your brain than it is to run faster, but they both cost a similar amount of points.

Also, advancement points come and go situationally. Illnesses can dampen trained abilities. Equipment of all types can be stolen. Magic can be hampered. Implants can be tampered with. The Game Master should take care not to be capricious with advancement points, but players should be aware of their impermanence.

Advancement Trees

Acrobatics:
Rank I:
Reactionary: As a secondary action, you may improve your reaction by 1.

Sprinter: Your sprint increases by 1.

Tumbler: You can convert half of your damage from a fall into spirit damage. This ability does not work if you have a spirit of 0.

Rank II:
Artful Dodger: As a secondary action, you can increase your evasion for a full round by 1.

Leapfrog: You may vertically jump half of your sprint distance.

Quick-Witted: You can act in a hostile surprise round.

Rank III:
Charging Thunder: You can charge and melee attack in the same deft movement. As a full action, you may move up to your sprint distance and then make a melee attack in the same phase. Unlike most full actions, this ability triggers in the phase that you use it, not in the next phase. Using Charging Thunder reduces your reaction to 0.

Fleet of Foot: Your sprint increases by 3. Requires Sprinter.

Stuntman: You can convert all of your damage from a fall into spirit damage. This ability does not work if you have a spirit of 0. Requires Tumbler.

Rank IV:
Double Time: As a primary action, you can sprint 5 spaces.

Evasive: Your evasion increases by 1.

Expect the Unexpected: You cannot be surprise attacked.

In a Single Bound: You may vertically jump your full sprint distance. Requires Leapfrog.

Roll With It: When you use Artful Dodger, your reaction increases by 1. Requires Reactionary and Artful Dodger.

Running Bull: When you use Charging Thunder, you gain a +1 bonus to accuracy. Requires Charging Thunder.

Rank V:
Daredevil: You only take half the normal damage from a fall. Requires Tumbler.

Speed Demon: Your sprint increases by 7. Requires Fleet of Foot.

Speed of Thought: As a primary action, you can increase your evasion by 3 for a full round. Speed of Thought requires 1 spirit to use.

Turnabout Trump: When you act in a hostile surprise round, your attacks are surprise attacks. Requires Expect the Unexpected.

Rank VI:
Aerial Leap: When you leap upwards, you may use a point of spirit to remain suspended in air instead of falling this round. Additionally, you may jump in mid-air.

Wildfire: When you use Running Bull, you may use 2 points of spirit to declare the attack a Wildfire attack and increase the bonus to accuracy to +3. Additionally, you may sprint both before and after your attack, provided that your total distance moved does not exceed your normal sprint. After using Wildfire, your reaction does not drop to 0. Requires Running Bull.




Endurance:
Rank I:
Catch My Breath: As a full action, you can recover 1 spirit. You may only perform this ability once an hour.

Surprising Fortitude: You shrug off diseases and most poisons with ease. You have a chance of surviving the most deadly and lethal toxins in reasonable amounts.

Tough Guy: You can use a secondary action to ready yourself for a blow. For the next full round, 1 damage you take is delivered to spirit instead of life. This ability doesn't function if you have a spirit of 0.

Vigorous: Your maximum spirit increases to 11.

Rank II:
Healthy: Your maximum life increases to 11.

Hemophobia: You stop bleeding after you've taken damage from it three times.

Just Getting Started: You do not become tired until your spirit reaches 3 or below.

Resilient: You ignore the first 1 physical damage you take each round.

Weight Watcher: As far as anyone can tell, you don't need to eat food. You may occasionally need to drink water.

Rank III:
Energetic: Your maximum spirit increases to 14. Requires Vigorous.

Feed Your Rage: After you've defeated someone who has damaged you within the last minute, you gain a point of spirit. This effect can only occur once a minute.

Punching Bag: You can use a secondary action to ready yourself for a blow. For the next full round, 2 damage you take is delivered to spirit instead of life. This ability doesn't function if you have a spirit of 0. Requires Tough Guy.

Rank IV:
Constant Commotion: You do not become tired. You can still become very tired, however. Requires Just Getting Started.

Fast Regeneration: You heal 1 point of life every day instead of every week. (Robotic creatures that previously did not regenerate still gain this benefit.) You regain 1 point of spirit every minute instead of every ten.

Tough Skin: You ignore the first 2 physical damage  you take each round.

Toughness: Your maximum life increases to 14. Requires Healthy.

Rank V:
Inch of Life: You can use a secondary action to ready yourself for a blow. For the next full round, 3 damage you take is delivered to spirit instead of life. This ability doesn't function if you have a spirit of 0. Requires Punching Bag.

No Time to Bleed: You can use a point of spirit to instantly cease bleeding and become immune to bleed effects for the next minute. Requires Hemophobia.

Spirited: Your maximum spirit increases to 17. Requires Energetic.

Rank VI:
Sanguine: Your maximum life increases to 17. Requires Toughness.

Second Chance: If you are at 2 life or above, an attack that would bring you down to 0 life brings you to 1 life instead.



Kinetics:
This tree is meant to equally represent those who shoot a variety of attacks or those who specialize in one type of matter or energy control.
Rank I:
Barrier: You can add the Barrier ability to your arsenal. As a primary action, you can make a Barrier of energy or loose matter to defend yourself for one round. This barrier deals 1 energy damage to anyone who comes adjacent to you this round. Using Barrier requires 1 point of spirit.

Kinetic Attacks: You gain access to Kinetic versions of any melee (including unarmed) or ranged attacks you possess; these attacks deal an additional 1 energy damage. Kinetic Attacks are considered and selected as separate abilities in your arsenal from their mundane counterparts (even unarmed attacks), and require 1 point of spirit to use.

Energy Healing: When placed near a plentiful but non-lethal source of your chosen energy or matter (such as pure water in a calm lake, or near a bonfire) you regain 1 additional point of life a day and one additional point of spirit every minute.

Rank II:
Absorb: As a secondary action, you can ready yourself to negate 1 point of energy damage per attack for the next full round. If you do absorb such an attack, you gain spirit equal to the damage negated. Absorb requires 1 point of spirit to use. Using this ability lowers your reaction by 1.

Kinetic Barrier: Your Barrier ability grants cover, giving a +1 bonus to evasion but a -1 penalty to accuracy. This ability requires Barrier.

Projected Barrier: You can target your Barrier on a square within 10 spaces. The barrier is 2 squares high and 1 square wide, and does not harm a creature inside that fits, but does hurt anyone that passes through the square. This ability requires Barrier.

Retaliatory Barrier: At your option, your Barrier ability deals damage to anyone who makes a melee or ranged attack at or through its occupants. A Retaliatory Barrier does not deal damage to merely adjacent targets, or to someone on the inside attacking the outside. This ability requires Barrier.

Shove: When you successfully damage someone with energy, you may use a point of spirit to shove them up to two spaces in one direction of your choice.

Rank III:
Energy Blast: You gain access to Pure Energy versions of any Melee or Ranged attacks you posses; these attacks deal an additional 2 damage, and all damage done is energy. Pure Energy Attacks are considered and selected as separate abilities in your arsenal from their mundane counterparts (even unarmed attacks), and require 2 points of spirit to use.

Energy Wave: You can add the Energy Wave attack to your arsenal. Energy Wave requires 2 points of spirit to use.

Kinetic Shove: When you successfully damage someone with energy, you may use a point of spirit to shove them up to ten spaces in one direction of your choice. If shoved upwards, they do not fall this round, but on the next round. This ability requires Shove.

Kinetic Stop: When you successfully damage someone with energy, you may use a point of spirit to hold them in place; they cannot sprint, fall or be shoved for the next full round. Other abilities that can be performed as a sprint action can still be used. This ability requires Energy Shove.

Multi Barrier: As a secondary action, you may create one additional barrier this round. You may use points of spirit on a 1 for 1 basis to control more. This ability requires Barrier and Projected Barrier.

Solid Barrier: As a secondary action that costs 2 points of spirit, you may make your barrier of solid energy or packed matter. It is an impregnable wall for one full round and does not deal damage. A solid barrier cannot be placed in an area already being occupied unless at least one of the occupants is you. This ability requires Barrier.

Wide Barrier: As a secondary action, you may increase the size of your barrier this round to Cube 2. You may use points of spirit on a 1 for 1 basis to enlarge the cube. This ability requires Barrier.

Rank IV:
Consume: Your Absorb ability can negate 3 points of damage per attack. Requires Absorb.

Fast Healing: When placed near a plentiful but non-lethal source of your chosen energy or matter (such as pure water in a calm lake, or near a bonfire) you regain 1 additional point of life an hour. Requires Energy Healing.

Kinetic Suspension: Your Kinetic Shove and Kinetic Stop abilities do not need to damage their subject to work, just successfully hit; you may suppress the damage freely. You may target yourself with these abilities as a sprint action that requires 1 point of spirit. Kinetic Suspension requires Kinetic Shove or Kinetic Stop.

Lingering Barrier: You may use a point of spirit to make your Barriers last longer; lingering barriers last every round after the first that you use a secondary action to maintain the barrier, up to one minute. This ability requires Barrier.

Lingering Strike: You deal an additional 1 energy damage to a target the round after you successfully damage them with an energy attack.

Rank V:
Deadly Barrier: Your Barrier deals an additional 1 damage to anyone who comes in contact with it. This ability requires Barrier.

