MTH:Powers Q-Z
Contents
RAPIDITY
Rank: 3
Cost: 1 Verve per action
Dice Pool: N/A
Action: Instant
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
A component of Superspeed (see also Hypermovement and Alacrity), Rapidity allows a character to take multiple actions in a turn. The player may take up to one full additional action without penalty for each dot in Rapidity each time the power is activated. These actions may not be full movement actions (for that kind of speed, see Hypermovement).
For purposes of strategy, players should note that the activation cost for this power is per action, meaning that a character can burn through their Verve very quickly with this power.
Reduced Verve Cost would of course raise the rank to 4 and remove the cost, but the Storyteller is free to deny the Extra, or force their choice of weakness on the player if they really want those extra actions every turn.
REGENERATION
Rank: 2
Cost: --
Dice Pool: N/A
Action: Reflexive
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character heals much faster than ordinary humans. The character automatically heals one level of bashing damage per dot in Regeneration every turn at the start of his action, regardless of whether he is conscious or not, and he heals one level of lethal damage every fifteen minutes. Aggravated damage heals at the ordinary rate.
Extras: Accelerated Regeneration (the character automatically heals one level of either bashing or lethal damage per dot in Regeneration every turn at the start of his action, whether he is conscious or not [starting with bashing damage first]; the character also heals one level of Aggravated damage every 15 minutes).
RESURRECTION
Rank: 4
Cost: Special
Dice Pool: N/A
Action: Reflexive
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: Permanent
Effect: No matter the hardship, no matter how many pieces he may have been blown into, a character with this power always stands a chance of coming back.
Activating this power costs a permanent dot of Power Level, and if the character does not have a dot to sacrifice, they are truly dead. Should the last dot be sacrificed, the character will still resurrect, but only as a normal person, without this or any other powers or merits not available to superhuman characters.
The exact rational for this power will vary between characters, but their Resurrection will always depend on one of two factors; Either the body may reconstitute itself or it must be reformed at another, specific location. The player must choose which of these is the case with their character.
If the body must be reconstituted then the character's body must be removed from harm's way before the process can begin. Enemies may seek to keep this from coming to pass.
If the body is reformed somewhere then this location of facility must be in working order and is vulnerable to attack. The ST should work with the player to determine the specifics this entails.
Levels in this power effect the process in two ways. First, they allow for a faster resurrection, with the listed value being the time it will take the character to resurrect once they are in a position to do so. The second benefit is that the rating allows more time to pass before resurrection is no longer an option. That second option means that, should conditions not allow the character to resurrect, their allies have more time to change the situation.
Resurrection Level Minimum Time Maximum Time
1 1 month 1 turn
2 1 week 1 day
3 1 day 1 month
4 1 hour 1 year
5 1 minute 1 decade
SCAN
Rank: 1
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Investigation) + Scan - target's Resolve
Action: Instant
Range: (Power Level + Scan) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character is able to discern the powers and capabilities of a target. Each success on the activation roll allows the character to learn her target's rating in any one Attribute, Skill, or superpower. Depending on how this power functions, the Storyteller may elect to describe this rating in qualitative ("He is extremely skilled with all melee weaponry and is a master of swords" = Weaponry [Swords] 4) or quantitative ("His augmented strength is 120% of the human maximum" = Strength [including Mega Strength] 6) terms.
Extras: Multiple targets (the character may elect to allocate her successes amongst all the possible targets in range, rather than choosing only one).
SHAPESHIFT (Alpha, Beta, or Gamma)
Rank: 1 (Alpha), 2 (Beta), or 3 (Gamma)
Cost: 1 Verve, see below
Dice Pool: Stamina + (Survival) + Shapeshift
Action: Instant or Extended
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: One scene
Effect: The character is able to alter her physical form. There are three versions of this power, with each of the later versions including the earlier. Thus if you have Shapeshifting Gamma you also possess Shapeshifting Beta and Alpha.
Using Shapeshift is either an instant or an extended action. The character may pay the cost once and shift for the scene, or they may pay the cost, look at the result, and choose to continue shifting next turn. Additional turns of shifting cost only time, not Verve, and the character may roll a number of times up to his effective Stamina. Each roll takes one turn.
