GURPS Additions and Corrections -= xv =- GURPS Additions and Corrections...ii Optional Rules...xxxi Indices...xxxvi Jason Levine Advantages______________________ Appearance (Very Handsome): 20 points Latent Magery (Magery 0): 5 points You have the inherent ability to perceive and make use of the forces of magic, but not the skill to manipulate it as the true wizards do. You can recognize magical items; the GM will secretly roll vs. your IQ when you first see any magic object, and again when you first touch it. You may use any magical item, including those only usable by mages, and you may cast spells from scrolls, but you can not learn spells on your own. For the purposes of spells and ceremonies that distinguish between mages and non-mages, a character with this advantage is to be considered a mage. The GM should allow PCs to later pay 10 character points to upgrade to Magery 1, and gain the ability to cast spells. Longevity: 5 points Strong Will: Special To prevent characters with unrealistically high Will in high- powered campaigns, the following optional rule may be used: The cost of X levels of Strong Will is equal to 40% of the cost to buy X more points of IQ. Example: Gladys has an IQ of 11 and wants to buy two levels of Strong Will. The cost of two more points of IQ would be 20 points; 40% of 20 is 8, so the Strong Will would cost her 8 points. Joan has an IQ of 16 and wants to buy two levels of Strong Will. The cost of two more points of IQ would be 45 points; 40% of 45 is 18, so the Strong Will would cost her 18 points. This optional rule places Will on the same bell curve as IQ, and makes it more expensive for high-IQ characters to buy their Will up to 20 or more. If this rule is used in a campaign, it should also be applied (in reverse, at -40%) to the value of Weak Will. Disadvantages___________________ Age: -5/-10/-20 points You are old enough to begin making aging rolls (p. B83). For -5 points, you are over 50 years old, and must make aging rolls every year. For -10 points, you are over 70 years old, and must make aging rolls every six months. For -20 points, you are over 90 years old, and must make aging rolls every three months. You do not have to make any aging rolls until game play starts, regardless of how old you start off as. Note that certain game worlds and races will follow different aging guidelines. If so, substitute the equivalent ages in place of those above. Asthma: -30 points You suffer from asthma attacks. Attacks can be brought on by two things: Fatigue loss and stress. Anytime you lose fatigue (even from magic or psi), you must make a HT roll or suffer an attack. Anytime you are in a stressful situation (GM's ruling), you must make a Will roll or suffer an attack. During an attack, any fatigue loss you suffer is doubled (including the fatigue that brought on the attack, if any). You will wheeze and have a hard time speaking in complete sentences. You cannot cast spells that require verbal components, and you are at -3 to DX and IQ, as all your concentration is needed just to breathe. Once an attack has started, roll vs. HT every minute. On a critical success, or three consecutive successes, you recover. A failure costs you one fatigue. On a critical failure you take 1d of fatigue and begin rolling every 10 seconds. If your ST reaches zero you will pass out and begin suffocating. You will die in four minutes unless you receive first aid. You can never learn the Breath Control skill! At TL7+, medication can prevent attacks. This reduces the point value of this disadvantage to -15 points. An inhaler (medsensor at TL9+) must be used to administer the medication as soon as the attack occurs, or up to 30 seconds in advance of an attack (e.g., if you are about to lift something heavy and know that it will fatigue you). The medication will immediately stop an ongoing attack, but will not restore any fatigue already lost. Chronic Depression: -15 points You go through periods of extreme sloth and depression. Chronically depressed people tend to spend their days eating government cheese and drinking cheap beer while listening to fundamentalist radio. You must make a Will roll to do anything other than the most basic level of self-preservation (eating, etc.) If you fail this Will roll, you can still act, but all rolls will be at -4. If successful, you will be able to act normally for as long as things go your way. If any negative event or setback happens to you, you must make a Will roll to avoid immediately falling back into a depression. Color Blindness: -5 points Duty: Variable You have a serious responsibility toward others, and are personally committed to that responsibility. It may come from a job, a feudal responsibility, or any other outside source (except for Dependents, which you automatically have a duty toward, for no extra points). A "self-imposed" feeling of duty is a Sense of Duty, which is bought separately, but is not mutually exclusive to a normal Duty. The point value of a duty depends on its frequency. The GM rolls at the beginning of each adventure to see if you will be "called to duty" in that adventure. 15 or less: -15 points. At this level, the GM may rule that you are always on duty, without rolling. 12 or less: -10 points. 9 or less: -5 points. 6 or less: -2 points. Light Duty: To be significant, a duty should be dangerous, not just an ordinary job. If a duty does not require you to risk your life occasionally, shift its value one step down on the table (negating any duty with a frequency of 6 or less). Extremely Hazardous Duty (XHD): If a duty requires you to risk your life every time you are called in, shift its value one step up on the table, adding 5 points for each level above 15 or less. Most XHDs will have a frequency of 15 or less, and all will carry significant penalties for failure to follow orders. Involuntary Duty: If the duty is being enforced by threats to your self or loved ones, mind control, or other similar methods, shift its value one step up on the table, as for XHD. This does not include military duty by draft. Example: The Mafia has kidnapped Susan's daughter, and will kill her unless she steals information for them, which they have her do on a fairly common (12 or less) basis. This is a -15 point disadvantage. Glory Hound: -10 points You insist on being in the limelight. You will always take time to talk to the press, pose for photographs, or sign an autograph. You will create complex plans that feature your abilities and talents, lead the charge in any conflict, etc. You get a +1 reaction from the press, small children, etc., but a -1 from fellow heroes, etc. Note that this disadvantage is not the same as Overconfidence, but the two fit together well. Insomnia: -5 or -10 points You go through periods where falling asleep is very difficult. Each night during an insomnia episode you must make a Will roll. On a success, you fall asleep easily and this episode is over. On a failure, you only get half a night of sleep (costing 2 fatigue; see sidebar on p. B134) and the episode will continue for another night. On a critical failure, you get no sleep that night (costing 5 fatigue). Once an episode ends, the GM rolls 3d to determine how many days until the next episode begins (at the -10 point level, the GM rolls 2d-1). When you suffer prolonged stress, the GM may require a Will roll. A failure means an episode starts that night. Night Blindness: -10 points You have a difficult time seeing in poor lighting. All vision penalties for darkness are doubled for you (minimum -2, maximum -10). Any vision benefits from Acute Vision or Alertness are lost in darkness. Oblivious: -5 points/level You might be intelligent, but you are not very alert. Subtract your level in Oblivious from all of your Sense rolls. E.g., a fighter with an IQ of 10 and Oblivious -3 would have Sense rolls of 7. This may be combined with Acute Vision, Hearing, or Smell/Taste, but not with Alertness. Weak Will: Special If the optional rule for Strong Will (p. ii) is used, it should also be applied (in reverse, at -40%) to Weak Will. Note that, when the optional Will rule is not used, the value of Weak Will is -4 points/level, not -8. Special Disadvantages___________ Chronic Treatable Illness: Variable Some illness causes you to exhibit one or more of the disadvantages available to GURPS characters, but modern medicine is able to allevi ate this condition. Therefore, the value of the illness is reduced. Define an illness by totaling up its overall effects (reduced fatigue, reduction of attributes, Low Pain Threshold, Hemophilia, etc.) Values for some symptoms not listed in the Basic Set are given below. Then modify this value by the frequency and type of treatment needed to prevent its onset. Hourly: Full Value Daily: 3/4 Value Weekly: 1/2 Value Monthly: 1/4 Value Yearly: No Value If you go for your stated period of time without receiving treatment, you will be vulnerable to the effects of the illness. Move one position up on the table to determine the time until the full onset of the illness (illnesses requiring hourly treatment will take effect in five minutes). The symptoms will appear gradually until they are all in effect. These values assume that the treatment necessary to stave off the illness is some type of medicine or therapy that requires one minute of time, can be self-administered, requires equipment and/or medicine that can be easily carried around (about one pound), and costs one- tenth of your monthly income, each month. Different types of treatment shift the fractional value up or down on the above table. The final value can never be greater than the full value for an untreatable illness. Note that the modifiers for expense are based on the cost per month, regardless of the actual frequency. Also note that if the therapy/medicine requires professional medical facilities, the weight of the equipment is not important. Requires an additional, trained, person: Up 1 level Requires professional medical facilities: Up 2 levels Takes 10 minutes: Up 1 level Takes 2 hours: Up 2 levels Takes a full day: Up 3 levels Takes 5 seconds: Down 1 level Equipment weighs over 25 pounds (can be targeted in combat): Up 1 level Equipment weighs over 100 points (effectively immobile): Up 2 levels Equipment has negligible weight (-4 to Holdout): Down 1 level No equipment necessary (therapy only): Down 2 levels Expensive (1/2 monthly income): Up 1 level Exorbitant (3/4 monthly income): Up 2 levels Illegal: Up 1 level Example: Sara has a form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Its symptoms are extreme fatigue (Reduced Fatigue -4, -12 points) and a lack of motivation (Laziness, -10 points). Expensive medication, taken once a week, can prevent this. Weekly treatment is worth 1/2 value, but the medication costs Sara 1/2 of her monthly income each month, so this value shifts up one, to 3/4. The value of this disadvantage is 3/4 of -22 points, or -16 points. Note: The disadvantages below, marked with a *, are provided for the GM's and players' convenience when designing chronic illnesses. They should generally not be allowed to characters as stand-alone dis advantages. *Reduced Fatigue: -3 points/level Your fatigue pool is lower than your ST; every level of this disadvantage lowers it by one. If this is part of a permanent disadvantage, you can never gain fatigue above this limit. If this is part of a chronic illness, the onset of this disadvantage will cause an immediate loss of fatigue equal to the level of this disadvantage (ST cannot go below 0) and the upper limit on fatigue will be adjusted, as above, until the illness ends. Note that you do not get the fatigue back once the illness subsides! *Reduced Hit Points: -5 points/level As Reduced Fatigue, above, with the exception that the onset of a chronic illness can cause HT to drop below 0, possibly killing the character. *Reduced Skills: -5 or -10 points/level For every level of this disadvantage, you have a -1 penalty to your skill rolls. For one type of skill (Mental or Physical), the penalty is worth -5 points/level. For all skills, it is worth -10 points/level. Hard to Resist: -2 points/level This special "add-on" disadvantage can be bought for any disadvantage that can be resisted by making a Will roll. Every level of Hard to Resist, up to a maximum of five levels, subtracts one from every Will roll you make to resist the disadvantage. It also lowers the "any roll of 14 or more always fails" limit by the same amount. A maximum total limit of -10 points worth of Hard to Resist (-20 for supers) is suggested; after that, buy Weak Will. Example: John has Pyromania with three levels of Hard to Resist, for a total value of -11 points. Any time he has a chance to set a fire and tries to resist, he must roll against his Will-3, and any roll of 11 or more automatically fails. Skills__________________________ Dodging (Physical/Hard) Defaults to (DX+HT)/2 Buy this skill based on the average of your DX and HT, rounded down. Your actual Dodge is equal to half of your Dodging skill, rounded down. Bonuses from Combat Reflexes, etc., are then added. The GM should consider this skill slightly cinematic, and may wish to restrict it to serious martial artists only, or even forbid it in certain campaigns. Observation (Mental/Hard) No default This is the skill of using your senses to their fullest potential. You may replace your IQ with your Observation skill for all active Sense rolls; all modifiers for Alertness, Acute senses, etc., apply. This only applies to active Sense rolls! Listening at a door or looking for a person in a forest is active; hearing a footstep behind you or noticing a thief cringing in the shadows is passive. In all cases, the GM's word is final; GMs in doubt should assume that the roll is passive. Meditation (Mental/Very Hard) No default This is the ability to reach a state of trance, in which the mind is totally relaxed but able to react instantly. A concentration period of (18-skill) turns (minimum of 1) is required. On a successful roll, you can devote full concentration to the task at hand, ignoring outside disturbances. For the next turn, you gain +2 to any one skill, but all other rolls are at -2 (as you have the rest of the world tuned out). A successful Meditation roll can also prevent an injured person from being shocked, stunned, or falling unconscious (roll versus Meditation instead of HT). Mimicry (Mental/Average) Defaults to IQ-5 This skill is the ability to impersonate other peoples' voices convincingly. Roll a quick contest of your Mimicry skill vs. the IQ of each person you are trying to fool. The Voice advantage gives +1 to this skill. Modifiers: -3 when trying to fool a close friend or family member. -1 to fool a person who spends a great deal of time with the subject. +2 to fool a casual acquaintance. -2 to fool someone with Eidetic Memory. -3 or more if you do not have adequate time to study the voice (60 minutes minus twice your skill, minimum of 10 minutes). -5 if you do not have tapes to study and are mimicking the voice from memory (one level of Eidetic Memory reduces this penalty to -2; two levels eliminates it entirely). Successful Acting and Disguise rolls each give +1 to your roll (if you look and act just like the subject, people are more likely to believe you). Tactics (Mental/Hard) Defaults to IQ-6 or Strategy-6 If you know this skill at level 12, you receive +0.25 to your Initiative. Knowing it at level 15 gives +0.5. Knowing it at level 18 gives +0.75, and knowing it at level 20 gives +1. Every five levels after that add another +0.25 (so skill 30 would add a total of +1.5 to your Initiative). See Initiative rules, p. xxxiv. This does not apply to default use. Magic Spells____________________ Temporary Enchantment Enchantment This spell lets the enchanter create magic items that will function only a certain number of times before losing their enchantment. The energy savings is substantial for a low number of uses, but reduces as the number of uses increases. The cost to temporarily enchant an item is a percentage of the normal enchantment cost, and can be derived from the formula [P = Uses / (Uses + 6)]. Thus, the cost to enchant an item for only one use is 1/7, or 14%, of the normal enchantment cost. The cost to enchant an item for 50 uses is 50/56, or 89%, of the normal enchantment cost. Temporary Enchantment is used in place of the Enchant spell, and is otherwise identical to that spell. However, Temporary Enchantment cannot be used with any spells from the Enchantment college or Meta- Spell college except the following: Speed, Power, Hex, Limit, Name, Link. It can never be used to reduce the cost of enchantments that are already limited (e.g., Skull Spirit). Duration: Until the item's uses have run out. Cost and time: Determined by the specific spell and the number of uses. Prerequisites: Enchant. Psi Skills______________________ Antipsi Power (3 points/level) With the GM's permission, an antipsi may buy other psionic powers, by paying double cost for them (both Power and skill). This is in additional to