Flux Powers (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

Flux is the power of luck, chaos, decay, and randomness, but also of freedom, inspiration, and art.

Flux is the power of unrealized potential; it is free energy and tension, infinite detail and variation without inherent meaning. Flux revels in randomness, and can produce spectacular but unpredictable results. This gives it an affinity for drunkenness and other inhibition-reducing states. Anything can be created using flux, but in its raw form it is uncontrollable and disruptive. Always chancy and dangerous, when it works flux manipulates events in your favor. This makes flux subtle, when it works, the effects are seemingly random events. Flux is opposed to order.

Flux attacks are natural events, like roof tiles falling on enemies or them tripping on a random passing turtle. Often not fatal unless the environment is particularly lethal. You can also use flux with weapons to improve your chances.

Flux creatures are strange spirits of whimsy, sometimes known as muses, sometimes as demons. They inspire arts and cause chaos. They may possess other creatures. If they take physical form they are often a chimera of different parts.

Flux Abilities

Action	Basic	Advanced	Master	Apex
Dice	—	Minimum 2d	Minimum 4d	Minimum 6d
Stress	Avoid fumble (2+).	Succeed (4+).	Full success (6).	Critical (2 sixes).
Attune	Chaos Eye Detect the supernatural.	Chaos Rebuke Dismiss the supernatural.	Chaos Call Summon chaos creatures.	Chaos Gate Portal to a plane of chaos.
Command	Call to Chaos Flux intimidation.	Call to Companions Flux signalling.	Call to Freedom Inspire independence.	Call to Madness Break a mind.
Consort	Chaos Costume Chaos accessories.	Chaos Chimera Transform into anything.	Chaos Conversion Transform crew.	Chaos Cascade Transform gangs.
Finesse	Random Ride Ride any mount or vehicle.	Random Rumble Pine and Potent melee attack.	Random Rover A ride luckily appears.	Random Route Find open route to travel.
Hunt	Fickle Finder Track by blind luck.	Fickle Focus Lethal accident.	Fickle Fortune Cause random events.	Fickle Fate Random area attack.
Prowl	Errant Evasion Hide anywhere once.	Errant Errand Avoid random dangers.	Errant Excursion Crew Prowling.	Errant Emergence Random Teleport.
Skirmish	Fracture Fortitude Resist Flux Harm.	Fracture Feint Fine and Potent melee.	Fracture Fray Negate Scale in melee.	Fracture Frenzy Attack all in a melee.
Study	Anomaly Appraisal Identify Flux.	Anomaly Analysis Analyze Flux.	Anomaly Archive History of Flux.	Anomaly Aggregate Analyze lots of Flux.
Survey	Wayward Win Find random things.	Wayward Watch See randomness.	Wayward Web Vision of randomness.	Wayward World Perceive all Flux.
Sway	Whim Wink Universal translation.	Whim Woo Spirited conversations.	Whim Whorl Triggered randomness.	Whim Warp Break social bonds.
Tinker	Capricious Craft Find thing you need.	Capricious Contraption Inspired crafting.	Capricious Conjury Random transmutation.	Wish Create items on a whim.
Wreck	Ruin Rip Random breakage.	Ruin Rupture Invoke entropy.	Ruin Rot Silent disintegration.	Ruination Area Ruin Rupture.

Expanded Flux Powers

Harness the power of Attune to perceive and manipulate unnatural energies. Flux is flexible in this and can detect and dispel other powers.

Attune

Chaos Eye

Detect the supernatural.

Detect supernatural creatures and powers. Your senses become attuned to the chaotic energies that permeate the world, allowing you to perceive entities and phenomena that are beyond the ordinary senses of mortals. A drawback to this is that you cannot tell what power you have detected.

This is usually done to spot a spirit or a disguised creature. It can also help identify a creature's connection to powers, providing valuable insights into their nature. If you know several different powers, you can scan for all of them at the same time. Limited outcome suffices against a nearby creature you can clearly see. You need greater outcome against against a creature that is hidden or far away (standard outcome) or behind a wall (great outcome). The position usually starts controlled, with the usual consequence that you missed the opportunity and cannot try again until the situation changes.