Deflect: As a primary action, you can prepare to ricochet the first ranged attack fired at you for the next full round. If the attack would ordinarily hit, you can instead redirect it at another target within range as though you were the attack's originator. Deflect requires 2 spirit to use.

Energy Flash: You can add the Energy Flash attack to your arsenal. Energy Flash requires 2 points of spirit to use.

Mixed Barrier: You may use any two of the following abilities at once, provided that you already know them: Multi Barrier, Solid Barrier, Wide Barrier.

Rank VI:
Conservation: Your Kinetics abilities take 1 less spirit to use.

Overdrive: You can drastically overpower a Kinetics attack in your arsenal by focusing on it for the next minute. When the attack is fired, a targeted attack completely destroys 1 cube of matter in its targeted square, plus another adjacent cube per point of damage. An area attack completely destroys all cubes of matter in its area. Anyone in the destroyed cubes is killed, utterly, unless they are somehow immune to damage. Using Overdrive requires 5 points of spirit in addition to the attack's normal cost.



Geomancy:
This tree is most closely tied to the druidic and wizardly traditions.
Rank I:
Glyph: You can add the Glyph to your arsenal. A Glyph is a mark of arcane power that can be placed as a full action on something within 10 spaces. When placed on a creature or object, the subject is marked as magical, and can thus be located more easily. At your option, the Glyph may be visible to those who cannot detect magic. A Glyph lasts for a week ordinarily. Using Glyph requires 1 point of spirit.

Additionally, you gain the ability to remove adjacent Glyphs placed by someone with equal or lower ranks in Geomancy. Erasing a Glyph takes a full action.

You may not have any of your Glyphs within 5 spaces of each other. Should this happen for any reason, all of the Glyphs within range simultaneously disappear.

Gust: As a secondary action, you can create a gust of wind that shoves the target 1 space in any direction. Your subject must be within 10 spaces.

Light and Sound: As a primary action, you can amplify or muffle ambient light and sound by a factor of 1000. This is enough to create bright light from starlight, daylight from lamp light, or shift a sound about 100 decibels. You cannot actually create or destroy either, however.

See Magic: As a secondary action, you are immediately aware of all sources of magic - including fey - within 10 spaces. If you spend a point of spirit, you can identify each magic source uniquely. Exceptionally powerful magic may be detected well beyond that range.

Tricks of the Trade: You can spontaneously produce small animals and handkerchiefs from your person.

Rank II:
Gloom: Living creatures become extremely uncomfortable and anxious within the presence of your glyphs (at your option.) As long as they are adjacent to a Gloom Glyph, they take a -1 penalty to resolve. Requires Glyph. A Glyph can only have one word attached to it at a time.

Locate: By concentrating for a minute, you may immediately become aware of the precise location of one of the active Glyphs you have laid. Using Locate Glyph requires a point of spirit. Requires Glyph. A Glyph can only have one word attached to it at a time.

Seal: When your Glyph is placed upon a door, window, or other portal you may opt to bar fey from entry; no fey can enter a Sealed door. Requires Glyph. A Glyph can only have one word attached to it at a time.

Tremor: As a primary action, you can greatly amplify local seismic activity, creating a minor localized earthquake. All creatures within 5 spaces of you (except yourself) are shoved 1 space in a random direction and lose 1 reaction. You can only use Tremor if you are standing on the ground. Using Tremor requires 1 point of spirit.

Walk on Water: By using a secondary action, this round you can walk on water as easily as you do land.

Rank III:
Defend: Your Glyph reactively burns those with hostile intent against either you or the subject of the Glyph, dealing 1 damage to the first adjacent hostile creature it senses before fading away. Requires Glyph. A Glyph can only have one word attached to it at a time.

Entangle: As a primary action, you can summon local plant matter or loose debris to cover up to 8 squares within 10 spaces. The squares become difficult to cross, requiring two spaces of movement, and make excellent handholds for climbing.

Fast Glyph: You can place a Glyph as a primary action. Requires Glyph.

Gravity: As a primary action, you can greatly amplify local gravity on a subject within 10 spaces for the next minute. If you target a creature or object, all creatures within 10 spaces of the object are shoved 1 space towards the object every round. If you target the earth itself, no one is able to leap, fly or hover within the given area.

Summon Object: You can summon a handheld personal effect to your hand as a primary action. If the distance summoned is greater than 10 squares, the item can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to arrive - but it will come as long as you are not barricaded by an impenetrable or unavoidable barrier, or more than 50,000 kilometers away.

Weather: By concentrating for an hour, you can change the weather within a 10 km radius. The weather cannot be a violent change - rain to shine is possible, but tropical storm to heat wave is not.

Rank IV:
Resonance: When you attack someone, you may opt to delay the damage from the attack up to 3 rounds. The attack increases in damage by 1 point for every round that you delay the damage. This ability only applies to attack damage, not damage from any other source.

Subtle Magic: If you expend an additional point of spirit whenever you use a magic ability, the magic becomes undetectable to anyone with fewer ranks in Geomancy than you.

Wind Force: As a secondary action, you can create a gust of wind that shoves the target 5 spaces in any direction. Your subject must be within 10 spaces. Requires Gust.

Rank V:
Divination: As an hour-long ritual, once per week you can peer into the murky mists of the ley and see what they predict. You get a vague and unclear vision of the future. You can try to specify what the vision should be of, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to direct the vision, and trying too hard may result in your divination failing.

Focus Magic: As a primary action, you can hone the magic in your body. The next magical ability you use within a minute requires 2 less spirit. This has no effect on abilities with a mundane or technological origin.

Rapid Glyph: You can place a Glyph as a secondary action. Requires Fast Glyph.

Reflect Magic: As a primary action, you can ready yourself to cancel the next magical ability used within a full round within 10 spaces of you. This has no effect on abilities with a mundane or technological origin.

Rank VI:
Violence of Nature: As a full action, you call upon the fury of nature to strike a specific square (not person, but square) within 10 spaces of you. Targeting is done at the beginning of your full action, but the ability is not fired until the end. It becomes extremely obvious that you are doing something dangerous upon initiating the action; you glow, winds start to blow, etc.

The exact nature of this ability depends on the local area; in Southern California it may be a sudden stalagmite, on a Pacific Isle a magma flow or tidal wave, in Britain a lightning strike. The ability always deals 10 physical or energy damage, stuns the target, and is unavoidable. If you are damaged before your full action completes, you are stunned. Using Violence of Nature requires 7 points of spirit.



Interpersonal Skills:
Rank I:
Cool Cat: You automatically are considered 1 step higher on the attitude step chart (see below) with strangers and casual acquaintances. This has no effect on people who know and are familiar with you, though a long time of separation may reduce them to the level of 'casual acquaintance.' You have charm and poise, and the good looking waiter in the corner wants your number.

Attitude Steps:

• Obsessed
• Delighted
• Cordial
• Accepting
• Neutral
• Disapproving
• Hostile
• Fanatically Hateful

Cool Customer: You spend 1 less composure to make a sincere statement. (See below):

There is little difference between truth or lie in this system by default, as what matters most is how convincingly you can say something, an act that costs a listed amount of composure. A lie will be one step harder to pass off in most cases, however. Also note that outrageous statements are completely impossible to pass in most situations - maintaining composure while talking only helps your credibility, it does not certify it.

If you are unable to make the composure cost to pass a statement, it becomes extremely likely that you are disbelieved - but again, it's not an absolute.

• Difficulty|Cost
• Minor|0
• Medium|1
• Major|2
• Supreme|4
• Outrageous|8

Examples:

• Minor Lie: Faking it. ...Yeah, 'it'. This is a family-friendly system resource document. 'It' is just... cookies. Yes. Cookies.
• Minor Truth or Medium Lie: "I don't know where your cookies went." "You look good in that dress."
• Medium Truth or Major Lie: "Read my lips: No new taxes," "I did not have relations with that woman," "Don't bet on Horse 8, it's a sure wi- loser," "You have to believe me, I may have a criminal record but I don't want to go back! I didn't do it!"
• Major Truth or Supreme Lie: Admitting before a jury at a televised court case that you did beat your wife regularly and approximately 3 minutes before her estimated time of death, but you would never kill her.
• Supreme Truth or Outrageous Lie: "The President just kicked a guy out of the cargo door of his jumbo jet!"
• Outrageous Truth: "The people really did hop out of the comic book and come to life!"

Demoralized & Determined: As a secondary action, you may spend 1 spirit to regain 1 composure.

Flame Warrior: You may wager 1 composure when you use your Pressure attack. If the attack hits, it deals an extra 2 damage; if it misses, you lose 1 composure.

Rank II:
Composed: Your maximum composure increases to 11.

Rapier Wit: Your Pressure attack increases penetration by 1.

Rock Steady: You do not get perturbed until your composure drops to 3 or below.

Sweating 'Em Out: At your option, you increase the difficulty of speaking sincerely to you by 1 step. This can be due to noticing and pointing out nervous twitches, or being generally intimidating, among other reasons.

Rank III:
Cooler Customer: You spend 2 less composure to make a sincere statement. Requires and overlaps Cool Customer.

Just Politics: If making a statement of sincerity would cause you to drop to 0 Composure, you may ask the GM or the player if the character would believe you. If not, you can modify your behavior appropriately and take half the damage as spirit damage instead. If you have a spirit of 0, this ability does not function.