any purchasing scheme in effect (see p. xlii). Personal Resistance *2 Note: This is a new skill for the Antipsi power. This ability makes you highly resistant to psionic powers. Half your Power is subtracted from the skill of any psionic attempt where you are the subject. This even applies to powers like Psychokinesis and ESP (but not Antipsi). It may be used in conjunction with Psi Static. Unfortunately, it interferes with "friendly" psi as well as interfering with your psi powers as well! Whenever you wish to use a power, or be affected by one, you must make a Personal Resistance skill roll. Success by 0 or 1 means you drop your resistance for a full second, during which hostile psis can attack with no penalty; a Psi Sense roll that succeeds by 9 or more will detect that fact. Success by 2+ drops the resistance for a fraction of a second, just long enough for the power to activate. Failure means the psi roll is made with full penalties. If it fails, it may be attempted again as a repeated attempt (p. P8). On a critical failure, you take 1d fatigue and your resistance burns out for 5d6 turns. If you need to drop the resistance for extended periods of time, it costs one fatigue and a skill roll to drop the resistance, plus an additional fatigue and skill roll for every minute it stays down. Special Skill Limitation: You cannot turn the resistance off. It functions identically to the Psionic Resistance advantage. You must still spend at least half a point on the skill. -50% Energy Shield *2 Special Skill Enhancement: In addition to locking onto energy particles and funneling them away, you can channel those particles to slow the momentum of incoming physical objects. The game effect is that the DR gained protects against physical attacks as well as energy attacks. It still gives no protection against mental attacks. +50% Clairvoyance *2 This is the ability to focus your mind on a distant point, seeing things as if you were there. Its range is affected by Power, but not by any intervening objects. An extended Mind Shield (p. P38) will interfere, unless the telepath designates the clairvoyant as "friendly" (he must have Mind Shield skill 12+ to do so). The Mind Shield only interferes if the focus is within its area; the clairvoyant can focus just outside the Shield with no penalty and look into the shielded area (for as far as his Power allows). Note that an ESPer cannot use a "brute force" attack to reduce the power of a Mind Shield. To use Clairvoyance, take the Concentrate maneuver. At the beginning of your next turn, roll vs. skill. Success means you see something; failure means you see nothing (nothing useful, at least). Once you succeed, you can maintain your focus for as long as you want; a maintenance roll is required each minute. Shifting the focus to a new location requires another turn of concentration and a skill roll. Rotating the point of view or moving the focus forward (e.g., to follow a moving person) requires a skill roll, but no concentration. The focus has a maximum Move of Power. The range of Clairvoyance is equal to your Power squared, expressed in feet. Thus, at Power 1 you could see into a package in your hand, while Power 20 will let you focus on a point up to 400 feet away. The view is directional; a clairvoyant has a 180-degree arc of vision (even if he has the Peripheral Vision advantage). The psi can see anything within Power feet of the point of focus. Everything outside that range would appear hazy and indistinct; rudimentary observations may be made, such as, "A number of people are moving around," but the psi could not tell how many people or what they were doing. Beyond Power x 2 feet, no observation at all is possible. Your skill determines how good your remote sight is. Any time the GM would require you to make a Vision roll, he should have you make a Clair voyance skill roll, with the same modifiers the Vision roll would have. Your Acute Vision, Alertness, Bad Sight, etc., do not modify this roll. The ESPer must decide where his mind is focused; is he paying attention to his focus and keeping the immediate world in the background, or is he paying attention to his surroundings and keeping the remote site in the back of his mind? All rolls to see anything important in the "other" place are at -4. This would apply to Vision rolls for the immediate world or to Clairvoyance skill rolls for the remote site. When focused on the remote site, there is no penalty for noticing noise, smells, etc., from the real world unless the ESPer is using another form of Clairsentience, in which case the -4 penalty applies to noticing that type of stimulus also. Darkness is no barrier to ESP. A clairvoyant can use his ability instead of natural vision when moving through an unlit room or to compensate for blindness by way of a short-ranged form of "sight." The Blind disadvantage is only worth -30 points to a clairvoyant with Power or skill greater than 10. If Power and skill are both greater than 10, he only gets -15 points for it! Clairvoyance has a relatively short range. To duplicate the longer- ranged "remote viewing" feats described in some stories, a psi should use Astral Projection to travel there in astral form, then use Clairvoyance to see inside envelopes, or in darkness. Special Skill Limitation: Your Clairvoyance does not work in darkness. You can see into a lighted room, but you cannot read what is written in a sealed envelope. -50% Clairaudience *2 As above, except that it lets the ESPer hear what is being said in the area around the point of focus. Range is equal to Power squared, expressed in yards. The radius of the area in which a clairaudient can hear is half of his range (not Power yards). This is not directional; a Power 10 psi would hear everything within 50 yards of his point of focus. Soft or faint noises may require a skill roll (possibly at a penalty) to hear. Clairsentience *1 If one of these is used in a campaign, use the Clairvoyance range and area, above. Do not use the Clairvoyance range and area in Psionics. Certain changes will have to be made; Clairolfactience would not be directional, for example, and Clairtactience would probably have an area of 0 (touch only). Healing *3 This is the basic skill of healing wounds. You must be in contact with the subject. On a successful roll, you can heal hit points up to your Power. The roll is at -2 if the victim is unconscious. It can never bring back the dead!. On a critical success, the healing takes one second, heals Power hits, and costs you no fatigue. A failed roll costs you 1d fatigue. A critical failure also costs you 1d of damage! Trying to heal the same subject more than once in a single day is difficult; treat additional attempts as repeated attempts (p. P8), regardless of successes or failures (i.e., each attempt after the first costs one fatigue and is at a cumulative -1 to skill). There are two ways you can heal hits: Fast healing and slow healing. Fast healing takes only one second of concentration, but costs twice as much as slow healing (i.e., 2 fatigue per hit for Power 1-5, 1 fatigue per hit for Power 6-10, 2 fatigue per three hits for Power 11-15, and so on). Slow healing is less fatiguing but takes longer. It takes (60/Power) seconds of concentration to heal each hit. Thus, it always takes one minute for a psi to heal Power hits. The cost of successful healing depends on your Power. For Power 1 to 5, the cost is one fatigue per hit healed; for Power 6 to 10, it costs one fatigue per 2 hits healed; for Power 11 to 15, it costs one fatigue per 3 hits healed, and so on. Healing can be used in many other ways, if you have enough Power. Diseases can be cured, at a -2 penalty, or worse, to skill (an additional -1 for every five levels of Power required is suggested). A successful Sense Aura roll will give +2 to this roll. A common cold would require only Power 1, pneumonia would require Power 5, rabies would require Power 8, and terminal cancer would require Power 15 or more. The fatigue cost is equivalent to the Power required, but never lower than 4. The time required is one minute for every two points of fatigue needed. You can halve the time by doubling the fatigue cost, and vice-versa. Every five levels of Power beyond the minimum needed reduce the fatigue cost by 2 and the time needed by 1 minute (minimum 1 fatigue and 10 seconds). You can also neutralize poisons, at an equivalent time, cost, and skill penalty to curing disease. Tarantula venom would require Power 3, rattlesnake venom would require Power 6, coral snake venom would require Power 10, and South American arrow toad poison would require Power 15 or more. At Power 11, you can cure radiation damage, at -4 to skill (Sense Aura does not help). Subtract 10 from effective Power, and treat every 10 rads as 1 hit point. You may even restore a crippled limb or damaged organ to full health. This requires Power 10, and is done at -5 to skill (-8 to restore an organ, such as an eye). It cannot restore a severed limb! This is slow and tiring work; the healer must concentrate for an uninterrupted ten minutes, which costs him 2d fatigue. He must do this once a day for 7 consecutive days. Every five levels of Power past 10 reduce this by one day, so a Power 20 psi could heal a limb in 5 days. Every five levels of Power past 40 half the time and fatigue required. Any failure means that the day was lost, but he does not have to start over; two consecutive failures or one critical failure means that the healer cannot restore that limb or organ, ever. A critical success means that that day counts as 1d days of work. PK Shield *2 Special Skill Enhancement: You can "lock on" to the air around you tightly enough to make the molecules partially refractive. The game effect is that the DR gained protects against energy attacks as well as physical attacks. It still gives no protection against mental attacks. +50% Pressure Wave (VH) *3 Prerequisites: PK Shield-14+ and Telekinesis-14+ Note: This is a new skill for the Psychokinesis power. It is Mental/Very Hard, instead of Mental/Hard. It may or may not be available to beginning PCs. You can lock on to the air around you and funnel it into a pressure wave, which you can use to damage and knock back people and things. The damage done by this attack is taken from the Swing Damage chart (p. B74 or SU78), based on the psi's TK power. This damage is quadrupled for the purposes of knockback! Roll against your Pressure Wave skill to hit. Treat this as a normal ranged attack, with SS 12, Acc 1, and range as detailed on p. P17. This attack is nearly silent (about as loud as a bow and arrow) and almost invisible; when a target is hit with this attack for the first time, he must make a Hearing-2 or Vision-4 roll to realize it, or he gets no active defense. Once aware of this attack, targets may defend against it normally, at -2. Telepathy Power (5 points/level) Global range is not 1% of actual range. Global range is one yard for Power 10, two yards for Power 11, and (Power-10) yards, squared, for Power 12+. Telescan *2 This skill can also be used to gauge the number of people within range of the psi. This takes one second of concentration for every two levels of effective Power; you may always reduce your efective Power to scan a smaller area. The more you make your skill roll by, the more specific your information will be: 0: You know if people are within your range or not. 1-2: You have a general idea of how many. The GM should round off to the highest unit (tens for 0-99 people, hundreds for 100-999 people, etc.) You will be aware if any close friends or family members are within range, but will not know the direction or distance to them. 3-4: You have a good idea of how many. The GM should round off one unit lower (but never below tens, unless there are less than ten people). You will be aware if any friends or acquaintances are within range, as above. 5 or more: You will know exactly how many people are within range, unless there are several thousand, and will be aware if anyone you know is within range, as above. On a critical success, you will know the approximate distance and direction to anyone that you recognize, and if most of the local population is congregated in certain areas, you will have a general idea of where those areas of density are. Telesend *2 Autoteleport *4 Power 1 lets you teleport one foot; Power 2 lets you teleport two feet. At Power 3 and above, range is based on the Telepathy Range Table, p. P20. Special Skill Enhancement: Improved control. On a failed roll, you do not go anywhere. You still lose two fatigue, and critical failures still send you someplace unpleasant. This enhancement may always be turned off if you would rather be anywhere than where you are. +20% Combat Teleport *2 Range for this ability is one yard for Power 10, two yards for Power 11, and (Power-10) yards, squared, for Power 12+. Exoteleport *4 Weight is determined by the table below. If the jumper is carrying an item by touching it while Autoteleporting or Combat Teleporting, he can blink twice as much weight (e.g., a Power 15 jumper could carry another adult with him.) Power Weight Power Weight 1 1/8 oz. 11 8 lbs. 2 1/4 oz. 12 15 lbs. 3 1/2 oz. 13 25 lbs. 4 1 oz. 14 50 lbs. 5 2 oz. 15 75 lbs. 6 4 oz. 16 100 lbs. 7 8 oz. 17 125 lbs. 8 1 lb. 18 150 lbs. 9 2 lbs. 19 175 lbs. 10 4 lbs. 20 200 lbs. Further increases in Power add 25 pounds per level. It is harder to "lock on" to moving targets. There is a skill penalty equal to the subject's Move, -1 for every yard per second, up to a maximum of -10. Special Skill Limitation: Reduced weight. Each time this limitation is taken, the weight that can be blinked is halved. -10% Special Skill Limitation: Only with Autoteleport. You can only teleport objects by touching them and carrying them with you when you Autoteleport or Combat Teleport. Your weight limit is still doubled, as above. -75% Super Advantages________________ Absorption: Variable You can absorb energy from an attack and use it to fuel your own powers! Each level of Absorption allows you to absorb one point of damage from an attack and store that point in an "absorption battery". The battery can hold a number of points equal to twice your Absorption level. From that battery, you can allocate those points as if they were character points, to temporarily raise a power, attribute, or anything else the GM approves of. Once these points have been allo cated, they cannot be shifted elsewhere. The points drain away, unused ones first, at the rate of one per turn. Any special abilities gained are lost when the points allocated to them fall below the minimum cost. When you are attacked, first subtract your Absorption from the damage taken, then subtract your Reflection (if any), and (finally) subtract any DR you have before assessing damage. Once your battery is full, every level of Absorption acts like a level of normal DR. You cannot absorb your own attacks. Frequency Cost/Point Against Everything 8 Common 5 Occasional 3 Rare 2 Very Rare 1 At the GM's option, you can roll to see how much damage you absorb from each attack. Every 4 points of Absorption lets you roll 1d; every 7 points lets you roll 2d. To lose points faster or slower than one per turn, take Extended Duration or Reduced Duration. Each level of Reduced Duration doubles the number of points you lose per turn. Special Enhancement: Increased Battery Cap. Every level of this enhancement raises the maximum number of points that can be stored by one per level. So a super with Absorption 10 and two levels of this enhancement could store 4 points per level, or 40 points, in his "battery". +30% Special Limitation: If the absorbed points can only be allocated to one narrow group of abilities (e.g., all attributes, only DR/Absorption/Reflection, etc.) it's worth -20%. If they can only go to one attribute or power it's worth -40%. Special Limitation: Does Not Protect. The Absorption does not function as DR; you absorb the points, but take damage from the attack. -20% Example: Decker has DR 20 and Absorption 15. His archenemy Servodroid hits him with a 10d pulse cannon, doing 42 points of damage. 