Air Powers (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

Air is an elemental power that affects gasses, and to a limited extent vacuum.

Air powers deal with gases and atmospheric conditions such as wind, precipitation and cloud formations. It can be quite useful in that it can alter the battlefield itself, rather than the abilities of the combatants, evening the odds in an unfair fight by preventing the use or overwhelming odds or allowing escape from a hopeless battle. It is most practical when invoked over a small area, possibly dangerously powerful if used over wide areas.

Air attacks by buffeting and tossing opponents, which is powerful against fliers and good at distracting and delaying, but very poor at doing actual damage. Escalated air attacks can create a vacuum that does significant damage to creatures that breathe.

Air elementals appear as billowing cloud-creatures or as dust devils, transparent by nature. They are visible when they act but invisible while at rest. Creatures that manifest air are birds and winged and flying creatures of all kinds, including fantastic ones such as pegasi, winged horses.

Air Power Effects Table

Action	Basic No minimum 3 Stress	Advanced Minimum 2 Dice 5 Stress	Master Minimum 4 Dice 7 Stress	Apex Minimum 6 Dice 13 Stress
Attune	Sky Sight You can sense air creatures and active air powers.	Zephyr Zapper Dismiss an Air creature. End the and effect of Air or that affect air.	Zephyr Zeal Summon an Air creature.	Gate of Gales Create a portal to a plane of air.
Command	Gust Guide Command Air creatures even if you don't share a language.	Wind Whisper Have the wind carry your words far away.	Aerial Authority Command Air creatures as if you were their superior.	Typhoon Tyrant Permanently bind air creatures to service.
Consort	Mist Mantle Imbue clothes and accessories with air and mist.	Aeromorph Assume the form of an air creature.	Aerify Shapechange a willing or helpless creatures into an Air creature.	Sky Hunt Aerifya number of willing or non-sentient creatures and give them a simple instruction.
Finesse	Cloud Cruiser Ride an air mount or air vehicle.	Misty Melee A fine and potent Air close-range attack, or give crew Cloud Cruiser.	Gust Guide Fine manipulation of air: tiny whirlwinds and local pressure can push a buttons and objects.	Storm Swipe A storm of Air blades, suppressing scale and acting as a fine potent weapon.
Hunt	Cloud Chaser You can track a flier, even if they don't leave a mundane trail.	Zephyr Zap Air attack similar in effect to a fine and potent stun rifle.	Atmospheric Architect Control wind and weather.	Air Assault Air attack similar to a fine and potent stun grenade.
Prowl	Shroud Transparent standing still, wind and mist when you move.	Flight Fly fast but clumsily, not suited to cluttered environments.	Air Circus Bring allies along when you use Shroud and Flight.	Cloud Walk Crew fly very fast from one location to another.
Skirmish	Air Skirmish Air close-range attack, similar to a saber or pistol.	Potent Air Air Skirmish, and the attack is fine and potent.	Whirlwind Wind and mist negate scale.	Gale Fury Gale of blades attack all enemies in an area.
Study	Analyze Air Identify gasses, creatures of Air, and Air powers.	Air Lore Learn the powers and abilities of gasses you analyze.	Air Echo Read the past events of a gas container.	Omniscient Air Air Lore in a wide area.
Survey	Detect Air Sense air, Air creatures, and powers.	Eye of Air Choose air that you have detected; perceive as if you were at that spot.	Aero Scout Choose a location or creature. You gain an Eye of Air at the nearest suitable space of air.	Omnipresent Air You perceive from all air at once over a wide area.
Sway	Aero Ear Understand Air creatures and learn learn the objectives of air creatures.	Aeromancy Crew can communicate with air creatures. Influence folk to be inspired and flexible.	Aerial Urge Post a suggestion in the mind of an air creature.	Air Implantation Permanently change the personality and motivations of air creatures.
Tinker	Bellows Handle air and gases as bellows or a fan, air pump, or compressor.	Weave Wind Shape gases and vacuum, and they will retain their new shape.	Aeromorphosis Create air out of nothing, transform air into matter of another power.	Skyshaper Weave Wind on a huge scale, affecting the weather or air of an entire region.
Wreck	Air Smash Air lacks precision in wrecking, can noisily smash even very large things.	Tempest Tackle Air Smash but stronger. Works as a fine potent sledgehammer in combat. Noisy.	Vanishing Gale Tempest Tackle and destroyed targets silently disappear.	Aero Annihilation Tempest Tackle over a large area. Level a city bloc or make a sandstorm.

