Powers (FiD)

Powers turn Blades in the Dark-style games into power fantasy.

Introducing Powers

Rather than the fantastical being rare and poorly understood, adding powers to your gives characters entirely new abilities they can use. Introducing these into a game changes the game world, making it more fantastical. Powers consist of two elements - a playbook, and forms.

Power Playbooks

Playbooks are the frames for acquiring powers. The playbooks are the power traditions of your world, roles such as wizard, sorcerer, saint, mutant, or technophile. Each playbook gives you access to certain powers, which are chosen in the same manner as special abilities. This is in addition to all the normal features of a playbook.

Finally, each tradition gives you a trauma condition, chosen from a list of conditions available to that playbook. This means you can't survive as much new trauma as characters who have not meddled with the powers. The actual trauma condition generally affects how you use powers, imposing conditions you must fulfil.

You cannot pick special abilities from a power playbook unless you start with that playbook. It is possible to incorporate a power playbook into your character's pool of available abilities by selecting this as a special ability. Doing so gives you access to the special abilities and items of the power playbook, but also forces you to select a trauma condition. You can even gain access to multiple power playbooks this way, giving you a wider range of powers at the price of more trauma conditions and thus more restrictions on the use of all of your powers.

Powers

Powers are what actually gives you exceptional abilities. A power playbook doesn't give you any abilities unless you select a power from that playbook's special abilities. Once you select a power, you gain abilities appropriate to the power. So if you select the electricity pool, you can shoot lightning, power electric engines, cause shortcuts, summon electric creatures, and so forth. In many cases, powers work as equipment does, empowering your normal actions.

You use your normal actions to activate powers, but there is often an associated cost. Some powers are always available. Some powers work as equipment. Unlike most equipment, you have to cross of an item each time you make a roll for the power, those components are consumed when used. Some powers require you to push each time you use the power. You gain the advantages of a push in addition to activating the power. Some powers are all-consuming. You spend all your remaining willpower to activate the power, causing you to go into trauma. These effects are over-the-top and often has extensive collateral damage.

Unlike normal actions, which are flexible, powers are more specific. If you want to make a ranged attack using your power, that is done with Hunt action (unless the power description says otherwise), you cannot fudge this with another action as you normally can.

There is a standard list of effects that most powers have. These effects vary in appearance and detail depending on the exact power you use, but the general effect is the same. With Hunt you can make a ranged attack with most powers, if you do it with electricity this is a jolt of lightning, if you do it with fire it is a bolt of fire, if you do it with mind it is a mental blast, and if you do it with plant you fling poisonous thorns. All are ranged attacks, but depending on circumstances some are likely to be more or less effective. In the description of each power, only the differences from this standard list will be noted. For example, hunt used with equipment is a ranged attack. For most powers this works in a similar way. In the description of most powers, there will be no special note on use with hunt. For the mind power hunt works differently in that it attacks the mind rather than the body, requiring special rules.

Combining Powers If you know several powers, you can affect each of them with a single action, as long as this makes sense. So if you know both the fire and plant powers, you can dismiss, infiltrate, or infiltrate both at once, but using barrage or research using both powers at once makes less sense.

Common Power Effects Table

Action	Free	Equipment	Push	Trauma
Attune	Perceive You are able to perceive creatures based on this power, or using this power. This is easy if you can see them, harder if they are hidden or invisible. The range depends on distractions; in an empty environment it can be kilometers, in a busy city it is perhaps as much as a city block.	Dismiss You can force a creature based on this power that is native to another plane of existence to return to that plane, or suppress the operation of the power in a creature or object.	Summon You can call a creature into this plane to serve you. This servant is generally unwilling. It will obey one command from you, more commands require this ability to be used again or other means to control the creature. You can also create a portal that allows creatures on this plane to access the plane of your power for a limited time.	Gate You tear down the barrier between this world and the dimension of your power. This can banish all creatures in a large area, or allow a swarm of creatures to rampage in your world.
Command	Communicate You can communicate with creatures based on your power even if normally couldn't, allowing you to use the Command skill normally on them.	Translate You and allies can communicate with creatures based on your power.	Command You can give commands to creatures based on your power, as if you were their superior in a group they belong to. By increasing the effect, you can give them absolute commands or extend the duration.	Enslave You can permanently bind creatures to service. Unless affected by other powers, they will stay in one location and act according to your instructions, similar to very loyal and literal-minded goons.
Consort	Communicate You can communicate with creatures based on your power even if normally couldn't, and you also gain a basic understanding of their way of reasoning, allowing you to use the Consort skill normally on them.	Translate You and allies can communicate with creatures based on your power.	Infiltrate Creatures of your power treat you like one of them, and if you vouch for your companions they will generally be ignored unless they do actions perceived as hostile.	Suggestion You can post suggestions in the mind of a creature of your power, which will be triggered under conditions you specify. The creature enters a trance when the situation occurs. Common suggestions are to steal something, attack someone, or ignore some event. This is a subtle power, it is hard to notice that the creatures have changed, and even when they act on the suggestion they don't become hostile or obviously mind-controlled.
Finesse	Ride If there is a mount or vehicle of the appropriate power, you can ride it. You can move and breathe in elemental conditions without damage or hindrance.	Fine Close-Range Control You can use the element as a fine close-range attack, similar in effect to a dueling sword or pistol. You can give your friends the Ride ability.	Manipulate You can do fine manipulation of the element, allowing you to do small and exact manipulations at range. This allows you to open doors, trigger or hinder mechanisms, or perform minor acts of telekinesis, as long as the target is of the type appropriate to your power.	Inferno
Hunt	Track You can track and pursue based on your power, even if the target does not leave any mundane trail or clues. You can hide in areas where your power is manifest in the element, even if the element would normally hider you or cause environmental damage.	Fine Ranged Attack You can use your power to attack, similar in effect to a fine rifle.	Area attack You can use your power to attack similar to a fine grenade. This allows you to fight many creatures in the same area very effectively, but there is a risk of colatteral damage.	Barrage You call down the equivalent of an artillery barrage, attacking everything and everyone in a wide area. Depending on your power, this can raze buildings and create rubble in a wide area. This is usually enough to provide cover for any escape.
Prowl	Perceive	Maneuver	Travel	Transport
Skirmish	Melee Attack	Fine Melee Attack	Obstruction	Nova
Study	Analyze	Research	Hindsight	Omniscience
Survey	Detect	Sensor	Scry	Omnipresence
Sway	Communicate You can communicate with creatures based on your power even if normally couldn't, allowing you to use the Command skill normally on them.	Translate You and allies can communicate with creatures based on your power.	Suggest	Inculcate
Tinker	Handle	Shape	Create	Fabricate
Wreck	Jerk	Smash	Disintegrate	Obliterate