Once a character has shapeshifted, the changes persist for one scene; the character may shapeshift again before the end of the scene, but doing so requires another activation roll and the expenditure of another Verve. If the character wishes to stay in their assumed shape after one scene, they may continue to do so for one verve. This allows them to hold the form for the rest of the scene without a roll. Additional scenes cost one verve per.
The character may cancel their shift, reverting back to their normal form, at any time as a reflexive action. This is an all-or-nothing reversion. If the player only wants to revert part of their form, they must activate the power again.
Alpha Version
The simplest use of this power is simply to look like another person, without making any more significant physical changes. If the character succeeds on the activation roll, she is able to shift her appearance to that of a generic human or humanoid of any gender, making it impossible to recognize her through cursory visual examination. The character will still smell the same, however, and may still be recognizable through distinctive birthmarks, scars or other esoteric means of identification.
Shapeshift can also be used in conjunction with more mundane disguise methods to emulate the appearance of a specific person; if used in this matter, each success on the activation roll adds a +1 modifier to the character's contested disguise roll.
Extras: The character may also shift there scent, as well as all other means of identification that does not rely on the character's mental state (such as telepathy) or spiritual state (such as a character identifying another the soul through magic).
Beta Version
The most complex (and most flamboyant) use of Shapeshift is to alter the character's body size and shape, increasing or redistributing muscle mass and growing claws or armor. The new form must still be very vaguely humanoid. A character using Shapeshift in this manner is able to make one of the following changes for every success she gains on the activation roll, plus one for every dot in Shapeshift she possesses:
- Increase or decrease her Size or species Speed factor by one, to a minimum of zero.
- Increase or decrease a Physical Attribute by one.
- Shift any one dot in Physical Attributes around; no Attribute may be reduced below one in this manner.
- Trade up to two dots between her Physical Attributes and her Speed's species factor; no Attribute may be reduced below one in this manner, and her Speed's species factor may not be reduced below zero.
The character may choose to take an obvious identifying feature as a weakness for this power. Such a feature might be the inability to change the character's distinctive coloration (think Beast Boy or Plastic Man), or having a distinctive odor.
Gamma Version
Using this power, a character can turn into an animal, a creature out of myth, or a hellish monstrosity. A character using Shapeshift in this manner is able to make one of the following changes for every success she gains on the activation roll, plus one for every dot in Shapeshift she possesses:
- Take one dot in a purely physical Rank 1 or Rank 2 superpower. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of what powers can be emulated with Shapeshift; things like Claws, Armor, and Physical Mega-Attributes are appropriate, while powers such as Mental Blast, Force Field, and Teleport generally aren't. These powers must be activated as normal (paying any necessary costs), but if an action is required to activate them, they may be activated in the same turn as the Shapeshift action is taken.
- Trade any three dots in Physical Attributes for dots in Rank 1 or Rank 2 physical superpowers; no Attribute may be reduced below one in this manner. Again, superpowers acquired in this manner must be activated as normal, though they can be activated simultaneously to the Shapeshiftpower.
The distinctive feature option for the Beta version of this power is a requirement for the Gamma version.
Extras: None.
SHROUD
Rank: 2
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Dexterity + (Stealth) + Shroud
Action: Instant
Range: (Power Level + Stealth) x 5 yards
Area: (Power Level + Stealth) yards
Duration: Concentration
Effect: The character creates a field of dark shadow, cloaking mist, nebulous energy or some other vision-obscuring medium. For each success the character gains on the activation roll, any chararacters (friend or foe) within the area of the shroud, or trying to see through it, receive a –1 penalty to all sight-based perception rolls. On an exceptional success, the shroud is so thick as to be effectively opaque; it is impossible to see through the area covered by the shroud at all, and characters caught within the area of effect are blinded. Normally Shroud only affects normal vision, but for one additional Verve the activating character may also have it obscure other types of vision (such as infrared or ultraviolet).
Extras: Semisolid (each yard moved within the area of the shroud counts as two yards, and the shroud may be formed into a wall providing +1/+1 armor per dot of Shroud to anyone attacked through it), Sensory Deprivation Field (the shroud may block other senses or forms of detection, at a cost of one Verve per additional sense, up to a maximum of the user’s dots in Shroud; examples include smell, hearing, psychic detection, or motion tracking).