Expanded Air Powers

Attune

Harness the power of Attune to perceive and manipulate supernatural energies, allowing you to detect and interact with beings and phenomena from other planes of existence.

The consequences usually depends on what happens around you when you do it. Having helpers and bodyguards reduces the consequences, and sometimes a creature wants to be dismissed and the consequence might be that it loses control of itself, or that other creatures appear to intervene.

Sky Sight You can sense air creatures and active air powers.

This is usually done to spot a disguised summoned creature. However, it can also help identify a creature's connection to powers, providing valuable insights into their nature. Limited effect suffices against a creature you can clearly see. You need greater effect against against a creature that is hidden (standard effect) or behind a wall (great effect). The position usually starts controlled, with the usual consequence that you cannot try again.

Zephyr Zapper Dismiss an Air creature. End the and effect of Air or that affect air.

Dismissing a creature is hard, and might require the creature to be weakened, either by previous attempts to dismiss it, or by other attacks, interactions, or by being set up. If a powerful creature resists being dismissed your position is at least risky.

Dispelling is usually easier. You can dispel any air power and powers affecting Air creatures. It can be used as a defense against others' use of Air powers, or it can be used to break a continuing effect.

Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using powers. Normally improves the position of the supported action.

When used directly, the effect is usually limited unless the opponent is relying on powers for their safety. Against an opponent that uses power to fly or even breathe you can have a better effect.

When dramatically appropriate that a power is hard to dispel, often because it is the crux of the situation, this will not negate the power but instead give you a clue to what you need to do to resolve the situation.

Zephyr Zeal Summon an Air creature.

Summon a creature from a place of Air. This can bring you a group of allies to fight or labor for you, giving you scale. Summons can use simple Air effects and maintain Air powers you have created. They can also give advice and information related to air. In general, you can summon generic creatures one tier lower than yourself without having to do a flashback. Such a creature is similar to a gang member in ability.

To summon a particular creature, similar to a cohort, you need its unique identity, often called true name in the mystical power traditions. For a technomancer this would be a type id number, a blueprint, or a block of data. Learning about the right creature to summon is a task in its own right, often requiring a flashback or downtime activity to use Command, Consort, Study, or Sway to gain information.

It might be worth the extra effort to summon a creature of higher tier, but this is also much more demanding, using the usual rules for tiers.

Summoned creatures generally come in two types, elementals and creatures with powers.

An elemental is a simple creature made up of air. Most elementals have animal intelligence, and often take the shape of animals such as birds, tough clouds, whirlwinds, and humanoid forms are also common.

Creatures with powers resemble normal creatures, having a biological body, metabolism, and functioning as ordinary living creatures but also some exceptional Air powers. A landbound creature with Air powers might be able to fly. Creatures with both Air and Electricity powers are commons, such as the thunderbird. Not all creatures with powers are summonable or dismissible, many are native to this world and have no special vulnerability to Attune powers.

Depending on your degree of effect the creature is willing to do different things. Limited effect allows you to ask questions of an intelligent creature or demand a short period of physical labor from a simple creature. The creature will not fight for you. If forced into a fight due to circumstances, it will resent it.

Standard effect allows you to ask for any service appropriate to the type of creature. Air elementals are flexible, but have little staying power, they don't like extended tasks. They don't mind dangerous tasks such as combat if they can be completed quickly.

Great effect allows actions outside the creature's comfort zone, but not things it directly opposes. An air creature might agree to power your ship but not your submarine. Lengthy service also requires great effect, like summoning the creature to guard a treasure, and an Air creature is likely to stray.

The position is usually risky. The creature is being forced to serve and might lash out. Typical consequences are: The creature strikes out at you once. A tightwire struggle to keep the creature under control The creature breaks things around you, demands concessions from you. Overly literal interpretations of your commands. The creature deliberately does its tasks poorly.

Offering a creature gifts or services appropriate to its nature can make the position controlled, with consequences like half-heated efforts, demanding not to be summoned again until some time or event has passed, or just general sulkiness.

Gate of Gales Create a portal to a plane of air.

