Difference between revisions of "Mind Powers (FiD)"

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{{FiD}}
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{{FiD-Powers}}
[[Powers_(FiD)#Common_Power_Effects|Main Page is Powers]]
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Mind delves into Sapience and Intelligence.
Mind delves into sentience and intelligence. It is the power most associated with normal folk such as humans and alternate humans such as elves, orcs, social aliens, and other sentient creatures and even intelligent objects like control devices all the way up to sentient AI.
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As the Form of society and social connection, Mind concerns cognition, identity, and social awareness rather than raw problem-solving ability. 
 
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It is the Form most closely associated with people; humans and variant humans like elves, orcs, and other social beings.
Anthropomorphic man is the epitome of mind, a civilized being, part of a society, sapient and cultured if not necessarily human. It represents the end product of evolution and, by extension, ultimate intellect. It can exist independently of life, in machines and undead.
 
 
 
Mind attacks are mental bolts and blades that can only hurt sentient creatures.
 
  
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== Mind Abilities ==
 
{| class="wikitable"  
 
{| class="wikitable"  
|align="center" | '''Action'''  
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|valign=bottom | '''Action'''  
|align="center" | '''Basic'''    <br> No minimum    <br>  3 Stress
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|align="center" valign=bottom | '''Basic'''     
|align="center" | '''Advanced''' <br> Minimum 2 Dice <br>  5 Stress
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|align="center" valign=bottom | '''Advanced'''  
|align="center" | '''Master'''  <br> Minimum 4 Dice <br>  7 Stress
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|align="center" valign=bottom | '''Master'''   
|align="center" | '''Apex'''    <br> Minimum 6 Dice <br> 13 Stress
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|align="center" valign=bottom | '''Apex'''    
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|- 
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|valign=bottom | '''Dice '''
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|align="center" valign=bottom | —   
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Minimum 2d
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Minimum 4d 
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Minimum 6d      
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|-
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|valign=bottom | '''Stress'''
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Avoid fumble (2+).
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Succeed (4+).
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Full success (6).
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|align="center" valign=bottom | Critical (2 sixes).
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Attune'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Attune'''  
|valign="top"| '''Mind Monitor''' <br> You can detect sentient creatures and use of mind powers.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Conceptual Context|Conceptual Context]]''' <br> Detect Mind.
|valign="top"| '''Mindforge''' <br> You can end the operation of a mind ability. You can summon an spirit skilled in a particular action. These are not creatures, their advice gives +1d on their chosen action.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Conceptual Constraint|Conceptual Constraint]]''' <br> Dismiss Mind.
|valign="top"| '''Summon Hero'''   <br> You can summon folk from other planes, which is usually alternate realities. This is used to summon heroes in times of crisis. Learning who to summon may require study or be a a score in itself.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Conceptual Collapse|Conceptual Collapse]]''' <br> Merge Astral plane.
|valign="top"| '''Parallel Plane'''     <br> You can create a portal that allows travel to and from another reality for a limited time.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Conceptual Connection|Conceptual Connection]]''' <br> Summon hero.
 
 
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Command'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Command'''  
|valign="top"| '''Mental Mandate''' <br> You can command intelligent creatures even if normally couldn't, but you cannot understand them.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Telepathic Threat|Telepathic Threat]]''' <br> Telepathic leverage.
|valign="top"| '''Psyche Parley'''   <br> You and allies can communicate with intelligent creatures.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Telepathic Transfer|Telepathic Transfer]]''' <br> Signal sapients.
|valign="top"| '''Mental Monarchy'''   <br> You can give commands to intelligent creatures as if you were their superior. This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Telepathic Triumph|Telepathic Triumph]]''' <br> Command sapients.
|valign="top"| '''Thought Thrall'''   <br> You can permanently bind intelligent creatures to service. Unless affected by other powers, they will stay in one location and act according to your instructions, like very loyal and literal-minded goons.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Telepathic Thrall|Telepathic Thrall]]''' <br> Bind sapients.
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Consort'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Consort'''  
|valign="top"| '''Pretend Persona''' <br> You can an assume an identity and reflect it in your actions, such as a healer, noble, merchant etc. This the impression you give without changing your appearance.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Pretend Persona|Pretend Persona]]''' <br> Project a role.
|valign="top"| '''Assume Aspect'''   <br> You assume the form of a normal humanoid, such as humans and variant humans. Add 1d to one action and subtract 1d from all actions covered by an attribute except if you just raised one of them.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Polymorph Persona|Polymorph Persona]]''' <br> Transform self.
|valign="top"| '''Gift of Guise'''   <br> You can shapechange a willing or helpless creatures into any humanoid. This can be a curse, it can be broken but it is not easy. You can easily break the effect.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Project Persona|Project Persona]]''' <br> Project Persona on Crew.
|valign="top"| '''Gift of Gab'''     <br> You can give sentience and intelligence to non-sentient creatures, giving them roughly human intellect.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Paragon Persona|Paragon Persona]]''' <br> Increase intelligence.
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Finesse'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Finesse'''  
|valign="top"| '''Psychic Saddle'''               <br> If there is an intelligent (but not sentient) mount or vehicle, you can ride it as if it was domesticated and you had the keys.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Neural Navigation|Neural Navigation]]''' <br> Ride any intelligence.
|valign="top"| '''Neural Needle''' <br> You can use the power as a fine and potent close-range attack, similar in effect to a fine potent dueling sword or pistol.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Neural Needle|Neural Needle]]''' <br> Psychic attack.
|valign="top"| '''Neural Nudge'''         <br> You can do fine manipulation of the power, allowing you to do send small and exact suggestions to intelligent creatures. This allows you to make others open doors and perform other minor manipulations.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Neural Numbness|Neural Numbness]]''' <br> Induce reactive Mind.
|valign="top"| '''Psyche Surge'''             <br> Your power manifests like a storm of blades, suppressing the effect of multiple opponents and acting as a fine potent weapon.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Neural Nexus|Neural Nexus]]''' <br> Create astral realm.
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Hunt'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Hunt'''  
|valign="top"| '''Trace Thought'''             <br> You can focus on a particular thought and vaguely sense and track creatures that share this thought.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Cognitive Cue|Cognitive Cue]]''' <br> Track a thought.
|valign="top"| '''Mental Marksman''' <br> You can use your power to attack, similar in effect to a fine and potent rifle doing mental damage.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Cognitive Crosshairs|Cognitive Crosshairs]]''' <br> Mental snipe.
|valign="top"| '''Cognitive Cascade'''       <br> You can use your power to attack similar to a fine  and potent grenade. This allows you to fight many creatures in the same area very effectively, but there is a risk of collateral damage.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Cognitive Cascade|Cognitive Cascade]]''' <br> Manifest from astral space.
|valign="top"| '''Cognitive Cataclysm'''           <br> You call down the equivalent of a fine potent artillery barrage, attacking everything and intelligent creature in a wide area.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Cognitive Collapse|Cognitive Collapse]]''' <br> Psychic area attack.
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Prowl'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Prowl'''  
|valign="top"| '''Psychic Pursuit''' <br> You can hide in crowds and identify someone you know when you see them, even if normal identification is not possible.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Astral Alliance|Astral Alliance]]''' <br> Hide in crowds.
|valign="top"| '''Astral Ascent''' <br> You can detach your astral body, which is immaterial, transparent, and can hover. Any attack scatters it and sends your consciousness back to your body. While you project your astral body, your physical body is like an automaton; it can be led but takes no actions.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Astral Ascent|Astral Ascent]]''' <br> Astral body scouting.
|valign="top"| '''Astral Adventure''' <br> You send your and allies' astral bodies to any location you know of or into the presence of any creature you know.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Astral Adventure|Astral Adventure]]''' <br> Crew Prowl.
|valign="top"| '''Astral Gateway'''   <br> You send your and allies' astral bodies to other planes, into someone's dream, and other mystic locations not of this world.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Astral Anywhere|Astral Anywhere]]''' <br> Astral travel.
 
|-
 
|-
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Skirmish'''
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|align="left" valign="top" | '''Skirmish'''  
|valign="top"| '''Mental Melee'''   <br> You can use the power as a close-range mental attack, similar in effect to a melee weapon or pistol.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mindfulness|Mindfulness]]''' <br> Resist Mind.
|valign="top"| '''Psychic Strike''' <br> Same as Skirmish Attack, except the weapon is fine and potent.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mind Melee|Mind Melee]]''' <br> Mind melee attack.
|valign="top"| '''Cognitive Cover''' <br> Your power creates distractions that prevents an intelligent enemy from benefiting from numbers and otherwise works as a fine potent weapon.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mind Mastery|Mind Mastery]]''' <br> Gives Scale.
|valign="top"| '''Mental Storm'''   <br> Your power strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mind Merge|Mind Merge]]''' <br> Group Action.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Study'''   
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Study'''   
|valign="top"| '''Identify Intellect'''     <br> You can identify intelligent objects and creatures.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Identify Intellect|Identify Intellect]]''' <br> Identify intelligence.
|valign="top"| '''Analyze Intellect'''       <br> You learn the powers and abilities of something you analyze.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Inspect Intellect|Inspect Intellect]]''' <br> Analyze Mind.
|valign="top"| '''Past Perception'''         <br> You can read the past events of something you analyze. This includes previous owners and how the object has been moved around as well as significant scenes.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Infiltrate Intellect|Infiltrate Intellect]]''' <br> Enter dream.
|valign="top"| '''Universal Understanding''' <br> You research everything in a wide area. This is easy to do where you are, more difficult at range. You can then use hindsight on some of these targets.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Inescapable Intellect|Inescapable Intellect]]''' <br> Area analyze Mind.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Survey'''   
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Survey'''   
|valign="top"| '''Thought Trace'''   <br> You can sense manifestations of the mind power at a distance and understand their general nature. This works even when you can't see the target, but both range and information suffers.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Thought Trace|Thought Trace]]''' <br> Sense Mind.
|valign="top"| '''Astral Assembly''' <br> Choose an ally; you can send your astral body to their location. See prowl: Astral Ascent.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Thought Thread|Thought Thread]]''' <br> Astral messenge.
|valign="top"| '''Astral Audience''' <br> Choose a location or creature. You send your astral body to that location.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Thought Tether|Thought Tether]]''' <br> Astral spying.
|valign="top"| '''Psychic Panorama''' <br> You perceive from all intelligent creatures at once over a wide area.  As long as you concentrate you retain this perception and can report what you see to others.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Thought Topology|Thought Topology]]''' <br> Perceive from many sapients.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Sway'''   
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Sway'''   
|valign="top"| '''Intellectual Intuition''' <br> You can understand intelligent creatures even if normally couldn't, and gauge their motivations.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Eloquent Empathy|Eloquent Empathy]]''' <br> Understand motivations.
|valign="top"| '''Intelligent Interpreter''' <br> You and allies can communicate with intelligent creatures.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Eloquent Exchange|Eloquent Exchange]]''' <br> Crew can communicate.
|valign="top"| '''Eloquent Enchantment'''   <br> You can post suggestions in the mind of intelligent creatures, which will be triggered under conditions you specify. Common suggestions are to steal something, attack someone, or ignore some event. This is a subtle power, but easier to spot once triggered.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Eloquent Enchantment|Eloquent Enchantment]]''' <br> Suggestions to sapients.
|valign="top"| '''Cognitive Conversion'''   <br> You change the personality and motivations of intelligent creatures. This power is permanent, but blatant. The target remember their past, but regard it as unimportant compared to their new motivations.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Eloquent Enlightenment|Eloquent Enlightenment]]''' <br> Bind sapients.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Tinker'''   
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Tinker'''   
|valign="top"| '''Automation'''       <br> You imbue mind into objects. Handle can create simple triggers, like a push button.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mnemonic Modification|Mnemonic Modification]]''' <br> Reactive mechanisms.
|valign="top"| '''Create Cognition''' <br> You can imbue limited intelligence in an object, allowing it to sense a situation nearby and react by directing whatever abilities the item may have or send a mental alarm.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mnemonic Mechanism|Mnemonic Mechanism]]''' <br> Reactive devices.
|valign="top"| '''Install Intellect''' <br> You can imbue limited intelligence able to hold simple conversations. With Attune: Mindforge you can  make sentient items.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mnemonic Matrix|Mnemonic Matrix]]''' <br> Imbue intelligence.
|valign="top"| '''Mass Mind'''         <br> This is similar to create, above, but you mass produce intelligent objects, even a set of different objects.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Mnemonic Manifold|Mnemonic Manifold]]''' <br> Mass Mnemonic Mechanism.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Wreck'''   
 
|align="left" valign="top" | '''Wreck'''   
|valign="top"| '''Disrupt Device''' <br> You mess with intelligence in items, that is their ability to react to the environment. Noisy and leaves the damaged object in place.  
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Prohibition Protocol|Prohibition Protocol]]''' <br> Jam intelligent items.
|valign="top"| '''Sabotage System''' <br> Similar to Disrupt Device. Can also mess with control surfaces like buttons or steering.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Pervert Protocol|Pervert Protocol]]''' <br> Disable networks.
|valign="top"| '''Silent Sabotage''' <br> Similar to Sabotage System, but destroyed targets are disabled silently or you can remove certain functions from them, such as the ability to sense you and allies.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Parasitic Protocol|Parasitic Protocol]]''' <br> Silent system sabotage.
|valign="top"| '''Terminate Tech''' <br> Similar to Sabotage System, but over a large area. This can negate control devices over a large area, forcing everyone to rely on manual handling of objects.
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|valign="top"| '''[[#Pandemonium Protocol|Pandemonium Protocol]]''' <br> Area system sabotage.
 