SKINCHANGER
Rank: 1
Cost: 0 Verve, unless extending duration (as per Shapeshifter)
Dice Pool: Manipulation + (Survival) + Skinchanger
Action: Instant
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: One scene
This power, except for the changes noted here, operates exactly like Shapeshift Beta.
The character may only take on the shapes which currently exist in their "Library", and start with only their natural shape in their library. To add a shape the character must kill the current 'owner' of the shape in some specific and gruesome fashion taking no less then fifteen minutes to complete. They must then assimilate the new shape in a process also taking no less then fifteen minutes.
The exact way in which this happens is left for the ST and player to determine. The character may skin the person alive and crawl into the resulting skin-suit, beat them to a pulp and absorb the victim through the skin, cut their head open and study their brain, or just chop them up and dine upon a chili made from their flesh and seasoned with their tears.
Whatever the case the victim must die, must suffer, and must be a sapient organic being. Modifications made to the character's stats by this power must be associated with the taken form.
Players should keep in mind that this power in no way offers any exemption from the morality rolls it will inevitably cause. Standard use of this power requires torture, though Compassionate Monster (below) may allow this to be upgraded to 'mere' premeditated murder. It is the Storytellers call weather use of this power under the Heart's Blooded extra qualifies as being a lesser sin then general torture.
Extras: Compassionate Monster - The victim need not die suffering, Heart's Blooded - Less then sapient creatures are now valid targets.
TELEKINESIS
Rank: 2
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Dexterity + (Athletics) + Telekinesis
Action: Instant
Range: (Power Level + Telekinesis) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character may telekinetically lift, move, or hurl objects through the air. The character may move objects of a Size up to her Telekinesis without difficulty; to move objects larger than this, the character must make an activation roll, with each success allowing her to move an object one Size larger. A character may move any object she can lift up to ten yards per dot in Telekinesis, and may move objects outside the original range of the power if so desired. A character may also use Telekinesis to hurl an object she is capable of lifting; the range of such a projectile is (character’s Dexterity + Athletics + Telekinesis – object’s Size) yards, doubled for aerodynamic projectiles as normal. Telekinesis may also be used to attack or grapple a target directly; in such a situation, the activation roll counts as the character’s attack roll, and the target’s Defense and armor apply. Attacks made in this manner do bashing damage. Telekinesis does not grant a character the ability to fly, though a character’s telekinetic abilities may serve as justification for her purchase of the Flight power.
Extras: Size Matters Not (all objects count as Size 0 for the purposes of lifting or determining range).
TELEPATHY
Rank: 3
Cost: Varies
Dice Pool: Varies
Action: Varies
Range: Varies
Area: Varies
Duration: Varies
Effect: The character is able to project her consciousness into the minds of others. The character knows one of the following techniques for each dot in Telepathy she possesses; she may attempt to use a technique that she does not specifically know, but doing so increases the Verve cost of the technique by one and imposes a –1 penalty to the activation roll (if any).
Extras: None.
COMMUNICATE
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Expression) + Telepathy [vs. target's Resolve + Power Level]
Action: Instant or contested; resistance is reflexive
Range: (Power Level + Telepathy) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: One scene
Effect: The character is able to communicate telepathically. On a successful activation roll, the character establishes a mental link with her target through which the two characters can communicate, whether or not they share a common language. The target character is aware of the link being established, and if he chooses, he may attempt to contest the Telepathy activation roll with a reflexive Resolve + Power Level roll; if the target wins this roll, the telepathic link is not established. Once the link has been created, it remains in place for one scene, unless one of the characters decides to sever it; the activating character may sever a telepathic link automatically as a reflexive action, while the target character must roll his Resolve + Power Level in a contested action against the original activation roll in order to sever the link.
MENTAL BLOODHOUND
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Investigation) + Telepathy
Action: Instant
Range: Varies
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character is able to track a target from a great distance by focusing on his mental activity. In order to locate a target with this power, the activating character must be familiar with that target, either through previous telepathic contact or through some other means of interaction. A single success on the activation roll allows the character to detect her target if he is anywhere within (Power Level + Telepathy) miles; each additional success on the activation roll doubles this range. If the target character is in range and his brain is functional, the activating character is immediately aware of his exact location in relation to her. If the target is not in range, or if his brain is no longer functioning, this power fails.