This is situational, but can be vital in exceptional circumstances. The plane of air is usually seen as just empty air, a landscape of solid clouds, or perhaps a land of mountains and windswept plains and seas.

There are things that are possible to do on the plane of Air that are not allowed in the regular world, most Air effects are reduced one step in difficulty, from advanced to basic, master to advanced, and apex to master. This opens the possibility of new super-apex powers that have to be negotiated with the game master. Such effects rarely reach outside the plane of Air, but if they affect creatures there the effect may remain when you return to the mundane world.

Gate of Gales can allow access to creatures too powerful to summon, so you instead ask for an audience. The creature may then use the gate to come to you, call you into its presence, or just communicate with you.

Using a gate is usually played out as a score, which means there is an engagement roll. Depending on how quickly the matter is resolved, the game master may require a separate use f the power to return home. If you do this in a scene that is dangerous, such as asking for help against an enemy too powerful for you to defeat, the position is usually much worse. Once you have established a connection to a certain place or audience with a certain creature, you can usually do so again from a controlled position.

Command

Command and intimidate creatures based on your power, projecting authority. Position and effect depend on the situation and your relationship with the listeners.

Gust Guide Command Air creatures even if you don't share a language.

You can command Air creatures, and they will understand you, but you cannot understand them unless you normally could. This does not grant you any additional authority, but creatures may be so surprised that they can understand you that they have a positive attitude.

This is useful for intimidating creatures under your power and commanding foreign or alien subordinates. Combined with the basic power of Sway, it allows two-way communication. Many Air elementals and Air animals are not intelligent enough to speak, but they can understand you when you use this power. Such creatures will often accept your commands as they identify you as one of them.

Wind Whisper Have the wind carry your words far away.

You can communicate with creatures and places far away. The wind will carry them to a person or place, repeat them for some time, and carry a message back to you. Air is conductive to communication and this power usually works as long as a path of air exists between you and the target.

Aerial Authority Command Air creatures as if you were their superior.

You can speak to and understand Air creatures, and they will regard you are a creature of authority. Targets will see you as an officer, professional superior, alpha, or other leader type outranking them. This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts. Understanding the social order of your targets helps avoid conflicting with their established loyalties. Orders that go with the nature of targets are more effective. Asking Air creatures to just fly off is easier (needs less effect) than telling them to act disciplined and persistent.

Limited effect might result in a creature not doing what it might not have done anyway, acting on whimsy . Standard effect makes the creature do what it should, but in a way you decide, like a bird carrying a message or an elemental causing a gust of wind. Air creatures are scrappy and won't mind a fair fight. Great effect means targets will ignore their normal routine and go out of their way to please you, like fleeing from a fight, staying on a task, or acting humble or servile.

The position depends on the creatures' actual relationship to you. A controlled position comes from a creature that agrees you are superior, usually just making retrying harder. A risky position is typical against a creature that sees itself as your equal and not your enemy, possibly leading to heat, misunderstood orders, or small rebellions. Ordering a creature that sees itself as your superior is a desperate position

Typhoon Tyrant Permanently bind air creatures to service.

This won’t work unless you are already in a position of power. The effect is similar to Authority but potentially permanent. A creature under your enemies' care may break free over time. Strong emotions can also break your control, but otherwise, it lasts until dispelled.

Commanded Air elementals will take your orders, but continue to be creatures of air. Tedious or regulated tasks will be done, but randomly and without discipline.

Consort

Consort powers changes your form and later that of other creatures. These powers might also be used as a set-up action for a later Consort roll. This will often give a bonus to effect or improved position or even allow an action that a human could not do.

Consequences might reveal your disguise to some observers, but not all or require you to do something special to maintain your role. More common consequences is that you are mistaken for someone, or that your form is somehow odd or exceptional.

Mist Mantle Imbue clothes and accessories with air and mist.

You do not physically change yourself, you change your accessorize and outfit. The effect is usually limited and the position controlled, but some changes might require more effort.

Aeromorph Assume the form of an air creature.

This is a true physical transmutation. You need not assume the form of an existing creature, as long as the gamemaster agrees your new form matches the power you use.

Aeromorph can work as a set-up action for a number of other actions but may penalize other things, as appropriate to your new form. Your form may be able to use Basic and Advanced Air effects intrinsically. If you turn yourself into an air elemental, flight and wind control make reason as inherent abilities that don't require you to use a power.

