Crazy Idea #255

Redefine "powers". A power is like a seed, or a spell sphere. It's kind of like a "power" in SWSE 3.2. But it doesn't have to be magical, either. What do I mean?

Here's a quick stab at it:

Fire

You can shoot fire from your hands. Neat, huh?

Base power: Flames: At-will, std, cone 3; nominal fire damage. You can use Empower, Enlarge, etc if you need more firepower.

;Techniques:

• These cost 1 BP to learn.
• Focus: You can focus your flames into a ray 6.
• Fire Shield: Costs 1 Energy. As a swift action, you create a disc of flames, which you maintain as long as you want (sustain swift). Grants Absorb 100% against physical missiles and ice/water effects, 50% against others, limit 50% max hp.
• Precision: You can dial it down, flicking a spark to light a cigarette, or burning your name into a wood surface. That sort of thing.

;Evolutions:

• Rank 2: Fireball. At-will, std, long range, burst 3; nominal fire damage.
  • Curving
  • Delayed
• Rank 2: Wall of Fire. Etc...
  • Snaking
  • Self-Crossing
• Rank 3: Fiery Transformation
• Rank 3: Firestorm

Frost

You can freeze water and air in all kinds of shapes.

Base power:

• Frost Touch: At-will, std, touch; nominal frost damage plus chilled. Or, creates simple objects up to Tiny size (aka Medium weapon or shield) out of air, or twice that out of water. Objects last for 3 rounds before sublimating (1 minute if water).

;Techniques:

• Wall of Frost: Frost object takes damage so you don't have to. Can wield it.
• Frost Armor: Coat yourself in frost.
• Frost Lance: Can shoot a frosty missile.

;Evolutions:

• Rank 2: Arctic Wind: Like Flames, but for cold. Can chill, freeze, etc, based on Techniques.
• Rank 2: ???
• Rank 3: Mr. Frost: You can take a snowy form which can discorporate.

Empathy

You can feel others' emotions...and influence them.

Base power:

• Empathy: At-will, swift, short range; you sense the emotions of subject.

;Techniques:

• Imposition: At-will, swift, short range, costs 1 Energy; you impose your current emotional state on subject. (To target specific emotions, roll a wudawuda check to simulate it). Many useful emotional states, including fear, love, gullibility, etc.
• Read Thoughts: With concentration, you can read surface thoughts.
• Soothe: You can help someone remove harmful emotions from their minds.

;Evolutions:

• Rank 2: Mind Link: You meld your mind with your target's. Can be willing or unwilling.
  • Mind Control
  • Deep Reading
• Rank 2: Phantasm: You can create emotional constructs, which act as if real, but exist only in the metaphysical world of the mind. (Kind of like Summoning)
  • Phantasmal Killer
  • Shade

Bad Luck

See Tamlin.

Air

See Sam.

Blood Magic

See Blood witches.

Notes

Many seeds become powers. Invisibility? Sure! Flight? Absolutely!

Others get split up, like Blast/Strike did. Affliction? Let's get more specific...maybe Curse, Poison, and something else. Summoning? Sure, but what kind? Fey? Infernal? Shadow?

Still other seeds do not exist in abstract form; they are implemented in other powers, to force flavor upon them. Shield comes to mind, and Resist, and Immunity...the better to create more of a "rock-paper-scissors" approach.

Custom Powers

But what about custom powers? Well, they don't exist, as such. Rather, PCs and DMs should work together to create new power structures where none existed.

With total flexibility, S7 players can create powers which overlap too strongly with those of other characters. They can claim powerful abilities with a few BP (vision, movement, etc) that might rightly "belong" to another PC who has a special race or origin granting the same. This way, each PC's specialness is more protected, as in S6, but without marrying them to a class.

Not to say that such PCs are completely up a creek. It's still quite permissible, at least until the system is quite heavily finalized, to ask "couldn't I use X seed with Y power?". Perhaps I didn't think of combining Invisbility with the Fire power, but maybe it makes sense in a certain light. The idea isn't to block off most seeds to most players, but rather to force a certain amount of cohesion, flavor, and boundary respecting that the current system lacks.

Racial Powers, Talents, etc

So this seems to explain magic, but what about non-supernatural powers? And by the way, what currency do you use to Evolve your powers?

Good question. In addition to good ol' BP, you also have Talents. They are quite rare; you get 3 at level 1, and only 1 more every rank (5th, 10th, 15th, 20th).

They don't have to all be used for supernatural powers; none do, in fact. They can be used to gain racial powers, such as the Dragon or Vampire power. They can be used to claim powerful legacies, such as the Hunter power. They can explain extraordinary but non-magical abilities like the Smooth Talker or Kung Fu Savant power. And of course, for those who do like magic, they not only give you access to a power, but are used to Evolve it later.

Cross-Power Combos

Basic combo points still exist, and perhaps even "heavy consequence" backup power sources. But this system allows for something more exciting: cross-power combos.

Suppose a Dragon's power comes from Heat. The more he builds up, the hotter his breath weapon will be when he lets it go. Fine. Great. It works in a bottle. But it might also combine interestingly with the Fire sphere, mightn't it?

And who's to say the same PC need have both spheres involved?

This is a complex idea that could require a whole lot of thought, but I think it deserves at least some consideration.

Stats

Each of the powers is like its own skill. But it's no fun to roll 89 skill checks, when weapon users only have a couple. There ought to be some universal skill checks. And there shall be.

• Willpower (Cha): used for raw power. Determines damage from powers; number of ranks = "hit power", feats allow increase in base dice, crit, etc (similar to Martial Arts feats). For non-damaging powers, determines extent of power, such as with empathic imposition. Used to dominate summons, win contested rolls, etc. Very, very useful. Replaces Will Save in most circumstances. (Note: any skill can potential "save" out of a "save ends" effect, not just Willpower and Endurance)
• Concentration (Wis): maintain reserve spells, enhancements, walls, etc. Can learn to dual-wield spells, a la Skyrim. Very important for complex powers, like deep reading, or making complicated objects out of ice.
• Knowledge (Int): Controls access to rituals. Gating factor for exotic techniques and evolutions.