Life of the Party: As Cool Cat, but 2 steps. Requires Cool Cat.

Tongue-Lasher: Your Pressure attack deals 1 more damage.

Rank IV:
Imperturbable: You do not get perturbed, though you can still be very perturbed. Requires Rock Steady.

Resolute: You gain a +1 bonus to Resolve.

Serene: Your maximum composure increases to 14. Requires Composed.

The Last Word: Your Pressure attack gains an additional +1 penetration if you have dealt the target composure damage within the last minute.

Rank V:
Critical Words: On a result of 6, a successful hit with Pressure deals double damage. Requires Flame Warrior.

Ice Man: You spend 3 less composure to make a sincere statement. Additionally, you can say lies with the same ease as you do truths.

Verbal Veteran: Once per round, when attacked by an effect that would reduce your composure, you may instead use 1 point of spirit to ignore the effect. Requires Demoralized & Determined.

Rank VI:
Tranquility: Your maximum composure increases to 17, and you regain 1 composure a minute (rather than 1 every ten). Requires Serene.



Life and Spirit:
Rank I:
Dead Tired: As a secondary action, you may use up a number of your life points to gain an equal number of spirit points.

Life Touch: As a primary action, you can stop bleeding and cure hamstring on yourself or an adjacent living creature.

Parasitic Touch: You can add the Parasitic Touch attack to your arsenal. Parasitic Touch requires 1 point of spirit to use.

Rank II:
Shield: You can add the Shield ability to your arsenal. As a secondary action, you can negate the first point of damage a living creature within 10 spaces (including yourself) takes this round. Shield requires 1 point of spirit to use.

Soul Mark: You can add the Soul Mark ability to your arsenal. As a primary action, target a living creature within 10 spaces. That creature takes a -1 penalty to its resolve for the next minute. If the creature dies before the Soul Mark ends, you regain all spirit. You can only have one target Soul Marked at a time. Soul Mark requires 1 point of spirit to use.

Spirit Channel: As a secondary action, you can transfer 3 points of your spirit to a living creature within 10 spaces.

Rank III:
Blood of Sloth: As a secondary action, the subject of your Soul Mark becomes infested with a vile poison that eats away at its life force. It loses 1 reaction a round while infected with the Soul Mark. Your Soul Mark can only be infused with one type of Blood at a time. Requires Soul Mark.

Blood of The Many: As a secondary action, the subject of your Soul Mark becomes infected with a rapid contagion. If it is bleeding, all creatures adjacent to the original subject are effectively under the effect of the Soul Mark. Your Soul Mark can only be infused with one type of Blood at a time. Requires Soul Mark.

Life Funnel: You can designate a living creature within 10 spaces of you to gain the benefit of your regeneration and you the brunt of his pain. Any time you would regain a point of life, the target instead regains that life. Similarly, any time he would take life damage, you take that life damage instead. If trying to let a recipient benefit from your normal life regeneration, they must be linked directly to you for at least a third of the regeneration period.

Life Funnel can be activated or deactivated as a primary action.

Reach of the Parasite: Your Parasitic Touch attack can be used as a light ranged attack with a range of 5 instead of a light melee attack. Requires Parasitic Touch.

Second Wind: As a secondary action, you may use up a number of your life points to gain twice that number of spirit points. Requires Dead Tired.

Status Shield: The subject of your Shield cannot be hamstrung or blinded this round. If he is already hamstrung or blinded, this ability does not remove those conditions.

Rank IV:
Acid Blood: As a secondary action, the subject of your Soul Mark has their blood turn to a painful corrosive. They take 1 energy damage every round until they bleed. Your Soul Mark can only be infused with one type of Blood at a time.

Big Shield: As a primary action, you alter your already active Shield to guard against 3 points of damage this round, as well as the Stun effect. Big Shield requires 2 points of spirit. Requires Shield and Status Shield.

Blood Shield: The target of your Soul Mark takes 1 damage for each point of damage absorbed by your shields each round. You can turn this ability on or off as a secondary action. Your Soul Mark can only be infused with one type of Blood at a time. Requires Shield and Soul Mark.

Bubble Shield: As a primary action, you alter your already active Shield to affect up to 5 allied living creatures (including yourself) within 10 spaces. Bubble Shield requires 2 points of spirit. Requires Shield.

Lifeforce Sense: As a secondary action, you are aware of all living creatures within 5 spaces of you. If you spend a point of spirit, you can identify each living creature uniquely.

Life Link: Your Life Funnel has improved. Whenever you or the target of your Life Funnel gains a point of life, you both do; however, whenever you or the target takes damage, you both do. Requires Life Funnel.

Rank V:
Aura of Life: All living creatures within 10 spaces of you immediately cease bleeding. You can suppress or unsuppress this aura as a primary action.

Distant Parasite: Your Parasitic Touch ranged attack increases range to 15. Requires Reach of the Parasite.

Greater Parasite: Your Parasitic Touch attack deals +1 life and spirit damage and restores an additional point of life. Requires Parasitic Touch.

Life Channel: As a secondary action, you can channel 3 points of your life to a living creature within 10 spaces of you. Requires Life Funnel.

Rank VI:
Rebirth: You can resurrect a living creature that has died within the last day. Resurrection requires an hour of concentration next to the deceased's mostly intact corpse. Internal foreign objects that caused the creature to die, such as traces of cyanide or cancer, are not cured. If the target of your Rebirth is already alive, then you can restore any missing limbs or faculties to the creature.

Spirit Fountain: As a primary action, you can fill yourself with spirit; your spirit immediately becomes infinite for the next minute. At the end of this minute (12 rounds), your spirit drops to 0. Spirit Fountain requires 2 life to use.



Marksmanship:
Rank I:
Steady Grip: You take no penalty when using your ranged attack from partial cover. You still cannot use your ranged attack through complete cover.

Snapshot: Your ranged attacks gain +1 accuracy if you an attack an opponent on the same round they enter your line of sight.

Rank II:
Pinion Shot: You may declare your next standard ranged attack to be a Pinion Shot. Pinion Shots deal 2 less damage but always Hamstring the target until they get care.

Rain of Fire: You can use your heavy ranged attack to shoot a Cube 2 area within range. Rain of Fire attacks have 2 more accuracy and deal half damage. Using Rain of Fire requires a point of spirit.

Trick Shot: You may declare your next light ranged attack to be a Trick Shot. Trick Shots deal 1 less damage and cannot have a secondary effect, but ignore anything but complete cover.

Rank III:
Double Shot: You can use your standard ranged attack twice as a full action. However, the Double Shot does not gain benefit from Take Aim, deals 2 less damage per attack, and cannot have a secondary effect besides bleed. Double Shot requires a point of spirit.

Faster Aim: You can Take Aim as a primary action, rather than a full action. You still lose your aim if you are damaged before you can take the attack.

Shot-Fu: After making a successful melee attack, you may use a point of spirit to make a light ranged attack as a secondary action.

Rank IV:
Fan of Death: You can use your light ranged attack on four people within Range 5. Fan of Death attacks have 1 less accuracy and require a point of spirit.

Persistent Aim: Your Take Aim action does not fail when an opponent moves, or you move. Taking damage still ends the effect, however. Requires Faster Aim.

Suppression Fire: You may use a secondary action to make your next standard or heavy ranged attack very effective against anyone without cover. Suppression Fire gains +2 bonus accuracy against targets without cover, but automatically misses any target who does have cover.

Rank V:
Far Reach: Your standard and heavy ranged attacks (and special attacks, like Rain of Fire) have double their usual range.   

Point Blank: Your light ranged attacks deal an extra 2 damage to targets within 3 squares of you.

Hammer Tactics: You may use your heavy ranged attack to target an enemy's cover directly. The attack does no physical damage, but deals 3 composure damage to the enemies taking cover, pushing them towards the scared and horrified conditions. Requires Suppression Fire.

Rank VI:
Sniper Shot: When you Take Aim with a ranged weapon, you may forego the accuracy increase; instead, if the attack hits, it deals triple damage. Using this ability lowers your reaction by 1.

Running Shot: You can charge and make ranged attack in the same deft movement. As a full action, you may move up to your sprint distance and then make a standard or light ranged attack in the same phase. Unlike most full actions, this ability triggers in the phase that you use it, not in the next phase. Using Running Shot decreases your accuracy by 1, but increases your evasion for a full round by 2.

[AstralFire]

Martial Skill:
Rank I:
Distracting Presence: Your melee attacks (including unarmed) gain +1 accuracy against someone who has attacked someone other than you within the last full round.

Threatening Presence: Your melee attacks (including unarmed) gain +1 accuracy against someone who has used a ranged attack within the last full round.

Unarmed Combatant: Your unarmed attacks stun on results of 6.

Rank II:
Impale: You can use your heavy melee attack (including unarmed) to attack everyone in a Line 3 extending from you. Impale attacks have 1 less accuracy and shove all targets one square away from you. Using Impale requires a point of spirit.

Whirl: You can use your light or standard melee attack (including unarmed) to attack everyone in a square either horizontally or vertically (pick one) adjacent to you. Whirl attacks have 1 less accuracy and shove all targets one square away from you. Using Whirl requires a point of spirit.