15 points go into Decker's "absorption battery", 20 points are stopped by his DR, and he takes 7 points of damage. Decker decides to spend 10 of the points in his battery to raise his DX from 12 to 13, just before he fires his Energy Ray. His skill has been increased by one, due to his DX increase, and he hits. At the beginning of the next turn he loses a point from his battery, and now has 14 (10 in use, 4 unused). He is hit by the cannon again, for 30 points of damage. His battery soaks up 15 of that (and now has 29 points) and his DR stops the rest. He spends 18 points to raise his Energy Ray Power by three and fires. It hits (and does 3d more damage than it normally would). On the next turn, Decker loses one more point (the only unused one), and Servodroid retreats. One turn later, Decker loses another point, and the number of points allocated to DX (the first thing he bought) is now 9; his DX drops back to 12. For the next nine turns, he loses the points allocated to DX. On the tenth turn, the number of points allocated to his Energy Ray is now 17, and he loses one level of extra Power. In twelve turns, his Energy Ray Power will be back to normal; five turns later his battery will be empty. Body of Electricity: 50 points Your body is an animated shape of electric energy. You cannot carry anything, except your costume if you have the Costume advantage. You may use super abilities normally, but normal physical feats are impossible. Normal weapons inflict one point of damage (regardless of DR) and you take half damage from energy attacks (including electrical ones). You take an extra 50% damage (calculated after DR is subtracted) from liquid attacks. You may pass through conductive materials at half your Move, and may flow through electrical conductors at ten times your Move! Passing through (or even touching) any electrical equipment will automatically inflict a Surge with Power and skill equal to your HT. Equipment designed to facilitate electric flow (e.g., transformers, generators, etc.) is immune to this, as are optical systems. Special Enhancement: Objects may be carried. They change to energy when picked up, and regain normal form when put down. +10% for No Encumbrance, +20% for Light, +50% for Medium, +100% for Heavy. If electrical equipment that you pick up does not get Surged, the cost of this enhancement is multiplied by 1.5 (+15% for No Encumbrance, +30% for Light, etc.) Special Limitation: You cannot switch out of Body of Electricity form. This is very inconvenient and often crippling, especially if you work near electrical equipment. This is not a percentage limitation; treat an unswitchable Body of Electricity as a disadvantage worth -30 points. Use the percentage value of any enhancements to lower the cost of the disadvantage, as described for Body of Air. Body of Fire: 5 points/level Your body is covered with flames, from which you take no damage. The temperature of these flames is 500 degrees, plus 25 degrees/level. See the sidebar on p. SU21 for a list of common melting points. The flames can cause damage to others; every level of this advantage adds one point of burn damage to your hand-to-hand attacks. For every five levels, everyone in your hex takes 1d of damage per turn. You have an extra DR 1 against Heat/Fire attacks for every level of this advantage, and an extra DR 1 against bullets for every two levels. You take an extra 50% damage from cold or water-based attacks (calculated after DR is subtracted). Special Limitation: You cannot switch out of Body of Fire form. You must live in a cave or an asbestos house. This is grossly inconvenient for you and dangerous for others. -60% Body of Ice: 25 points A malleable coating of ice covers your body, making you immune to the effects of cold temperature and adding 5 DR. You take half damage from all cold-based attacks, but take an additional 50% damage from heat/fire attacks (calculated after DR is subtracted). All punching and kicking damage that you do is increased by 2, and attempts to grapple (or to be grappled) are at -4. Special Limitation: You cannot switch out of Body of Ice form. This is inconvenient but not especially crippling. -40% Body of Metal: 8 points/level See Body of Stone, below, for specific effects of crystalline armor. Body of Stone: 6 points/level Your body is made of rock. You gain PD 1 for every 4 levels (maximum PD 6), and DR 3 for every 2 levels. Your punching and kicking damage is increased by 2, but your ground Move is reduced by 20% (round up). Your PD and DR are crystalline. Crystalline armor suffers increased penetration from vibratory attacks, and protects with only 3/4 its DR and PD against such attacks (1/2 DR and PD against double-vibratory attacks). It is also vulnerable to the Chambara skill Breaking Blow (p. MA31). Special Enhancement: Your body's stone is amorphous instead of crystalline, and suffers no extra penetration from sonic or vibratory attacks. +30% Special Limitation: You cannot switch out of Body of Stone form. This is not especially crippling, although you may look peculiar. -20% Claws: Variable Short claws change your basic hand-to-hand damage to thrust/ cutting, and cost 20 points. Long claws change your basic damage to thrust/impaling or swing/cutting, and cost 40 points. Claws can also be sharpened, doing greater damage. Every additional 1d of damage costs an extra 6 points. With the GM's permission, you may buy this additional damage without buying the short or long claws above; it could represent lethal martial arts training or incredibly hard fists. The Cutting and Impaling enhancements may never be applied to Claws. Example: Raze wants to create the Claws of Death. He buys Long Claws and sharpens them for +5d damage. This comes to 70 points, but he wants to add two levels of Armor-Piercing, for a total cost of 140 points. His basic thrust is 1d and his basic swing is 2d-1, so when he hits with the Claws of Death, he can do 6d impaling or 7d-1 cutting, and DR protects with half its value. Costume: 10 points This advantage is a staple of comic books, but should be unavail able in a realistic campaign. You may change from whatever you're wearing into your costume, and back again. Your costume works with your powers and is immune to damage from them. It will stretch with you, ignite (safely) with your Body of Fire, etc., and will generally stay in good condition throughout the worst fight. This does not change your body in any way, just what you are wearing. To drastically alter your basic form, buy the Morph power with the Only One Form limitation. It only affects your powers if they are derived from your costume; if so, your costume should be bought as a gadget. Note that you still have to pay the cash for the costumes. You cannot take Dead Broke, then define your Costume as a Kevlar vest or an Armani suit. Special Enhancement: You may change into any set of clothes or costume that you wish. +50% Special Limitation: You cannot change instantly into your costume. When you do don it, it works with your powers and stays in good condition. -50% Damage Resistance: Variable Special Enhancement: Hardened. Hardened DR is immune to all armor piercing effects and armor divisors. Hardened DR will protect with its full DR against a Fireball with Armor Piercing x2 or a 10d(5) gyroc. +30% Special Limitation: Your DR is crystalline. It may be metallic armor or you may just have an unusual body structure, but the effects are the same, as listed under Body of Stone (p. xiv). This may not be combined with the Hardened enhancement. -20% Special Limitation: The cost of ablative DR depends on how fast it regenerates and the type of damage against which it protects. Regenerates 1 DR per Frequency day hour min. Everything 1 1.5 2 Common 3/4 1 1.5 Occasional 1/2 3/4 1 Rare 1/4 1/2 1/2 Very Rare 1/8 1/4 1/4 As you can see, it becomes highly non-optimal to buy ablative armor against uncommon forms of damage; buy normal DR instead. Daredevil: 15 points Fortune smiles on you when you risk your life. Anytime you take a serious, unnecessary risk (GM's ruling), you get a +1 to all skill rolls, and you may re-roll any critical failure. You would not get this bonus if you were attacked and returned fire from cover; you would only get it if you jumped out and charged your opponents, screaming. Your life must truly be at risk; a super with DR 30 charging into a gun fight would not be putting himself at any noticeable risk. Dark Vision: 15 points Doesn't Breathe: 20 points Special Enhancement: Your body does not need oxygen. You can survive in a vacuum, if you are protected from the pressure. +25% Extra Hit Points: Varies In a campaign that does not use the optional stun rules, supers can buy extra hit points at a cost of 3 character points for 5 extra hit points. In a campaign that uses the optional stun rules, the cost is 3 points for each extra hit point. Stun is based off of hit points, not HT. All other rolls and calculations use basic HT, not hit points. Note that the value of buying hit points down from basic HT is still -5 points per hit point below basic HT. Flight: 40 points Note that your maximum acceleration depends on how many Gs you can handle, as acclerating by 10 yards/second is a 1G maneuver. Follow the sidebar on p. SU24 for supers who wish to accelerate faster than HT x 5 yards/second. You can decelerate at twice your maximum accelera tion. Special Enhancement: You fly on a platform that will automatically land you from any height if you fall unconscious. +40% G-Tolerance: 3 points/level Each level of this advantage allows the character to pull an additional G (see p. B139 and sidebar, p. SU24) while turning (lowering the turning radius), accelerating (raising maximum accel eration by 10 hexes per turn), and decelerating (raising maximum deceleration by 20 hexes per turn). Example: Screecher has HT 12 and three levels of G-Tolerance. He could normally accelerate up to 60 hexes/turn, but his G-Tolerance raises this to 90 hexes/turn. When flying at 50 hexes/turn, Screecher could normally pull a 6G turn safely, making his turning radius 42 hexes, but his G-Tolerance lets him pull 9Gs, which lowers his turning radius to 28 hexes. He could try to accelerate faster or turn tighter by pulling more Gs, but he would have to start making HT and Flight rolls. Growth: 10 points/level Growing to incredible sizes lets you take incredibly long strides. Add your current level of Growth to your Move, as well as to your Reach. This affects your Step And... maneuvers as well as your Super Running, Super Flight, etc. If your Growth is always on, it is a flat disadvantage worth -10 points, at any level. Simply decide how big you are. Note that you do not get the point break for ST or any other abilities; you must pay full cost for them. Hyperflight: 50/75/100 points For 100 points, you can cover distances faster than the best FTL starships. For every minute of flight, you travel one light year per level of Super Flight. Increased Speed: 25 points/level Special Limitation: One-half point of Speed costs 15 points. This is useful for supers with Basic Speeds of 6.5, 7.5, etc. Special Limitation: This advantage can be separated into its component parts, none of which affect Basic Speed: Increased Dodge: Each level increases your Dodge by one. 15 points/level Increased Initiative: Each level adds one to your Basic Speed for purposes of determining initiative only! This affects multiple actions if the optional rules on p. SU78 or p. xxxi are being used. The GM may wish to disallow this component of Increased Speed to characters. 10 points/level. Increased Move: Each level increases your base Move by one. This affects your Step And... maneuvers and affects your Super Flight, Super Running, etc. 5 points/level. Karmic Manipulation: Varies You are in tune with the forces of luck and probability in the universe. The basic ability costs 10 points per level, to a maximum of five levels, and lets you add or subtract your level of Karmic Manipulation to any die roll made by anybody for any reason. You must decide to use this ability before the dice are rolled. You do not have to use your full level of power. If a damage roll is being modified, it can go as low as zero, with no upper limit. If a skill roll is being modified, it can go as low as 3 and as high as 18. For the base cost, you can use this ability once per game-play hour (q.v. Luck). For twice the cost, you can use it once per half-hour. For four times the cost, you can use it once every ten minutes. Example: Second Sight buys three levels of Karmic Manipulation, usable once every half-hour, for 60 points. In battle, she notices her teammate Zzap trying to take out a psi. She decides to subtract three from Zzap's next laser skill roll. Zzap rolls a 7, which is reduced to a 4. Critical success! Move Through Ice: 32 points This is actually Insubstantiality with the -60% limitation "Only through Ice and Snow". The ability to move through ice, leaving a tunnel behind, should be bought as Tunneling, with the same limitation. Multiple Forms: 5 points/form Ignore the special limitation. If it takes you time to switch between forms, use the Takes Extra Time limitation. Nine Lives: 30 points You are a very hard person to kill. Any time a roll is made that would result in your HT falling below -HT (or any HT loss if your HT is already below -HT), you may demand that it be re-rolled. You may have the GM re-roll the to-hit or damage roll, or you may re-roll your defense roll. Other rolls may be appropriate; if a weapon would explode in your hands, you may have the GM re-roll the weapon's malfunction roll. You may never use Luck on this re-roll. If this new roll would cause your HT to fall below -HT, you may have that roll re-rolled! Or you may have another relevant roll re- rolled. For example, if your defense re-roll fails, you may have the GM re-roll the damage done. However, you may only invoke this privilege nine times during your existence. Each re-roll counts as one use, whether you make it or not. Once the ninth re-roll is made, this advantage is lost, and your character is worth 30 fewer points. You may only buy this advantage once; you may not purchase it again when it is used up. Passive Defense: 25 points/level Special Limitation: Your passive defense only protects you from certain attacks. See the Defense Table on p. SU35 for some examples. Protection from a common attack only is worth -40%, an occasional attack is worth -50%, rare is worth -60%, and very rare is worth -80%. Note that your maximum PD against any attack can never exceed 6. Special Limitation: Crystalline. Your passive defense is crystalline and suffers the effects detailed under Body of Stone (p. xiv). -20% Penetrating Vision: 10 points/level One level of Penetrating Vision allows you to see through one foot of solid objects. Each additional level doubles that distance. So five levels of Penetrating Vision allow you to see through sixteen feet of solid objects. Radar Sense: Variable This ability costs 50 points plus the radius cost, which is 1 point per hex for the first 5 hexes, then 1 point per two hexes for the next 10 hexes, then 1 point per three hexes for the next 15 hexes, etc. The table below illustrates this. Points Total Hexes/ Spent Radius Point 5 5 1 10 15 2 15 30 3 20 50 4 25 75 5 30 105 6 35 140 7 40 180 8 45 225 9 50 275 10 Example: The Platinum Skateboarder wants to be aware of everything within 60 hexes. He pays 50 points, plus 20 points for a 50 hex radius, plus 2 more points for +10 hexes. His final cost is 72 points. Reflection: Variable You can reflect part of the damage from an attack back at the attacker! Every level of Reflection lets you bounce one point of damage back, to automatically hit the attacker. If the attacker is unaware of your Reflection ability, he gets no active defense against it; otherwise he may make a normal active defense. If your attacker makes a critical success on his attack roll or you critically fail your defense roll, you do not reflect the attack; your reflection still protects, as DR. The attack must be targeting you specifically; damage from an area attack will not be reflected unless you are at the center of it (i.e., the targeted hex). You also cannot reflect an attack if there is no attacker (e.g., a power with Delay). Ricocheted attacks are difficult to reflect back; roll under 10, minus the number of bounces made, to hit the attacker. When you are attacked, first subtract your Absorption (if any) from the damage taken, then subtract your Reflection, and (finally) subtract any DR you have before assessing damage. Frequency Cost/Point Against Everything 5 Common 3 Occasional 2 Rare 1 Very Rare 1/2 At the GM's option, the damage reflected can be re-rolled. Every 4 points of damage count as 1d; every 7 points count as 2d. Thus, if you reflect 15 points of damage, you can roll 4d+1 to see how much damage the attacker takes. Regeneration: Variable This advantage also speeds up the rate at which you recover stun, if the optional stun rules are being used. Slow Regeneration lets you recover one point of stun every 30 seconds (2 stun per minute). Regular Regeneration lets you recover one point of stun every 10 seconds (6 stun per minute). Fast Regeneration lets you recover one point of stun every 4 seconds (15 stun per minute). Instant Regenera tion lets you recover one point of stun every second (60 stun per minute). Regrowth: 40 points Regeneration will speed this process up considerably. Every level of Regeneration shifts the time period for Regrowth down one level, in this order: Month, week, day, hour, minute, second. Thus, a super with Regrowth and Instant Regeneration would grow back a finger in 1d seconds, a hand in 1d+1 minutes, and an eye in 2d+2 minutes. Rejuvenation: Variable You recover fatigue faster than normal people. The cost of this advantage depends on the time that it takes to recover one point of fatigue. Time Cost 2 minutes 10 1 minute 15 20 seconds 20 5 seconds 25 1 