Flux Powers (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

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

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

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

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

Flux Power Effects Table

Action	Basic No minimum 4 Stress	Advanced Minimum 2 Dice 5 Stress	Master Minimum 4 Dice 6 Stress	Apex Minimum 6 Dice 7 Stress
Attune	Chaos Eye Detect supernatural creatures and powers.	Chaos Rebuke Dismiss any any summon or dispel any power.	Chaos Call Summon a chaos creature	Chaos Gate Create a portal to a plane of chaos.
Command	Call to Chaos Incite independence in any creature.	Call to Companions Infinite range personal messages.	Call to Freedom Inspire independence in new friends.	Call to Madness Break a mind.
Consort	Chaos Mask Clothe yourself with chaos.	Chaos Chimera Shapechange into anything.	Chaos Conversion Shapechange the willing or helpless.	Chaos Cascade Transform and incite crowds.
Finesse	Random Ride Ride any mount or vehicle.	Random Rumble A fine and potent melee attack.	Random Ripple Small random manipulations.	Random Route Find open route to travel.
Hunt	Lucky Trail Track by blind luck.	Lucky Shot Attack like a fine and potent rifle.	Random Ruckus Cause random events.	Starfall Attack like a fine and potent grenade.
Prowl	Chaotic Cover You can hide anywhere.	Fortune's Flow Avoid random dangers.	Serendipitous Saunter Crew Chaotic Cover and Fortune's Flow.	Out of the Fire Teleport to a random location.
Skirmish	Pratfall Dodge chaos.	Anarchic Assault Fine and potent melee attack.	Chaos Shroud Negate scale in melee.	Anarchic Avalanche Attack all enemies in a melee.
Study	Analyze Anomaly Identify powers and oddities.	Serendipity Seer Learn abilities of powers and oddities.	Anomaly Archive Learn history of powers and oddities.	Serendipity Sweep Analyze lots of powers and oddities.
Survey	Fortune's Find Find random things.	Flux Farsight Vision from an object of randomness	Serendipitous Scan Vision of people in Flux.	Omniscient Opportunist Perceive all Flux over a wide area.
Sway	Intuitive Awareness See likely actions of others.	Chance Concord Crew can communicate with anyone.	Chance Compulsion Post-hypnotic randomness.	Liberation Permanently break social bonds.
Tinker	Serendipity's Gift Find just the thing you need.	Chance Crafting Inspired crafting.	Capricious Crafting Random transmutation.	Wish Create items on a whim.
Wreck	Chaotic Clutter Objects unexpectedly break.	Anarchic Impact Objects succumb to entropy.	Hushed Havoc Silent disintegration.	Chaos Cataclysm Anarchic Impact a large area.

Expanded Powers

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

Attune

Chaos Eye Detect supernatural creatures and powers.

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

This is usually done to identify powers you can dismiss or dispel. However, it can also help to see a Spirit or disguised creature and provide valuable insights into the abilities of creatures.

• Limited outcome: Something you can clearly see.
• Standard Outcome: Something that is hidden
• Great Outcome: Behind a wall.

Chaos Rebuke Dismiss any summon or dispel any power.

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

• Limited outcome: A creature that wants to be dismissed.
• Standard Outcome: A creature that has been wounded or otherwise weakened.
• Great Outcome: A creature at full ability.

Dispelling is usually easier. Flux can dispel any power.

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

It can also be used to break the continuing results of powers. When used directly, the effect is usually limited unless the opponent is relying on powers for their safety. Against an opponent that uses power to fly or even breathe you may 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.

Chaos Call Summon a chaos creature.

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

Summoning can bring you allies to fight or labor for you, giving you scale. They can also give advice and information related to their power. Summons can use simple powers and maintain powers you have created.

You can summon generic creatures without having to do a flashback. Such a creature is similar to a gang member in ability and are often summoned in groups to add scale. 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 an id number or block of data. Learning about the right creature to summon is a task in its own right, often requiring a flashback or downtime activity to use Command, Consort, Study, or Sway to gain information.

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

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

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

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

Depending on your outcome the creature is willing to do different things.

• Limited outcome allows you to ask questions of an intelligent creature or demand a short period of physical labor from a simple creature. The creature will not fight for you. If forced into a fight due to circumstances, it will resent it.
• Standard outcome allows you to ask for any service appropriate to the type of creature. Flux creatures love whimsy and despise consistency. This includes dangerous tasks such as combat if the creature has such abilities, which most of them do.
• Great outcome allows actions outside the creature's comfort zone, but not things it directly opposes. Lengthy service also requires great outcome, like summoning the creature to guard a treasure for as long as it can.