|}
 
|}
  
== Expanded Water Powers ==
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== What is Mind ==
Expanded descriptions of effects that differ significantly from [[Powers (FiD)#Typical Powers and How to Use Them|Typical Powers]].
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Mind governs perception of self, understanding of others, abstract reasoning, culture, language, and moral judgment. 
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While often found in living creatures, Mind can exist independently of life, inhabiting spirits, elementals, machines, and certain undead.
 +
 
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Anthropomorphic creatures are the archetypal expression of Mind: civilized beings embedded in societies, capable of reflection, cooperation, and ethical reasoning. 
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Mind represents the ability to conceptualize, plan, judge, and belong, rather than instinct or immediate reaction.
 +
 
 +
=== Categories of Mind ===
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These terms have specific meanings when used with Mind powers.
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 +
Mind powers primarily affect '''[[#Intelligent |Intelligent]]''' and '''[[#Sapient |Sapient]]''' targets. 
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Effects that rely on identity, belief, guilt, ideology, long-term motivation, or moral reasoning require Sapience.
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Mind attacks are immaterial assaults on cognition, will, and identity rather than physical or neurological force. 
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They can only affect [[#Intelligent |Intelligent]] and [[#Sapient |Sapient]] targets, as creatures without internal models, abstract thought, or selfhood have nothing for such attacks to strike.
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==== Insensate ====
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Lacks the capacity to perceive, interpret, or meaningfully respond to sensory input.
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Insensate entities do not register illusion, deception, or intent, and cannot be influenced by effects that rely on awareness or interpretation.
 +
This makes them immune to [[Illusion Powers (FiD)|Illusion]] and Mind abilities.
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Some insensate things, such as plants and fungi, may react to stimuli, but only over hours or days rather than moments.
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Objects, plants, inert matter, and the simplest forms of life are typically insensate.
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 +
==== Reactive ====
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Creatures or objects without an internal model of the world who operate primarily on basic survival instincts. They respond automatically to environmental stimuli but do not demonstrate learning, complex problem-solving, or higher reasoning.
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Most [[Animal Powers (FiD)|animals]] such as insects, most herbivores, and primitive predators, simple [[Death Powers (FiD)|undead]], [[Abyss Powers (FiD)|lesser elemental]] creatures and basic constructs such as simple robots fall into this category.
 +
These beings lack the complexity of intellect to be affected by Mind powers and are instead affected by [[Animal_Powers_(FiD)|Animal]] or an appropriate elemental form.
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==== Intelligent ====
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Beings capable of learning, planning, and pursuing goals. They can model situations and respond flexibly but may lack stable self-identity, culture, or moral frameworks in relation to other creatures.
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Smarter [[Animal Powers (FiD)|animals]], clever monsters, artificial intelligences, and most [[Death Powers (FiD)|undead]] are Intelligent.
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An intelligent creature can be very creative and solve complex problems, can follow instinctive social norms such as a pack hierarchy, but cannot follow a pluralistic society and gets stressed and confused in such settings.
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==== Sapient ====
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The defining trait of civilized beings such as humans, elves, orcs, and other social peoples. Sapient beings possess self-awareness, abstract reasoning, language, culture, and moral judgment. They can engage meaningfully with creatures of different species and cultures, potentially applying empathy, reflection, and social reasoning across complex societies.
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Sapience is not a measure of raw intelligence, but of the ability to participate in sustained social and moral systems. 
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Even super-intelligent artificial intelligences, [[Monster_(FiD)|monsters]], and [[Spirit_(FiD)|spirits]] are rarely Sapient. Most Powers that can affect [[#Sapient |Sapient]] targets can also affect [[#Intelligent |Intelligent]] creatures.
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<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
  
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== Expanded Mind Abilities ==
 
=== Attune ===
 
=== 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.
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Connect with the mental realm and harness psychic energies for powerful manifestations.
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The position usually starts controlled, with the usual consequence that you cannot try again. If the setting is chaotic or violent, your position worsens.
  
'''Perceive:'''
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Unlike most forms, Mind does not have a class of supernatural creatures at its beck and call.
''You can detect creatures and power use tied to your power.  
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It uses the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral plane]] a lot, but is not connected to it or its creatures the way other Forms are.
 +
It is possible to summon [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures, but they are not native to other planes, rather they must be summoned from [[#Cosmology_(FiD)#Parallel_Worlds|parallel realities]], which is quite difficult and comes with precious little control.
  
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.
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==== Conceptual Context ====
Naturally, effect is reduced as the creature is more heavily obscured.
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Detect Mind.
The position usually starts controlled, with the usual consequence that you cannot try again.
 
  
'''Dismiss:'''
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You can detect [[Mind_Powers_(FiD)#Intelligent|intelligence]] and [[#Sapient|sapience]] where you don't expect it, but is also useful to detect Mind powers.
''You can force a creature based on this power that is native to another plane of existence to return to that plane, or to end the operation of an ability of the power you use.
 
  
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.
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Limited Outcome suffices against a creature you can clearly see. You need greater Outcome against a creature that is hidden (standard Outcome) or behind a wall (great Outcome).
The consequences of this depends entirely on what happens around you when you do it.
 
If a powerful creature resists being dispelled, its obviously dangerous.  
 
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.
 
  
Dispelling is usually easier, but not always.
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==== Conceptual Constraint ====
Most powers only dispel effects of their own power.
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Dismiss Mind.
Read this generously.
 
As an example, the fire power can dispel any fire power, but also powers that affect flames and heat sources, as well as powers that affect fire creatures.
 
It can be used as a defense against others' use of power, or it can be used to break the continuing effects of powers.  
 
  
Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using powers.  
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You can end the operation of a Mind ability and force any Spirit to materialize or dematerialize.
The position is controlled, possibly risky if there are a lot of other dangers around.
+
Limited effect creates an opening that makes the supported action potent.  
+
Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using mind powers. Opposed success creates an opening that makes the supported action potent. Full success improves the position of the supported action. Critical success improves both position and Outcome.
Normal effect improves the position of the supported action.
+
When used directly, the starting effect is usually standard, which causes an ongoing ability to crash.
Great effect improves both position and effect of the supported power.
+
Against an opponent that uses power to fly or even breathe you can have a better effect.
 +
Poor targeting increases the needed Outcome.
  
When used directly, the effect is usually limited unless the opponent is relying on powers for their safety.
+
{{ : Include Attune Dispel Materialize Spirits (FiD) }}
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.
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==== Conceptual Collapse ====
 +
Merge Astral plane.
  
'''Summon:'''
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In an Area (p 221) you take down the barrier between the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|Astral]] and whatever plane you are on or near, usually the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#The_Prime|Prime]] plane.  
''You can call a creature from a place of your power. This is generally an unwilling servant. It will obey one command from you and this can be extended. Learning who to summon may require study or be a score in itself.
+
This allows astral creatures to interact fully with the physical world, but also removes their protection, they are now effectively on the physical plane and must move out of the Area to regain the advantages of being astral.
  
What a "place of your power" means depends on the setting, but is always a different place that you normally cannot interact with.
+
This creates a door between worlds, and because of how travel on the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral plane]] is instantaneous, there is a risk of creatures on the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral plane]] using this breech to escape into the physical world and vice-verso.  
This is usually a parallel world or plane of existence, dominated by your power.
+
This can be an immediate Consequence, but can have long-lasting effects on the story.
So fire summons creatures from a very fiery place, air summons from a very airy place and so on.
 
These places can be unique to each power, or one big place where different places are dominated by different powers.
 
It might also be from other places in your own world, exotic regions of your own world or distant planets like Pluto or starts like Aldebaran.
 
This is the usual explanation in the cosmic horror genre.
 
In a science-fiction setting with powers this is usually related to faster-than-light travel, so if ships travel through hyperspace, this is also where summons come from.
 
If travel is by gate, the medium the gate stretches through is where summons come from, and so on.
 
The Gate power of Attune is the usual way to get to these places.
 
  
Summoning can bring you allies to fight, but more commonly you summon a spirit to do some specific task related to your power. Summons can use most power effects and maintain power effects you have created.
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==== Conceptual Connection ====
They can also give advice and information related to their power.
+
Summon hero.
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.
 
  
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.
+
You contact a hero from an [[#Cosmology_(FiD)#Parallel_Worlds|parallel world]]. This is used to ask advice or to summon a hero in times of crisis.
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.
 
Doin this kind of preparation also counts as a set-up action for your summoning, even if you are doing it in a flashback.
 
  
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.
+
Mind is the Form of thoughts, and the power will focus on a person with the right abilities and mentality that you need, but consequences may alter this.
 +
These Consequences depend on how odd your motivations are and how odd an hero you want to summon.
 +
* If you have few hangups and few demands, the Position is Controlled.
 +
* Most hero summoning is Risky an long as yo only specify one thing about the hero; area of competence, personality, or form.
 +
* If you are a shut-in and you want a very specific type of necromancer hero, the Position is Desperate.  
  
Spirits generally come in three types, elementals, spirits, and creatures with powers.  
+
Depending on your degree of outcome, the power may only allow communication or summon a hero for a longer or shorter time.
 +
* '''Limited Outcome''' does not actually summon anyone, but establishes a connection, you can communicate and ask questions or you can look around to seek a particular type of individual to contact.
 +
* '''Standard Outcome''' summons them for a short while, assisting you on a single score, and you can dismiss a hero that wants to be sent home.
 +
* '''Great Outcome''' summons them until they are sent home, and you can dismiss a hero that wishes to remain.
  
Elementals only exist for powers that have a direct physical manifestation, like the four classic elements of air, earth, fire, and water, but also the other forms that have a physical manifestation, electricity, ice, metal, and plant.
+
This also allows your crew to travel to a [[#Cosmology_(FiD)#Parallel_Worlds|parallel world]], but there is usually little reason to do so.
An elemental is a simple creature totally dominated by its power.
 
Most elementals have animal intelligence, and often take the shape of animals as well, tough animated chunks of matter and humanoid forms are also common.
 
  
Spirits are similar to elementals in that they are made out of the stuff of their power, but the powers that create spirits are less material. This makes spirits ephemeral, less physically oriented, and usually more intelligent than elementals.
+
''Highly disruptive to the game, a long-lasting hero summon would compete for the limelight.  
They can use sophisticated power effects and usually have an agenda of their own.
+
''It works well as the backstory of a character that otherwise wouldn't fit the setting, and might be the basis for a whole campaign of people doing heroics in a different world.
Darkness, Death, Flux, Illusion, Order, and Space can summon spirits.
 