second 30 This cannot be combined with any other skills or abilities to regain fatigue any faster (except for Altered Time Rate). Special Enhancement: You do not have to rest to recover fatigue. You regain fatigue at the normal rate even if you are engaged in combat. +100% The above enhancement can be applied to "10 minute Rejuvenation" (i.e., the normal rate of fatigue recovery) for a total final cost of 10 points. Resurrection: 150 points Note that Affects Others does not allow you to raise the dead! You must give someone the power, and they must want to use it, before they die--and the power must stay with them until they come back to life again. The GM may make a +100% "Raise the Dead" enhancement available, though he should restrict it to NPCs with appropriate Codes of Honor. Special Enhancement: You do not lose 25 character points when you die! +100% Shrinking: 10 points/level You can decrease your size at will. Your minimum size depends on how many levels of Shrinking you purchase. Each level of Shrinking halves your size, cumulatively. Thus, you can shrink to 1/2 normal size at level 1, 1/4 at level 2, 1/8 at level 3, etc. It takes an average person 6 levels of Shrinking to shrink down to one inch, 20 levels to shrink to the size of a cell, and 30 levels to shrink to the size of an atom. When you shrink, you cannot carry any equipment (unless the enhancement below is taken) and your clothes fall off, unless you have the Costume advantage. Your DR, hit points, Move, effective ST, and damage from super- attacks are reduced proportionately to the level of Shrinking being used. Magic, psi, and super-powers that can be resisted are resisted at +1 per level of Shrinking being used. So a super shrunk to 1", using 6 levels of shrinking, has 1/6 his normal DR, hit points, etc., and his super-powers are resisted at +6. Special Enhancement: The Affects Others enhancement is worth +40% per person that can be affected at once. You must shrink and grow with them; they cannot do it by themselves. Even with only one level, you can affect as many people as you want, but you must return to full size to shrink each one. Special Enhancement: Objects may be carried. +10% for No Encumbrance, +20% for Light, +50% for Medium, or +100% for Heavy. Special Enhancement: Retain full hit points. +30% Special Enhancement: Retain full DR. +30% Special Enhancement: Retain full ST. Your maximum lift, encumbrance limits, and hand-to-hand damage are not reduced. +60% Special Enhancement: The damage done by your super-attacks is not reduced. +100%. The GM may wish to restrict this, as it makes for an almost uncatchable assassin. Special Enhancement: Your powers are resisted normally. Thus the Sleep spell of a one-inch mage with this enhancement would be resisted by HT, not HT+6. +30% Special Limitation: Minimum size only. You can only switch between your normal size and your smallest possible size. -40% Special Limitation: If you are permanently shrunk it is not a percentage limitation; it is a disadvantage. The value depends on how small you are. 1/2 normal size is worth -20 points, 1/4 is -30, 1/8 is -40, 1/16 is -60, 1/32 is -80, and 1/64 is -100 (the maximum). All reductions to hit points, DR, etc., apply. Any enhancements reduce the value of the disadvantage, as per Body of Air, but halve the value of each enhancement (so someone 1/16 normal size with full hit points would reduce the -60 by 15%, for -51 points). Super Jump: 10 points/level Your Move during a super jump is 20% of your maximum normal long- jump, or your Basic Speed, whichever is greater. Transformation: 5 points This is just a subset of the Multiple Forms advantage. Build a normal, 100 point character on its own sheet; these points come out of your point total! The -40 points of disadvantages do not count against your -100 point limit. In fact, you may take those disadvantages for both your mundane and super forms! With the points left, build your super form on top of your normal form. You have the base attributes and skills, and the advantages and disadvantages of your 100 point form. Example: Glazer has a mundane form with ST 8, DX 10, IQ 12, and HT 11, with Scrounging-11 and Fast-Talk-14, among other skills and abilities. Her super form has ST 10 (which cost her 15 points), DX 11 (10 points), IQ 14 (25 points), HT 11 (0 points), Scrounging-13 (1.5 points), and Fast-Talk-15 (2 points), among other things. Variable Power Pool: Variable You have a pool of X character points that can be used to buy any attributes, advantages or super-powers that you wish. Whether you can buy psi powers or skills is up to the GM. When the pool is first bought, the player should specify what the points are currently being used to buy. At any point during play, the player can decide to reconfigure his pool. To do so, he must take the Step and Concentrate maneuver for one turn, deciding what the new pool configuration will be. At the beginning of the next turn, he loses the old abilities and can use the new ones. Buy the pool as an advantage costing X points, with the +125% enhancement Variable Power Pool. For +150%, your Power Pool is instantaneous and does not require a second of concentration. You may take limitations to reduce the point cost. Only the limitations below, and new ones approved by the GM, may be taken! It is not permissible to take a normal limitation for the power pool, though you may take these limitations for the abilities you buy with the pool. Note: No matter what, the cost of the enhancement can never go below +25%. Takes Extra Time. Your pool cannot be reconfigured fast enough to affect combat. Ten minutes to reconfigure is worth -25%, one full day is worth -50%, and a week or more (i.e., it can only be reconfigured between adventures) is worth -75%. While reconfiguring, you do not have access to the old or the new abilities! Requires Special Circumstances. Your pool can only be configured under certain conditions. The value of this limitation depends on the circumstances and must be set by the GM. Must Sit In Lotus Position or Must Roll Against Poetry Skill would only be worth -10%. Must Have Spellbook would be worth -20%. Must Have Guitar would be worth -30%, for being much bulkier. Only in Gadget Lab would be -50% if the Lab is semi-portable, -75% if not. Only at Midnight With a Full Moon in the Sky in the Middle of Stonehenge would be worth -100%. Uncontrolled. You have no control over how your pool reconfigures. It may be up to the GM, or you may have to draw from a deck or roll on a table (as long as there at least a dozen or so different possibili ties). If you decide when the pool changes, this is worth -50%. If you have no control over when the pool changes, it's worth -75%. If there are only a few ways the pool can be configured, but you have no control over when the pool changes, it's worth -25% (and see Power List, below). Power List: Your pool is not truly variable; it can only take on specific configurations. Two different configurations is worth -125%. Three is worth -110%. Four is -100%. Five is -90%. Six is -80%. Seven is -70%. Eight is -60%. Nine is -50%. Ten is -40%. Eleven is -30%. Twelve or more configurations is worth -25%. Twenty-five or more is worth -20%. Fifty or more is worth -15%. One hundred or more is worth -10%. You may not take this with Restricted Abilities, unless the GM decides your pool is somehow restricted beyond just being a list. Restricted Abilities. Your pool may only be used to buy certain abilities. The value is set by the GM. Some guidelines: Only abilities with a certain special effect: -25% Only super-powers (no super advantages): -25% Only Physical super-powers: -50% Only attack super-powers: -75% Only Fireball powers: -100% Only Fireball powers with the Touch Only and No Knockback limitations: -125% Only super advantages: -25% Only protective super advantages (no Growth, Telescopic Vision, etc.): -50% Only DR/Reflection/Absorption: -75% Only DR: -100% Only DR vs. Everything: -125% A subset of this is Gadget Pool. The pool can only be used to create gadgets (at least one gadget limitation must be taken for each device), and requires the Gadgeteer advantage to modify. A gadgeteer other than yourself can modify your gadget by rolling against IQ-4 (IQ if you are helping). This may be combined with another Restricted Abilities limitation. -50% Example: G-Wizz buys the Gadgeteer advantage, and a 50 point pool from which he will build his gadgets. The basic pool costs +125%, -50% for being a gadget pool. It takes him a full day to reconfigure (-50%), but he can do so "in the field". His final cost is 63 points. He starts off with a jet-pack: Flight and Super Flight x1 cost 60; Bulky brings it down to 48 points. While flying, he is captured and imprisoned by the wicked Ooga Boogas. He begins diligently converting his jet pack to a borer. Working, with brief naps, for an entire day, he finally finishes and now has a jury-rigged tunneling laser: Tunneling at Move 12, Only Once per Day (-60%), costs 64; Can Be Stolen (ST) brings it down to 45 points. He is gone before they return. Example: Kevlex has a 80 point power pool. It costs +125%, with the limitation Only Usable for DR, Reflection, and Absorption (-75%) for a final cost of 120 points. He normally buys Absorption 10 with it, until he runs into an M1 Tank in the middle of Central Avenue. Deciding that he needs as much protection as he can, he decides to reconfigure to DR 20, with the Hardened (+30%) enhancement. He takes one turn of Step and Concentrate. At the beginning of his next turn, his Hardened DR 20 activates, and he boldly steps forward to fight the tank. Example: Hemlock the Wizard has a 100 point instantaneous power pool. It costs +150%, with no limitations, for a final cost of 250 points. While flying over the city, he has Flight, DR 9, and a 4d Magic Bolt at DX level. Suddenly, a flaming demon flies up in front of him and throws a Fireball (which he dodges). At the beginning of his next turn, Hemlock allocates his points to Flight, DR 5, DR +13 versus Fire, and a 4d Water Bolt at DX level. This is a free action; for his action, he concentrates on Water Bolt. The demon hits him with a Fireball, but his DR 18 versus Fire protects him. He hits the demon with a Water Bolt and does an extra 50% damage. As he fires, he reconfigures his pool again: Flight (Move is not doubled, -25%), DR 15 versus Fire, and a 6d Water Bolt, Extra Painful, at DX level. Again, he concentrates. His DR saves him from another Fireball, and his Water Bolt hits, for 50% extra damage and double shock. He decides to stick with this configuration for a while. Web-Slinging: 15 points Like Spiderman and Batman, you can glide between buildings on lines shot from your hands. Your Move is twice normal (this can be improved with Super Flight). You can gain altitude at a rate of half your Web- Slinging Move with a successful roll vs. Web-Slinging (a Physical/Average skill) or DX. This advantage can only be used when buildings (or similar objects, such as trees) are within range. Range is HT x 10 yards. If you have an appropriate super-power (a web-based Binding attack, for example) with a greater range, you can use the range of that super-power instead (and you may roll vs. that super-skill in place of Web- Slinging). You may never gain altitude above the height of the tallest building in your range. Special Enhancement: Your lines are retractable and, on a successful Web-Slinging roll, can be used to latch onto objects and pull them back toward you. The line moves toward and away from the object at your Web-Slinging Move, and can snatch objects weighing up to your No Encumbrance limit for +10%, your Light Encumbrance limit for +20%, your Medium Encumbrance limit for +50%, or your Heavy Encumbrance for +100%. Super Disadvantages_____________ Ferrous Body: -5 points Your body is ferrous for the purpose of powers that affect ferrous metals. You may not take this with Body of Metal, which includes this disadvantage. Inconvenient Size: -10 points You are either too large or too small to fit into normal society. This is a catch-all category for those characters not covered by Dwarfism, Gigantism, Growth, or Shrinking. It conveys no game effects; it just reflects the inconvenience of the character's size. Jinxed: -10/-20/-30 points You are a plague carrier for bad luck, and very bad news for your friends. You are not affected by this disadvantage, but all of your friends in your immediate vicinity suffer a -1 through -3 penalty to all rolls that the GM makes for them (each -1 penalty is worth -10 points). Thus, there is no way for the rest of the party to be sure that a jinx is present without keeping track of failed "sure-fire" attempts over time. You suffer a reaction penalty equal to twice your "bad luck" penalty from people who know that you are a jinx. For the purposes of this disadvantage, a "friend" is anyone who is consciously aiding you in any way at all. This is not limited to combat; the librarian looking up a topic for you would have a penalty to her Research roll. The GM, as always, is the final arbiter on who your "friends" are. Super/Psi Enhancements__________ Accuracy: Special Instead of being bought as a percentage of the power cost, this is bought at a flat 2.5 points per level. It must be bought separately for each power, and is otherwise similar to a regular enhancement. The enhancements and/or limitations on the power do not affect the cost of Accuracy, although it may have its own limitations, such as Exclusivity or the one below. Special Limitation: Laser Sight. Your power gets its Accuracy by use of a visible laser sight (or something similar), which your opponents may notice. While you are aiming, a small spot will appear on your target. A living target can make a Vision-10 roll (Vision-4 if he has Danger Sense) to notice the spot. Anyone looking at the target can make a Vision-6 roll to notice it. Anyone specifically looking for it gets +4 to their roll. If the spot is noticed and the target realizes that he is being targeted, he may make a preemptive Dodge. A successful Dodge will cause you to lose all aiming bonuses. If the Dodge is unsuccessful, he still may make a normal defense against your attack. If the laser sight passes through a very dark or misty area (at least -6 to Vision), the beam will be somewhat visible. It will also be easily visible to anyone with Spectrum Vision tuned to the right frequency. You may be located and even targeted, at a penalty to be set by the GM (-2 to -6 suggested). -30% Example: Hotspot buys Fireball at Power 8, with the Richochet, Armor Piercing, and Accuracy +4 enhancements. Fireball Power 8 has a base cost of 48 points. Richochet and Armor Piercing add 70% of 48, or 34 points. Accuracy +4 costs a flat 10 points. The total cost for the Fireball Power is 92 points. Affects Others: +40% Combining this enhancement with the Area Effect or Wall enhancements involves buying the second enhancement normally. Combining it with the Touch Only limitation involves linking the limitation to this enhancement, as described under Linking Enhancements and Limitations (p. xxxiv). Almost Instantaneous: +10% This enhancement is only of use in campaigns using the multiple attack rules (p. SU78 or p. xxxi). Your super-power, advantage, or psi ability only requires one maneuver of Step And Concentrate, instead of a full second of concentration. Your power will activate at the beginning of your next maneuver (not at the end of your Step And Concentrate maneuver). Can Do Fatigue Damage: +10% Not to be confused with the Fatigue Damage Only limitation, this enhancement allows the super to do fatigue damage instead of normal damage on an attack. If your opponent's ST is taken to 0, any extra fatigue damage you do is ignored; an attack using this enhancement cannot be used as a killing attack, although the super can choose to turn it "off", doing normal damage with his attack instead. Continuing Damage: +50%/+100% If this enhancement is taken at the +100% level, the Extended Duration enhancement may be taken for the power. However, each level of Extended Duration only adds one level of duration, instead of doubling it. So an attack power with Continuing Damage (at the +100% level) and 4 levels of Extended Duration has 5 times its normal duration (not 16 times). Direct (Internal/External) Attack: +100% Note: The GM should review any power that has this enhancement added, to prevent a player from designing an unbalanced power. In particular, the GM should be wary of allowing this to be combined with Armor-Piercing. Your attack super-power directly targets either the internal system or the external system of its targets. Internal attacks ignore external armor, such as battlesuits, kevlar, and force fields. Internal armor, such as Toughness, steel skin, and bioreconstruction protect fully against the attack. The reverse is true for direct external attacks. When in doubt, assume that DR bought as just generic "Damage Resistance" is internal. Example: Vortex can cause damage through suffocation. She