Chaos Rebuke

Dismiss the supernatural.

Dismiss any summon or dispel any power. You can compel any creature native to another plane of existence to return to that plane, to cease the operation of any power, and to force any Spirit to materialize. By disrupting the connection between the target and their plane of origin, you can banish them from the mortal realm or neutralize their abilities. Dispelling with Flux is powerful, it can dispel any power.

Dispelling can be used as a defense against others' use of powers, or it can be used to break continuing effects. Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using powers. This usually improves the position of the supported action and can work in addition to other setup actions. When used directly, the effect is usually limited unless the opponent is relying on powers for their safety. Against an opponent that uses Animal wings to fly or turned into a fish to breathe underwater you have a better base 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.

Forcing a spirit to materialize or de-materialize is easy, but limited in range. The spirit cannot return under its own power for a while, usually after the score.

• Limited Outcome only works on spirits within reach.
• Standard Outcome covers an area based on your tier (p 220).
• Great Outcome reaches out to a range covered by tier (p 220).

Dismissing a creature back to its home plane and usually requires a high Outcome.

• Limited Outcome: Dismissing a creature that wants to return.
• Standard Outcome: Dismissing a weakened or damaged creature.
• Great Outcome: This is the norm, most dismissing requires this Outcome.

Chaos Call

Summon chaos creatures.

By tapping into the chaotic forces of other planes, you can call forth creatures from realms of pure chaos.

Flux creatures generally come in two types, spirits, and creatures with powers.

Spirits are naturally immaterial, but some can take physical form. They manifest the emotional and mental manifestations of their power. Spirits are of roughly human intellect, but can seem monomaniacal in their focus on their particular power. They can use sophisticated powers and usually have an agenda of their own that might well be irrelevant to humans.

Creatures with powers resemble normal creatures, having a biological body, metabolism, and functioning as ordinary living creatures but also have some exceptional abilities related to their power. Flux creatures often lack a distinct form, like amoebas, but some are regular creatures with Flux powers. Not all creatures with powers are summonable or dismissible, many are native to this world and have no special vulnerability to Attune powers.

Summons are Cohorts: Creatures you summon function as temporary cohorts (p. 96) — either an Expert or a Gang — with added Powers from their Form. An Expert is a skilled individual who can offer advice, Assist, or act independently. A Gang is a group (numbers based on your Tier, p. 221) that primarily provides Scale in combat and labor.

You can always summon a Gang of creatures one Tier below yours. Summoning a specific Gang or Expert requires knowing its unique identity — called a true name in mystical traditions. For a technomancer, this might be a type ID, blueprint, or genetic code. Learning a creature’s true name may require a flashback, or in complex cases, the research downtime activity or a reward from a score.

Summoning a Creature

The summoning itself is quick but dangerous. When you have time and resources, it is wise to use wards and Barriers, but in action this is usually impossible and you must face the risks. Having allies present for safety is advisable. Offering a creature gifts or services appropriate to its nature and power can be a literal Devil’s Bargain — accepting an additional consequence to gain an advantage.

Depending on your degree of outcome, a creature is willing to do different things:

• Limited Outcome allows you to ask questions of an Expert or demand a short period of physical labor from a Gang. They will not fight for you.
• Standard Outcome allows any service appropriate to the creature’s type, having it act in its typical role. Most creatures don’t mind fighting, but may have preferences about how they do it and what they do outside a fight.
• Great Outcome allows service outside the creature’s comfort zone, though not against its nature. Lengthy service — even within its comfort zone — also requires a Great Outcome, such as guarding treasure until it is stolen.