  
Creatures with powers resemble normal creatures, most having a biological body, metabolism, and functioning as ordinary living creatures but also some exceptional abilities related to their power.
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
A fire dragon is impossibly large, flies, and breathes fire.
 
An air turtle hovers and can grow to massive size, to the point where a city can be built on top of them.
 
An undead creature is a corpse animated by the powers of Death.
 
And so on.
 
Not all creatures with powers are summonable or dismissible, many are native to this world and have no special vulnerability to Attune power effects.
 
  
Depending on your degree of effect the creature is willing to do different things.
+
=== Command ===
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 afterwards.
+
Impose your will upon the minds of [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures.
  
Standard effect allows you to ask for any service appropriate to the type of creature. A devil will do evil, a fire elemental will burn stuff, and so on.
+
==== Telepathic Threat ====
This includes dangerous tasks such as combat if the creature has such abilities, which most of them do.
+
Telepathic leverage.
  
Great effect allows actions outside the creature's comfort zone, but not things it directly opposes. A devil will do most things except those associated with Light, a fire elemental will heat your forge or power your steam engine. Lengthy service also requires great effect, like summoning the creature to guard a treasure for as long as it can.
+
You can induce leverage telepathically regardless of language, useful for intimidating and commanding foreign or alien [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures.
 +
This provides the leverage needed to use Command to intimidate without an open threat of violence.
  
The position is usually risky. The creature is being forced to serve and might lash out.
+
==== Telepathic Transfer ====
Typical consequences are:
+
Signal sapients.
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.
+
You can telepathically communicate with [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures you know over any range, and at line-of-sight even to strangers. 
 +
You can communicate with the most powerful [[#Sapient|sapient]] in a vehicle or installation as long as you can see the exterior.
  
Desperate position usually comes from trading position for effect, but it might come from a difference in ethos.
+
The communication is simple and direct, as fits the Command Action and Mind reaches above language barriers.
If you are a priest of light and summon a demon, or if the summon is three or more tiers above you the position will be desperate.
+
Either party can end the communication at any time.
Consequences include the spirit demanding you sell your soul, become its agent in the world, that you come to its home plane to serve it there for a time (usually three scores), that you defeat the creature in a duel or similar dramatic story events.  
 
  
'''Gate:'''
+
==== Telepathic Triumph ====
''You can create a portal that allows travel to and from the plane of your power for a limited time.
+
Command sapients.
  
This is rarely useful, but can be under exceptional circumstances.
+
[[#Sapient|Sapient]] creatures will see you as an officer, professional superior, alpha, or other leader type outranking them.
As outlined under Summoning above most powers are linked to a different world where that power is dominant.
+
This is essentially an attempt at Command from a position of strength, increasing your base Effect compared to a normal attempt.
There are also things that are possible to do on these planes that are not allowed in the regular world, most 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 where you perform them, but if they affect creatures on that plane, the effect may remain when you return to the mundane world.
 
  
Gating can allow access to creatures too powerful to summon, so you instead ask for an audience.  
+
This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts.
The creature may then use the gate to come to you, call you into its presence, or just communicate with you.
+
Understanding the social order of your targets helps avoid conflict with their established loyalties.
  
Using a gate is usually played out as a score, which means there is an engagement roll.
+
Ordering city guards to ignore a disturbance requires greater Outcome than ordering them to deal with it and move on, because their duty is to protect the city.
Depending on how quickly the matter is resolved, the game master may require a separate game to return home again.
 
However 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 and without doing it as a score.
 
  
=== Command ===
+
Position depends on the creature’s actual relationship to you:
Command creatures based on your power with communication and authority.
+
* Ordering a creature that sees itself as your superior is a '''Desperate''' Position.
Position and effect is determined normally, depending ion the situation and your relation to listeners.
+
* A creature that agrees you outrank it is usually a '''Controlled''' Position, with Consequences focused on limiting retries.
If you know several powers and use a Command power but don't know what type of creature you are facing, it works as long as you have the appropriate power. You need not select a specific type of creature in advance.
+
* A creature that sees itself as your equal is usually a '''Risky''' Position, potentially leading to Heat, misunderstood orders, or small rebellions.
If you try to Command a type of creature and don't the appropriate power, effect is at best limited—the game master may judge that Command skill can be used non-verbally, but often you will have no effect at all. 
 
This still has the normal stress cost.
 
  
'''Communicate:'''
+
==== Telepathic Thrall ====
''You can make creatures understand you, but you do not understand them.
+
Bind sapients.
  
This is useful because it allows you to intimidate creatures of your power and to command foreign or alien subordinates.
+
This will not work unless you are already in a position of power over the target.
Combined with the basic power of Sway allows two-way communication.
+
This functions like Telepathic Triumph, but the Effect is permanent rather than situational.
  
'''Translate:'''
+
The initial Position is usually '''Desperate''' unless the target is already restrained, subordinate, or socially broken. 
You and allies can communicate with creatures based on your power.
+
Strong emotions, conflicting authority, or major narrative upheaval can break your control; otherwise, it lasts until dispelled.
This allows full conversation with creatures of the power.
 
It is still a Command ability, it is more forceful and less subtle than the Sway equivalent.
 
  
'''Authority:'''
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
''You can give commands to creatures based on your power, as if you were their superior. This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts.
 
  
This is more powerful than a normal Command action, having about one additional level of effect, but it is not absolute.
+
=== Consort ===
Creatures of the relevant type will understand your orders.
+
Adopt new roles, or bestow them upon others.
  
Targets will see you as an officer, professional superior, alpha, or other leader type outranking them.
+
==== Pretend Persona ====
It is very helpful to have a grasp of the social order of your targets, as this allows you to avoid conflicting with their established loyalties.
+
Project a role.
Ordering city guards to return to barracks and ignore a disturbance is much harder (lower effect) than to tell them to scatter the disturbance and move on, because their task is to protect the city.
 
Limited effect can lead to a creature not doing what it is supposed to, such as reporting you or giving you a speeding ticket.
 
Standard effect makes the creature do what it is supposed to in a way you decide, such as a police escorting you to a safe location or do you a favor that is quick, such as letting you past a checkpoint even if they ought not to.
 
Great effect means targets will go out of their way to please you, such as warriors from a neutral faction fighting for you, enemies ignoring you or even fleeing.  
 
  
The position depends on the creatures' actual relationship to you—a creature that perceives itself as your superior will use a stronger rebuke.
+
You can assume an identity such as a healer, noble, merchant, etc. This changes your actions, the way you move, and the way you speak, altering the impression you give without changing your shape or appearance.
A controlled position comes from a creature that agrees you are superior to it, and usually just means that trying again is harder.
+
You are acting the role so naturally that people will assume you are who you pretend to be.
A risky position is typical against a creature that perceives itself an equal to you, and not your enemy. This might lead to heat, misunderstood orders, or that targets rebel in small ways.
+
You can allow your crew to do this as an Advanced ability, but they use their own Consort action rating.
  
'''Enslave:'''
+
You can use this on your entire Crew as an Advanced ability.
''You can permanently bind creatures to service. Unless affected by other powers, they will stay in one location and act according to your instructions, like very loyal and literal-minded goons.
 
  
Obviously a broken ability, and one that will have a low effect unless you are already in a position of power.
+
==== Polymorph Persona ====
The effect is similar to the authority, the difference is that this is a long-lasting and potentially permanent effect.
+
Transform self.
A creature that is under the care of your enemies will likely break the effect after some time, and a creature confronted with something it used to feel very strongly about might break your control, but it otherwise lasts until removed by other effects.
 
  
=== Consort ===
+
You take the form of a [[#Sapient|sapient]] creature.  
Utilize the power of Consort to change forms and manipulate objects imbued with your power.
+
This includes humans and whatever else is [[#Sapient|sapient]] in the setting, such as elves, dwarves, civilized aliens, and uplifted animals.
You not only understand how to behave to conform to social norms, you change your own (and alter others') physical form.
+
This is an actual physical transformation.
  
'''Mask:'''
+
* Limited outcome allows transformation into yourself like you would have been, had you grown up as the creature whose mind you assume. Those familiar with you will still recognize you.
''You can change your clothes and accessories by imbuing them with your power. This can mask your identity or create fabulous outfits.
+
* Standard outcome can make you a generic creature, very hard to recognize as yourself.
 +
* Great outcome allows you to assume the shape and personality of a specific creature you have studied.
  
You do not physically change yourself, you accessorize and change your outfit.
+
==== Project Persona ====
The effect is usually limited and the position controlled, but some changes might be more extreme than this.
+
Project Persona on Crew.
  
'''Shapechange:'''
+
You can use Polymorph Persona on your entire Crew or on a willing or helpless creature.  
''You assume the form of another creature that manifests your power. Add 1d to one action and subtract 1d from all actions covered by an attribute except if you just raised one of them.
+
The duration depends of the outcome.
  
This is a true physical transmutation.
+
* Limited outcome is very temporary.
You need not assume the form of an existing creature, as long as the gamemaster agrees your new form matches the power you use.  
+
* Standard outcome lasts for the duration of a score.
This can give you new abilities, but these are things you could already do using the same power.
+
* Great outcome lasts a long time and potentially become permanent, depending on the the story.
You may get away without having to use each specific power, at the cost of losing some of the abilities of your original form.
+
If you also want to make the target unrecognizable, that requires additional outcome, see Polymorph Persona.
So if you turn into a fish you don't have to use powers to swim and breathe water, but you are close to helpless on land.
 
  
If desired your transmutation might benefit an action relevant to your new form, at the cost of lowering all the actions covered by a specific attribute.
+
This is sometimes used as a kind of poetic justice, transforming the target as a punishment, a curse that is very hard to break.
You rating in the improved action increases by one.
+
It can even be a faux resurrection, transforming the mind and body of a target into that of a loved one, tough this will never be perfect, intimate details of personality and memory will always be missing.
The actions covered by your weakened attribute are all reduced by one, except that if you chose the attribute that governs your improved action, this action gains the benefit and does not suffer the penalty.
 
  
''Example
+
==== Paragon Persona ====
''Jillyan uses the Animal power to turn herself into a monkey. She gains a +1 bonus to the Prowl action, but suffers a -1 penalty to Finesse Skirmish and Wreck. She does not suffer the penalty on Prowl, as that is the action that was improved. If the penalty had instead been applied to Insight, Hunt, Study, Survey and Tinker would all have suffered the penalty.
+
Increase intelligence.
  
'''Transform:'''
+
This creates intelligence and the ability to communicate in a creature that lack it.  
''You can shapechange a willing or helpless creature into a form imbued by your power. This can be a curse, it can be broken but it is not easy. You can easily break the effect.
+
This usually lasts for a score but can be made permanent using long-term actions.
  
This is the shapechange power applied to another creature.
+
Creating permanent intelligence is a long term project, but even short term intelligence can allow you to discuss and learn from the temporarily awakened, who will retain simple memories from before their awakening.  
The duration depends of the effect, limited effect is very temporary, more of a warning.  
+
It is an 8 tick long term project to make each stage of this transformation permanent.
Standard effect lasts for the duration of a score.
 
Great effect lasts a long time and potentially become permanent, depending on the development of the story.
 
Other abilities can be used to reverse such a transformation.
 
  
You cannot use this on a powerful opponent that cannot be defeated by a single successful action.
+
* Limited Outcome can turn an [[#Intelligent |Intelligent]] creature [[#Sapient |Sapient]]. 
You may have to confront them in several scenes to finally get them to the point where you can transform them.
+
* Standard Outcome can make a [[#Reactive |Reactive]] creature [[#Sapient |Sapient]]. 
 +
* Great Outcome can make an [[#Insensate|Insensate]] thing [[#Intelligent|Intelligent]].
 +
You can increase intelligence to a lower level if desired.
  