Rank III:
Balanced Warrior: When wielding a standard melee weapon and someone misses you with an attack, that weapon gains +1 damage against that target for a full round. You also gain +1 accuracy with your standard melee weapons.

Close-Quarters Warrior: Someone you've injured in Close-Quarters Combat is considered to be wrestling with you, and cannot sprint for the next full round. Other abilities that can be performed as a sprint action can still be used.

Nimble Warrior: When you damage someone with a light melee weapon, as a secondary action you can reduce damage by 1 and cause them to bleed profusely. Profuse bleeding happens once a round rather than once a minute. You also gain +1 accuracy with your light melee weapons.

Reach Warrior: When wielding a heavy melee weapon, you may immediately make an attack with that weapon against someone about to enter a space adjacent to you. This uses both a primary and secondary action and cannot be done if you have used those actions this round. You may use this ability even if you have already acted this phase to make a sprint, or if it is not your turn. Using this ability lowers your reaction by 1. You also gain +1 accuracy with your heavy melee weapons.

Unarmed Warrior: Your unarmed attacks stun on results of 5. You also gain +1 accuracy with your unarmed melee attacks. This ability requires Unarmed Combatant.

Rank IV:
Death Strike: Before you make your heavy melee attack (including unarmed), you may give up 1 accuracy. If you do, then you deal an extra 2 points of damage. Using Death Strike requires a point of spirit.

Disarming Strike: Before you make your light or standard melee attack (including unarmed), you may give up damage from a successful hit. If you do, you disarm or disable the target of one mundane or tool ability of your choice from their arsenal (even unarmed weapons). Using Disarming Strike requires a point of spirit.

Revenge Strike: If you have been struck by an opponent in the last full round, your melee attacks (including unarmed) gain +1 accuracy against that target.

Rank V:
Lethality: You may use a secondary action to increase your melee attack accuracy and damage by +2.

Versatility: You may use a secondary action to consider your melee attack (including unarmed) as one category heavier or lighter than it usually is this round. Abilities that apply to either its normal size or its versatile size will both function this round.

Rank VI:
Deadly Blow: You may declare your next melee attack to be a Deadly Blow. The attack will deal double damage if it hits. Using Deadly Blow requires 3 points of spirit.

Stunning Blow: You may declare your next melee attack to be a Stunning Blow. The attack will always stun if it hits. Using Stunning Blow requires 3 points of spirit.



Mind and Soul:
Rank I:
Fey Sight: You can see and hear fey, spirit, and reduced reality individuals.

Lore: You can reactively detect the presence of strong psychic signatures left in the immediate area - signatures are left by strong emotions. If you use a point of spirit, especially strong impressions might allow you to relive events of recent history.

Purify: You can add the Purify attack to your arsenal. Purify can immediately end any active Telepathy effects on the target, dealing 2 damage for each effect removed in this way. Effects created by someone with more ranks in Mind and Soul than you cannot be removed; neither can you remove Possession effects. Purify requires 1 spirit to use.

Telepath: You can add the Telepathy attack to your arsenal. Telepathy requires a primary action to use and can be targeted at any living creature.

Rank II:
Gentle Strength: For every 2 additional points of spirit you use, you can increase the penetration of your Purify ability by 1. Requires Purify.

Hypnotic Homeostasis: As a primary action, you can use your Telepathy attack on yourself or an ally, granting a +2 bonus to resolve for a full round. Hypnotic Homeostasis requires a point of spirit to use. Requires Telepath.

Mental Bond: By concentrating on your Telepathy ability for a full minute, performing minimal actions otherwise, you can create a mental bond between yourself and the target (provided your attack is successful). Until the effect is cancelled (a minute of concentration on your part) the bond allows you to constantly hear each other's surface thoughts and emotions, no matter the distance. Requires Telepath.

Mind Sense: As a full action, you are aware of all living creatures, fey, and spirits within 3 spaces of you. Mind Sense requires 1 point of spirit to use; spending additional points of spirit increases the range by 3 for each point of spirit used.

Suggestion: By concentrating on your Telepathy ability for a full minute, performing minimal actions otherwise, you can cause implant a suggestion in the target (provided your attack is successful).

For the next day, the creature will act in small ways not counter to its most essential goals that further the end of the suggestion. If you send a suggestion to be more hungry to an average person, they will eat more for the next day; to most anorexics, however, the command will likely fail, though attempts to persuade them to eat may be somewhat more effective.

A creature that has very strong reason to suspect it is under the effects of a suggestion ends the suggestion immediately. Long-term suggestions can eventually become ingrained in a person to become second nature, allowing for brainwashing over an extended period of time. Requires Telepath.

Rank III:
Distance: You can make a Telepathy attack a Distance attack. A Distance attack can target any individual that you know to exist on Earth. Distance requires at least 1 point of spirit to use; exceptional circumstances such as a dimensional rift may require a higher point expenditure as ruled by the GM. You may only have one modifier on a Telepathy attack at a time. Requires Telepath.

Feedback: You do not have to damage a subject of your Purify ability; instead, you can damage the casters of the effects (2 damage per effect they each created). If the casters have more ranks in Mind and Soul than you, then you take damage instead. Requires Purify.

Mind Hound: As a secondary action, for a full round you can see psychic 'scents' left by individuals. Scents are left on matter - travel through air or water leaves a very rapidly disappearing trail, and precipitation or harsh sunlight can age the trail artificially. Requires Lore.

Mind Stop: You can make a Telepathy attack a Mind Stop attack. The subject of your Mind Stop attack is stunned for one round and loses 1 reaction. Mind Stop requires 1 point of spirit to use. You may only have one modifier on a Telepathy attack at a time. Requires Telepath.

Paralysis: You can make a Telepathy attack a Paralysis attack - you can only target helpless, very tired, or perturbed creatures with Paralysis. The subject of your Paralysis attack falls helpless for the next hour, either conscious or unconscious at your option. Paralysis requires 2 points of spirit to use. You may only have one modifier on a Telepathy attack at a time. Requires Telepath.

Rank IV:
Fey Channel: You may add Channel to your arsenal. As a full action, you fill yourself with a nearby spirit willing (or at least pretending) to aid you. The spirit's personality becomes your own - the GM should determine what that personality is. Until you expel the spirit (a primary action) it grants you its boon, typically an additional power in one tree of Ranks 1-3 (one power at each level) as appropriate to the spirit's personality and domains. You also are able to use one magical, technological, or mundane ability in the spirit's arsenal as appropriate.

While the spirit is possessing you, you are immune to Telepathy attacks, cannot perform any Mind and Soul attacks, and lose 1 life every hour. A spirit may have goals contrary to your own, and refuse to relinquish control - you may commit a forced expulsion, but doing so stuns you and requires 1 life. Using Fey Channel requires 1 life and 1 spirit the first time you use it in a day; additional uses of it (or advanced versions of it) increase the life and spirit cost by 1 each time.

Penetration: Your Mind and Soul attacks gain a +1 bonus to Penetration.

Rapid Homeostasis: You may use Hypnotic Homeostasis as a secondary action. Requires Hypnotic Homeostasis.

Rapid Suggestion: You may make a Suggestion as a primary action. Requires Suggestion.

Sanctified Weapons: After you have made a successful melee or ranged attack, you may (as a secondary action which requires 1 spirit in addition to the normal cost) immediately attempt a Purify attack on the target. Requires Purify.

Touch the Soul: You can physically interact with fey, spirits, and reduced reality individuals.

Rank V:
Crucible: You can remove Possession and damage fey with a Purify attack, dealing 6 damage to the spirit. Your Purify attacks can also break Life and Spirit effects active upon the target at your option, dealing 2 damage per each effect removed in this way. Using Crucible requires 3 points of spirit in addition to the normal Purify cost. Requires Touch the Soul and Purify.

Mind Burn: You can make a Telepathy attack a Mind Burn attack. The subject of your Mind Burn attack takes 4 damage. Mind Burn requires 1 point of spirit to use. You may only have one modifier on a Telepathy attack at a time. Requires Telepath.

Possession: You can make a Telepathy attack a Possession attack - you can only target helpless, very tired, or perturbed creatures with Possession. The subject of your Possession attack becomes your body for the next hour (or until you dismiss the possession) - you trade any mundane, tool, or technological abilities, but retain your magic abilities. Your original body falls limp and helpless for the duration of the possession. If either body is killed while you are possessing a target, both you and your victim die.

Repeated Possession over an extended period of time may allow for a permanent body switch, in which case you are not subject to the previous limitation.

Possession requires 3 points of spirit to use in addition to the normal cost. You may only have one modifier on a Telepathy attack at a time. Requires Telepath.

Power Channel: As Fey Channel, but you also gain a Rank 4 ability in the same tree. If you use Fey Channel instead, the drain is slowed to 1 life a minute. Requires Fey Channel.

Rank VI:
Channel the River of Souls: As Power Channel, but you also gain two Rank 5 abilities from the same tree. If you use Fey Channel instead, the drain is slowed to 1 life a day. Power Channel's drain is slowed to 1 life an hour.

You may also use an active Rank VI ability from the same tree by expending 2 life in addition to the normal cost. Requires Power Channel.