With limited effect you can transform into yourself like you would have been, had you grown up as the creature whose form you assume. Those familiar with you will recognize you. Standard effect can make you a generic creature, very hard to recognize as yourself. Great effect allows you to assume the shape and some of the personality of a specific creature you have studied.

Aerify Shapechange a willing or helpless creature into an Air creature.

This is Aeromorph applied to another creature. The duration depends of the effect, limited effect is very temporary. Standard effect lasts for the duration of a score. Great effect lasts a long time and potentially become permanent, depending on the the story. If you also want to make the target unrecognizable, that requires additional effect, see Shapechange.

This is sometimes used as a kind of poetic justice, transforming the target as a punishment, a curse that is very hard to break.

Sky Hunt Aerify a number of willing or non-sentient creatures and give them a simple instruction.

This is where Consort becomes a combination of the Aeromorph and Zephyr Zeal effects. Instead of summoning a host of allies, you transform a number of existing creatures and give them a task that they will perform with gusto, turning them into single-minded minions. Targets must be willing, non-sentient like animals, or just very minor figures in the plot, many tiers below you.

This is usually used to create a host of goons that will fight and chase for you. Such goons are more interested in chasing and cornering targets than in actual combat. Or they can be given bit parts, like the seagulls from Finding Nemo.

Finesse

Cloud Cruiser Ride an air mount or air vehicle.

Misty Melee A fine and potent Air close-range attack, or give crew Cloud Cruiser.

Gust Guide Fine manipulation of air: tiny whirlwinds and local pressure can push buttons and objects.

Storm Swipe A storm of Air blades, suppressing scale and acting as a fine potent weapon.

Hunt

Cloud Chaser You can track a flier, even if they don't leave a mundane trail.

Zephyr Zap Air attack similar in effect to a fine and potent stun rifle.

Atmospheric Architect Control wind and weather.

Control wind and weather. This is usually used as a setup, but may also change how people act in reaction to the environment—rain, smoke, or snow and the like are likely to make people want to stay indoors or run out as the case may be. This does not inflict any direct damage. You normally cover a single room indoors or a city block outdoors.

Air Assault Air attack similar to a fine and potent stun grenade.

Prowl

Shroud Transparent standing still, wind and mist when you move.

Flight Fly fast but clumsily, not suited to cluttered environments.

Air Circus Bring allies along when you use Shroud and Flight.

Cloud Walk Crew fly very fast from one location to another.

Skirmish

Air Skirmish Air close-range attack, similar to a saber or pistol.

Potent Air Air Skirmish, and the attack is fine and potent.

Whirlwind Wind and mist negate scale.

Gale Fury Gale of blades attack all enemies in an area.

Study

Analyze Air Identify gases, creatures of Air, and Air powers.

Air Lore Learn the powers and abilities of gases you analyze.

Air Echo Read the past events of a gas container.

Omniscient Air Air Lore in a wide area.

Survey

Detect Air Sense air, Air creatures, and powers.

Eye of Air Choose air that you have detected; perceive as if you were at that spot.

Choose spot of air you know is there; perceive as if you were at that spot. You can perceive out of thin air, but doing so disturbs the air, creating small clouds or vortices.

Aero Scout Choose a location or creature. You gain an Eye of Air at the nearest suitable space of air, which is usually right on top of the target.

Omnipresent Air You perceive from all air at once over a wide area.

This is harder if the air is closed off or must pass a narrow passage to give you access.

Sway

Aero Ear Understand Air creatures and learn the objectives of air creatures.

Aeromancy Crew can communicate with air creatures. Influence folk to be inspired and flexible.

Aerial Urge Post a suggestion in the mind of an air creature.

Air Implantation Permanently change the personality and motivations of air creatures.

Tinker

Bellows Handle air and gases as bellows or a fan, air pump, or compressor.

Weave Wind Shape gases and vacuum, and they will retain their new shape.

Aeromorphosis Create air out of nothing, transform air into matter of another power.

Skyshaper Weave Wind on a huge scale, affecting the weather or air of an entire region.

Wreck

Air Smash Air lacks precision in wrecking, can noisily smash even very large things.

Tempest Tackle Air Smash but stronger. Works as a fine potent sledgehammer in combat. Noisy.

Vanishing Gale Tempest Tackle and destroyed targets silently disappear.