'''Wild Hunt:'''
+
Such a creature begins with a child-like devotion to you, but over time develops its own personality, including going through rebellious phases even if you treat them well.
''You can transform a large number of willing or non-sentient creatures and give them a simple instruction, typically someone for them to hunt.
+
Consequences can make the creature hostile.
  
This is where Consort becomes a combination of the Shapechange and Summon power effects.
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
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.
 
Essentially you turn them into single-minded minions.
 
Targets must be willing, non-sentient like animals, or just very minor figures in the plot, likely several 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 turned into lesser servants, like the scene with the fairy godmother from Disney's Cinderella.
 
  
 
=== Finesse ===
 
=== Finesse ===
Exercise finesse with your power, manipulating and attacking with precision.
+
Utilize refined psychic control and mobility in both the physical and astral planes.
 +
 
 +
==== Neural Navigation ====
 +
Ride any intelligence.
 +
 
 +
If there is a friendly [[#Reactive |reactive]] or [[#Intelligent |intelligent]] (but not [[#Sapient|sapient]]) mount or vehicle, you can ride it as if it was domesticated and you had the keys.
 +
This works on a creature of animal intelligence and gives it the training required to act as a mount. It works on smart vehicles as long as they are not [[#Sapient|sapient]].
 +
 
 +
==== Neural Needle ====
 +
Psychic attack.
 +
 
 +
You focus your mental power into a fine and potent close-range attack, similar to a fine potent psychic dueling sword or pistol.
  
'''Ride:'''
+
In a fight, using this does not take any more time, activating your attack power is equivalent to drawing a weapon, no more, no less.
''If there is a mount or vehicle of the appropriate power, you can ride it as if it was domesticated and you have the keys. You can move and breathe in conditions manifesting your power without damage or hindrance.
+
Inflicts psychic damage, which is fine against [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures but weak against [[#Reactive |reactive]] creatures and useless against things that lack any kind of mind.
 +
It works perfectly in [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]].
  
This allows you to use Finesse with mounts and vehicles you are not familiar with, allowing Finesse to substitute for Command and Tinker actions that could do the same thing.
+
==== Neural Numbness ====
 +
Induce reactive Mind.
  
'''Duel:'''
+
A creature is disoriented and finds it hard to make decisions, their minds momentarily reduced to a [[#Reactive |reactive]] state.
''You can use the power as a fine and potent close-range attack, similar in effect to a fine potent dueling sword or pistol, or you can give your friends the Ride ability for the duration of a score.
+
If an appropriate action is obvious, such as if they are being attacked, targets will recover quickly, but they may respond slowly if allies are attacked, and otherwise will blunder about responding to immediate needs before returning to normal. {{ Include Finesse Master }}
  
What this actually does depends on the power used.
+
==== Neural Nexus ====
Fire burns, wind slices, ice pieces or freezes, and so on.
+
Create astral realm.
Certain targets may be more or less vulnerable to certain attacks, but this is the exception.
 
Besides variety, this only substitutes for equipment, fine and potent finesse weapon is just as effective.
 
In a fight, using this does not take any more time, activating your attack power is equivalent to drawing a weapon, no more, no less.
 
  
'''Manipulate:'''
+
You can create a structure in [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]], technically a small [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Havens|astral haven]] or [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Dreamscapes|Dreamscape]].
''You can do fine manipulation of the power, allowing you to do small and exact manipulations at range. This allows you to open doors, trigger or hinder mechanisms, or perform other minor manipulations, as long as the target is appropriate to your power.
+
This is typically a ship, a house, or a redoubt that can serve as a vehicle, an abode, and a base. All variants can move in astral space.
 +
Creatures inside your nexus cannot use astral travel, which affords you a way to temporarily trap them for a confrontation, until they break out of the Nexus.
 +
You must lure them inside or create the nexus around them for this to work.
  
This allows you to manipulate small amounts of matter governed by your power.  
+
Higher Outcome creates a larger, more elaborate nexus, from a small hut to a large building. Position is normally Controlled, but you can create it to surround creatures which is at least Risky. You can also increase the duration by worsening Position, which usually results in attracting attention from things in the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral plane]].
This is similar to what you could do by hand, but you can do so at a distance of ten meters or so, allowing you to push buttons, trigger devices, and perform legerdemain at short range. This can substitute for simple Tinker actions, but nothing complicated.
 
  
'''Surge:'''
+
You can make a permanent nexus as a 12-tick long-term project for a Limited Outcome, two such clocks for a Standard Outcome, four times for Great Outcome.
''Your power manifests like a storm of blades, suppressing the effect of multiple opponents and acting as a fine potent weapon. You can choose to affect multiple targets.
 
  
You create ans use weapon like Duel above, and also create distractions.
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
The effect is like having a number of trusty but entirely defensive allies in the fight.
 
This negates the advantage an enemy gets for having allies of their own, but is otherwise the same as Duel.
 
  
 
=== Hunt ===
 
=== Hunt ===
Track, attack, and unleash devastating barrages with the power of Hunt.
+
Track and attack targets using focused mental energy.
As you advance in power, the scope of your attacks becomes greater, allowing you to control significant areas and cause widespread destruction.
+
All these abilities work just as well in [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]] and in physical reality.
At short range, this is dangerous to you and yours.
 
  
'''Track:'''
+
==== Cognitive Cue ====
''You can track and pursue based on your power, even if the target does not leave any mundane trail or clues.
+
Track a thought.
  
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.
+
You focus on a particular thought and vaguely sense and track creatures that share this thought.
 +
This works best (needs Limited Outcome) on creatures that are very focused on a difficult task, such as someone driving in an unfamiliar location or a tracker in pursuit of a quarry.
 +
A target that is whimsical, drunk, or asleep requires great Outcome.
 +
The age of the tracks and the number of other minds that left similar traces reduces your Outcome.
 +
This works in [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]] as well as in physical reality.
  
'''Potent Snipe:'''
+
==== Cognitive Crosshairs ====
''You can use your power to attack, similar in effect to a fine and potent rifle.
+
Mental snipe.
  
The effect of this action varies depending on the nature of your power.
+
You can make an attack similar to a Fine and Potent rifle, but inflicting mental damage.
For instance, fire will burn, wind can slice, ice might pierce or freeze, and so forth.  
+
Using an attack power is much the same as shooting a weapon, no more, no less.  
While some targets may exhibit more or less vulnerability to specific types of attacks, this is the exception rather than the rule.
+
Cognitive Crosshairs inflicts potent psychic damage, which is weak against [[#Reactive |reactive]] creatures and useless against things that lack any kind of mind.
Essentially, this ability serves as a versatile replacement for traditional equipment; a fine and potent finesse weapon would be equally effective in combat.  
 
Moreover, using this action in a fight doesn't consume any additional time; activating your attack power is akin to drawing a weapon—neither faster nor slower.
 
  
'''Environmental Control
+
==== Cognitive Cascade ====
''You can alter environments by controlling or introducing the element of your power. You can change the environment of a single room indoors or a city block outdoors.
+
Manifest from astral space.
  
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.
+
You and your crew can physically manifest your astral bodies. You must first project your [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Projection|astral body]] (perhaps using [[#Astral_Ascent|Prowl Mind: Astral Ascent]]) and then travel to the desired location.  
Environmental Control does not inflict any direct damage.
 
  
'''Area Attack:'''
+
You can then use this ability to move your astral body into the physical world. This body functions like your normal body and carries clothes and a light load. It is visually distinctive by being monochrome.
''You can use your power to attack similar to a fine and potent grenade. This allows you to fight many creatures in the same area very effectively, but there is a risk of collateral damage.
+
Duration depends on your Outcome.
  
An escalation of Potent Snipe, this affects all enemies in a single location.  
+
* '''Limited Outcome''': A few seconds.
The effect is more powerful but less precise.
+
* '''Standard Outcome''': A scene.
This means it does more collateral damage, but no more effect on enemies.
+
* '''Great Outcome''': A score.
Targets in trenches, behind walls, or otherwise shielded are not in direct damage, but tend to keep their heads down, which gives your side the initiative.
+
 
 +
You can then return to [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]] or dissolve your astral body and return to your original physical body. You cannot bring anything along when returning.
 +
 
 +
==== Cognitive Collapse ====
 +
Psychic area attack.
 +
 
 +
Cognitive Crosshairs with Scale (p 221).
 +
Like Cognitive Crosshairs it does mental damage.
 +
You use your power to attack similar to a Fine and Potent mental grenade.
 +
This allows you to attack a cohort gang at full effect, but there is always a risk of collateral damage.
 +
 
 +
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
  
 
=== Prowl ===
 
=== Prowl ===
Sneak, move, and perhaps even fly or teleport with the stealth and agility granted by Prowl.
+
Use your psychic abilities to hide, scout, and transport yourself and others.
Most powers use Prowl in ways that vary from the norm, so this is a more rough sketch than the power abilities of many other actions.
 
  
'''Reconnaissance:'''
+
==== Astral Alliance ====
''You can hide in environments linked to your power. This allows you to hide in impossible places as long as the environment manifests your power. You gain advantage when sneaking on creatures linked to your power.
+
Hide in crowds.
  
This provides you cover to hide in places you ordinarily could not.  
+
You can hide in a crowd of [[#Sapient|sapient]] people (creatures of approximately your own shape) even if you look or dress different by matching the mentality projected by people around you.  
Where you can use this is explained in each specific power.
+
Surveillance devices will still record you, but anyone watching it within the next few minutes will likely miss you.
It otherwise works just like any other attempt to use Prowl to avoid notice.
+
You still need to make a Prowl roll to escape attention, with better starting Effect the more people you have to hide among.
Note that only you can use this ability, your friends and allies cannot unless you use Travel, below.
 
  
'''Maneuver:'''
+
==== Astral Ascent ====
''You can move on and through environments composed of your environment. This allows you to climb on air, swim unhindered, walk through walls of the appropriate material and so on, depending on your exact power.
+
Astral body scouting.
  
Again, each power will explain how it can use this mobility.
+
You detach your astral and physical bodies and send your [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Uses|astral body]] to '''spy'''.
Your friends and allies cannot use this unless you employ Travel, which is described later
+
You can see and hear through your astral projection, but your senses are dulled and only perceive what is within a few meters.
 +
You can clearly see creatures and psychic emanations.
 +
Your [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Projection|astral body]] is immaterial, transparent, and can hover at walking speed.
 +
You are hard to see from the physical world, your astral body glows faintly in darkness and appears as a grayish outline in bright light.
  
'''Travel:'''
+
==== Astral Adventure ====
''You can bring allies along when you use Reconnaissance and Maneuver.
+
Crew Prowl.
  
Now you and your allies can Prowl in places where your power is at home.
+
You can include allies when using Astral Alliance and Astral Ascent.
They still use their own Prowl action.
+
If allies need to roll Prowl, they use their own Prowl dice.
 +
This is often a Group Action.
  
'''Transport:'''
+
==== Astral Anywhere ====
''You and allies can teleport from one location where your power is present to another. This is regional travel, you stay within the same city or region, but it is generally sufficient to enter or escape just about any situation or location.
+
Astral travel.
  
How and where you use this is explained in each power.
+
You and allies [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Uses|astral bodies]] can '''travel''' instantly to other planes and other mystic locations connected to the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Subrealms|astral plane]].
This takes you to places you are familiar with.
+
This delves into worlds of thought rather than matter, exploring dreams, realms of logic, or realms of pure forms and ideals.
Both effect and position is worse unless you know where you are going, which means it is great for escapes but less so for intrusion into an enemy's territory that you are likely to be much less familiar with.
+
An expedition into such an astral realm is usually a score in its own right, done for esoteric reasons.
 +
It is possible to do such travel without this power, which is slow and dangerous.
 +
 
 +
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
  
 
=== Skirmish ===
 
=== Skirmish ===
Engage in close combat and create chaos with the power to Skirmish.
+
Engage in psychic combat, protecting and attacking with mental force.
 +
All of these work in [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]] as well as in physical reality.
  
'''Skirmish Attack:'''
+
==== Mindfulness ====
''You can use the power as a close-range attack, similar in effect to a melee weapon or pistol.
+
Resist Mind.
  