Soul Eater: You can make a Telepathy or Purify attack a Soul Eater attack - you can only target helpless, very tired, or perturbed creatures with Soul Eater (Telepathy) or fey with Soul Eater (Purify). You gain all of the subject's collected knowledge and their composure drops to 0; until they regain full composure, the creature suffers from amnesia - they remember how to do everything as before, but specific events, people and places are forgotten. Upon recovery of their composure, you lose all specifics of their knowledge, unless you wrote something down or made special note of it. You do retain a general familiarity of what they knew, though.

Soul Eater requires 1 point of spirit to use in addition to the normal cost. You may only have one modifier on a Telepathy attack at a time.

Wake the Dead: By concentrating for an hour, you can control a recently dead creature for one day, animating it and reading its thoughts. Unlike a normal possession, your mind is not removed from your body; you may have as many living dead creatures controlled at once as you want (with a practical limit of 24). The creatures must still have a mostly intact brain. Deceased creatures can only use mundane or tool abilities, and do not regenerate life, or have resolve, spirit or composure. Portions of attacks that target these abilities fail.

The only thoughts that can be gleaned from their minds are ones from within an hour of their death. If brought to 0 Life, attacked by a Purify ability, or their brain rots beyond usage, they die permanently.

The creatures can be given simple, basic commands with a telepathy attack. Requires Telepath.



Reality Alteration:
Rank I:
Displace: You can add the Displace attack to your arsenal. You can teleport small handheld objects and creatures within 6 spaces to any other location within 6 spaces as a full action. If you are damaged before your full action is completed, the ability fails. Using Displace requires 2 points of spirit. Teleported subjects placed in mid-air do not begin falling until the next round. You may only Displace objects that you know to exist and approximately where; if you know someone has a gun in their pocket, the gun is a suitable object for teleportation, but if you only think that someone has a gun on their person, you cannot.

The inside of a living creature's body is protected by the creature's soul field, and objects cannot be teleported in or out of their body without their consent.

Decrease Reality: You can add the Decrease Reality ability to your arsenal. As a full action, you can reduce your density or the density of another object or creature within 6 spaces. If you are damaged before your full action is completed, the ability ceases to function. For the next full round, the subject takes 1 less damage from all sources and deals 1 less damage with all attacks that originate from her. You may maintain a decreased reality with subsequent full actions that require no spirit. Using Decrease Reality requires 2 points of spirit.

Increase Reality: You can add the Increase Reality ability to your arsenal. As a full action, you can create a convincing illusion of a person or person-sized object (up to 2 cubic meters) that you are very familiar with for a full round. This illusion must be placed in an unoccupied square within 6 spaces, and immediately fades if it is physically interacted with. You may maintain an illusion's existence with subsequent full actions that require no spirit. Using Increase Reality requires 2 points of spirit.

Rank II:
Compress Reality: You can slightly condense time. You and everyone within 100 spaces of you moves at 90% of local time. This means that for every 12 rounds you take, 13 rounds pass outside; for every 10 minutes, 11. Every minute that you have Compress Reality active drains 1 spirit from you. You may activate or deactivate this ability as a full action.

Each additional user of Compress Reality in an area increases the radius by 50 spaces and slows time by 5%, to a minimum of 50%. Each use of Stretch Reality in an area counters one user of Compress Reality.

Rapid Alteration: Your Displace, Decrease and Increase Reality abilities can be performed and maintained as a primary action.

Reality Reach: Your Reality Alteration abilities increase range by half; either from 6 spaces to 9 spaces or from 80 spaces to 120.

Stretch Reality: You can slightly stretch time. You and everyone within 100 spaces of you moves at 110% of local time. This means that for every 13 rounds you take, only 12 rounds pass outside; for every 11 minutes, only 10. Every minute that you have Stretch Reality active drains 1 spirit from you. You may activate or deactivate this ability as a full action.

Each additional user of Stretch Reality in an area increases the radius by 50 spaces and speeds time by 10%, to a maximum of 200%. Each use of Compress Reality in an area counters one user of Stretch Reality.

Rank III:
Large Displace: Your Displace ability can affect objects up to a person (2 cubic meters) in size. Requires Displace.

Sharp Decrease: When you Decrease Reality, the subject takes and deals 3 less damage from all sources. They may have to use a point of spirit and extra time to interact normally with objects, and sometimes may pass through spaces too small for them (such as a window half their size, or jail bars, though not a solid steel wall). Requires Decrease Reality.

Sharp Increase: When you Increase Reality, the illusion can be physically interacted with, though if it takes more than 3 points of damage it disappears. If you use a point of spirit, the illusion can act on its own and use any attack in your arsenal, drawing on your spirit pool. If the illusion ever moves out of range, however, it immediately fades. This does not count as a separate ability for the purposes of Conservation. Requires Increase Reality.

Rank IV:
Concentration: Your Reality Alteration effects are no longer canceled if you take damage.

Long Displace: You may focus upon your Displace ability for a minute, performing minimal actions otherwise. If you are not damaged in this time period, you may consider the range of the ability to be a hundred times normal. Requires Displace.

Long Decrease: You may focus upon your Decrease Reality ability for a minute, performing minimal actions otherwise. If you are not damaged in this time period, the subject is erased from reality, turned into a spirit or spirit-object that can only exist as long as people remember them. Someone with Long Increase can undo the erasure only if they can identify the location that it took place in. Requires Decrease Reality.

Long Increase:  You may focus upon your Increase Reality ability for a minute, performing minimal actions otherwise. If you are not damaged in this time period, you may create an object that you mechanically understand. A gunsmith could make a gun, a professional counterfeiter could make money. You are also able to undo erasures in reality or force fey to manifest. Requires Increase Reality.

Rapid Displace: You may use Large Displace on yourself as a sprint action. Rapid Displace requires 1 point of spirit to use. Requires Large Displace.

Rapid Decrease: You may use Sharp Decrease on yourself as a sprint action. Rapid Decrease requires 1 point of spirit to use. Requires Sharp Decrease.

Rapid Increase: You may use the basic Increase Reality as a sprint action. Rapid Increase requires 1 point of spirit to use. Requires Sharp Increase.

Rippling Reach: Your Reality Alteration abilities double their original range - from 6 spaces to 12, or 80 to 160. Requires and overlaps Reality Reach.

Rank V:
Complete Decrease: When you Decrease Reality, the subject can neither deal damage nor take damage, becoming completely intangible. Using Complete Decrease requires an extra point of spirit and it does not count as a separate ability for the purposes of Conservation. Requires Sharp Decrease.

Complete Increase: When you Increase Reality, the illusion can take as much damage as its original counterpart before it is destroyed. Using Complete Increase requires an extra point of spirit and it does not count as a separate ability for the purposes of Conservation. Requires Sharp Increase.

Huge Displace: Your Displace ability can affect a subject or multiple subjects up to 16 cubic meters in size, like a car. Requires Large Displace.

Rank VI:
Conservation: Your Reality Alteration abilities take 1 less spirit to use.

Time Warp: As a secondary action, you may move forwards or backwards an hour in time; if you already exist in the time you are moving to, your body and soul merges with the 'you' of that time period. Using Time Warp requires 3 points of life, drains all of your remaining spirit, and makes you bleed.




Resources:
Rank I:
Little Fish: Pick a general category of organization from below. You gain monthly access to free goods and services worth about a hundred dollars or six hours of easy work from them at little or no expense to you.

Resources are meant to indicate what you can get from people that you do not know well at a personal level. Even Family really refers to things like "Friend of a Friend" and "Father in Law". The money listed in services refers to disposable income beyond things like bills and taxes and food.

Example Categories and Ranks (1-6)
Business: Gofer, Bureaucrat, Aide, Manager, Supervisor, CEO
Crime: Thug, Gang Enforcer, Gang Leader, Lieutenant, Boss, Crime Lord
Family: Acquaintance, Family Friend, Nepotist, Inner Circle, Aristocrat, True Aristocrat

Other possibilities: Faerie-Human Relations, Information Broker, Unions, and more.

Be aware that the titles are meant to be evocative more than actually descriptive. You can be a CEO of a small business and be considered no more than Middle Management or Your Own Person, or you can be 'merely' the White House Chief of Staff and be considered King of the Hill. Similarly, if someone has a large inheritance but they don't use their funds except to live a comfortable, no job life, they may not have any ranks in this path.

You may take any rank in this tree multiple times. Each additional source you gain at this rank adds half as much value as the previous did - the more you are tied to, the less committed you can be (and the less value you can get in return) to any one.

Like someone without any ranks in resources, you can gain help beyond the listed value, but it'll generally cost you or require knowing a single powerful individual. However, you'll be required to work less for it than someone without your resource ties.

Rank II:
Helping Hand: Pick a general category of organization you chose in Little Fish. The basic value increases to three hundred dollars or eighteen manhours (one day) of skilled labor.

Rank III:
Middle Management: Pick a general category of organization you chose in Helping Hand.  The basic value increases to a thousand dollars or three manhour-days of skilled labor. You will have increasing responsibilities that may take a notable amount of time, though never anything personally dangerous.

Rank IV:
Your Own Person: Pick a general category of organization you chose in Your Own Person. The basic value increases to five thousand dollars, two manhour-weeks of skilled labor, or a few days of very dangerous work. You may be occasionally compelled to place your own assets or health on the line, though not to a fatal level.