Typical consequences include:

• A bargain of payment in things the creature prizes.
• The creature strikes out at you once.
• You need to concentrate to keep the creature under control.
• The creature breaks things around you.
• Overly literal interpretations of your commands.
• The creature deliberately does its tasks poorly.
• General sulkiness.

Offering a creature gifts or services appropriate to its nature can help. This is essentially a devil's bargain, accepting a price in advance. Desperate position usually comes from trading position for outcome (called trading position for effect in the rulebook), but it might come from a difference in ethos. 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. Desperate consequences include a tightwire struggle to keep the creature under control, a demand that 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.

Chaos Gate Create a portal to a plane of chaos.

These portals are unpredictable in nature, and the destination may vary each time they are opened. Exercise caution when using this power, as it can lead to encounters with beings of immense power and unpredictability.

A gate lasts for a while, enough for a quick score. If things take a lot of time it might require a separate use of the power to return home again. The first time you gate to a certain place the position is at least risky and becomes desperate if there is any kind of disturbance.

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

There are things that are possible to do on these planes that are not allowed in the regular world, most power abilities 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 power rarely reach outside the plane where you perform them, but if they affect creatures on that plane, they may remain when you return to the mundane world.

Command

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

Call to Chaos Incite independence in any creature.

This is useful for intimidating and commanding foreign or alien Flux creatures. Combined with Sway: Intuitive Awareness, it allows two-way communication.

Call to Companions Infinite range personal messages.

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

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

Call to Freedom Inspire independence in new friends.

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

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

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

Call to Madness Break a mind.

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

Consort

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

Chaos Mask Clothe yourself with chaos.

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

Chaos Chimera Shapechange into anything.

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

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

Chaos Conversion Shapechange the willing or helpless.

Chaos Chimera on willing or helpless creatures. Their Consort determines if they can control further changes. The duration depends of the outcome, limited outcome is very temporary. Standard outcome lasts for the duration of a score. Great outcome lasts a long time and potentially become permanent, depending on the the story. If you also want to make the target unrecognizable, that requires additional outcome, see Shapechange.

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

Chaos Cascade Transform and incite crowds.

This power allows you to use Chaos Conversion on a large number of creatures, either willing or non-sentient, and give them a simple instruction. However, the chaotic nature of Flux ensures that these creatures may not adhere to your commands, leading to unpredictable outcomes.

Finesse

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

Random Ride Ride any mount or vehicle.

With the ability to ride any mount as if it were domesticated or or a vehicle with keys, you gain control over your means of transportation. You can bypass simple locks on vehicles, but not more serious security. You can ride beasts even if they are not trained to carry a rider. They must still be physically able to carry you.

Random Rumble A fine and potent melee attack.

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

Random Ripple Small random manipulations.

Through precise manipulation of luck, you can exert control over the environment. This causes a short sudden change. Whether it's opening doors, triggering mechanisms, or hindering your enemies, this power allows for subtle and precise actions as long as your luck holds.

Random Route Find open route to travel.

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

Hunt

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

Lucky Trail Track by blind luck.

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

Lucky Shot Attack like a fine and potent rifle.

This is about as effective as traditional equipment; a fine and potent ranged weapon would be equally powerful in combat. Some targets may exhibit more or less vulnerability to specific types of attacks, and this power is very flexible in its effects as long as the environment has what you need.

Random Ruckus Cause random events.

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

Starfall Attack like a fine and potent grenade.

Lucky Shot with an area effect.

Prowl

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

Chaotic Cover You can hide anywhere.

Blend into your surroundings anywhere, protected by random distractions that confound the senses of those who seek to find you.

Fortune's Flow Avoid random dangers.

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

Serendipitous Saunter Crew Chaotic Cover and Fortune's Flow.

Bring your allies along on your adventures, sharing the benefits of Chaotic Cover and Fortune's Flow. They still use their own Prowl.

Out of the Fire Teleport to a random location.

Teleport to a random location within the same city or region, evading danger and gaining a chance to regroup and plan your next move.

Skirmish

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

Energy Block: Resist Flux Harm.

Absorb Flux energies. This allows you to ignore most harm from random events and to reduce the damage from Flux powers and serious accidents, including acts of sabotage, but not bombs or ambushes. Roll Skirmish when subject to harm from such energies. This is your inherent resistance, it does not require any activity on your part. Reduce the level of harm inflicted based on the level of success. 1-3: Nothing. 4-5: Reduce level of harm by one. 6: Reduce level of harm by two. Crit: Negate all harm and recover 1 stress.

Anarchic Assault Fine and potent melee attack.