buys Suffocate-15(8), a generic attack power, and adds the Direct Internal Attack and Continuing Damage enhancements, then takes the Resisted by HT and No Knockback limitations. She fires it at Fragbait. Fragbait was born with DR 10, and is wearing a Second Chance Hardcorps Vest. The vest is completely useless against this attack, but his DR 10 helps protect his system against the 8d of damage (and the 6d, 4d, and 2d). Example: Ampere can fire a taser-like charge that fries his foes' nervous systems through the skin. He buys Lightning-12(6) with the Direct External Attack enhancement. He rushes to help Vortex, and fires at Fragbait. Fragbait's vest will help protect him from the charge, but his DR 10 is completely useless against this attack (once the charge hits the skin, the damage is unpreventable). Explosive Effect: Special See the new Explosive limitation (p. xxvi). Extra Painful: +30% This enhancement can be applied to any super-power or psionic ability that does HT or fatigue damage (since fatigue damage also causes shock). A power with this enhancement causes double the normal shock penalties (i.e., an attack that did 4 points of damage after ac counting for DR would cause the victim's DX and IQ to be at -8 for the next round, instead of -4). Victims with the High Pain Threshold advan tage will suffer normal shock penalties (-4, in the example above). Victims with the Low Pain Threshold disadvantage suffer triple the normal shock penalties (-12, for the example above). Fan: 10% Adding one extra hex of width to your attack reduces range to 3/4 of normal range. Two extra hexes make it 1/2 normal range. Three extra hexes make it 1/3 normal range, and so on. The range will never be less than the width, however, unless that would be greater than normal maximum range. So a fan attack with a width of 10 hexes will have 1/10 normal range, to a minimum range of 10 hexes (unless the attack's normal range was less than 10 hexes). Increased Damage: +30% Every level of this enhancement increases the damage done by an attack super-power by 1 point per die. Therefore, most attack powers with one level of Increased Damage would do 1d+1 per level of Power. Increased Range: +30% This enhancement doubles the range of a super-power or (at the GM's discretion) super advantage. It can never be applied to psionic abilities. This may be purchased as many times as desired, each purchase doubling the range again. Jet: +20% This enhancement can only be applied to an attack super-power, turning it into a continuous jet of fire, energy, water, etc. Jets can be maintained from turn to turn, which allows you to aim as you fire. Therefore, if you originally fired without aiming, you would get your Accuracy bonus on your second turn, then an additional +1 on your next three turns. You do not lose the bonus if you change targets, but you do lose it when you cease firing. Note that changing from one target to another can cause a great deal of collateral damage, as the jet is continually firing. Unless the targets are only a few yards apart, roll on the General Destruction Table (p. SU79), at +2 to the roll, or +4 if the new target required you to change facing. Personal Field: +20% This enhancement can not be applied to super advantages, as they already have unlimited durations. It can not be applied to psi or super-powers that require continuous concentration. A power with this enhancement will remain "on", with no concentration required, until it is consciously turned "off" (or the user falls unconscious). One sec ond of concentration (unless the power, an enhancement, or a limitation specify otherwise) and a successful skill roll are required to turn the power on. Once on, the power has an indefinite duration and can be turned off at will (no roll necessary). If the power with this enhancement can only be used as a personal field, the cost of this enhancement drops to +10%. If the field also cannot be turned off and the GM deems that this is a nuisance (most damage fields fall into this category), the cost drops to +0%, and the super can probably take the Odious Personal Habit disadvantage. The power has a Range of 0 while on; it activates as a field surrounding the person. Most non-area powers will need the Area Effect enhancement to be useful; attack powers can use Explosive Effect to create a field in which the damage lessens at greater distances from your body. If this enhancement is applied to a non-area power, it will affect anyone in the same hex as the character. The exception is non- area psionic abilities with this enhancement, which will only affect a person touching the psi. Note that the Area Effect and Increased Area enhancements can be linked to the Touch Only limitation, but the Personal Field enhancement cannot. Example: Doctor Radiation buys Radiation Beam-16(10), a generic attack power, with Area Effect (linked to the Touch Only limitation, +25%), 2 levels of Increased Area (linked to the Touch Only limitation, +20%), and Personal Field (+20%). He now has a powerful (non-area) ranged attack that he can project around himself as a 4-hex radius "Radiation Zone". If he wants to use the power as a ranged attack again, he must first drop the "Zone". If he wanted to be able to fire a radiation blast while keeping a damage field up, he'd have to buy the two powers separately. Reactive: +40% This is an enhanced version of Instantaneous; your super or psi ability can react faster than your own nervous system. If applied to super advantages, it allows the advantage to be switched on or off immediately, even in the time between the hearing the gun fire and the bullet hitting you. If applied to a super-power or psi ability, it allows its use as a reaction, as above. However, any attack made reactively is at skill-10, or a skill of 9, whichever is worse. Using a reactive ability does not count as an active defense unless a super- power is being used for a super-parry or block; the super may still defend normally. This enhancement does not allow power or advantage to be used reactively more than once a turn. Any one power may only be used once, and any one advantage may only be turned on, or off, but not both, in a single turn. To simulate an instinctive power that activates automatically to protect the super, whether he wants it to or not, buy the power with this enhancement and the Uncontrollable limitation. Example: Frostbite buys Body of Water with the Reactive enhancement. In the middle of a firefight, he turns just in time to see a cyberninja tossing a shuriken at him. Without a thought, he turns into water. He tries to dodge and fails, but his water form only takes one point of damage from the cutting attack. He cannot resume normal form until next turn. Ricochet: +20%/+30% This enhancement can only be applied to attack super-powers. Your attack can be bounced off objects on its way to a target. Purchase of this enhancement at the +20% level allows you to make an unlimited number of bounces. The player should describe the path of his attack. For ease of play, calculating the total range between all targets is not recommended; a simpler guideline is to limit any single bounce to half of maximum range or less. Range penalties are figured normally, using the actual distance between the attacker and his final target. A character using a ricochet attack has a -2 penalty to his skill roll for each bounce. If you make the skill roll, your attack will continue along the intended path. If you fail, one bounce for every two points (round odd numbers up) you failed by will bounce randomly (roll 1d for direction), starting with the last one. If you fail by more than twice the number of bounces (i.e., fail what would have been your normal attack roll), you do not even hit your first target, but the attack will continue to ricochet randomly. On a critical failure, the attack automatically bounces right back and hits you! You get no active defense, but your passive defense still protects. Example: Zzap has the power Laser-16(10) with the Ricochet enhancement (at +30%). He tries to bounce his laser from a wall to a window to a pole to the archvillian Snakefang. That's three bounces, putting him at a -6 penalty. Snakefang is 5 hexes away, which is a -2 modifier. Zzap rolls against an effective skill of 8. If he were to roll an 8 or less, the laser would hit Snakefang (see active defense rules, below). A 9 or 10 (a miss by 1 or 2) would mean that the laser hit the wall, window, and pole, but after hitting the pole it bounced off randomly. An 11 or 12 would mean that it bounced off the window randomly, and missed the pole. A 13 or 14 would mean that it went wild after hitting the wall, and a 15 or 16 (which would have been a failure if he had just aimed his laser right at Snakefang) would mean that he never even hit the wall (or he hit a different part of it). A 17 or 18 would be a critical failure, and would bounce back to hit Zzap. A successful ricochet attack can take an opponent by surprise. An opponent who did not see the character fire the attack must roll against DX or IQ (whichever is higher) minus the number of bounces. Combat Reflexes adds +2 to the roll. If the roll is unsuccessful, the opponent gets no active defense against the attack (passive defense still protects). If the roll is successful, or the opponent did see the character fire the attack, he has a -1 penalty to his active defense for each bounce that the attack has made. If the attack bounces back to hit the super, he has the same penalty to his active defense as everyone else. The attack can be bounced off anything, including people, but each person may get an active defense against it, and any successful defense (active or passive) will cause the attack to bounce away randomly. If this enhancement is bought at the +30% level, the character can decide (when firing) if the attack will damage the surfaces it bounces off. If it does, the character must decide how many dice it will expend on each bounce. It must do the same amount of damage on each bounce, and it must hit the final target with equal or greater force than the bounces (e.g., an attack can only be set up to expend 3d on each bounce if the final target is hit with 3d damage or more.) Example: Zzap wants to bounce his laser from a wall to a thug to a lamp to another thug to Snakefang, expending 1d of damage on each bounce. He rolls against his skill-10 (-2 for each bounce, -2 for range). Rolling a 6, he just makes it. He hits the wall, doing 1d of damage to it (and knocking a few bricks loose). It bounces to the first thug, who did not see Zzap fire the attack. He rolls against his DX-1 (since the laser has only bounced one time before hitting him) and fails. Having no passive defense, he takes 1d damage. It then bounces off the lamp, doing 1d damage, and to the second thug, who saw Zzap fire the laser. He rolls against his Dodge-3 and fails, taking 1d damage. The attack continues to Snakefang, who did not see Zzap fire. He rolls against his IQ-4 and makes it, but he fails his defense roll (at Dodge-4) and takes 6d damage. If either thug had made a successful defense roll, the laser would have made its remaining bounces in random directions, possibly even coming back to hit Zzap. Selectable Damage: +70% This enhancement can only be applied to an attack super-power. You can select, when firing, whether your attack will do 1d+1 crushing, 1d cutting, or 1d-1 impaling damage per level. If this enhancement is applied to a power that does more or less than 1d damage per level, modify the damage accordingly. Thus, Dehydrate (1d-2 per level) with this enhancement could do 1d-1 crushing, 1d-2 cutting, or 1d-3 impaling damage per level. Vibratory Attack: +30% This enhancement can only be bought for attack super-powers. Your attacks cause damage by vibration. Crystalline objects are especially vulnerable to this type of attack, and protect with only 3/4 of their DR and PD. Most metals and stones are crystalline unless specifically alloyed to be amorphous. This may be bought twice for a reduction of 1/2 DR and PD. If combined with Armor-Piercing, the maximum reduction is 1/2. Wall: +30% You can set up a power or advantage as a line of hexes, affecting anyone or anything crossing it. This enhancement cannot be applied to psionic abilities without the express permission of the GM. The wall will be one hex long for every two levels of power (or points of HT, for advantages), and two hexes high. The height can be doubled by halving the length, but the length of the wall can only be extended with the enhancement Wall Length. The surface area of the wall can be doubled by halving the substance of the wall, so that it only does half damage or protects with half of the DR put into it. This must be decided when the Wall enhancement is bought, and cannot be changed; a character cannot create a 6-hex, 10d wall one round and put up a 12-hex, 5d wall the next. It's one or the other. If the power or advantage with this enhancement can only be used as a wall, and can never be used as a normal power or advantage, the cost of the Wall enhancement drops to +20%. If you buy this enhancement twice, you can form the wall into any shape you choose, and you can choose whether or not to halve the substance of the wall (to double the surface area) each time you use the power. The game effects of the wall should be decided when the power is purchased. If the power has the Instantaneous enhancement, it can be used as a super-block. Advantages (such as DR) that are to protect others must have the Affects Others enhancement. The player must specify (when the Wall enhancement is bought) whether the wall will be transparent or opaque. If it is transparent, it is not invisible; the outline of the wall will be visible to everyone unless the No Obvious Effect enhancement is taken. If it is opaque, the super can not see through his own wall! To simulate a wall that only the player can see through, buy the Smoke power with the Wall and Doesn't Harm User enhancements, and link it to the wall. Firing through an opaque wall (from either side) is at a -6 penalty (-4 if the wall is only one hex long). Wall Length: +5% Each level of this enhancement adds one hex to the length of a power with the Wall enhancement, or two hexes if the wall's power is halved (to double the surface area). Works Underwater: +10% Allows a power that normally would not work properly underwater (such as Laser) to work normally in and out of the water; damage is not reduced and accuracy is not lost. Supers on the land may target underwater targets, and vice-versa. For some powers (Fireball, etc.), this enhancement should not be available, unless the player comes up with a very good reason why it works! Note that a power that only works underwater does not need this enhancement (and may actually be subject to a limitation). Super/Psi Limitations___________ Note: See page xxxiii for a note on weakened limitations. Accessibility: Variable Power Doesn't Work When X Powers Are On: -10%, plus -10% for each power in the X group, to a maximum of -50%. Your power or advantage doesn't work when any of the powers in group X are on. You must normally be able to use all the powers simultaneously (Flight, Fireball, and Penetrating Vision, for example) to get this break. If the power is at half power when X powers are on, the limitation is halved. Example: Generator's force field, energy ray, and contragrav belt all drain power from the micro-nuclear plant on his belt, and cannot be powered simultaneously. All have the above limitation, where Group X contains two other powers, for a -30% limitation. Brute Force Only: -20% This limitation can only be applied to Psychic Vampirism and Telepathy Power and skills. A skill with this limitation must always use brute force (p. P22), with normal fatigue costs. The subject will automatically be aware of the psi, whether the skill succeeds or fails. Costs Fatigue: Variable The use of your power costs fatigue, which must be spent immediately when activating the power. You must pay the full fatigue whether the power works properly or not. You can spend enough fatigue to take you down to zero (and unconsciousness), but no more. Every point of fatigue the power costs you is worth -10%, so a Fireball that cost 4 fatigue every time it was used gets a -40% point break. The maximum you can take for this limitation is 10 fatigue, which would be a -100% limitation. If you have the Enhanced ST advantage, this limitation is worth half value (e.g., 10 fatigue per use would be a -50% limitation). This limitation may also be taken for advantages. In that case, you pay the fatigue when activating the advantage, and again every minute it remains on. Exclusivity: -20% This limitation is meant to be linked to an enhancement, making that enhancement unusable with any other enhancement on the same power or advantage. Any enhancements that are not linked to this limitation may be used simultaneously. The power or advantage must have more than one enhancement! This limitation is exempt from the "maximum