The position usually starts at Risky — the creature is compelled and may resist. Typical consequences, in ascending order of severity:

• Half-hearted efforts
• Demanding not to be summoned again
• Breaking things or demanding concessions
• A short fight to assert dominance
• Deliberate sabotage
• A constant struggle to maintain control

Chaos Gate

Portal to a plane of chaos.

The planes of Flux are known variously as Liminara or Fluxor, the first used by dreamers and poets, the second by wizards and scholars of the planes. These portals are unpredictable in nature, and the destination may vary each time they are opened. Exercise caution when using this ability, as it can lead to encounters with beings of immense power and unpredictability.

There are things that are possible to do here that are not allowed in the regular world. Appropriate 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 origin, but if they affect creatures there the effect may remain when you return to the mundane world.

This can also be used to contact creatures too powerful to summon. This allows you to ignore tier when creating the gate, but gives you no power over the target. The creature may then use the gate to come to you, call you into its presence, send minions, or communicate with you at a distance.

Command

Command the forces of chaos with unparalleled authority, compelling obedience and inciting independence among those who would heed your call. Position and effect depend on the situation and your relationship with listeners.

Call to Chaos

Flux intimidation.

You can create Flux effects such as as poltergeist activity and surges of raw chaos to heighten your authority, gaining leverage similar to what could be a achieved with threat such as displaying a weapon. This can provide the leverage needed to use Command to intimidate without actual threat of violence. Creatures of Flux might recognize you as a figure of authority.

Call to Companions

Flux signalling.

You can communicate with Flux creatures over any distance as long as you know the target, and a line-of-sight even if you do not. You can communicate with the most powerful creature related to your power in a vehicle or installation as long as you can see the exterior. The communication is simple and direct, suitable for the Command skill.

You can communicate with any creature, but the communication manifests randomly, as an omen or sign in nature. These messages are spooky, hard to interpret, and cannot be replied to.

Call to Freedom

Inspire independence.

Use this power to liberate allies or disrupt the plans of your adversaries. By inspiring independence and chaos in those around you, you can influence individuals as if you were their trusted friend. However, be mindful that encouraging independence may lead to actions that are not necessarily advantageous to your goals.

This is essentially a Fine attempt at communication, increasing your outcome compared to a normal attempt at Command. It works on any creature, but the only command you can give is for them to take independent action.

The position depends on the creatures' actual relationship to you—ordering a creature that sees itself as your superior is a desperate position. 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.

Call to Madness

Break a mind.

You permanently alter a creature's mind by adding chaos. This can remove existing loyalties and free the creature from societal pressure. You can only change them so much, use too much and the creature becomes eccentric, then mad, then raving insane.

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Consort

Embrace the chaotic nature of Flux to forge connections and shape reality itself, transforming both yourself and the world around you with boundless creativity.

Chaos Costume

Chaos accessories.

Through manipulation of chaotic energies, you can imbue your clothes and accessories with an ever-shifting appearance. This ability allows you to conceal your identity or create dazzling outfits that reflect the unpredictability of Flux, but it is not going to make you inconspicuous.

You can use this on your entire Crew as an Advanced ability.

Chaos Chimera

Transform into anything.

Chaos Chimera grants you the ability to transform into any form you desire, including composites of different creatures. However, this transformation is unstable and may have unforeseen consequences. While transformed, your actions may be affected by random fluctuations, making each transformation a gamble with uncertain but mostly positive results.

With limited outcome 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 outcome can make you a generic creature, very hard to recognize as yourself. Great outcome allows you to assume the shape and some of the personality of a specific creature you have studied.

Chaos Conversion

Transform crew.

Chaos Chimera on willing or helpless creatures. Their Consort determines if they can control further changes. The duration depends of the outcome, limited outcome is very temporary. Standard outcome lasts for the duration of a score. Great outcome 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 outcome, see Chaos Chimera.

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

Chaos Cascade

Transform gangs.

This power allows you to use Chaos Conversion on a large number of creatures, either willing or non-sentient, and give them a simple instruction. However, the chaotic nature of Flux ensures that these creatures are energetic and creative, but may interpret your commands creatively, leading to unpredictable outcomes.