What this actually does depends on the power used. Fire burns, wind slices, ice pieces or freezes, and so on.
+
{{ : Damage Resistance Template (FiD)}}
Certain targets may be more or less vulnerable to certain attacks, but this is the exception.
 
Besides variety, this only substitutes for equipment, mundane weapons are just as effective.
 
In a fight, using this does not take any more time, activating your attack power is equivalent to drawing a weapon, no more, no less.
 
  
'''Fine Skirmish Attack:'''
+
==== Mind Melee ====
''Same as Skirmish Attack, except the weapon is fine and potent.
+
Mind melee attack.
  
'''Obstruction:'''
+
You can use the power as a close-range mental attack, similar to a Fine and Potent melee weapon or pistol.
''Your power creates distractions and obstructions that prevent the enemy from benefiting from numbers and otherwise works as a fine potent weapon.
+
All Mind attacks do psychic damage, which is fine against [[#Sapient |Sapient]] creatures but weak against [[#Reactive |Reactive]] creatures and useless against things that lack any kind of mind.
  
This creates some kind of hindrance, perhaps spectral allies, perhaps a maze or concealing mist.
+
==== Mind Mastery ====
The effect is to deny your enemies the advantage of numbers.
+
Gain Scale.
You also gain the benefit of the Fine Skirmish Attack, giving you a fine, potent weapon.
 
  
'''Flurry:'''
+
Your power strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area.
''Your power strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area.
+
This gives you Scale (p 221).
  
This turns you into a one-man army. Not only do you negate the advantage your enemy may get from numbers, you also spread your effect to hurt all your enemies in the current skirmish, within 10 meters or so.
+
==== Mind Merge ====
 +
Group Action.
 +
 
 +
This allows you and allies to initiate a Group Action when persuading, communicating, or judging opinions against each other. {{ : Apex Skirmish Include (FiD) }}
 +
 
 +
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
  
 
=== Study ===
 
=== Study ===
Study and analyze objects and creatures imbued with your power to gain insight and knowledge.
+
Delve into the nature of intelligence and Mind powers to uncover deeper knowledge.
 +
 
 +
Study digs into the details of intelligence, sapience, and Mind powers.
 +
* Limited Outcome usually suffices against something you touch which does not resist you.
 +
* Standard Outcome works against someone you could reach, but who resists you.
 +
* Great Outcome can reach out a long way, as long as you have some way to zero in on your target. This is usually vision, but can be other things depending on the way your playbook uses powers and the theme of the game.
 +
Alien minds new to you are harder to analyze.
 +
 
 +
==== Identify Intellect ====
 +
Identify intelligence.
 +
 
 +
This Basic ability lets you see if something has intelligence or sapience, name it, understand its basic type, and learn its capacity to communicate.
 +
It does not allow you to communicate or read thoughts.
 +
 
 +
==== Inspect Intellect ====
 +
Analyze Mind.
 +
 
 +
A more thorough analysis of intelligence or sapience, and what Mind powers and similar abilities are in effect, including the relevant rules.
 +
You also learn the basic motivations of an [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] or [[#Sapient|sapient]] creature, and what those motivations are directed at.
 +
Finally, you can translate text but not ciphers.
 +
 
 +
==== Infiltrate Intellect ====
 +
Enter dream.
 +
 
 +
You enter the mind of a creature to read its thoughts and memories.
 +
This is a [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Dreamscapes|Dreamscape]]; you enter directly into a creature's dreams.
 +
 
 +
This is most effective, but also most dangerous, when the target is asleep. Otherwise the dream world is less vivid and meaningful, a dry husk of dreams that you can study for information but cannot meaningfully influence.
 +
 
 +
Entering an awake creature's dreams lets you read thoughts, memories, and motivations, giving a picture of their personality.
 +
You can probe to learn the target's relationships and objectives toward something specific.
 +
You navigate memories by association, which makes the information you find somewhat random.
 +
Finding more obscure memories and attitudes is random and time-consuming.
 +
 
 +
In the dreams of a sleeper, you can interact with them and create scenarios for them to experience, but your control of the dream-world is limited and the dreamer's subconscious can overpower your control.
 +
Digging around in a creature's mind can awaken painful and dangerous memories that manifest as situations, creatures, and even traps.
 +
Dream logic applies, so you can suddenly find yourself shunted into a dangerous encounter.
 +
 
 +
Depending on the importance and mental strength of the target, Infiltrate Intellect might be a simple roll or an entire score.
  
'''Analyze:'''
+
==== Inescapable Intellect ====
''You can identify objects and creatures that manifest your power and see the use of the abilities of your power.
+
Area analyze Mind.
  
'''Research:'''
+
Use Inspect Intellect on every mind in an Area (p 221).
''You know the powers and abilities of something you analyze.
 
  
'''Hindsight:'''
+
Alternatively, you can read codes and ciphers.
''You can read the past events of something you analyze. This includes previous owners and how the object has been moved around as well as significant scenes.
 
  
'''Omniscience:'''
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
''You research everything in a wide area. This is easy to do where you are, more difficult at range. You can then use hindsight on some of these targets.
 
  
 
=== Survey ===
 
=== Survey ===
Survey and perceive manifestations of your power to gain valuable information and insight.
+
Explore the [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral]] realms, perceiving distant thoughts and manifestations.
 +
The outcome you need depends on the target's concealment.
 +
* '''Limited Outcome''' can perceive known minds or strong, obvious mental activity.
 +
* '''Standard Outcome''' can perceive unknown but nearby minds or weakly connected targets.
 +
* '''Great Outcome''' can perceive distant, hidden, or conceptually remote minds.
 +
 
 +
==== Thought Trace ====
 +
Sense Mind.
 +
 
 +
Sense [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] or [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures and manifestations of Mind powers at a distance.
 +
You can sense if something is familiar or alien and recognize creatures you are familiar with.
 +
You can opt to ignore known minds and Mind powers to find those you do not know.
 +
 
 +
==== Thought Thread ====
 +
Astral messenge.
 +
 
 +
Choose an [[#Intelligent |intelligent]] or [[#Sapient|sapient]] creature you are familiar with; you can send your [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Projection|astral body]] to their location and perceive the physical world from there or manifest to communicate with them.
 +
 
 +
==== Thought Tether ====
 +
Astral spying.
  
'''Detect:'''
+
This works like Astral Assembly, but with an open destination, you need very little information on a place or creature to go there and peer into the physical world.
''You can sense manifestations of your power at a distance and understand their general nature. This works even when you can't see the target, but both range and information suffer.
 
  
'''Sensor:'''
+
==== Thought Topology ====
''Choose an object manifesting your power that you have detected; you can perceive as if you were at that spot. You cannot use your Survey action for anything else when doing so.
+
Perceive from many sapients.
  
'''Scry:'''
+
You perceive from all [[#Sapient|sapients]] at once over a wide area.
''Choose a location or creature. You gain a sensor at the nearest suitable object, which is often close enough to perceive the target.
+
Enhances your senses impossibly, the sum of what each individual across the scene senses.
 +
Creates a comprehensive mental image of the area, revealing numerous details simultaneously.  
 +
You perceive what everyone in range perceives, but no self-perceptions from those observers, so someone who is alone can escape your detection.
  
'''Omnipresence:'''
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
''You perceive from all objects manifesting your power at once over a wide area. As long as you concentrate you retain this perception and can report what you see to others.
 
  
 
=== Sway ===
 
=== Sway ===
Communicate, mesmerize, and manipulate creatures imbued with your power to achieve your goals.
+
Influence [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] and [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures with your psychic suggestions and manipulations.
Sway creatures based on your power with persuasion and cajoling.
 
Position and effect is determined normally, depending ion the situation and your relation to listeners.
 
If you know several powers and use a Sway effect but don't know what type of creature you are facing, it works as long as you have the appropriate power.
 
You need not select a specific type of creature in advance.
 
If you try to Sway a type of creature and don't the appropriate power, effect is at best limited—the game master may judge that the Sway action can be used non-verbally, but often you will have no effect at all. 
 
This still has the normal stress cost.
 
  
'''Communicate:'''
+
Sway Mind is subtle and useful for persuading people and other intelligences.
''You can understand creatures linked to your power even if normally couldn't, and gauge their mood and motivations.
+
Sway powers use soft, persuasive arguments rather than the dictates of the [[#Command|Command]] action.  
  
This does not allow you to be understood by those whose intentions you read. Used together with the basic Command power, this allows full communication.
+
* '''Limited Outcome''' works if it follows the target's existing impulses.
 +
* '''Standard Outcome''' can convince a target with no particular stake in the matter.
 +
* '''Great Outcome''' will convince a reluctant target, but not a passionate one.
 +
Effect in excess of what's needed allows you to affect a group of allies matching the scale of your tier (p 221), as long as they are in a group.
  
'''Translate:'''
+
==== Eloquent Empathy ====
''You and allies can communicate with creatures based on your power.
+
Understand motivations.
  
This allows you to use the Sway power to its full effect.
+
You can speak to [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] and [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures even if no shared language exists, and you can gauge their motivations.  
You are still wheedling unless you also use Command the advanced Command effect.
 
  
In addition, many powers will have the power to inspire a mood or emotion specific to that power.
+
==== Eloquent Exchange ====
 +
Crew can communicate.
  
'''Mesmerize:'''
+
You and allies can communicate with [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] and [[#Sapient|sapient]] creatures.
''You can post suggestions in the mind of a creature manifesting your power, which will be triggered under conditions you specify. Common suggestions are to steal something, attack someone, or ignore some event. This is a subtle power, but easier to spot once triggered.
+
This allows the full range of the Sway action, overcoming barriers of culture and language.
 +
 
 +
==== Eloquent Enchantment ====
 +
Suggestions to sapients.
 +
 
 +
You implant suggestions in the minds of [[#Sapient |Sapient]] creatures, which will be triggered under conditions you set. This power is subtle until it triggers.
  
 
Essentially this is an attempt to Sway with two advantages.
 
Essentially this is an attempt to Sway with two advantages.
 
The target will not remember that you swayed them, and if you succeed, you can give them instructions that will activate later, in a situation you specify.
 
The target will not remember that you swayed them, and if you succeed, you can give them instructions that will activate later, in a situation you specify.
A typical use of this would be to sway a servant to leave a window open in a hallway or a guard to forget to load their weapon.
+
Common suggestions include stealing something, attacking someone, or ignoring an event.
Besides the normal challenges of persuasion, suggestions fade depending on your effect. Limited effect lasts in the immediate situation.  
+
This cannot force actions fundamentally opposed to the target’s core identity
Normal effect lasts for the duration of the score, and great effect can last past the end of the score, as makes sense in the story.
+
Besides the normal challenges of Sway powers, untriggered suggestions fade over time depending on your Outcome.  
 +
* '''Limited Outcome''' an hour or so.
 +
* '''Normal Outcome''' lasts for the duration of the score.
 +
* '''Great Outcome''' can last past the end of the score, as makes sense in the story.
 +
 
 +
==== Eloquent Enlightenment ====
 +
Bind sapients.
  
'''Inculcate:'''
+
You change the personality and motivations of a [[#Sapient |Sapient]] which is unable to resist.  
''You change the personality and motivations of creatures that manifest your power. This power is permanent, but blatant. The target remembers their past but regards it as unimportant compared to their new motivations.
+
This is permanent and blatant.
 +
This changes the target on a deep level, changing their loyalties and priorities.  
 +
The target remembers their past but regards it as unimportant compared to their new motivations.
 +
Exceptional creatures and exceptional circumstances can break this change, depending on plot and role-play more than on die rolls.
  
This changes the target on a deep level, changing their loyalties and priorities.
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
There are limit to this, particularly for creatures linked to a power - you cannot make a fire creature love the sea or an angel of light do deeds of darkness.
 
Exceptional creatures and exceptional circumstances can break this change.
 
This depends more on role-playing than die rolls.
 