MEMORY ALTERATION
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Expression) + Telepathy vs. target's Resolve + Power Level
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Range: (Power Level + Telepathy) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: An extension of the Mind Probe technique, this power allows the character to alter the memories of another. In order to use this technique, the character must first find and learn the information she wishes to change using the Mind Probe technique; once this is done, the character may make a contested activation roll to alter the memory. If the character wins the activation roll with an ordinary success, she is able to alter any single memory or piece of information in the target's mind; however, any related thoughts or memories (such as mnemonic devices for remembering passwords) will be left intact, which may end up confusing the target or alerting him to the memory alteration. If the character wins with an exceptional success, not only is the chosen memory or piece of information altered, but any related memories will also shift and alter to accomodate the changed information, rendering the target unable to detect the memory alteration without outside help. The memory changes caused by use of this technique are permanent, although the target may eventually realize that his memories are incorrect through interaction with other characters.
MIND PROBE
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Wits + (Investigation) + Telepathy (vs. target's Resolve + Power Level)
Action: Extended, or extended and contested; resistance is reflexive
Range: (Power Level + Telepathy) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character is able to read the thoughts and memories of her target. In order to use this power, the character must make an extended activation roll and score a number of successes based on the target's Resolve and the nature of the thoughts or memories being sought. Accessing a target's surface thoughts or short-term memory requires only a number of successes equal to the target's Resolve. Accessing non-confidential information stored in the character's long-term memory (such as family birthdays or basic job information) requires a number of successes equal to the target's (Resolve x 3). Intimate or personal thoughts, or confidential memories (blackmail information, criminal activities, security codes) require a number of successes equal to the target's (Resolve x 5) to uncover, and learning the deepest-hidden thoughts and most-repressed memories require a number of successes equal to the target's (Resolve x 7). It's also possible to learn a target's basic personality traits (in game terms, his Virtue and Vice) in this manner; the Storyteller should determine how many successes are necessary to learn this information based on the above guidelines and how honest or dissembling the target is. The character using the Mind Probe technique may make a maximum number of rolls equal to the character's Resolve, and each roll takes one turn. A character targeted by Mind Probe may make a reflexive (Wits + Composure - activating character's Telepathy rating) roll to become aware of the psychic intrusion, and if successful, may contest the activation roll with a reflexive Resolve + Power Level roll each turn; if the target wins, the activating character does not gain any successes towards learning the desired information that turn.
THOUGHT DETECTION
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Investigation) + Telepathy
Action: Instant
Range: Varies
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character is able to expand her awareness and detect nearby mental activity. A single success on the activation roll makes the character aware of every entity with at least the intelligence of an insect within (Power Level + Telepathy) x 5 yards of her. Each additional success on the activation roll doubles this distance. The character is aware of both the location and the nature of each detected intelligence; for example, she would be able to recognize that the primitive minds in the floorboards belong to cockroaches and that the more advanced, familiar intelligences on the other side of the wall are humans. When faced with an unfamiliar intelligence, such as an A.I. or an extradimensional being, the character will learn the qualities of the intelligence ("highly advanced and extremely logical," or "similar in strength to a human but completely unfamiliar") but will not recognize the manner of entity to which they belong.
TELEPORT
Rank: 2
Cost: 0+ Verve
Dice Pool: Wits + (Investigation) + Teleport
Action: Instant
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: Instant
Effect: The character is able to travel instantly from one point to another, without passing through the intervening space. If the character gets at least one success on the roll, they reappear up to 10 yards away from their original location. Each additional 10 yards penalizes the roll by 1. The player may choose to buy off these penalties at a cost of one verve per penalty. Failing the roll gives the Storyteller the entertaining option of choosing the destination of the teleport. On a dramatic failure, the character not only counts as having failed his activation roll for the purposes of determining where he ends up, he also teleports into a dangerous situation, such as several hundred feet above the ground or underwater. The character cannot, intentionaly or not, teleport into a space they cannot occupy.