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Finesse

Master the art of finesse and manipulation, wielding luck as a potent weapon to achieve precision strikes and subtle control over your surroundings.

Random Ride

Ride any mount or vehicle.

With the ability to ride any mount as if it were domesticated or a vehicle as if you were trained with it, you gain control over your means of transportation. The power of Flux means that even clear terrain can be tricky for you, while you are unusually lucky in rough terrain. You can bypass simple locks on vehicles, but not more serious security. You can ride beasts even if they are not trained to carry a rider. They must still be physically able to carry you.

Random Rumble

Pine and Potent melee attack.

Harnessing luck as a potent weapon, you can execute precise close-range attacks with remarkable accuracy. This power grants you the finesse and precision of a seasoned duelist, enabling you to strike with deadly precision at your adversaries. However, even more than most Flux attacks, repeated use gets harder and more dangerous.

Random Rover

A ride luckily appears.

When the situation demands it, you can manipulate fate so that a vehicle becomes available for you to use. You may be forced to steal or commandeer this vehicle, or it might became available trough an mistaken identity, mishap, or accident or pick you up as a hitcher.

Random Route

Find open route to travel.

You pick a seemingly random route for your crew to travel, that will luckily prove to be open and unobstructed.

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Hunt

Embark on a journey guided by blind luck and uncanny intuition, tracking prey and evading pursuit with the unpredictable grace of flux. Like many Flux power, each consecutive use is more dangerous.

Fickle Finder

Track by blind luck.

This works even if the quarry does not leave any mundane trail or clues. Consequences here are mainly to lose the trail, but depending on the environment and targets, it might lead you to get lost, into traps, or even into an ambush.

Fickle Focus

Lethal accident.

This is about as effective as traditional equipment; a fine and potent ranged weapon would be equally powerful in combat. Some targets may exhibit more or less vulnerability to specific types of attacks, and this power is very flexible in its effects as long as the environment has what you need. Lucky Shot can produce some very unlikely hits, making things spin out of control rather than inflicting regular damage.

Fickle Fortune

Cause random events.

Cause random events that disrupt the environment. These don't do direct damage, but can otherwise be significant and affect an area. Thinks like oil spills, sudden squalls, brownouts, and similar random disturbances.

Fickle Fate

Random area attack.

Lucky Shot with an Area (p. 221) effect. Does full damage to crew cohorts.

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Prowl

Sneak and move with stealth and agility. Again, luck only lasts so long, using Flux powers repeatedly risks worse and worse consequences.

Errant Evasion

Hide anywhere once.

Blend into your surroundings anywhere, protected by random distractions that confound the senses of those who seek to find you. These distraction are unlikely to last long, you better get into regular cover quickly.

Errant Errand

Avoid random dangers.

Move through environments with the ease of one blessed by fortune. Events seem to conspire in your favor, clearing obstacles and opening paths.

Errant Excursion

Crew Prowling.

Bring your allies along on your adventures, sharing the benefits of Errant Evasion and Errant Errand. They still use their own Prowl. The result is likely to be a group action.

Errant Emergence

Random Teleport.

Teleport to a random location within the same city or region, evading danger and gaining a chance to regroup and plan your next move. You can decide on a general area to go to, but no details on what place you teleport to, making this poor at intrusion but good at escape.

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Skirmish

Engage in combat with reckless abandon, unleashing chaos upon your foes and wielding the unpredictable power of flux to devastating effect.

Fracture Fortitude

Resist Flux Harm.

Absorb Flux energies. This allows you to ignore most harm from random events and to reduce the damage from Flux powers and accidents, including acts of sabotage, but not bombs or ambushes. You increase the effect of Skirmish rolls for endurance in such environments. Roll Skirmish to resist such Harm. 1-3: No reduction. 4-6: Reduce Harm by 1 level. Critical: Reduce Harm by 2 levels.