point break" rule on linking limitations to enhancements (p. xxxvii). Note that Area Effect and Increased Area are considered to be one linked enhancement; link Exclusivity to both. Doing this does not mean that you lose the Increased Area that you have bought! The same holds true for Wall and Wall Length. Example: Dr. Frost buys Ice Ball with Area Effect (+50%), Accuracy +2 (a flat 5 points), Hotshot linked to Exclusivity (+24%), and Homing linked to Exclusivity (+40%). Now he can use Area Effect and Accuracy together, but Homing and Hotshot can only be used by themselves. The two can not be used together! Explosive: -40% This is is no longer a separate enhancement. It is a limitation meant to be linked to the Area Effect and Increased Area enhancements (and can only be used to link to those two enhancements). It is immune to the "maximum point break" rule on linking limitations to enhancements (p. xxxvii). Your attack super-power has its normal radius of effect as defined by the Area Effect and Increased Area enhancements. However, it loses 1d (plus or minus any +1, +2, -1, etc., it may have) per hex away from the impact site. If the radius does not end before the blast runs out of power, it remains fixed at 1d (plus or minus any +1, etc.) until your final radius is reached. Example: Zzap has Laser-16(10) and buys Area Effect (linked to Explosive Effect, +30%) and one level of Increased Area (linked to Explosive Effect, +12%). He now has a three-hex radius attack that does 10d in the hex it hits, 9d in the next radius of hexes, 8d in the next radius, then stops. Much later, he has saved up a lot of character points, and buys ten (!) more levels of Increased Area (linked to Explosive Effect, +120%). His blast now does 10d in the hex it hits, then 9d, 8d, 7d, 6d, 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, and then does 1d in the four remaining radii. Eye Contact Only: -40% Your super-power or psi ability will only work if you make direct eye contact with the subject. Range is limited to 3 yards, no matter what your power level is. Your Clairvoyance, Telescopic Vision, binocu lars, etc., do not improve this range, but if the subject uses such means to effectively bring his eyes in contact with yours, you may use your power or ability on him (with normal long range penalties, if any). If the subject is in combat with you, he may avoid looking at your face; all of his combat rolls are at -2 if he does so. If your power or ability can work through eye contact or touch, the limitation is worth -30%. Fickle: Variable See the Unreliable limitation (p. xxix). Knockback Only: -40% If the attack does half damage (instead of doing no damage) along with the doubled knockback, the value of this limitation drops to -10%. Limited Use: Variable Your power can only be used a certain number of times per day; a day is the 24-hour period following (and including) your first use of the power. The value of this limitation depends on the number of uses per day allowed. 1 per day -70% 2 per day -60% 3 per day -50% 4 per day -40% 5 per day -30% 6 per day -25% 7 per day -20% 8 per day -15% 9 per day -10% 10 per day -5% More than 10 uses per day does not constitute a significant limitation. If this limitation is applied to an advantage, every minute (or fraction thereof) that it is on constitutes one use. No Area Effect: -30% This limitation converts an Area super-power into a Ranged one. A power with this limitation can only affect one target or hex, regardless of its Power level. To affect a moving target with a durable power (e.g., using Neutralize Sound to silence an opponent), you must still take the Movable Area enhancement. No Brute Force: -15% As Brute Force Only, above, but reversed. A skill with this limitation can never use brute force to penetrate a strong Mind Shield. Physical Effect: -10% This limitation is only available for psionic abilities. Your psionic ability has a physical side effect (along with the mental signature that it leaves). It can be anything you wish, as long as it shows the relationship between you and the object or person that you are affecting. Some acceptable examples would be a beam emanating from your forehead and focusing on the person you are Neutralizing, or a soft glow surrounding your body, with a similar glow surrounding each object that you "teke". Preparation Required: Variable Your power or psi ability requires special preparation before it can be used. You may need to meditate or perform some sort of ritual, but the effect is the same; you must take the Concentrate maneuver for the required amount of time to ready the power. Once readied, it can be used normally, but it becomes unreadied when you roll to use it, whether you succeed or fail, and it must be readied again before it can be used again. The cost depends on the time required to ready the skill: Time Value 1 minute -20% 10 minutes -30% 30 minutes -40% 1 hour -50% 4 hours -60% 8 hours -70% 16 hours -80% A more useful version of this limitation is Weakened Without Preparation (see Weakened Limitations, p. xxxiii). Reduced Damage: -20% Every level of this limitation reduces the damage done by an attack super-power by 1 point per die. Therefore, most attack powers with two levels of this limitation would do 1d-2 damage per level of power. Reduced Duration: -10% Every level of this limitation halves the duration of your super- power or psi ability. Thus, a super-power with Power 20 and 3 levels of Reduced Duration would have a duration of 2 turns (20/8, rounded down). Needless to say, this may not be taken for instantaneous powers, such as attack powers! Reduced Range: -10% Each time this limitation is taken, the Range of a super-power or psi ability is reduced by half (round down to the nearest yard). Up to 4 levels of Reduced Range (1/16 actual range) may be taken (but see Touch Only, below). Touch Only: -50% Your super-power or psi ability will only work if you touch the intended subject. You have an effective range of 0, no matter what your power level. Unreliable: Variable Sometimes your power works and sometimes it doesn't! This is completely separate from any skill associated with the power (or advantage, if the GM allows you to take this limitation for it). You can have Skill 15 and still not get it to work. The default form of Unreliable requires you to roll equal to or less than an activation number to use the power. If it fails to activate, you may try again by spending one fatigue, or waiting five minutes. If your ST drops to 3 from this fatigue, you must wait until you regain all fatigue lost before trying again. A variant form is Fickle. A fickle power works right the first time, then must make its activation roll. If it succeeds, it will work the next time (after which it must make another activation roll). If it fails, it burns out, and is useless for 1d6 hours! The GM may approve another equally-limiting circumstance under which the power will return. Fickle gives the same point break as Unreliable. A variant of the Fickle variant is Very Fickle. A Very Fickle power must roll before use (as Unreliable), but if it fails the roll, it is burnt out for 1d6 hours (as for Fickle)! Very Fickle is worth an extra -20% point break. Activation Value 14 or less -10% 13 or less -15% 12 or less -20% 11 or less -30% 10 or less -40% 9 or less -50% 8 or less -60% Untrainable: -40% You cannot learn to control your power well. You buy your skill (or skills, if this is applied to a psi power group) as if your IQ or DX is only 8 (or at -1 to IQ/DX if your IQ/DX is already 8 or below). You can never learn the skill higher than level 10. Variable Range: -20% This limitation can only be applied to attack super-powers. Your power's range is dependent on the amount of damage that it does, at one yard for every point of damage. The half-damage range is half of the maximum range. Gadget Limitations______________ Bulky: -20% The gadget is cumbersome enough to slow your movement and/or limit your actions. To qualify, it must be noticeably heavy (at least twice your ST) and/or bulky (GM's call). One Shot: -50% Your gadget will work once, then it will burn out or self-destruct. The powers on it will last for their full duration (or less, if you specify it), then stop. Super advantages have a base duration of 10 seconds. This may not be combined with limitations that are meaningless on a one-shot item (e.g., Takes Recharge, Fickle, Limited Use, etc.) Unless the item is also Unique, the super may get the points back for it, if the GM reimburses supers for lost gadgets. Super-Powers____________________ Attract (Area/Mental) LC: 8 This power causes everything in the area of effect to be drawn toward its center hex. Unless stated otherwise, all subjects add their level of Increased Density to their rolls to resist its effects. Perfect Balance adds +3 to all rolls. Those moving toward the center add your Power to their Move, and must roll against DX, Flight, or Running at a -1 penalty (+1 bonus) for every yard they are moving over (under) their maximum Move. Failure means they fall over or spin out of control, toward the center. Those moving at a tangent to the center must roll at a penalty equal to half your Power (round down), with a +1 bonus for ever yard they are moving under their maximum Move; failure means a fall or loss of control, as above. Those moving away from the center subtract your Power from their Move (to a minimum Move of 1), and must roll against their ST plus Move, minus your Power. Failure means they fall over, and are pulled one hex toward the center. Those standing and not moving at all (except for Step And... maneuvers) must roll against their ST minus your Power. Failure means they fall over, as above. Those lying or flying out of control are pulled toward the center at Power/2 hexes per turn. Their Increased Density subtracts from your Power. They can try to get back on their feet or safely on course by rolling against ST or Move/5 (whichever is better) plus DX or Flight (if applicable), at a penalty equal to twice your Power; Increased Density does not add to this roll. Those who end up in the center hex have a hard time getting out. Treat it as a bind; they must win a Quick Contest of ST against your Power x 3 to leave the hex. Once they leave it, refer to the rules for moving away from the center, above. Buzzsaw (Special/Mental) LC: 8 You can vibrate your hands at hypersonic speeds, leaving them blurred and capable of inflicting massive damage in combat. Each level of Power adds 1d to your basic thrusting damage, and your punches do cutting damage. At Power 6 and above, your punches do impaling damage! Buzzsaw costs 1 fatigue per turn to keep activated. Note that this damage is not considered vibratory unless that enhancement is purchased. Control Temperature (Area/Mental) LC: 1 You can alter the temperature in the area by 5 degrees Fahrenheit (5F) per level of power, in either direction. The temperature can never be raised higher than 200F or lowered below -100F unless the special enhancement below is taken. This cannot be done repeatedly in the same area. The temperature changes by 10F per turn, the changes last for Power minutes (not turns), and then the changes are reversed at 10F per turn. Note that you are given no special protection against the heat or cold! The enhancements below may be applied to the Warm and Cool powers as well. Special Enhancement: No temperature limit. You may surpass the heat of the sun, or bring the area down to absolute zero (-460F), if you have the power. +100% Special Enhancement: Faster change. The temperature changes at 20F per turn, instead of 10F. Buying this enhancement again will raise the rate of change to 30F, and so on. +20% Create Gas (Area/Physical) LC: 2 You can create any kind of non-damaging gaseous atmosphere inside the area of effect. This does not allow you to alter the pressure, just the composition of the air. Unless the enhancement below is taken, the gas will leak away into surrounding atmosphere rapidly (the radius will shrink by one hex per turn) and into surrounding vacuum almost immediately (ten hexes per turn). To create an atmosphere of damaging gas, buy the Gas Attack power with the Area Effect enhancement. Special Enhancement: The gas created forms a sphere that will not leak away. +100% Special Limitation: You can only create one kind of gas. -50% Create Object (Ranged/Mental) LC: 5 You can create objects out of thin air, which last for Power turns, then dissipate. You can only create the form of the objects, as if you were sculpting them out of a block of stone; you cannot create a working calculator or grenade. This is not to say that the objects are stone sculptures; they can be made of any material (though DR and hit points are limited; see below), and colors, details, and even moving joints are possible. The amount that you make your skill roll by determines the detail of the object. Thus, a hammer requires only a successful skill roll, an American flag requires a roll at -2 (making the roll by less would produce a colorless banner), an object sufficiently "shaped like an intelligent being" (as per the Animate power) requires a roll at -4, and a silver dollar that would pass a basic counterfeit test requires a roll at -10. A sharp blade or point adds an additional -4. Moving parts are possible, at a penalty of -2 for each joint or part; e.g., a simple vice would require a roll at -6. You can create objects that weigh as much as your Power squared, in pounds. Rigid objects have one DR per level of Power, and one hit point for every two pounds of weight. Flexible objects have one DR per five levels of Power, and one hit point for every five pounds of weight. You may always reduce these stats. You get a +5 bonus to your skill to animate or control an object that you create. Special Enhancement: Your objects have a permanent duration; they will last until destroyed by normal damage. +200% Special Limitation: If you can only create objects made of one material (stone, metal, cloth, etc.), it is a -20% limitation. If you can only create one type of object (balls, ropes, etc.), it is a -40% limitation. If you can only create one object, of a predefined size, shape, and color, it is a -60% limitation. Disintegrate (Ranged/Physical) LC: 4 You can cause inanimate objects to crumble into powder. Objects weighing one pound per level of Power, or less, can be destroyed instantly. Larger objects are damaged at the rate of 1d per level of Power; super gadgets should be attacked in this way. If an object is too large for you to effectively attack, you can disintegrate a hole with a diameter of 1" per level of Power; hit points are only reduced in the area being worked on. See p. SU59 for examples. Use the table on p. B125 for the DR and hit points of most materials. Special Limitation: You can only disintegrate one type of material. -10% for common materials like metal and wood. -20% for uncommon materials like rubber or asphalt. -40% for absurd materials like chocolate or silk. Flash (Area/Mental) LC: 4 You can create a flash of light that can blind and confuse those seeing it. Everyone in the flashed area must roll against HT. If they succeed, they are at a penalty to DX equal to one- half your Power. If they fail, they are blinded. The effect lasts for the duration of your power. If their eyes are closed, treat it as an automatic success. Characters with the Blind disadvantage are immune, but Bad Sight has no effect. Gas Attack (Ranged/Physical) LC: 9 This attack power allows you to launch a stream of poisonous or toxic gas toward an opponent, enveloping his head (or other appropriate opening) and causing 1d of damage per level. If the opponent sees the attack coming, he may attempt to hold his breath before it hits him. Roll against his HT. On a critical success, he has a chance to take a deep breath, and can hold his breath for HT turns. On a normal success, he barely had time to stop breathing, and can hold his breath for HT/2 turns. On a failure or critical failure, he breathes the gas and takes damage--DR does not protect at all against this damage! A surprised opponent automatically fails the roll. Supers with Doesn't Breathe are naturally immune to gas attacks. If another attack is successfully made against the same person on the next turn, the second gas cloud hits just as the first is dispensing. This prevents the victim from catching his breath, and can be kept up indefinitely. A character who failed his initial HT roll and took damage can begin holding his breath on the next round, for up to HT/2 turns. Once a character is out of breath, he loses one fatigue per turn until he begins breathing again or falls unconscious. If he breathes again while being hit with a gas attack, he will take damage, and can begin holding his breath on the next round, for up to HT/2 turns. This can be a powerful attack when combined with certain enhancements, as it totally bypasses DR; the GM should approve any enhancements bought for it. Note that this is an instant attack power; Extended