Rank V:
Rising Star: Pick a general category of organization you chose in Your Own Person. The basic value increases to sixteen thousand dollars, more than a month of skilled labor, insider and classified information, or deadly jobs. You are often compelled to place your own assets or health on the line, though not to a fatal level.

Rank VI:
King of the Hill: Pick a general category of organization you chose in Rising Star. You can gain access to almost anything you need that your organization has ties to, within reason. You may occasionally be required to undergo potentially fatal trials and tribulations for your organization to maintain its successful standing.




Scouting:
Rank I:
Long Range: Your detection range increases by 1.

Move Silently: You can move up to a third of your sprint distance in a turn and remain in hiding.

The Second Sense: Your penalties for being blind reduce by 1.

Sleight of Hand: Your pickpocket increases by 1.

Rank II:
Fast Eyes: If someone is in your detection range when making a surprise attack against you, you gain a +2 bonus to your evasion against them this round.

Quiet Shoes: Your stealth increases by 1.

Sharp Sight: Your detection increases by 1.

Rank III:
Damn Tourists: Your pickpocket increases by 1. Requires Sleight of Hand.

Echolocation: Your penalties for being blind reduce by 1. Requires The Second Sense.

Patient Watcher: Your detection range increases by 2 squares in all directions. If you only move half or less of your sprint distance in a turn, you do not lose any detection bonuses gained for staying in one place (though you do not gain any, either.) Requires Long Range.

Scouter: By studying a creature in your detection range for a minute, you can determine if their threat level is over a value you specify. You may only use Scouter on a target once a day.

Silent Stalker: You can move up to half of your sprint distance in a turn and remain in hiding. If you only move half or less of your sprint distance in a turn, you do not lose any hide bonuses gained for staying in one place (though you do not gain any, either.) Requires Move Silently.

Rank IV:
Catburglar: Your stealth increases by 1. Requires Quiet Shoes.

Exacting Eye: Your detection increases by 1. Requires Sharp Sight.

Refuge in Audacity: You can pickpocket someone as a secondary action during a sprint. Even if you succeed, they know you took something from them.

Sniper Scope: When you take aim, your ranged weapon's next attack gains a 50% bonus to its range.

Rank V:
Assassin: You can move up to your sprint distance in a turn and remain in hiding. You can attack with a light or mental weapon and remain in hiding as well. You still do not gain a bonus to hide when moving or attacking this round, however. You are still caught if you come within 2 spaces of someone. Requires Silent Stalker.

Coin in Your Ear: Your pickpocket improves by 2. Requires Damn Tourists.

Hawkeye: You can 'project' your detection range, centering it on another square up to 20 spaces away.

Master of Detection: Your detection increases by 2. Requires Exacting Eye.

Master of Hiding: Your stealth increases by 2. Requires Catburglar.

Sudden Scout: You may use Scouter on a target as a primary action. Requires Scouter.

Rank VI:
Blind as a Bat: A secondary sense improves as part of your training. When blinded, you can use your secondary sense to 'see' within your detection range, allowing you to continue fighting safely.

As long as you have your secondary sense available, you are not subject to surprise attacks simply for being blinded, and the accuracy penalty for fighting while you are blinded is removed. Creatures within your detection range can be targeted by you with pinpoint accuracy, though those outside require guesswork on your part. The penalty to your detection magnitude remains, however. Requires Echolocation.

Silent Death: Targets that you hit with a surprise attack from hiding are stunned. This ability does not work with area attacks. You can remain undetected while in someone's immediate detection range, though attacking or taking damage ruins the effect. Requires Assassin.



Technology:
Rank I:
Computer Kid: You gain the ability to use brute force coding to bypass basic computer security, install basic encryption as well as similar techniques.

Repair Guy: You can pick open most simple locks, repair cars and work unusual but basic mechanisms that you have only just encountered.

Rank II:
Crumple Zone: By working for an hour, you can attach, program, rewire protective equipment to a creature or object. The equipment absorbs the first point of damage taken by the creature and is then destroyed.

Jump Start: As a primary action, you can increase an adjacent robotic creature's spirit by 3. A creature can only be Jump Started once an hour.

Juryrig: As a primary action, you can stop bleeding and cure hamstring on yourself or an adjacent robotic creature.

Override: You can add the Override attack to your arsenal. Override requires a primary action to use, and can only be targeted on a robotic creature or machinery.

Rank III:
Firewall: As a primary action, you can use your Override attack on yourself (if a robot) or a robotic ally, granting a +2 bonus to resolve for a full round. Firewall requires a point of spirit to use. Requires Override.

Mechanical Genius: You can create new mechanisms and improvisations on the fly, repair items that you've never seen before, and patent a lot of things. Requires Repair Guy.

Tech Sense: You are automatically aware of the presence of all circuitry and robotic creatures within 10 spaces of you. This may manifest itself as flaming code vision if you wear a trenchcoat.

Technical Wizard: You can design viral worms, large-scale computer attacks and security measures at a national government and corporate level. Requires Computer Kid.

Rank IV:
Combat Shields: By working for an hour, you can attach, program, rewire protective equipment to a creature or object. The equipment absorbs the first 2 points of damage taken by the creature and is then destroyed. Requires Crumple Zone.

Pulse: By using 2 points of spirit, your Override attack affects all valid targets in a Cube 3 area. Using this ability lowers your reaction by 1. Requires Override.

Repair: By working for eight hours, you can restore 1 life to a robotic creature. Requires Juryrig.

Syntax Error: By using 2 points of spirit, your successful Override attack stuns one robotic target, or disables one technological ability in a living creature's arsenal for the next minute.

Viral: You may target a robotic creature's composure rather than their life with Override. If you bring their composure down to 0, you take control of the creature for the next hour. You can order the creature around with simple commands via the Override ability. Requires Override.

Rank V:
Flash Fire: You can use a Firewall as a secondary action. Requires Firewall.

Geek God: Any lock? You can break it. Any system? You can infiltrate it. Dead robot? You can make it function. It's all just a question of time - usually a few days. Requires Mechanical Genius and Tech Wizard.

Overwire: You can restore 2 life to an adjacent robotic creature (including yourself) as a primary action; however, an hour later the creature takes 4 damage. Requires Juryrig.

Worm: As a primary action, you may declare your next Override attack to be a Worm attack. If the attack succeeds, any robotic creatures who come adjacent to the victim for the next hour are attacked as though by the original Override attack. A given creature can only be attacked once by the worm. Using Worm requires 2 points of spirit. Requires Viral.

Rank VI:
Quick Study: If you spend at least ten minutes studying a robotic creature, your Override attack deals an additional 2 damage to it and has an additional +1 penetration. Requires Geek God.

Tech Ascendant: You can grant an adjacent robotic creature (including yourself) an overwhelming amount of power; for the next minute, the creature takes 2 less damage from all sources, has +1 accuracy and resolve with all technological abilities, and has unending spirit. However, at the end of the minute, the creature takes 5 damage and is rendered helpless until it recovers at least 1 point of life. Requires Overwire.

[AstralFire]

She drives us around town for a bit; I check behind every so often for the Rose. Things are quiet. Firsthand encounter with the killer and... we ran. One half-hearted purity spell, and we ran. No one can rightly blame us for it, but...

"We have to find out what that thing is. Your mom's going to be in Korea for another three weeks. We can't wait that long."

She looks at me for a second. In the darkness, I can only imagine the look in her eyes. What worth self-security against morality?

Michelle turns back to the road. "There's gotta be something in the library. And we're going to have a talk with Kagmanitou. She'll open up this time. She has to."

"If she even knows what to open up about. Red light."

"Oh. Crud. Too late." She doesn't even try to stop the car.

"Eh. Empty intersection anyway. But yeah... something tells me this isn't typical. Kaggy might not have the answers."

"If she can't figure out a lead from what we've seen today, I'm really going to have to question how she manages to lead a Fey Court."

"Politics."

"Part of politics is staying alive, hon. It's not like Faeries get the Secret Service or anything. It's a bit more vicious than running for the mayor. And what you don't know can definitely kill you around these parts."


The World

For most of their lives, many people of the world assumed that all they saw was all that there was to reality. Recent events, however, have shaken up the status quo – much to the government's displeasure.

Williamton, Delaware

Forming a twin-city with the state capital of Wilmington, Williamton is an urban center on par with Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. In the summer of 2007, a large number of unexplained events rocked in the city and its metropolitan area. People would be found in their homes, alive but in a coma, with virtually no brain activity – many of whom died within a few days of their discovery. There seemed to be no common link among the victims.

Approximately six weeks after the Dead Sleep began, Officer Ellen Smith and two self-professed psychics broke onto the set of the Channel 5 Evening Broadcast, where anchorwoman Virginia Waugh had begun experiencing an epileptic fit, screaming in an unidentified language. Extensive collateral damage spontaneously occurred through the set, as the two psychics – locals Michelle Black and Alexis Decker – seemed to struggle against an invisible force.

Decker himself would later comment that a spirit known as Helena Rhodonike had possessed Wahu to slowly feed on and consume her soul, as she had the rest of her victims, who he claimed had all been involved in sealing the spirit away fifty years ago, or were the nearest living relative of someone who had. While the veracity of Decker's statement is under doubt, all of the still-living victims of the Dead Sleep awoke within three days of the event.