Aero Annihilation Tempest Tackle over a large area. Level a city bloc or make a sandstorm.

Expanded Air Powers

Expanded descriptions of effects that differ significantly from Typical Powers.

Prowl

Prowling using air is quite powerful, because you can fly, and because hiding in air is very convenient.

Shroud: You can become invisible in air. This is similar to how air elementals work; you are transparent when passive, but cause wind and mist effect when you act.

This makes you invisible as long as you stay still, and you can hide out in the open at a distance, or in turbulent weather.

Flight: You can fly. This is fast but clumsy, not really suited to cluttered environments.

"This is fast but clumsy" means much easier to fly at speed than it is to hover. This makes flying easy when there is room, away from everything. Flying in built-up areas is harder, indoors both slow and dangerous.

Air Circus: You can bring allies along when you use Shroud and Flight. These allies still use their own Prowl action.

Now you and your allies can Prowl in places where your power is at home.

Cloud Walk: You and allies can fly very fast from one location to another in the same region.

Unlike most apex Prowl effects, Cloud Walk is not teleportation, instead it is fast flight. This has both advantages and disadvantages. It is slower, but you can adjust where you go once you come nearer to your destination.

Tinker

Manipulate, shape, and create air. Things made out of air don't last unless you force them to. Instead you do dynamic things, like create wind or smoke.

Bellows You can handle air and gases as bellows or a fan, air pump, or compressor.

This mainly substitutes for tools, up to a small workshop. The things you do only last as long as you keep maintaining them. The exception is that you can create or dissipate mist and smoke.

Fan: You can shape sir, and it will retain their new shape for some time. You become capable of creating vacuums or stronger winds.

This is where you can work with air and the effects last at least a little while. You can create wind, whirls, dust devils, and even complex air streams that follow paths you set up that could not occur naturally. This may allow you to set up traps or devices that would normally require extensive equipment.

The position depends on how quiet your workplace is and how much time you have to work with. The effect determines the effectiveness of your construction, but also how long it will last. Devices that are more powerful are harder to contain, and thus wont last as long. Most shaping will only be good for a single scene, but if your effect surpasses that required for the effect you want, you can stretch the effect until the end of the score.

Aeromorphosis: You can create air out of nothing, or transform an object from or into air as long as you know the power required for the other form. You can separate air into its components and purify or pollute air.

This is two distinct effects. The first allows you to create matter related to your power out of nothing. This is raw matter (or energy, depending on the power used) and needs to be shaped and refined to be of much use.

The second can only be used if you know multiple powers. You transmute material connected to one of your powers into material connected to another power. The result will maintain its form as if affected by the Shape ability. The advantage of this is that you can transform a complex object and it will retain its form and function as far as its new material allows. A door could be changed from wood to air, you then pass through and the door reverts to wood.

A mass of earth can be turned into air to create a pit, and then turn back to earth to trap those who fall into that pit.

Skyshaper: You can do create effects on a huge scale, affecting the air and weather of an entire region.

This is where you can affect the entire sky and really change the weather.

Wreck

Air wrecking differ from most other powers in that you don't destroy air so much as using air to wreck other things. Air can easily wreck large things that the air can push. Flipping a car over is easier than moving a single brick. Making a building fall over is easier than breaking a door open.

Stronger construction is harder to break. Limited effect can overturn wooden or tinny construction. Standard effect can affect more solid things, like timber, adobe, and precast concrete. Great effect can topple stone construction and unreinforced concrete, but against reinforced structures the effect is still not great.

Gust Shove: Air lacks precision in wrecking, but can jimmy even very large things, such as vehicles and small houses. Noisy.

This can do things up to the scale of flipping a car over or overturning a free-standing wall.

Air Smash: Similar to Gust Shove but stronger. Works as a fine potent sledgehammer in combat. Noisy.

You can hurl a car, flip a truck, and collapse a small house.

Vanishing Gale: Similar to smash, but destroyed targets silently disappear or are reduced to a fine dust.

The real difference here is that wrecking things is now silent when you have the right power. You also leave less traces, as what you wreck disappears. This can also be used to get rid of evidence, as long as that evidence matches your power.

Aero Annihilation: Similar to smash, but over a large area. This can level a city block, empty a canal system of water, raze a city wall, and similar massive destruction.

Rather straightforward, this just scales things up.