Duration may not be bought for it! Instill Fear (Ranged/Mental) LC: 5 Note: The original psionic version of this Power is on p. B&B33. You can cause unreasoning fear and panic in a person. This is resolved by a Quick Contest between your Instill Fear skill and the subject's Will. If you make your skill roll, but lose the Quick Con test, the subject realizes that some sort of mental attack was made. If you win the Quick Contest, the subject is afraid of you for the duration. In addition, the subject makes an immediate Fright Check at a penalty equal to your Power. The GM will add additional bonuses and penalties based on the circumstances (see also p. H23 or B93). If the subject falls unconscious due to a failed Fright Check, he will fear you for the normal duration after he awakens. If this power is used multiple times on the same person in the same situation, it will be less effective. For every time this power is used on someone in the same situation, he resists at +1 and adds +1 to his Fright Check if he fails. This is cumulative, so multiple uses are resisted at +1, then +2, then +3, etc. If a person resists this power, their next roll to resist is at +2 instead of +1. This bonus only lasts until the current situation is over (GM's call; some time should pass). Remember that Fright Checks in the heat of battle are made at +5, and Combat Reflexes adds +2 to any Fright Check roll. The Eye Contact Only limitation is very appropriate for this Super- Power! Special Enhancement: You can specify what the subject is afraid of. It can be as specific or as general as you wish (e.g., "all creatures", "the lightpost on the corner of Fifth and Main"). +20% Special Enhancement: Enduring fear. Multiple uses of your power, even failed uses, do not give the victim a resistance bonus. +30% Special Limitation: Always on. You cannot turn this power off; everyone who looks at you or hears you is affected by your power! -60% Laser (Ranged/Physical) LC: 6 The word "impaling" should be removed. Lasers do crushing damage unless the Cutting or Impaling enhancements are bought. Morph (Special/Mental) LC: 40 for first level 3 for subsequent Special Limitation: Every form you morph into is slighly flawed; your forms all have one common feature that allows you to be identified by those who know about it. For a glaringly obvious feature (every form has bright blue fur/skin), this limitation is worth -60%. An easily noticable feature (red eyes) is worth -40%. A feature that can be hidden easily (tattoos on your upper arm) or is not particularly unique (light blond hair) is worth -20%. A feature that will rarely be seen unless you are strip searched (odd birthmark on your inner thigh) is worth -10%. Note that your normal body does not necessarily have to have this feature. Special Limitation: You can only assume certain forms, chosen at character creation. You do not need Morph Memory, but you can never learn any new forms. If you can only change between your normal form and one other form, this is a -60% limitation. Two other forms is a -50% limitation. Three forms are worth -40%. Four are worth -30%. Five are worth -20%. Six are worth -10%. More than six other forms do not constitute a significant limitation, but may be taken anyway; e.g., a super who can morph into 10 forms, chosen at character creation, would not get a point break, but would not need Morph Memory either. Repel (Area/Mental) LC: 8 This power causes everything in the area of effect to be pushed away from its center hex. Except where stated below, treat it as the reverse of the Attract power. Increased Density adds to rolls to resist unless stated otherwise, and Perfect Balance adds +3 to all rolls. Those moving away from the center are affected as those moving toward the center of Attract. A failed roll indicates falling or spinning out of control away from the center hex. Those moving at a tangent to the center are affected the same as Attract; failure means a fall or loss of control, as above. Those moving toward the center are affected as those moving away from the center of Attract. A failed roll means falling or spinning out of control, away from the center hex. Those standing are affected the same as Attract, failure means a fall or loss of control, as above. Those lying or flying out of control are pushed away from the center at Power/2 hexes per turn. Their Increased Density subtracts from your Power. They can try to get back on their feet or safely on course the same as for Attract. Those pushed out of the area of effect must roll against DX, Flight, or Acrobatics to stay on their feet (or on course). Those already out of control do not get a roll. Those who make it to the center hex must win a Quick Contest of ST against your Power x 3 every turn to stay in the hex. If they fail, they are pushed one hex away from the center, and are treated as standing, above. Note that this power will repel the user if he is in the center hex, unless Doesn't Harm User is taken. Shockwave (Area/Physical) LC: 9 Sonic Blast (Ranged/Physical) LC: 8 Time-Jumping (Special/Mental): LC: 75 for first level 5 for subsequent This is the power to travel in time. The jumper must concentrate for five seconds (this can be bought off with multiple applications of Instantaneous), then roll against skill. On a failed roll, nothing hap pens. On a critical failure, the character is mentally stunned. If the roll is successful, the jumper, along with five pounds of equip ment (and his costume, if he has the Costume advantage), appears in the new time at exactly the same place as he left the old one, or (if that would place him underground, etc.) the nearest safe location, within 100 yards. If the jumper can teleport, he may attempt to timeport and teleport at the same time; roll for each. Note that the teleportation will almost always be a blind jump. If there is no suit able location within 100 yards, the jumper will be aware of it (after concentrating) and has the option to proceed anyway, taking his chances, or abort the jump. The middle of a war zone will be considered safe if there is nothing occupying the jumper's location, but characters with Danger Sense should be allowed a roll to get a warning. The maximum number of years that a character can jump is his Power squared. This is the absolute limit; a character with Power 10 could not jump one hundred years into the past, then jump back another hun dred! In fact, the character may not time-jump again until he returns to his own time. The character may return to his natural time (at his current location, not the location he jumped from) with no concentra tion or skill roll, at any time. Time moves at the same rate, re gardless of when the character is, so if he jumped ahead to a probable future and spent three days there, he would return to his own time, three days later. The GM will have to decide what sort of temporal physics to use in his campaign. Can the jumper interact with himself? Can he jump back to last week, or is there a minimum limit? Can the jumper change history? If so, how easy is it to do? If not, does changing the past wipe out the jumper, immediately return him home, or something else? Is the future fixed, or is it one of many possible futures? If the campaign will involve this power a lot, the GM should look into GURPS Time Travel. Special Enhancement: You can preview the immediate area before jumping. This takes one extra second, in which you get a brief 360- degree view of your intended jump site. +20% Special Enhancement: Objects may be carried with you. +10% for No Encumbrance, +20% for Light, +50% for Medium, or +100% for Heavy. Special Limitation: You cannot carry anything, and always arrive naked! -10% Special Limitation: Spatial drift. You do not arrive exactly where you left from, but will appear anywhere within 10 miles of your planned destination. The better your skill roll, the closer you are to where you want to be. -10% Special Limitation: Temporal drift. As spatial drift, above, but you arrive any time within one month of your planned destination. -20% Special Limitation: On a failed roll, you will be sent somewhen, determined randomly or by the GM (who can take this chance to start an interesting adventure). On a critical failure, the GM should be malicious! Once there, you cannot return until one hour has elapsed for every point that you failed the roll by. -40% Special Limitation: You are always mentally stunned after a jump, except for critical successes. -10% Special Limitation: You can jump into the past or the future, but not both. -40% Wall of Fire (Ranged/Physical) LC: 7 You can create a wall of fire that stretches for Power hexes in length and is two hexes high. This wall is opaque, and all targeting through it is at a -6 penalty (see Wall enhancement, p. xxii). Anyone passing through this wall will take (Power/2) dice of damage. Other effects can be substituted, such as Wall of Blades or Wall of Stinging Flies. Special Enhancement: You can form the wall into any shape you choose, as per the Wall enhancement. +20% Warm (Area/Mental) LC: 1 Water Jet (Ranged/Physical) LC: 6 Wind Jet (Ranged/Physical) LC: 4 All-Out Defense A character taking the All-Out Defense maneuver has two choices when he is attacked: he may make two normal (different) active defenses against the attack (e.g., a parry, followed by a dodge if unsuccessful), or he may make one active defense at +2. Dodge and Drop A character dodging missle fire may drop to the ground while dodging, adding +3 to his Dodge against that attack. This is a free action, but getting back up again is not. Serious Damage When a person falls below 0 HT, they are no longer capable of functioning in peak condition. In addition to any shock taken, a person below 0 HT suffers a permanent penalty to all active physical feats (automatic rolls, such as those made against HT to avoid unconsciousness or death, are not affected) equal to half their current hit points, rounded for the worse. So a person at HT -9 suffers a -5 penalty to his attack and defense rolls. High Pain Threshold halves this again (round for the worse), while Low Pain Threshold doubles it (before rounding off). GMs may wish to ignore this rule. It makes combat more deadly, as the first person to fall below 0 HT is very likely to lose. Vehicle Skills The following bonus applies to all Physical skills listed under Vehicle Skills: Add 1 to your skill for an IQ of 10 or 11; add 2 to your skill for an IQ of 12 or more. Area Super-Powers The radius affected by an Area super-power is one hex for every five levels of Power or fraction thereof. Thus, the radius for Power 1- 5 is one, the radius for Power 6-10 is two, etc. Multiple Actions for High-Speed Supers (Optional) If the player is willing to do the bookkeeping, the optional multiple action rule (sidebar, p. SU78) can be expanded by the following rules. Initiative is defined as Basic Speed, +1 if the super has Combat Reflexes, plus a possible bonus from the Tactics skill (see p. vi). For every full six points of Initiative, the super gets one maneuver per turn. For every point left over, the super will get one additional maneuver every six turns. Thus, a super with Initiative 8 (two points over six) would get one maneuver per turn plus two addi tional maneuvers every six turns; in the space of six turns, he would have four turns in which he could take one maneuver, and two turns in which he could take two maneuvers. Supers with an Initiative of less than six should not be penalized by these rules; they still get to make one maneuver each turn. The GM may wish to use the table below, or he may allow the player to dictate when the additional maneuvers are used. They must be used in the space of six turns or be lost; a super with Initiative 8 could not take one maneuver per turn for 18 turns, then take two maneuvers per turn for the next six turns! Also, the super can never "stack" maneuvers; a super with Initiative 10 could not use two of his addi tional maneuvers in one turn. Additional Remainder of Maneuver on 1 2 3 4 5 Turn 1 of 6 - - - - - Turn 2 of 6 - X X X X Turn 3 of 6 - - - X X Turn 4 of 6 X - X - X Turn 5 of 6 - X - X X Turn 6 of 6 - - X X X The "six turn cycle" is different for each super, and begins when the super enters combat. The characters take their maneuvers in order of Initiative; the person with the highest current Initiative goes first. Initiative is reduced by 5 for each maneuver. Thus, a super with Initiative 10 and two maneuvers this turn would have an Initiative of 10 on his first maneuver and an Initiative of 5 on his second maneuver. Remember that a second is still a second! Concentration on a super- power must be maintained from Initiative X on one turn until Initiative X (or less) on the second turn. The super may use the power after concentrating for one second, even if it is not his turn. The Move maneuver will only move the super (Move yards divided by the number of maneuvers this turn). The super's "Step", if greater than one (p. SU78) must be reduced as well. Dodging (Optional): A character dodging the full rate of fire of a machine gun may be unable to get in any attacks that turn! Each character gets a number of "free" dodges equal to his Initiative, per turn. For each maneuver that the super gives up for that turn he gets three more Dodges. A character using the All-Out Defense maneuver has no limit on the number of Dodges he can make. Note that All-Out Defense, if taken, must be taken for all maneuvers in that turn. Multiple Attacks From High Martial Art or Weapon Skills: If the super gets X attacks per turn with a certain weapon or martial art style, then each series of X attacks with that weapon or style costs one maneuver. Initiative is reduced as detailed on p. MA50. If this reduces Initiative by less than 5 at the end of the series of attacks, then reduce Initiative by 5. If it reduces Initiative by more than 5, so be it; the attacks obviously took longer than a normal maneuver would. If this takes Initiative past 0, the super is out of maneuvers and attacks. Alternatively, for characters who are likely to spend entire turns using their martial art, you can divide their Initiative by 6 and multiply this by the number of attacks that they would normally get per turn. This is the number of attacks that they get every turn if they spend the entire turn using their martial art. Example: Firefist has Initiative 10; he is also Trained by a Master in Capoeira and has Karate-18, which would normally give him 3 attacks per turn. If he spends the entire turn using his Capoeira style, he can make [(10/6)*3], or 5, hand-to-hand attacks each turn. For cinematic skills, you can replace "turns" with "maneuvers" for the purposes of concentration, time between uses, etc. Thus, Power Blow must be concentrated on for (20-Skill) maneuvers to achieve double strength, and a Kiai can be attempted once every (20-Skill) maneuvers. For a highly cinematic campaign, "attacks" can be substituted for "turns", as per the sidebar on p. MAA102. Celerity (GURPS Vampire: The Masquerade): A vampire using Celerity has his Move increased and can make additional attacks each turn. To deal with this, first figure Initiative and maneuvers per turn from all other sources. Then increase Move, Initiative and Dodge by the amount listed, and add the additional attacks gained to the number of maneuvers that the vampire can make each turn. Initiative for these maneuvers is reduced normally. Example: Sebastian has a Basic Speed of 7.25, Combat Reflexes, and Celerity Power 4. His normal Initiative is 8.25. When he invokes Celerity at Power 4, he can make three maneuvers per turn, his Move is raised to 13, and his Initiative is raised to 14.25. Altered Time Rate: Simply double the super's Initiative, rounding any Initiative of less than 6 up to 6 before doubling. The "a second is still a second" rule no longer applies; treat each maneuver as a second for purposes of maneuvers such as Concentrate, Move, All-Out Defense, etc. Example: Ionizer has DX 14, HT 16, and two levels of Increased Speed, giving him a Basic Speed and Initiative of 9.5. Joybuzzer has DX 15 and HT 12, giving him a Basic Speed of 6.75. His Combat Reflexes add one to Initiative, giving him an Initiative of 7.75. Turn #1: Both enter combat at the same time. Each has one maneuver this turn. With Initiative 9.5, Ionizer goes first, using the Move maneuver to take him 9 yards closer to Joybuzzer, who also uses Move to get 7 yards closer to Ionizer. Turn #2: Ionizer has two maneuvers this turn. With Initiative 9.5, he uses Move to get 4 yards closer to Joybuzzer (a second is still a second, and each of his maneuvers this turn last one half-second). Joybuzzer, with Initiative 7.75, tries to Fast-Draw a knife, but fails his roll. His maneuver this round is therefore a Step And Ready. Ionizer goes next, as his Initiative is now 6.5. He Steps one yard closer (his normal Step would be two yards, but this is reduced as Move) and begins to Concentrate on his Lightning power. Turn #3: Ionizer, with Initiative 9.5, has not been concentrating for a full second, and must take the Step And Concentrate maneuver unless he decides to abort the attack. He Steps two yards closer (his Step is not reduced this round, as his one maneuver takes a full second). Joybuzzer takes Step And Attack, hurling the knife toward Ionizer, who successfully Dodges. He must make a Will-3 roll to keep his concentration; he makes the Will roll. At Initiative 6.5, just after Joybuzzer's attack, Ionizer has been concentrating for a full second and can release his Lightning, even though he has used all of his maneuvers. Rolling to hit Joybuzzer from 5 yards away, he gets a critical success on his attack roll. Joybuzzer takes 7d of damage, and is slammed against a car, unconscious. The fight is over. Throwing Distance for Super ST or Telekinesis To determine the maximum distance that an object can be thrown, find the ratio of weight to ST and use the appropriate distance modifier. To determine the half-damage range, find the ratio of weight to ST and shift two positions downward on the table to find the proper distance modifier. If that would take you off the table, don't worry about the half-damage range; at this point, the object is inflicting damage by its weight alone, not by your strength. Example: You have ST 100 and want to throw a 30 pound weight at someone. 