  
 
=== Tinker ===
 
=== Tinker ===
Manipulate, shape, and create objects imbued with your power to suit your needs.
+
Infuse intelligence into objects, creating autonomous machines and constructs.
When used with long-term projects, powers can often substitute for missing resources such as tools or raw materials, but that is all it does until you can start using Fabricate.
+
 
 +
Mind tinkering is about automation and intelligence in objects.
 +
This benefits greatly when combined with other powers to make devices for this intelligence to control.
 +
The Outcome determines  how long it will last.
 +
 
 +
* '''Limited Outcome''' will only be good for a single scene.
 +
* '''Standard Outcome''' lasts until the end of the score.
 +
* '''Controlling several''' devices at once requires an additional degree of outcome.
 +
 
 +
The position depends on how quiet your workplace is and how much time you have to work with.
 +
Permanent effects require long-term projects.
  
'''Handle:'''
+
==== Mnemonic Modification ====
''You can handle materials that manifest your power as if you had the appropriate tools and protective devices.
+
Reactive mechanisms.
  
This mainly substitutes for tools, up to a small workshop.  
+
You imbue a simple [[#Reactive|reactive]] mind into an object. 
You are also protected from any dangerous effects of working with the elements of your power.
+
This allows machines to do a sequence of actions with the push of a single button or single trigger, the level of intelligence possible to clockwork.
 +
This is often used for traps, but also for simple things like lifts, vending machines, and penny arcades.
 +
It can also set up control surfaces to help in the operation of a complex vehicle or machine.
 +
This allows the creation of temporary complex mechanisms without the crafting time that mundane clockwork requires.
  
'''Shape:'''
+
==== Mnemonic Mechanism ====
''You can shape materials that manifest your power as if they were of clay, and they will retain their new shape for some time even if they would normally not, such as water, sand, or smoke.
+
Reactive devices.
  
You can now do more than normal craft could do.
+
You can imbue senses and an advanced [[#Reactive|reactive]] mind in an object, allowing it to sense and react to a nearby situation.
You can work elements of your power that  normally cannot be shaped, and it will remain in the shape you set it in.  
+
This is on the mental level of a simple animal and can control much more complex systems of traps and machines that interpret and react to events, but is incapable of planning or improvising around its orders.
This has the effect of pipes and containers suited to the materials at hand, without any material containers or conduits.
+
In addition to controlling whatever mechanism it is attached to, it can send a mental alarm to person(s) attuned to the machine.
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.
+
==== Mnemonic Matrix ====
The effect determines the effectiveness of your construction, but also how long it will last.
+
Imbue intelligence.
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.
 
  
'''Create:'''
+
You can imbue an object with [[#Intelligent|intelligence]] able to hold conversations and solve problems in a constructive way.  
''You can create objects manifesting your power out of nothing or transform an object from one material to another as long as you know the power required for both the starting and final form. This can create complex tools, such as fine and potent items appropriate to the power(s) used.
+
This can hold simple conversations and run complex devices such as a vehicle. Is able to improvise and figure out new things after a time, but complex social interactions are beyond its ability.
 +
It can follow security protocols, but is otherwise trusting and fairly naive.
  
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.
+
Combined with [[#Paragon Persona|Consort: Paragon Persona]] you can make [[#Sapient|sapient]]  items.
 +
Begin with Mnemonic Matrix  to create an [[#Intelligent |intelligent]] item and then use Paragon Persona to make it [[#Sapient|sapient]].
  
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.
+
==== Mnemonic Manifold ====
The result will maintain its form as if affected by the Shape ability.
+
Mass Mnemonic Mechanism.
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.
 
This can transform something like a sword from metal to fire, and it would still be a functional sword.
 
A door could be changed from wood to air, you then pass through and the door reverts to wood.
 
  
'''Fabricate:'''
+
This is similar to [[#Mnemonic Mechanism|Mnemonic Mechanism]], but you can mass produce advanced [[#Reactive|reactive]] objects, even a set of different objects.
''This is similar to Create, above, but you mass-produce objects, even a set of different objects. You can also make something large, such as a vehicle or building.
+
This allows the simultaneous creation of a small army of [[#Reactive|reactive]] machines.
 +
You can instead install a single [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] mind to run a large installation like a factory or ship.
  
Pretty self-explanatory, this is Create on a larger scale.
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>
This is useful for equipping a large band or building something large out of nothing.
 
When doing long-term projects that involve building or crafting, you can use Fabricate to gain great effect, even under what normally be poor conditions, but this has the usual stress cost.
 
  
 
=== Wreck ===
 
=== Wreck ===
Destroy, dismantle, and obliterate objects made of stuff related to your power.  
+
Sabotage and disrupt reasoning ability in creatures and items with mental force.
 +
 
 +
Wreck Mind works differently from most other wrecking powers.
 +
The Outcome needed depends on the complexity of the device to be wrecked, with more complex devices being easier to break.
 +
A very busy and dangerous setting adds to your initial Effect, while a still and polished setting reduces it.
 +
 
 +
* '''Limited Outcome''': A cutting-edge device.
 +
* '''Standard Outcome''': A complex device normal for the setting.
 +
* '''Great Outcome''': A simple device like a gun, bow, or door.
 +
* '''Impossible''': A device with no moving parts, like a sword or hammer, cannot be jinxed.
 +
* Security can increase the required Outcome by one step.
 +
 
 +
The Position depends on the situation. 
 +
A quiet workspace is '''Controlled''', the general hustle of adventure '''Risky''', and dealing with direct attacks, massive crowds, or dangerous construction '''Desperate'''.
 +
 
 +
Attacks work in [[Cosmology_(FiD)#Astral_Realms|astral space]] as well as in physical reality.
 +
 
 +
==== Prohibition Protocol ====
 +
Jam intelligent items.
 +
 
 +
Mess with intelligence in items.
 +
 
 +
You mess with intelligence in items in your immediate presence, reducing their ability to react to the environment. 
 +
This destroys control functions, leaving the item physically whole but obviously malfunctioning. 
 +
Guns are duds, triggers activate randomly, traps misfire, and alarms either fail or continually turn on and off. 
 +
Devices can be repaired, but are usually out for the score.
 +
 
 +
This can also be used as a weapon like a nerf club to inflict mental damage to [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] and [[#Sapient|sapient]] opponents.
  
'''Jimmy:'''
+
==== Pervert Protocol ====
''You can jimmy objects manifesting your power much like a sledgehammer. Noisy and leaves a twisted object in place.
+
Disable networks.
  
Just as crude as it sounds.  
+
Similar to Prohibition Protocol, but on a larger scale.
You destroy things related to your power, and strike with the force of a sledgehammer in combat.
+
You can reach through a network to sabotage a nearby control hub such as a guard station or computer server withing an Area (p 221).
As usual, Wreck may be at an advantage or disadvantage compared to Finesse and Skirmish, depending on the situation.
+
This can create a battle between Tinker and Wreck to keep a system alive.
 +
You introduce new and interesting flaws in even larger systems, like ships and buildings.
  
'''Smash:'''
+
This can also be used as a '''Fine''' and '''Potent''' gag hammer to inflict mental damage to [[#Intelligent|intelligent]] and [[#Sapient|sapient]] opponents.
''Similar to jimmy. When smashing objects from your power, such as metallic objects for the metal power, you to affect hard objects as if they were wood. Works as a fine potent sledgehammer in combat.
 
  
This reduces the strength of strong materials, allowing you to break even the strongest barrier, as long as it of the proper material and not too thick.
+
==== Parasitic Protocol ====
You can also use this as a sledgehammer to smash other things, and ads a fine, potent sledgehammer in combat.
+
Silent system sabotage.
  
'''Disintegrate:'''
+
Similar to Prohibition Protocol, but targets are disabled silently.
''Similar to smash, but destroyed targets silently disappear or are reduced to a fine dust.
+
Systems seem to continue to work when they in fact do not and respond maliciously to repairs.
 +
It is as if the system intelligently resists repairs and introduces new flaws when old ones have been corrected.
 +
You can make systems function properly until a moment of stress.
  
The real difference here is that wrecking things is now silent when you have the right power.
+
==== Pandemonium Protocol ====
You also leave less traces, as what you wreck disappears.
+
Area system sabotage.
This can also be used to get rid of evidence, as long as that evidence matches your power.
 
  
'''Obliterate:'''
+
Similar to Prohibition Protocol, but within Range (p. 221).
''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.
+
This can negate control devices over a city block or an entire port or fort, forcing everyone to rely on manual handling of objects.
 +
It is not selective; everything stops working.
  
Rather straightforward, this just scales things up.
+
<div style="text-align:center;"> — [[#top|Back to top]] — </div>

Latest revision as of 21:32, 12 March 2026

Fox in the DarkFox in the Dark logo
Starfox's Blades in the Dark Powers

Mind delves into Sapience and Intelligence. As the Form of society and social connection, Mind concerns cognition, identity, and social awareness rather than raw problem-solving ability. It is the Form most closely associated with people; humans and variant humans like elves, orcs, and other social beings.

Mind 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 Conceptual Context
Detect Mind.
Conceptual Constraint
Dismiss Mind.
Conceptual Collapse
Merge Astral plane.
Conceptual Connection
Summon hero.
Command Telepathic Threat
Telepathic leverage.
Telepathic Transfer
Signal sapients.
Telepathic Triumph
Command sapients.
Telepathic Thrall
Bind sapients.
Consort Pretend Persona
Project a role.
Polymorph Persona
Transform self.
Project Persona
Project Persona on Crew.
Paragon Persona
Increase intelligence.
Finesse Neural Navigation
Ride any intelligence.
Neural Needle
Psychic attack.
Neural Numbness
Induce reactive Mind.
Neural Nexus
Create astral realm.
Hunt Cognitive Cue
Track a thought.
Cognitive Crosshairs
Mental snipe.
Cognitive Cascade
Manifest from astral space.
Cognitive Collapse
Psychic area attack.
Prowl Astral Alliance
Hide in crowds.
Astral Ascent
Astral body scouting.
Astral Adventure
Crew Prowl.
Astral Anywhere
Astral travel.
Skirmish Mindfulness
Resist Mind.
Mind Melee
Mind melee attack.
Mind Mastery
Gives Scale.
Mind Merge
Group Action.
Study Identify Intellect
Identify intelligence.
Inspect Intellect
Analyze Mind.
Infiltrate Intellect
Enter dream.
Inescapable Intellect
Area analyze Mind.
Survey Thought Trace
Sense Mind.
Thought Thread
Astral messenge.
Thought Tether
Astral spying.
Thought Topology
Perceive from many sapients.
Sway Eloquent Empathy
Understand motivations.
Eloquent Exchange
Crew can communicate.
Eloquent Enchantment
Suggestions to sapients.
Eloquent Enlightenment
Bind sapients.
Tinker Mnemonic Modification
Reactive mechanisms.
Mnemonic Mechanism
Reactive devices.
Mnemonic Matrix
Imbue intelligence.
Mnemonic Manifold
Mass Mnemonic Mechanism.
Wreck Prohibition Protocol
Jam intelligent items.
Pervert Protocol
Disable networks.
Parasitic Protocol
Silent system sabotage.
Pandemonium Protocol
Area system sabotage.

What is Mind

Mind governs perception of self, understanding of others, abstract reasoning, culture, language, and moral judgment. While often found in living creatures, Mind can exist independently of life, inhabiting spirits, elementals, machines, and certain undead.

Anthropomorphic creatures are the archetypal expression of Mind: civilized beings embedded in societies, capable of reflection, cooperation, and ethical reasoning. Mind represents the ability to conceptualize, plan, judge, and belong, rather than instinct or immediate reaction.

Categories of Mind

These terms have specific meanings when used with Mind powers.

Mind powers primarily affect Intelligent and Sapient targets. Effects that rely on identity, belief, guilt, ideology, long-term motivation, or moral reasoning require Sapience.

Mind attacks are immaterial assaults on cognition, will, and identity rather than physical or neurological force. They can only affect Intelligent and Sapient targets, as creatures without internal models, abstract thought, or selfhood have nothing for such attacks to strike.