YAR THAR'LL BE NPC STAT BLOCKS HERE ONCE I'VE WORKED OUT THE STATS AND SHEET

Northern Idaho

Early in the spring of 2008, a number of disturbances occurred in the rural regions of Northern Idaho. A rash of robberies occurred without warning, often targeting many homes in the same night, and the criminal – becoming known as the panhandle bandit – was never found.

However, in May, a few miles outside of Post Falls, some local observers claim to have seen flashing lights and three-way gunfire between a short mulatto man, a bounty hunter, and a redheaded woman. Ghosts seemed to have infested the entire area, and the locals quickly ran back to a safe distance to call the police.

The Post Falls police deny any reports of a call coming in that night with that description. However, there were no further reports of the bandit this year.

The bounty hunter reputed to be involved, Belle Argent, was found at her home by curious reporters, uninjured and dressed down for the evening.

YAR THAR'LL BE NPC STAT BLOCKS HERE ONCE I'VE WORKED OUT THE STATS AND SHEET

Los Angeles

Earlier in the summer of 2008, a new face burst onto the human trafficking scene in California: James Strauss. With a strong talent for capturing forgotten people from both the domestic streets and international rural regions, Strauss started out merely capturing people, but his success has led to him extending his reach over all aspects of the business in the Southeast Asian, Polynesian, and Western US spheres.

Strauss' existence isn't well-known to the average member of the public, but anyone at the higher levels of law enforcement and up has become familiar with his name. He's seemingly untouchable; officials sent to deal with him are lucky to come back, but they've never been found dead either. Their comrades fear the worst. It has become apparent that Strauss makes 'friends' in high places and the rumors about what he can do are spreading like wildfire among police.

YAR THAR'LL BE NPC STAT BLOCKS HERE ONCE I'VE WORKED OUT THE STATS AND SHEET

[AstralFire]

Faeries

Cities are not dead, and fairies are real. Don't look at me like that. I can't see you, but I don't have to; yours is a stock expression, made especially popular with the introduction of the comedic straight man: one eyebrow raised, mouth twisted in musement. Whether it's a-musement or be-musement, well, that does vary individual to individual. So, yeah. Point the first: cities are not dead, screw you hippies. Humans are a part of nature, you cannot escape that reality. Nature is ugly or beautiful on a case-by-case basis, and the truly enamored can see beauty everywhere inside of it.

Point the second: Fairies are real. They're also totally badass. Some of them are, anyway. It really depends on what they are the fairy of, to be honest. But I can assure you that the Fey folk are a good deal more varied than a bunch of diaphanous-winged midget supermodels with giggle-Tourette's and the attention span of a goldfish. Seeing them, of course, would be believing. But seeing them is not so simple as looking, nor as complicated as believing. Which is funny... because believing is why they even exist.


Just beyond the reach of the average person exists another world entirely, where the fey folk still live. Creatures of belief, as long as humanity has emotion, spirituality, and superstition, they will survive. As people and animals in an area identify a concept that has touched their lives a kernel of spiritual energy clusters in the Fey world, just waiting for a spirit to collide with it. When spirit and belief combine, one becomes able to influence the other, and the more people that believe in a concept, the stronger its associated fey becomes.

The fey that remain among animals and rural populations oftentimes retain their shapes of old. Fey of death and famine, birth and feast, day and night populate these regions, with a savage and capricious nature. Times have changed, though, and the fey that stayed with the humans as they slowly advanced have been indescribably altered themselves. Spirits of famine become spirits of firearms. A forge faerie becomes a spirit of rockets. Erotic souls become romantics and extroverts who just want a friend. Overall, moralities set in, both good and evil.

Faeries are not monogamous with concepts – multiple faeries can (and often do) represent the same concept, and most primarily influence a single geographic region.

Traditionally, faeries that exist within a single region generally organize themselves into a pantheon, or court, with the most powerful spirit – designated by whatever humans in the region most care about – presiding over the court. Civilization-influenced faeries often have elections, where a spirit's relative power and wisdom are both taken into consideration. The purpose of the pantheon is to protect the fey of a region from those humans and animals who might seek to cause harm, especially those with innate magic. Occasionally, however, fey themselves war with each other.

Even though faeries are all around and ignore direct human interaction, most courts recognize the need for gifted humans to be able to speak with them privately. Therefore, they usually convene in areas like a sacred knoll, an abandoned factory, or a cave.

Generally, a faerie can only directly interact with mundane humans and reality where its concepts are at least tangentially related. A spirit of death can appear to any human to warn them of impending doom (because that could cause death), while a spirit of fire could affect a car's radiator (because heat is related to fire.)

Some faeries wander from region to region; this is often the case with undesirables, like a malevolent faerie of disease, or self-assured loners. The most powerful fey are not limited to existing in a single geographical location at a time, and represent broad concepts. If they interact with a lesser faerie sharing the same concept, usually the lesser faerie will be  deferential; it is possible for greater fey to completely swallow up a lesser one sharing the same domain, so angering the elder spirit is considered unwise.

The Williamton Fey Court

Queen: Kagmanitou. A porcupine and trickster spirit, Kagmanitou is one of the few remaining Amerindian faeries to hold a position of prominence against the European fey. She has come to represent the concept of corporations in a city filled with large businesses and beltway bandits.

Consort: Kagmanitou has elected to take no consort for several years now, after the previous one, a spirit of war, attempted to usurp her position.

Notable Members: Serena, spirit of parenthood. Shaddup, spirit of public transportation. Biblios, spirit of education. Radu, spirit of foreign fast food. Luke, spirit of rockets. Hennessee, spirit of employment.

Magic

What is magic? The Avalon Council's Codex Principia Magicae defines it as "a fundamental alteration of reality powered by an apeironic source; typically a ley line."

The apeiron is believed by scholars of magic to be a relic of the creation of the universe, and those which study multiple fields have blamed the accelerating expansion of the universe on residual apeironic energies. Whatever it is, it can act upon standard energy and matter without being acted upon in return, except in a few very rare cases. This essentially allows magic to break traditional conservation of mass and energy as it is usually understood.

Generally, there are two types of magic available to a person: innate magic, and learned magic.

Those with access to innate magic – fey, as well as a rare few humans and animals known as arcanists – have a direct inner connection to a source of apeiron energy, and can train themselves to control the flux of power. However, because this connection is severed within minutes of someone being deceased, the exact nature of the connection is unknown. Some scholars have conducted unanesthetized vivisections in pursuit of this knowledge, but the practice is considered extremely cruel, and all magical organizations officially frown on the practice. Many self-regulate members on this point.

The other path, one which anyone can follow if they only have a teacher, is learned magic. A variety of human institutions over the ages have picked up the path, calling themselves Wizards, psychics, mediums, magicians, sorcerers, tantrists, mystics, enchanters, and various and sundry other things depending on the exact nature of their teachings. Learned magic operates on the principle of manipulating environmental magic (usually ley lines) to produce desired effects. Inner connections to magic produce magic of too unrefined and unpredictable nature to develop a unified system of casting around.

Innate magic tends to be more directly powerful than learned, often conjuring matter or effects, but is considerably more limited. A pyrokinetic arcanist can be extremely clever in the application of their fire, but they are still limited to fire. By contrast, learned magic is often subtle, working with what is already present.

There are three foremost societies dedicated solely to the study of magic; all three have been operating continuously for more than a millenia, and represent the three major extant learned traditions: the Wizard, the Medium, and the Tantrist. They are:

[list=1]

• Britain's ancient Avalon Council, headed by High Lord Theophilus (Ted) Pendragon.
  
  Wizard magic is typically concerned with the direct but subtle manipulation of the outside – weather magic and magic wards are perennial favorites. Wizards need a focusing symbol to use their powers – typically an extremely complicated and precisely detailed shape. The most advanced wizards can use simple shapes, such as the circle of their iris or even the line of their shadow as a focal point.
  
  Wizard magic often includes a verbal component; traditionally, complicated and archaic Latin, Arabic or Greek phrases were favored, but more recent wizards have begun to use trigger phrases in their own languages for simplicity. It is easier to abbreviate or alter the verbal component when you are fluent in the language.
  
  
• The Society of the Patient Bear, formerly of North Korea, relocated to Delaware. Headed by the Kumiho, songshim Seojin Black.
  
  A Medium's magic is unusual compared to the other traditions – a medium takes in a benevolent spirit and channels their power to produce effects on the outside world. Though channeling isn't unknown to the other major traditions, it has generally been viewed as highly unstable and dangerous, and only the Korean tradition has been able to master its use in relative safety. Medium magic is often focused around energy projection or altering mind and spirit.
  
  The two major schools of thought involve the merits of mastering one spirit's use at a time or quick rotation of many spirits as is immediately necessary. Older mediums prefer the former; the latter is less directly powerful as you can never fully acclimate to the needs and quirks of a spirit, but offers the medium more control, and is inspired by studies of Wizard magic.
  
  
• The Himalayan Alliance of Sages, between Tibet, Nepal and India. The tulku Lobsang Gampo heads the Alliance.
  
  Tantric magic, contrary to Wizard magic, is directly focused upon the inward, opening up apertures to the apeiron through both ignoring and reveling in the illusion of reality. Advanced tantrists often appear and disappear at random, or fly at will. Through extreme effort and concentration, they can ignore pain, cease bleeding, and even alter their internal configuration of organs to turn the most lethal attacks into a mere hindrance.
  