30/100=0.300, which corresponds to a distance modifier of 1.9, giving you a maximum range of 190 yards. Shifting downward two places on this table gives a distance modifier of 1.2, for a half- damage point of 120 yards. Weakened Limitations Most super/psi limitations have an implied "Weakened except for..." form. If a character's power can function at half strength most of the time, but can only function at full power when the limitation is observed, the value of the limitation is halved. Example: Hot Cha has Flame Jet with the -30% limitation "Weakened except for One Use Per Day". She can fire a half-strength Flame Jet as often as she wants, but can only fire a full-strength Flame Jet once per day. She also has Destroy Liquid (Power 10) with the -15% limita tion "Weakened except at 1/8 of maximum range" (based on 3 levels of Reduced Range). She can destroy 10 gallons if the liquid is 12 yards away or closer, and can destroy 5 gallons of liquid at greater distances. Linking Enhancements and Limitations A super may link a specific limitation, or set of limitations, to an enhancement. The game effect is that the limitations come into play whenever the enhancement that they are linked to is used. For example, a super may be able to make his Fireball explosive, but it costs him fatigue. To link a limitation (or limitations) to an enhancement, reduce the cost of the enhancement by the percentage value of the limitation(s). If the limitations exceed -100%, the enhancement is free, but there is no further point break. Example: Hot Cha has Body of Fire, level 10, and can extend the flames to (safely) envelop people she touches. The Body of Fire costs 50 points, and has the Affects Others enhancement linked to the Touch Only limitation. +40% modified by -50% comes to +20%, for a total cost of 60 points. She also has Fireball at power 10, for 60 points. It has the Richochet enhancement (+20%) and can fire impaling bolts, but only at full power and only in an emergency. Impaling is +50%; Full Power Only and Emergencies Only total -40%. +50% modified by -40% comes to +30%. Her Fireball power comes to 90 points. Note that when a limitation is linked to an enhancement worth more than +100%, or multiple enhancements that total more than +100%, these linking rules become unbalanced. Thus the following rule: The maximum percentage break that any single limitation can provide is equal to the value of the limitation. Example: Decker buys Lightning, and wants it to do a lot of knock back when he touches the target. He buys Increased Knockback x7 and links it to Touch Only. +140% modified by -50% comes to +70% (for a 70% break); however, this gives more of a point break than Touch Only may give. As such, Touch Only brings the percentage cost down by 50%, to +90%. Decker finds that too expensive, and decides that his Light ning will do some extra knockback and will do impaling damage when he touches the target. He buys Increased Knockback x3, linked to Touch Only, and Impaling, linked to Touch Only. +60% modified by -50% comes to +30% (for a 30% break). +50% modified by -50% comes to +25% (for a 25% break). The point breaks total 55%, more than Touch Only may give. As such, Touch Only only gives a 20% break to Impaling, instead of 25%, bringing the cost for Impaling to +30%. However, a few limitations are specifically designed to be linked to any number of enhancements (such as Exclusivity). These are exempt from this "maximum point break" rule, and will be noted as such. Balancing Psionics in a Supers Campaign There are three ways in which a super can buy psionic powers. The super should choose a purchasing scheme (or schemes--they are mutually compatible) based on how psi will fit into his list of powers. Single-Skill: Any psi skill can be bought at single-skill cost, ignoring prerequisites. This is explained on p. P89, but modified here. Skills with a *n/a listed have a single-skill cost equal to half the normal cost for a level of that power group, rounded up. I.e, *n/a skills in a 5 point power group cost 3 points/level, and *n/a skills in a 3 point power group cost 2 points/level. An exception to this is when the skill is *n/a because it represents the primary skill of the power, such as Astral Projection and Healing; these skills have a single-skill cost equal to the cost for a level of the power group. The telepathic skills Illusion, Mindswitch, Mindwipe, Sleep, Suggest, and Telecontrol require the psi to first penetrate the opponent's mind with Telereceive. If the super has single-skill Telereceive, he can roll against that skill as long as the opponent is within his Telereceive range. If he does not have Telereceive, the super has a effective Telereceive skill of his Illusion (etc.) skill-4. He can only use this skill to facilitate the use of his primary power; no mind-reading is possible. He must first roll against this default Telereceive to get into the opponent's mind, then he can roll against his actual psi skill. This purchasing scheme is appropriate for the super who wants a single psi skill or two at reasonable high levels, to complement his non-psi powers. This is the most Supers-like way of buying psi. Doubling Level Cost: Psionics are bought normally, by the power group, but the cost for each level of power doubles after Power 5, triples after Power 10, etc.; so ESP Power 4 would cost 12 points, but ESP Power 12 would cost 63 points (3 per level for Power 1-5, plus 6 per level for Power 6-10, plus 9 per level for Power 11-12). Skills are bought normally. This purchasing scheme is appropriate for a low-to-medium-powered psi with a well-rounded variety of psionic powers and skills, or for a super with one medium-to-high-level power group. Unusual Background (UB): For an additional UB costing one-half of the UB for being a super, the super can have unlimited access to all the psi he wants, ignoring the above purchasing schemes. For access to only one power group, the cost is again halved. If the super wants psionics, but no super abilities, there is no additional UB, but he must pay the same UB as everyone else to be a super. For access to only one power group, halve that UB. Example: It is a 600-point campaign with a 100-point Unusual Background to be a super. Glorybolt wants some super abilities along with full access to psi; he pays 150 points in UB. Blinkboy wants super abilities and full access to Teleportation; he buys 125 points of UB. Mindmulcher wants full access to psi, but no super abilities at all; she buys 100 points of UB. Shock Treatment wants super abilities but no psi; she pays 100 points in UB. Finally, Eye Spy wants full access to ESP, but no other psi or super abilities; he pays 50 points in UB. If the campaign does not require an Unusual Background to be a super, use the following: UB for full psi access, with or without super abilities, is equal to 10% of the starting point value. Halve that if it only applies to one power group. This purchasing scheme is obviously the most appropriate for a full- powered psi. Telepathy: Because Telepaths become more powerful with high levels of skill, instead of Power, these guidelines may not properly balance Telepathy in a campaign. If it is still too powerful, GMs should make all Telepathy skills M/VH instead of M/H. Note that this is a purely optional rule. Helpful Equations and Conversions Extra Effort with Super Strength: Maximum lift is equal to 2.5 times ST, times (ST minus 6). The ST required to lift X pounds is equal to the square root of (X times 0.4, plus 9), plus 3. Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis: The number of degrees by which an object can be raised or lowered per second is equal to (Power times 25), divided by the weight (in pounds) of the object. Production Cost for High-Tech Items: Subtract the campaign's TL from the item's TL, and add one. Raise 2 to this exponent, and subtract 1. Multiply the base cost for the item by this number. Speed: To get MPH, multiply Move (yards per second) by 2.05. To get KPH, multiply Move by 3.3. To get meters per second, multiply Move by 0.9. GURPS Psionics Index of Advanced Techniques for Psionic Skills (Grouped by Powers): Antipsi Power* Neutralize description, p. 10, psychic lobotomy, p. 43 Personal Resistance description, p. vii Psi Static description, p. 10 Astral Projection Power Astral Projection description, p. 10, astral plane, p. 51-52 Astral Sight description, p. 11 Electrokinesis Power Confuse description, p. 11 Cyberpsi description, p. 11, cyberpsi and the net, p. 44 Dampen description, p. 12 Energy Sense description, p. 12 Energy Shield description, p. 12, extending shields, p. 38, special skill enhancement, p. vii Lightning description, p. 12, creating particle beams, p. 36, equipment HT taple, p. 13 Photokinesis description, p. 13, shifting laser frequencies, p. 36 Surge description, p. 13, equipment HT table, p. 13 ESP Power Clairvoyance description, p. 13, new description, p. vii Clairaudience description, p. 14, new description, p. viii Clairsentience description, p. 14, correct range, p. viii Combat Sense description, p. 14 Precognition description, p. 14 Psychometry description, p. 14 Retrogression see GURPS Time Travel, p. 30, 61-65 Seekersense description, p. 15, dowsing, p. 43 Healing Power Healing description, p. 15, new description, p. viii, faith healing, p. 53, restoring attributes or Will, p. 44 Life Extension description, p. 15 Metabolism Control description, p. 15 Sense Aura description, p. 16 Psychic Vampirism Power Drain (Attribute) description, p. 16, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22 Drain Emotion description, p. 16, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22 Steal Dreams description, p. 17, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22 Steal Energy description, p. 17, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22 Steal Power description, p. 17, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22 Psychokinesis Power Cryokinesis description, p. 17, brittle metal, p. 34, cryokinetic attacks, p. 18, important temperatures, p. 19, PK defenses, p. 36 Levitation description, p. 18, mass and speed tables, p. 19 PK Shield description, p. 18, extending shields, p. 38, special skill enhancement, p. ix Pressure Wave (VH) description, p. x Pyrokinesis description, p. 18, equipment failure, p. 34, important temperatures, p. 19, PK defenses, p. 36, pyrokinetic attacks, p. 19 Telekinesis description, p. 19, direct (internal or neural) attacks, p. 35, "getting tricky", p. 19, half- damage range (throwing), p. xxxiii, mass and speed tables, p. 19, effective strength, p. 33, PK defenses, p. 36, throwing damage table, p. 34, throwing range table, p. 33, wielding weapons, p. 34 Telepathy Power** Aspect description, p. 20 Emotion Sense description, p. 20, animal psi, p. 54, Erase Signature description, p. 21 Illusion description, p. 21, animal psi, p. 54, area effect, p. 39, telepathic assistance, p. 38 Instill Fear see GURPS Bunnies & Burrows, p. 33 Mental Blow description, p. 21, aiming mental blows, p. 38, area effect, p. 39, brute force attacks, p. 22 Mental Stab description, p. 22, area effect, p. 39, brute force attacks, p. 22 Mind Shield description, p. 22, brute force attacks, p. 22, deathblock, p. 40, extending shields, p. 38, "get out of my mind", p. 22, mind trap, p. 39, reflective shield, p. 40 Mindswitch description, p. 23, animal psi, p. 54 Mindsword description, p. 23 Mindwipe description, p. 23, detecting mindwipe, p. 41, editing memories, p. 23, mind trap, p. 39, planting compulsions, p. 24, temporary mindwipe, p. 41, undoing mindwipe, p. 41 Psi Sense description, p. 24, telepathic eavesdropping, p. 37 Signature Sniffer description, p. 24 Sleep description, p. 24, animal psi, p. 54, area effect, p. 39, hypnagogic state, p. 51 Suggestion description, p. 24, animal psi, p. 54, hypnagogic state, p. 51, plant psi, p. 54, R.E.M. sleep, p. 50 Telecontrol description, p. 25, animal psi, p. 54, hypnagogic state, p. 51, power tap, p. 38, R.E.M. sleep, p. 50, telepathic assistance, p. 38 Telereceive description, p. 25, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22, full communion, p. 36, gestalt, p. 37, "get out of my mind", p. 22, hypnagogic state, p. 51, invading dreams, p. 50, power tap, p. 38, subtle invasion, p. 26, telepathic assistance, p. 38, telepathic eaves dropping, p. 37, telereceive in battle, p. 42 Telescan description, p. 26, animal psi, p. 54, brute force attacks, p. 22, gauging local population, p. ix Telesend description, p. 26, animal psi, p. 54, deathscream, p. 40, full communion, p. 36, gestalt, p. 37, hypnagogic state, p. 51, invading dreams, p. 50, long-distance sending (brief message), p. 35, plant psi, p. 54, R.E.M. sleep, p. 50 Teleportation Power Autoteleport description, p. 27, blind jumps, p. 42, correct range, p. x, special skill enhancement, p. x Combat Teleport description, p. 27, correct range, p. x Exoteleport description, p. 27, combat exoteleport, p. 43, special skill limitations, p. x, weight table, p. x Time Jumping super-power, p. xxix, or see GURPS Time Travel, p. 31 World Jumping see GURPS Time Travel, p. 32 * See p. vii for rules on buying other psi powers with Antipsi ** See p. ix for new rule on Global Range GURPS Vehicles (1st Edition) Index of Sample Vehicles: TL1-2 Light Chariot, p. 185 TL1-4 Open Boat, p. 185 TL4 Brig, p. 185 TL5 Balloon, p. 186 TL6 Jeep, p. 58 TL7 Armored Personnel Carrier, p. 175 TL7 Battle Tank, p. 121 TL7 Executive Jet, p. 188 TL7 Family Car, p. 187 TL7 Generic Sports Car, p. 152 TL7 Generic Van, p. 187 TL7 Light Cabin Monoplane, p. 59 TL7 Modern Bicycle, p. 186 TL7 Motorcycle, p. 186 TL7 Speedboat, p. 60 TL7 Ultralight Aircraft, p. 187 TL7 Utility Helicopter, p. 120 TL8 Armored Vertol, p. 62 TL8 Cybercrab, p. 57 TL8 Electric Smartcar, p. 61 TL9 Jet Pack, p. 188 TL10 Dracomech, p. 189 TL10 Light Battlesuit, p. 188 TL12 Grav Cycle, p. 56 Extra Changes Size (Sz) - This is a rough measure of the comparative sizes of different objects, characters, etc. It is based on mass, but by default also includes volume. For general puposes, a human is assumed to have a density of 1.0 (this changes between specific humans based on specific muscle/fat/bone/etc percentages, but it'll do for PCs). That means that for every 1 cubic centimeter, the human weighs 1 gram at 1.0 Gravity. Also for general purposes, the average human is about 64,000 cubic centimeters (and 64 kg = 150 pounds). This is not precise (or perfectly accurate ;), but it'll do. For PC base mass, multiply ST x6.4 kg. At Sz 0, this remains the same. For each +1 Sz, double mass. For each -1 Sz, halve mass. Children will generally have a -4 to -1 Sz. For each +3 Sz, height/width/depth is doubled. For each -3 Sz, height/ width/depth is halved. EFFECTS OF SIZE (in GURPS) - Cost per level: 20/level ST damage is modified by Sz directly (a Sz +3 critter does +3 Th/Sw) HT hit points is modified by Sz directly (a HT 10, Sz -2 critter has 8 hit points). This modified number is the number used for -HT, -2xHT, etc. Increased Size does not include the ability to support one's own mass in an unsuited form. At Sz 3 levels higher than the form normally suited for it, the critter (or PC) will collapse (even if ST is high enough to carry oneself). Special enhancement: "Able to support, as long as ST is high enough" (+25%). Double "Reach" per 3 levels. Density Increase (no increase in volume) - Cost per level: 20/level Same as above, but volume does not increase. Each level of Density Increase lowers Swimming skill by -4. Each level of Density Increase adds +1 DR vs. crushing damage. Each 3 levels of Density Increase adds +1 DR vs. all damage. No increased reach. (note: I haven't done up rules for Density Decrease yet, sorry)