Extras: Combat Teleport (teleportation is a reflexive action, rather than an instant action), Mass Teleport (the character may teleport up to one additional character for every dot in Teleport and Power Level he possesses).
TEMPORAL MANIPULATION
Rank: 3
Cost: Varies
Dice Pool: Varies
Action: Varies
Range: Varies
Area: Varies
Duration: Varies
Effect: The character is able to manipulate the flow of time. The character knows one of the following techniques for each dot in Temporal Manipulation she possesses; she may attempt to use a technique that she does not specifically know, but doing so increases the Verve cost of the technique by one and imposes a –1 penalty to the activation roll (if any). In addition to any other techniques she may have, any character with dots in Temporal Manipulation possesses an extremely accurate internal clock; she always knows exactly what time it is, and is able to mentally time events with the accuracy of a stopwatch.
Extras: None.
AGE ALTERATION
Cost: 2 Verve
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Medicine) + Temporal Manipulation – target’s Stamina
Action: Extended
Range: Touch
Area: N/A
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Each success on the activation roll increases or decreases the target’s physical age by one year; the Storyteller is the final arbiter of what effects, if any, this has on the target. Note that only the target’s physical body is changed, while his mental maturity, his knowledge level, and his superpowers remain intact; however, the immature brain of a child or the aged brain of a geriatric may not function as effectively as that of an adult, meaning the target may not be able to use that knowledge or those skills to full effect. Using Age Alteration is an extended action, and the character may roll and gain successes a number of times per scene up to her Stamina (including any bonus for Mega-Stamina). Each roll takes one turn.
ACCELERATE TIME
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Wits + (Science) + Temporal Manipulation
Action: Varies
Range: (Power Level + Temporal Manipulation) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: One turn
Effect: The character accelerates the passage of time for herself or for someone else, allowing the affected character to perform long and complex tasks in the blink of an eye or unleash a flurry of blows on a hapless opponent. A character under the effects of Accelerate Time counts as having a number of dots in the Hypermovement ability equal to the number of successes on the activation roll, up to a maximum of the original character’s dots in Temporal Manipulation. The affected character also counts as having the Hyperspeed Attack extra, but the bonus to attack rolls is halved (rounding up). Activating this power is a reflexive action if the character uses it on herself; if used on another character, activating the power counts as an instant action.
DILATE TIME
Cost: 1 Verve
Dice Pool: Wits + (Science) + Temporal Manipulation
Action: Instant
Range: (Power Level + Temporal Manipulation) x 5 yards
Area: N/A
Duration: One turn
Effect: The character slows the passage of time around the target, reducing their ability to act and to respond to the world around them. Each success on the activation roll reduces the target’s Initiative and Defense by 1, to a minimum of 0 each; a character reduced to 0 Initiative may not act in combat at all this turn, as he is simply unable to keep up with the speed of events happening around him. Dilate Time can also inflict penalties to actions involving reaction time or quick action, both inside and outside of combat; the Storyteller is the final arbiter of how such penalties are applied.
STOP TIME
Cost: 1 Verve, 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + (Science) + Temporal Manipulation vs. target’s
Resolve + Power Level
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Range: (Power Level + Temporal Manipulation) yards
Area: N/A
Duration: Varies
Effect: A more potent version of Dilate Time, Stop Time does just that—stops the passage of time around a target. Each success on the activation roll freezes a target in time for one turn; on an exceptional success, the target is frozen for an entire scene. While frozen in time, the target cannot act or be acted upon in any way; he may not use any powers or abilities, and he is unaffected by and unaware of outside phenomena (attacks, superpowers, etc.). An unwilling target may attempt to resist this power with a reflexive Resolve + Power Level roll; if the target wins the contested roll, he counts as being under the effects of Dilate Time rather than Stop Time.
VERVE RECOVERY
Rank: 2
Cost: N/A
Dice Pool: N/A
Action: N/A
Range: Self
Area: N/A
Duration: Permanent
Effect: The character recovers his energy extremely quickly. Every time this character recovers Verve, he gains an additional number of Verve equal to his Verve Recovery rating.
Extras: None.