  Tantric magic completely lacks a verbal component, but like Wizard magic, requires a precise shape to focus upon. Unlike Wizard magic, this shape is not a choice of the wielder, and it must be a form of their body. The individual shape necessary is dependent upon the exact spell being used.
  
  Many successful modern magicians have acknowledged the importance of other traditions, studying eclectically. Pendragon, Black, and Gampo in particular are all masters in all three major types of spellcasting, and have studied a number of alternative minor styles around the world.

YAR THAR'LL BE NPC STAT BLOCKS HERE ONCE I'VE WORKED OUT THE STATS AND SHEET

[AstralFire]

+1 Reserve

[AstralFire]

+1 Reserve

[AstralFire]

Changelog

10/02/08
- Welcome to Version 2.0! (1045 Hours FREE for 45 Days!) Almost the entire document has been overhauled, but the largest source of change has been the switch of Customization Paths to Advancement Trees. Social Combat has been altered by quite a bit as a result, there's the addition of something called an 'arsenal' that limits the amount of attacks you can have at once, an initiative system has been added...

A brief guide to the new trees:

• Acrobatics encompasses Quickness, Swiftness, Flight, and some new stuff.
• Endurance contains Spirited, Invulnerability, and Constitution.
• Kinetics ate Matter Control, Energy Control, a little bit of flight, Energy Absorption.
• Geomancy is a completely redone magecraft.
• Interpersonal Skills kicked Composed and Sly to the freaking curb.
• Life and Spirit... were Life and Spirit Control. Oh yeah, healing's a lot harder than in any previous version.
• Marksmanship is the same as ever, though a frickton better thanks to Khane.
• Martial Skill ate Fighting and took its stuff and made it better.
• Mind and Soul is Mind Control with elements of Magecraft and a lot of new cool stuff.
• Reality Alteration contains teleportation and a lot of new stuff.
• Resources is basically Contacts for a new generation.
• Scouting has Stealth, Perception, and some new pickpocketing abilities.
• Technology is Techcraft on 'roids.

9/26/08
- Fighting gets a new, more powerful Rank 6 at some urging. Melee attacks toned down across the board, however, generally in the effect category. (Energy Melee lost some damage and accuracy, Light Melee lost damage and accuracy but got a permanent blind, other melee altered - heavy improved slightly.) Blind durations specified on all attacks. Invulnerability loses energy resistance, but gains immunity to secondary effects.
Mind Control gets two alternate Rank VIs - one to make zombies, one to extend the duration of Mind Slave. Life Control restructured to make Bio mandatory - IIIa and IIIb folded together. Ib and the new VIb create auras of death, allowing you to quickly finish an encounter with damaged people (if you're willing to hurt your own). VIa only provides shielding against toxic instead of an immunity. Vb now allows for delaying an incubation period.
- Most of the energy attacks are gone, and some ranged attacks were renamed. Energy Control is now much more streamlined than the extremely branching mess it was becoming, with some cool new tricks. Life Control's offensive version cleaned up much more (auras gone, replaced with targeted abilities that use your own life) - emphasis on vampiric abilities. Defensive LCVI gets a nice benefit besides rezzing. Unarmed melee is better for stunning, weapon melee is better for hamstringing/damage.
Magecraft emerges as the '4th defense', allowing the easiest access to +Resolve; Matter Control has stronger defenses, but require more turtling tactics. Matter Control's effective control volume greatly shrunk, and you need spirit to use the stronger versions. Invulnerability moved into something resembling its classic form, along with a new "delayed damage" trick to replace the +Resolve.

9/24/08
- Some more balance tinkering to make the Rank 6s more attractive. Marksmanship gets some restructuring (nothing uses spirit except IIa now) and a new Rank 6 ability to aid it in denying terrain to melee (which is very powerful when it gets too close.) Fighting 6 no longer needs spirit. Energy 5 and 6 get swapped and the new 6 is more powerful, but requires spirit. Energy Absorption and Quickness both increased in power at Rank 6. Quickness no longer has the option to increase accuracy instead of defense. Teleportation has its size capacity greatly increased, allowing for self-teleportation at Rank 1. Flight has a secondary path now that allows for early hovering rather than early mid-air propulsion.
- Quickness tinkered with again. It now does not drain the spirit for normal benefits, but has improved benefits beginning at Rank IV.
- New Character Sheets added. These took ridiculously long to put together on this slow computer.

9/23/08
- Yet another long day, sportsfans. About a third of the customization paths have been altered to allow for branching (and received some significant rebalancing along the way). Magic rituals are now officially part of the SRD.

9/22/08
- Exhaustive (and I do mean EXHAUSTIVE) upgrade today. Several style errors fixed, Composure system officially added (Calm has been dropped), Mind Control and corresponding attacks altered to work on a Perturbed (0 Composure) target, Techcraft III allows you to attack non-sentient robotic Composure. Rules for cover added. Rules for taking aim added. Marksmanship II loses the hamstring effect, gains the ability to take aim as a secondary action + spirit expenditure, greatly increasing the accuracy of guns (and melee if anyone really thinks melee needs the bonus accuracy.)

9/8/08
- Finished 'The World'. Beginning work on 'The Fey Courts'.
- Faeries done.
- Magic done. That was long.

[AstralFire]

Alright, added the fluff in Northern Idaho and Los Angeles. That should be enough about the 'real world' settings to give hooks to people who really need ideas. The Fey Courts/Fey, Wizards, and the Government are the next three sections.

[AstralFire]

The fey world is now mostly explained. There's a bit of Pratchett-influence there, I'm sure some of you may notice.

[AstralFire]

Magic is now done. That took exhaustingly long to write, but I hope you guys find it as cool as I do.

[AfterCrescent]

I've read the first post, and will continue reading bits as I get time, but I'm curious as to the logic behind not having a basic stat for offense. I'm assuming it all comes from customizable paths, but why is everything else set in stone (life/energy) and offense nonexistant?

[AstralFire]

I've read the first post, and will continue reading bits as I get time, but I'm curious as to the logic behind not having a basic stat for offense. I'm assuming it all comes from customizable paths, but why is everything else set in stone (life/energy) and offense nonexistant?

First of all - thanks.

Basically because accuracy with guns doesn't mean better accuracy with kicks or poison gas. All attacks are keyworded so a number of paths will increase attack accuracies and damage beyond what they are obviously intended for (Fighting, for example, can improve the effectiveness of the two melee energy attacks in Energy Control) but a general attack stat just doesn't make sense within the context of a simplified system that is supposed to represent five or six different major power sources for a character, and the infinite variations spawned by mix and match of pieces of those power sources.

[AfterCrescent]

I don't know. I think hand-eye coordination as a basic stat affects all kinds of attacks. Whether I try to punch you or snipe you, it's hand-eye coordination. The same could be say of willing energy from my mind/whatever and aiming it at you.

[AstralFire]

I don't know. I think hand-eye coordination as a basic stat affects all kinds of attacks. Whether I try to punch you or snipe you, it's hand-eye coordination. The same could be say of willing energy from my mind/whatever and aiming it at you.

To a certain extent, yes, but all PCs are considered to be generally healthy and moderately proficient at most things to begin with. And when you consider that it's a d6 system, +1 Acc or Def is a 16.6% difference in accuracy. Getting not-broken spillover would be difficult, and not really contribute significantly.

Having mere hand-eye coordination isn't enough to note in a system like this, since there is a set of associated physical actions with each that also gets altered - bracing yourself for the recoil, adjusting the arrow, chambering your knee, etc.

[Zuki]

Magic looks spiffy indeed. Loosely put, we have an external school, an internal school, and a spirit-focused school. Mediumship will immediately bring Vodoun and it's more traditional African precedents to mind, and there's a lot of fun imagery and character ideas to play with there. While younger and thus possibly not quite as sophisticated, voodoo is a lot better known to the public at large than Korean shamanism and mediumship. However, I find it plausible that the Korean school of thought is the one that has best survived to the modern day, and is thus what receives mention.

Likewise, the tantric tradition provides a pretty clear origin for all the other bastardized schools of quasi-supernatural martial arts or meditational traditions that spawn the ninja a setting like this will inevitably play host to. Some tibetan sages may well be in exile or hiding, considering the country's political tradition. Some potentially less benevolent members of this tradition may be working with the Chinese government as turncoats, even hunting down other sages. Here's some story fodder and fun character background juice to play with.

There's also the Islamic world to consider. Between tales of hashshashin, and the general melting pot between west and east that was the Middle East, there are probably some long-standing magical traditions that originated here as well. Mediumship doesn't make too much sense, but the other two school seem like fair fits.

[AstralFire]

I haven't really sketched out the full details from this, but I think Britain's Wizardry tradition is a combination of Anglican Druidism that got refined with the introduction of Arabian ideas during the Mediæval period. Japanese traditions largely are similar to the British, but weren't as robust. Australian and some African (including Vodoun) magic are definitely types of spirit-controlling traditions.

Alright, so my big question here, relating to magic is: how much of a need is there to go detailed on what learned magic can do? I provide some general examples of what the odd stages of Magecraft can do, but 'wards' and 'alchemical potions' might be a little too vague to be useful. On the other hand, the long list of detailed mechanical examples is one of those things from the DMG that I don't really want to emulate.