Insensate

Lacks the capacity to perceive, interpret, or meaningfully respond to sensory input. Insensate entities do not register illusion, deception, or intent, and cannot be influenced by effects that rely on awareness or interpretation. This makes them immune to Illusion and Mind abilities. Some insensate things, such as plants and fungi, may react to stimuli, but only over hours or days rather than moments. Objects, plants, inert matter, and the simplest forms of life are typically insensate.

Reactive

Creatures or objects without an internal model of the world who operate primarily on basic survival instincts. They respond automatically to environmental stimuli but do not demonstrate learning, complex problem-solving, or higher reasoning. Most animals such as insects, most herbivores, and primitive predators, simple undead, lesser elemental creatures and basic constructs such as simple robots fall into this category. These beings lack the complexity of intellect to be affected by Mind powers and are instead affected by Animal or an appropriate elemental form.

Intelligent

Beings capable of learning, planning, and pursuing goals. They can model situations and respond flexibly but may lack stable self-identity, culture, or moral frameworks in relation to other creatures. Smarter animals, clever monsters, artificial intelligences, and most undead are Intelligent. An intelligent creature can be very creative and solve complex problems, can follow instinctive social norms such as a pack hierarchy, but cannot follow a pluralistic society and gets stressed and confused in such settings.

Sapient

The defining trait of civilized beings such as humans, elves, orcs, and other social peoples. Sapient beings possess self-awareness, abstract reasoning, language, culture, and moral judgment. They can engage meaningfully with creatures of different species and cultures, potentially applying empathy, reflection, and social reasoning across complex societies. Sapience is not a measure of raw intelligence, but of the ability to participate in sustained social and moral systems. Even super-intelligent artificial intelligences, monsters, and spirits are rarely Sapient. Most Powers that can affect Sapient targets can also affect Intelligent creatures.

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Expanded Mind Abilities

Attune

Connect with the mental realm and harness psychic energies for powerful manifestations. The position usually starts controlled, with the usual consequence that you cannot try again. If the setting is chaotic or violent, your position worsens.

Unlike most forms, Mind does not have a class of supernatural creatures at its beck and call. It uses the astral plane a lot, but is not connected to it or its creatures the way other Forms are. It is possible to summon sapient creatures, but they are not native to other planes, rather they must be summoned from parallel realities, which is quite difficult and comes with precious little control.

Conceptual Context

Detect Mind.

You can detect intelligence and sapience where you don't expect it, but is also useful to detect Mind powers.

Limited Outcome suffices against a creature you can clearly see. You need greater Outcome against a creature that is hidden (standard Outcome) or behind a wall (great Outcome).

Conceptual Constraint

Dismiss Mind.

You can end the operation of a Mind ability and force any Spirit to materialize or dematerialize.

Dispelling is often used as a setup action to help another character in a situation when the opposition is using mind powers. Opposed success creates an opening that makes the supported action potent. Full success improves the position of the supported action. Critical success improves both position and Outcome. When used directly, the starting effect is usually standard, which causes an ongoing ability to crash. Against an opponent that uses power to fly or even breathe you can have a better effect. Poor targeting increases the needed Outcome.

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 Set Up actions. When used directly, the effect is usually limited unless the opponent is relying on powers for their safety. Against an opponent that uses astral projection or turned into a merman to breathe underwater you have a better base effect. When its dramatically appropriate that a power is hard to dispel, often because it is the crux of the situation, this may 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.

Conceptual Collapse

Merge Astral plane.

In an Area (p 221) you take down the barrier between the Astral and whatever plane you are on or near, usually the Prime plane. This allows astral creatures to interact fully with the physical world, but also removes their protection, they are now effectively on the physical plane and must move out of the Area to regain the advantages of being astral.

This creates a door between worlds, and because of how travel on the astral plane is instantaneous, there is a risk of creatures on the astral plane using this breech to escape into the physical world and vice-verso. This can be an immediate Consequence, but can have long-lasting effects on the story.

Conceptual Connection

Summon hero.

You contact a hero from an parallel world. This is used to ask advice or to summon a hero in times of crisis.

Mind is the Form of thoughts, and the power will focus on a person with the right abilities and mentality that you need, but consequences may alter this. These Consequences depend on how odd your motivations are and how odd an hero you want to summon.

  • If you have few hangups and few demands, the Position is Controlled.
  • Most hero summoning is Risky an long as yo only specify one thing about the hero; area of competence, personality, or form.
  • If you are a shut-in and you want a very specific type of necromancer hero, the Position is Desperate.

Depending on your degree of outcome, the power may only allow communication or summon a hero for a longer or shorter time.

  • Limited Outcome does not actually summon anyone, but establishes a connection, you can communicate and ask questions or you can look around to seek a particular type of individual to contact.
  • Standard Outcome summons them for a short while, assisting you on a single score, and you can dismiss a hero that wants to be sent home.
  • Great Outcome summons them until they are sent home, and you can dismiss a hero that wishes to remain.

This also allows your crew to travel to a parallel world, but there is usually little reason to do so.

Highly disruptive to the game, a long-lasting hero summon would compete for the limelight. It works well as the backstory of a character that otherwise wouldn't fit the setting, and might be the basis for a whole campaign of people doing heroics in a different world.

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Command

Impose your will upon the minds of sapient creatures.

Telepathic Threat

Telepathic leverage.

You can induce leverage telepathically regardless of language, useful for intimidating and commanding foreign or alien sapient creatures. This provides the leverage needed to use Command to intimidate without an open threat of violence.

Telepathic Transfer

Signal sapients.

You can telepathically communicate with sapient creatures you know over any range, and at line-of-sight even to strangers. You can communicate with the most powerful sapient in a vehicle or installation as long as you can see the exterior.

The communication is simple and direct, as fits the Command Action and Mind reaches above language barriers. Either party can end the communication at any time.

Telepathic Triumph

Command sapients.

Sapient creatures will see you as an officer, professional superior, alpha, or other leader type outranking them. This is essentially an attempt at Command from a position of strength, increasing your base Effect compared to a normal attempt.

This does not remove existing loyalties, which can lead to conflicts. Understanding the social order of your targets helps avoid conflict with their established loyalties.

Ordering city guards to ignore a disturbance requires greater Outcome than ordering them to deal with it and move on, because their duty is to protect the city.

Position depends on the creature’s actual relationship to you:

  • Ordering a creature that sees itself as your superior is a Desperate Position.
  • A creature that agrees you outrank it is usually a Controlled Position, with Consequences focused on limiting retries.
  • A creature that sees itself as your equal is usually a Risky Position, potentially leading to Heat, misunderstood orders, or small rebellions.

Telepathic Thrall

Bind sapients.

This will not work unless you are already in a position of power over the target. This functions like Telepathic Triumph, but the Effect is permanent rather than situational.

The initial Position is usually Desperate unless the target is already restrained, subordinate, or socially broken. Strong emotions, conflicting authority, or major narrative upheaval can break your control; otherwise, it lasts until dispelled.

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Consort

Adopt new roles, or bestow them upon others.

Pretend Persona

Project a role.

You can assume an identity such as a healer, noble, merchant, etc. This changes your actions, the way you move, and the way you speak, altering the impression you give without changing your shape or appearance. You are acting the role so naturally that people will assume you are who you pretend to be. You can allow your crew to do this as an Advanced ability, but they use their own Consort action rating.

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

Polymorph Persona

Transform self.

You take the form of a sapient creature. This includes humans and whatever else is sapient in the setting, such as elves, dwarves, civilized aliens, and uplifted animals. This is an actual physical transformation.

  • Limited outcome allows transformation into yourself like you would have been, had you grown up as the creature whose mind you assume. Those familiar with you will still 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 personality of a specific creature you have studied.

Project Persona

Project Persona on Crew.

You can use Polymorph Persona on your entire Crew or on a willing or helpless creature. 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 Polymorph Persona.

This is sometimes used as a kind of poetic justice, transforming the target as a punishment, a curse that is very hard to break. It can even be a faux resurrection, transforming the mind and body of a target into that of a loved one, tough this will never be perfect, intimate details of personality and memory will always be missing.

Paragon Persona

Increase intelligence.

This creates intelligence and the ability to communicate in a creature that lack it. This usually lasts for a score but can be made permanent using long-term actions.

Creating permanent intelligence is a long term project, but even short term intelligence can allow you to discuss and learn from the temporarily awakened, who will retain simple memories from before their awakening. It is an 8 tick long term project to make each stage of this transformation permanent.

You can increase intelligence to a lower level if desired.

Such a creature begins with a child-like devotion to you, but over time develops its own personality, including going through rebellious phases even if you treat them well. Consequences can make the creature hostile.

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Finesse

Utilize refined psychic control and mobility in both the physical and astral planes.

Neural Navigation

Ride any intelligence.

If there is a friendly reactive or intelligent (but not sapient) mount or vehicle, you can ride it as if it was domesticated and you had the keys. This works on a creature of animal intelligence and gives it the training required to act as a mount. It works on smart vehicles as long as they are not sapient.

Neural Needle

Psychic attack.

You focus your mental power into a fine and potent close-range attack, similar to a fine potent psychic dueling sword or pistol.

In a fight, using this does not take any more time, activating your attack power is equivalent to drawing a weapon, no more, no less. Inflicts psychic damage, which is fine against sapient creatures but weak against reactive creatures and useless against things that lack any kind of mind. It works perfectly in astral space.

Neural Numbness

Induce reactive Mind.

A creature is disoriented and finds it hard to make decisions, their minds momentarily reduced to a reactive state. If an appropriate action is obvious, such as if they are being attacked, targets will recover quickly, but they may respond slowly if allies are attacked, and otherwise will blunder about responding to immediate needs before returning to normal. The effect is small, precise, and momentary. When it makes sense in the story that this creates leverage, you may roll Finesse without expending any time. Resolve this as a normal Set Up, then immediately roll the Action you are Setting Up.

Neural Nexus

Create astral realm.

You can create a structure in astral space, technically a small astral haven or Dreamscape. This is typically a ship, a house, or a redoubt that can serve as a vehicle, an abode, and a base. All variants can move in astral space. Creatures inside your nexus cannot use astral travel, which affords you a way to temporarily trap them for a confrontation, until they break out of the Nexus. You must lure them inside or create the nexus around them for this to work.

Higher Outcome creates a larger, more elaborate nexus, from a small hut to a large building. Position is normally Controlled, but you can create it to surround creatures which is at least Risky. You can also increase the duration by worsening Position, which usually results in attracting attention from things in the astral plane.

You can make a permanent nexus as a 12-tick long-term project for a Limited Outcome, two such clocks for a Standard Outcome, four times for Great Outcome.

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Hunt

Track and attack targets using focused mental energy. All these abilities work just as well in astral space and in physical reality.

Cognitive Cue

Track a thought.

You focus on a particular thought and vaguely sense and track creatures that share this thought. This works best (needs Limited Outcome) on creatures that are very focused on a difficult task, such as someone driving in an unfamiliar location or a tracker in pursuit of a quarry. A target that is whimsical, drunk, or asleep requires great Outcome. The age of the tracks and the number of other minds that left similar traces reduces your Outcome. This works in astral space as well as in physical reality.

Cognitive Crosshairs

Mental snipe.

You can make an attack similar to a Fine and Potent rifle, but inflicting mental damage. Using an attack power is much the same as shooting a weapon, no more, no less. Cognitive Crosshairs inflicts potent psychic damage, which is weak against reactive creatures and useless against things that lack any kind of mind.

Cognitive Cascade

Manifest from astral space.

You and your crew can physically manifest your astral bodies. You must first project your astral body (perhaps using Prowl Mind: Astral Ascent) and then travel to the desired location.

You can then use this ability to move your astral body into the physical world. This body functions like your normal body and carries clothes and a light load. It is visually distinctive by being monochrome. Duration depends on your Outcome.

  • Limited Outcome: A few seconds.
  • Standard Outcome: A scene.
  • Great Outcome: A score.

You can then return to astral space or dissolve your astral body and return to your original physical body. You cannot bring anything along when returning.

Cognitive Collapse

Psychic area attack.