As a Master power, you can protect an ally for a score; as an Apex Power, you can protect your crew. Allies roll their own Skirmish dice.

Fracture Feint

Fine and Potent melee.

Unleash devastating attacks upon your foes with the power of Flux. This opens opportunities and causes accidents and fumbles. Similar to a standard Skirmish attack, but with Fine and Potent weaponry.

Fracture Fray

Negate Scale in melee.

Create distractions and obstructions that hinder your enemies and level the playing field. This power disrupts enemy formations and prevents them from overwhelming benefiting from Scale (p. 221). You attack like Fracture Feint.

Fracture Frenzy

Attack all in a melee.

Unleash chaos in all directions, striking out at multiple enemies simultaneously. Negate Scale (p. 221), attack all enemies in the fight, and do full damage to gang cohorts. This wide-ranging attack can turn the tide of battle in your favor, but be prepared for the unpredictable consequences of wielding such power.

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Study

Delve into the mysteries of Flux and uncover its secrets, gaining insights into the nature of chaos and unlocking its potential to reshape reality. The Outcome required depends on range:

• Limited Effect for touch.
• Standard Effect for line-of-sight.
• Great Effect to reach a target you know of or have some link to, but which is out of line-of-sight.

You can work with any item, power, or creature of Flux and various oddities.

Anomaly Appraisal

Identify Flux.

This gives the name and very basic information in narrative terms, but not details or actual rules.

Anomaly Analysis

Analyze Flux.

You learn of any powers or special abilities the target has. This includes actual rules and game effects.

Anomaly Archive

History of Flux.

Delve into the past and uncover the hidden history of objects and creatures of Flux. This power allows you to trace the origins of artifacts and beings, shedding light on their past and potential future.

Anomaly Aggregate

Analyze lots of Flux.

Extend your analysis to the area within Range (p. 221), scanning for Flux and its effects across a broad swath of territory. While more challenging at greater distances, this power provides valuable information for planning and strategizing. Identifies trouble spots and sensitive or accident-prone locations like Anomaly Analysis , and you can then use Anomaly Archive on three such phenomena.

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Survey

Peer through the veil of chaos to glimpse the future and perceive the world with newfound clarity, guided by the serendipitous whims of flux. The Outcome required depends on the target’s concealment:

• Limited Outcome finds targets hiding behind light cover or in distant places you can barely see.
• Standard Outcome allows you to perceive behind walls and into hard cover.
• Great Outcome allows you to perceive far-away places and locations you had no prior awareness of.

Wayward Win

Find random things.

Stumble upon valuable information, people, and paths through sheer chance. While these encounters may prove fortuitous, be wary of the dangers that lurk beneath the surface.

Wayward Watch

See randomness.

Peer through the veil of chaos to get random information of some utility, even if the use is not always obvious. This power also grants you insight into the nature of flux, allowing you to observe random events from afar.

Wayward Web

Vision of randomness.

Receive visions of future encounters with random entities or objects, pointing out future troubles. These glimpses into the future may provide valuable insights or warnings of impending danger.

Wayward World

Perceive all Flux.

Attune your senses to the chaotic energies around you, perceiving all random coincidences within Range (p. 221). This heightened awareness allows you to anticipate events and react accordingly, providing valuable information to yourself and your allies.

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Sway

Influence the minds of others with the subtle art of persuasion, tapping into the chaotic undercurrents of flux to sway hearts and minds alike.

All Sway Flux powers are dangerous and will often start at a bad Position.

Whim Wink

Universal translation.

You can speak to any creature, regardless of their nature or origin. You can also sense if any kind of creature is free to act as it wishes or is bound by conventions and orders.

Whim Woo

Spirited conversations.

You and your crew can establish communication with any being, transcending language barriers. This translation overcomes cultural barriers and is highly spirited but full of challenge and can easily turn offensive. You can meaningfully emote with creatures that lack a language.

Whim Whorl

Triggered randomness.