Unleash devastating attacks upon your foes with the power of flux. Similar to a standard skirmish attack, but with the added potency of fine and potent weaponry.

Chaos Shroud Negate scale in melee.

Create distractions and obstructions that hinder your enemies and level the playing field. This power disrupts enemy formations and prevents them from overwhelming you with sheer numbers.

Anarchic Avalanche Attack all enemies in a melee.

Unleash chaos in all directions, striking out at multiple enemies simultaneously. This wide-ranging attack can turn the tide of battle in your favor, but be prepared for the unpredictable consequences of wielding such power.

Study

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

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

Position depends on the situation. Safely in your base the position is controlled. In the middle of a fight or when pinned down the position is desperate. Sometimes thing you are researching it dangerous in itself, worsening position, consequences may give you knowledge that lacks crucial details.

Analyze Anomaly Identify powers and oddities.

You can analyze any item, power, or creature of Flux. This gives the name and very basic information in narrative terms, but not details or actual rules.

Serendipity Seer Learn abilities of powers and oddities.

You can analyze any item, power, or creature of Flux. You learn of any powers or special abilities the target has. This includes actual rules and game result.

Anomaly Archive Learn history of powers and oddities.

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

Serendipity Sweep Analyze lots of powers and oddities.

Extend your analysis to a wider area, scanning for Flux and its effects across a broad swath of territory. While more challenging at greater distances, this power provides valuable information for planning and strategizing.

Survey

Peer through the veil of chaos to glimpse the future and perceive the world with newfound clarity, guided by the serendipitous whims of flux.

Fortune's Find Find random things.

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

Flux Farsight Vision from an object of randomness.

Peer through the veil of chaos and perceive distant objects behaving erratically. This power grants you insight into the nature of flux, allowing you to observe its effects from afar.

Serendipitous Scan Vision of people in Flux.

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

Omniscient Opportunist Perceive all Flux over a wide area.

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

Sway

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

• Limited Outcome works if it follows the target's existing impulses, just overcoming fragile self-restraint.
• 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.

All Sway Flux powers are dangerous and will often have bad position.

Intuitive Awareness See likely actions of others.

Understand the speech of any creature, regardless of their nature or origin. They do not understand you. If you also use Command: Call to Chaos this gives full translation.

Chance Concord Crew can communicate with anyone.

Establish communication with any being, transcending language barriers.

Chance Compulsion Post-hypnotic randomness.

Implant random impulses in the minds of creatures, compelling them to act under specific conditions. These impulses may manifest as drastic actions or violent outbursts, depending on the circumstances.

Liberation Permanently break social bonds.

Free creatures from the constraints of domestication and control, granting them the freedom to act according to their own will. This power liberates beings from oppression and empowers them to embrace their wild and untamed nature.

Tinker

Craft reality itself with the capricious touch of flux, shaping objects and forging connections with the serendipitous creativity of chaos.

Position depends on the tranquility of your workspace and if you are working on something dangerous in itself. Consequences are appropriately whimsical.

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

Serendipity's Gift Find just the thing you need.

Discover tools and components through sheer luck, finding exactly what you need at the most opportune moments. The effect depends on what is reasonable to expect to find where you are looking; in a scrapyard you usually start with great effect, on a very clean and polished street effect limited or even none.

Chance Crafting Inspired crafting.

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

Capricious Crafting Random transmutation.

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

Wish Create items on a whim.

Manifest objects through the power of sheer will, bringing forth items of great significance or utility. Whether it's a vehicle or a building, this power allows you to materialize your desires into reality.

Wreck

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

Chaotic Clutter Objects unexpectedly break.

Leave a trail of destruction in your wake, twisting and deforming objects as you move through the environment. This power disrupts and disorients your adversaries, creating chaos and confusion on the battlefield. The effects are random, but will benefit you in some way.

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

Anarchic Impact Objects succumb to entropy.

Channel chaos into objects, causing them to bend and crack under the strain. This works best on poorly maintained objects and construction, potentially breaking down machinery, vehicles, walls, and gates, or at least giving mechanical troubles to well-maintained targets.

With a well-placed strike, you can shatter obstacles and incapacitate foes, like a fine and potent sledgehammer.

Hushed Havoc Silent disintegration.

As Anarchic Impact, and destroys targets silently, reducing them to dust. This power allows for covert operations and stealthy takedowns, leaving no trace of your presence behind.

Chaos Cataclysm Anarchic Impact on a large area.

Unleash chaos on a massive scale, leveling entire city blocks and reshaping the landscape with devastating force. This power is the pinnacle of destruction, capable of laying waste to large areas with a single act of chaos.