Cognitive Crosshairs with Scale (p 221). Like Cognitive Crosshairs it does mental damage. You use your power to attack similar to a Fine and Potent mental grenade. This allows you to attack a cohort gang at full effect, but there is always a risk of collateral damage.

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Prowl

Use your psychic abilities to hide, scout, and transport yourself and others.

Astral Alliance

Hide in crowds.

You can hide in a crowd of sapient people (creatures of approximately your own shape) even if you look or dress different by matching the mentality projected by people around you. Surveillance devices will still record you, but anyone watching it within the next few minutes will likely miss you. You still need to make a Prowl roll to escape attention, with better starting Effect the more people you have to hide among.

Astral Ascent

Astral body scouting.

You detach your astral and physical bodies and send your astral body to spy. You can see and hear through your astral projection, but your senses are dulled and only perceive what is within a few meters. You can clearly see creatures and psychic emanations. Your astral body is immaterial, transparent, and can hover at walking speed. You are hard to see from the physical world, your astral body glows faintly in darkness and appears as a grayish outline in bright light.

Astral Adventure

Crew Prowl.

You can include allies when using Astral Alliance and Astral Ascent. If allies need to roll Prowl, they use their own Prowl dice. This is often a Group Action.

Astral Anywhere

Astral travel.

You and allies astral bodies can travel instantly to other planes and other mystic locations connected to the astral plane. This delves into worlds of thought rather than matter, exploring dreams, realms of logic, or realms of pure forms and ideals. An expedition into such an astral realm is usually a score in its own right, done for esoteric reasons. It is possible to do such travel without this power, which is slow and dangerous.

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Skirmish

Engage in psychic combat, protecting and attacking with mental force. All of these work in astral space as well as in physical reality.

Mindfulness

Resist Mind.

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.

Mind Melee

Mind melee attack.

You can use the power as a close-range mental attack, similar to a Fine and Potent melee weapon or pistol. All Mind attacks do psychic damage, which is fine against Sapient creatures but weak against Reactive creatures and useless against things that lack any kind of mind.

Mind Mastery

Gain Scale.

Your power strikes out in all directions, attacking all enemies in a wide area. This gives you Scale (p 221).

Mind Merge

Group Action.

This allows you and allies to initiate a Group Action when persuading, communicating, or judging opinions against each other. You may do this even when some participants would not normally be able to contribute meaningfully due to physical limitation, Scale, or environmental constraint.

You lead the Group Action and roll Skirmish. Choose the Action most appropriate to the shared physical task. Each participant other than you rolls that Action. Stress to the leader is resolved as normal for a Group Action.

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Study

Delve into the nature of intelligence and Mind powers to uncover deeper knowledge.

Study digs into the details of intelligence, sapience, and Mind powers.

  • Limited Outcome usually suffices against something you touch which does not resist you.
  • Standard Outcome works against someone you could reach, but who resists you.
  • Great Outcome can reach out a long way, as long as you have some way to zero in on your target. This is usually vision, but can be other things depending on the way your playbook uses powers and the theme of the game.

Alien minds new to you are harder to analyze.

Identify Intellect

Identify intelligence.

This Basic ability lets you see if something has intelligence or sapience, name it, understand its basic type, and learn its capacity to communicate. It does not allow you to communicate or read thoughts.

Inspect Intellect

Analyze Mind.

A more thorough analysis of intelligence or sapience, and what Mind powers and similar abilities are in effect, including the relevant rules. You also learn the basic motivations of an intelligent or sapient creature, and what those motivations are directed at. Finally, you can translate text but not ciphers.

Infiltrate Intellect

Enter dream.

You enter the mind of a creature to read its thoughts and memories. This is a Dreamscape; you enter directly into a creature's dreams.

This is most effective, but also most dangerous, when the target is asleep. Otherwise the dream world is less vivid and meaningful, a dry husk of dreams that you can study for information but cannot meaningfully influence.

Entering an awake creature's dreams lets you read thoughts, memories, and motivations, giving a picture of their personality. You can probe to learn the target's relationships and objectives toward something specific. You navigate memories by association, which makes the information you find somewhat random. Finding more obscure memories and attitudes is random and time-consuming.

In the dreams of a sleeper, you can interact with them and create scenarios for them to experience, but your control of the dream-world is limited and the dreamer's subconscious can overpower your control. Digging around in a creature's mind can awaken painful and dangerous memories that manifest as situations, creatures, and even traps. Dream logic applies, so you can suddenly find yourself shunted into a dangerous encounter.

Depending on the importance and mental strength of the target, Infiltrate Intellect might be a simple roll or an entire score.

Inescapable Intellect

Area analyze Mind.

Use Inspect Intellect on every mind in an Area (p 221).

Alternatively, you can read codes and ciphers.

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Survey

Explore the astral realms, perceiving distant thoughts and manifestations. The outcome you need depends on the target's concealment.

  • Limited Outcome can perceive known minds or strong, obvious mental activity.
  • Standard Outcome can perceive unknown but nearby minds or weakly connected targets.
  • Great Outcome can perceive distant, hidden, or conceptually remote minds.

Thought Trace

Sense Mind.

Sense intelligent or sapient creatures and manifestations of Mind powers at a distance. You can sense if something is familiar or alien and recognize creatures you are familiar with. You can opt to ignore known minds and Mind powers to find those you do not know.

Thought Thread

Astral messenge.

Choose an intelligent or sapient creature you are familiar with; you can send your astral body to their location and perceive the physical world from there or manifest to communicate with them.

Thought Tether

Astral spying.

This works like Astral Assembly, but with an open destination, you need very little information on a place or creature to go there and peer into the physical world.

Thought Topology

Perceive from many sapients.

You perceive from all sapients at once over a wide area. Enhances your senses impossibly, the sum of what each individual across the scene senses. Creates a comprehensive mental image of the area, revealing numerous details simultaneously. You perceive what everyone in range perceives, but no self-perceptions from those observers, so someone who is alone can escape your detection.

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Sway

Influence intelligent and sapient creatures with your psychic suggestions and manipulations.

Sway Mind is subtle and useful for persuading people and other intelligences. Sway powers use soft, persuasive arguments rather than the dictates of the Command action.

  • Limited Outcome works if it follows the target's existing impulses.
  • Standard Outcome can convince a target with no particular stake in the matter.
  • Great Outcome will convince a reluctant target, but not a passionate one.

Effect in excess of what's needed allows you to affect a group of allies matching the scale of your tier (p 221), as long as they are in a group.

Eloquent Empathy

Understand motivations.

You can speak to intelligent and sapient creatures even if no shared language exists, and you can gauge their motivations.

Eloquent Exchange

Crew can communicate.

You and allies can communicate with intelligent and sapient creatures. This allows the full range of the Sway action, overcoming barriers of culture and language.

Eloquent Enchantment

Suggestions to sapients.

You implant suggestions in the minds of Sapient creatures, which will be triggered under conditions you set. This power is subtle until it triggers.

Essentially this is an attempt to Sway with two advantages. The target will not remember that you swayed them, and if you succeed, you can give them instructions that will activate later, in a situation you specify. Common suggestions include stealing something, attacking someone, or ignoring an event. This cannot force actions fundamentally opposed to the target’s core identity Besides the normal challenges of Sway powers, untriggered suggestions fade over time depending on your Outcome.

  • Limited Outcome an hour or so.
  • Normal Outcome lasts for the duration of the score.
  • Great Outcome can last past the end of the score, as makes sense in the story.

Eloquent Enlightenment

Bind sapients.

You change the personality and motivations of a Sapient which is unable to resist. This is permanent and blatant. This changes the target on a deep level, changing their loyalties and priorities. The target remembers their past but regards it as unimportant compared to their new motivations. Exceptional creatures and exceptional circumstances can break this change, depending on plot and role-play more than on die rolls.

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Tinker

Infuse intelligence into objects, creating autonomous machines and constructs.

Mind tinkering is about automation and intelligence in objects. This benefits greatly when combined with other powers to make devices for this intelligence to control. The Outcome determines how long it will last.

  • Limited Outcome will only be good for a single scene.
  • Standard Outcome lasts until the end of the score.
  • Controlling several devices at once requires an additional degree of outcome.

The position depends on how quiet your workplace is and how much time you have to work with. Permanent effects require long-term projects.

Mnemonic Modification

Reactive mechanisms.

You imbue a simple reactive mind into an object. This allows machines to do a sequence of actions with the push of a single button or single trigger, the level of intelligence possible to clockwork. This is often used for traps, but also for simple things like lifts, vending machines, and penny arcades. It can also set up control surfaces to help in the operation of a complex vehicle or machine. This allows the creation of temporary complex mechanisms without the crafting time that mundane clockwork requires.

Mnemonic Mechanism

Reactive devices.

You can imbue senses and an advanced reactive mind in an object, allowing it to sense and react to a nearby situation. This is on the mental level of a simple animal and can control much more complex systems of traps and machines that interpret and react to events, but is incapable of planning or improvising around its orders. In addition to controlling whatever mechanism it is attached to, it can send a mental alarm to person(s) attuned to the machine.

Mnemonic Matrix

Imbue intelligence.

You can imbue an object with intelligence able to hold conversations and solve problems in a constructive way. This can hold simple conversations and run complex devices such as a vehicle. Is able to improvise and figure out new things after a time, but complex social interactions are beyond its ability. It can follow security protocols, but is otherwise trusting and fairly naive.

Combined with Consort: Paragon Persona you can make sapient items. Begin with Mnemonic Matrix to create an intelligent item and then use Paragon Persona to make it sapient.

Mnemonic Manifold

Mass Mnemonic Mechanism.

This is similar to Mnemonic Mechanism, but you can mass produce advanced reactive objects, even a set of different objects. This allows the simultaneous creation of a small army of reactive machines. You can instead install a single intelligent mind to run a large installation like a factory or ship.

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Wreck

Sabotage and disrupt reasoning ability in creatures and items with mental force.

Wreck Mind works differently from most other wrecking powers. The Outcome needed depends on the complexity of the device to be wrecked, with more complex devices being easier to break. A very busy and dangerous setting adds to your initial Effect, while a still and polished setting reduces it.

  • Limited Outcome: A cutting-edge device.
  • Standard Outcome: A complex device normal for the setting.
  • Great Outcome: A simple device like a gun, bow, or door.
  • Impossible: A device with no moving parts, like a sword or hammer, cannot be jinxed.
  • Security can increase the required Outcome by one step.

The Position depends on the situation. A quiet workspace is Controlled, the general hustle of adventure Risky, and dealing with direct attacks, massive crowds, or dangerous construction Desperate.

Attacks work in astral space as well as in physical reality.

Prohibition Protocol

Jam intelligent items.

Mess with intelligence in items.

You mess with intelligence in items in your immediate presence, reducing their ability to react to the environment. This destroys control functions, leaving the item physically whole but obviously malfunctioning. Guns are duds, triggers activate randomly, traps misfire, and alarms either fail or continually turn on and off. Devices can be repaired, but are usually out for the score.

This can also be used as a weapon like a nerf club to inflict mental damage to intelligent and sapient opponents.

Pervert Protocol

Disable networks.

Similar to Prohibition Protocol, but on a larger scale. You can reach through a network to sabotage a nearby control hub such as a guard station or computer server withing an Area (p 221). This can create a battle between Tinker and Wreck to keep a system alive. You introduce new and interesting flaws in even larger systems, like ships and buildings.

This can also be used as a Fine and Potent gag hammer to inflict mental damage to intelligent and sapient opponents.

Parasitic Protocol

Silent system sabotage.

Similar to Prohibition Protocol, but targets are disabled silently. Systems seem to continue to work when they in fact do not and respond maliciously to repairs. It is as if the system intelligently resists repairs and introduces new flaws when old ones have been corrected. You can make systems function properly until a moment of stress.

Pandemonium Protocol

Area system sabotage.

Similar to Prohibition Protocol, but within Range (p. 221). This can negate control devices over a city block or an entire port or fort, forcing everyone to rely on manual handling of objects. It is not selective; everything stops working.

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