Implant random impulses in the minds of creatures, compelling them to act under specific conditions, but you cannot decide how they will act. These impulses manifest as drastic actions, bursts of egotism, spontaneous performances, or violent outbursts, depending on the circumstances.

Whim Warp

Break social bonds.

Free creatures from the constraints of domestication and control, granting them the freedom to act according to their own whims. This power liberates beings from any kind of oppression or control, including Powers and the effect of Rituals and empowers them to embrace their wild and untamed nature.

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Tinker

Craft reality itself with the capricious touch of Flux, shaping objects and forging connections with the serendipitous creativity of chaos. you can work anything, but the result may not be quite as expected. Even when there is no consequence, Tinker Flux is still unpredictable.

• Limited Outcome solves an immediate problem, then ends. Any effect achieved will last, such as a repair made with temporary tools.
• Standard Outcome construction, repair, or item lasts for the duration of a score.
• Great Outcome is semi-permanent. This does not make permanent kit, but it can make permanent effects to the setting, such as repairing a large construction like a bridge or wall.

Something larger than you are, very complex, or of higher Quality Level than your Tier increases the needed Outcome.

Position depends on the tranquility of your workspace and if you are working on something that is dangerous in itself.

For long-term projects, Tinker powers can substitute for missing tools, but that is all they do until you use the Apex ability.

Capricious Craft

Find thing you need.

Discover tools and components through sheer luck, finding exactly what you need at the most opportune moments. The effect depends on what is reasonable to expect to find where you are looking; in a scrapyard you usually start with Great Effect, on a very clean and polished street Limited Effect or even no Effect is reasonable.

Capricious Contraption

Inspired crafting.

Shape objects at random, molding them like clay to suit your needs. This power facilitates innovation and creativity, enabling you to overcome obstacles with ingenuity and resourcefulness. You do not have full control what you make, this ability often yields surprising and unexpected results.

Capricious Conjury

Random transmutation.

Transform objects into new forms, reshaping them into complex tools and items of value. This power allows for the creation of Fine and Potent items, limited only by your imagination and the chaotic nature of flux.

Wish

Create items on a whim.

Manifest objects through the power of sheer will, bringing forth items of great significance or utility. Whether it's a vehicle or a building, this power allows you to materialize your desires into reality. The result is always an object, often an exquisite artwork that also has a superlative function. Even more than other Flux powers, this tends to even out fate or apply poetic justice. If you have been fortunate lately or make many wishes, Wish is likely to have bad results.

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Wreck

Unleash devastation upon the world with the unstoppable force of chaos, tearing down obstacles and reshaping the very fabric of reality with reckless abandon.

Ruin Rip

Random breakage.

Objects unexpectedly break. The effects are random, but will benefit you in some way.

You can also use this as a weapon with similar effect to a sledgehammer. Even so results are somewhat random, but it will hit your target.

Ruin Rupture

Invoke entropy.

Channel chaos into objects, causing them to bend and crack under the strain. This works best on either old poorly maintained objects and construction or things that are brand new untested. You revel maintenance problems, hidden faults, design flaws, and bad batch items, breaking down machinery, vehicles, walls, and gates, or at least giving mechanical troubles to what is well tested and maintained.

This also works in close combat. With a well-placed strike, you can shatter obstacles and incapacitate foes, like a Fine and Potent sledgehammer.

Ruin Rot

Silent disintegration.

As Anarchic Impact, and you have two additional options. You either silently reduce targets to dust, or the destruction appears entirely accidental, an obviously natural accident or technological failure. This power allows for covert operations and stealthy take downs, leaving no clues behind.

Ruination

Area Ruin Rupture.

This power disrupts and disorients your adversaries, creating chaos and confusion on the battlefield. Leave a trail of destruction in your wake, twisting and deforming objects as you move through the environment. Unleash chaos on a massive scale, leveling entire city blocks and reshaping the landscape with devastating force. This power is the pinnacle of destruction, capable of laying waste to large areas with a single act of chaos.

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