Powers
Accident
Type: P
Action: Complex
Range: LOS
Duration: Instant
Critters with this power can cause seemingly normal accidents to occur. The exact nature of the accident is for the gamemaster to determine, based on what the target is doing and what’s going on around him. This power isn’t, in and of itself, dangerous, but circumstance and environment can come into play to make it so. Tripping on your own feet in front of rush-hour traffic could be hazardous to your health, for instance. A critter can use this power on a number of targets at once equal to its Magic rating.
When a critter targets someone with this power, make an Opposed Test, using the critter’s Magic + Willpower against the target’s Reaction + Intuition. If the critter wins, treat it as if the target rolled a glitch on a test. If the critter scores 4 or more net hits, the accident is treated as a critical glitch—it’s not just an embarrassing fumble, it’s a potential catastrophe.
Astral Form
Type: M
Range: Self
Action: Auto
Duration: Always
A critter with this power only exists in the astral plane. Only astral attacks or mana spells/powers may hurt an astral critter; physical attacks or spells/powers have no effect. The reverse is also true; an astral critter can only affect dual-natured beings or those on the astral plane, whether through astral projection or astral perception. Critters with this power may manifest on the physical plane in the same way as astrally projecting magicians (see p. 313).
Concealment
Type: P
Action: Simple
Range: LOS
Duration: Sustained
Critters with this power can mystically hide themselves, other people, or things that someone else is seeking. Concealment subtracts a number of dice equal to the critter’s Magic from any Perception Tests to locate the concealed subject. Concealment can be used simultaneously on a number of metahuman-sized targets equal to the critter’s Magic, or a number of much smaller targets (cats, babies, rats, etc.) equal to the critter’s Magic x 5. Concealed subjects can see each other if the critter allows it. The effect lasts until the target is spotted or the critter stops sustaining the power.
Confusion
Type: M
Action: Complex
Range: LOS
Duration: Sustained
This power renders the target unable to think clearly. He becomes indecisive, forgetful, and befuddled. The critter makes an Opposed Test using its Magic + Willpower against the target’s Willpower + Logic. Any net hits the critter scores become a negative dice pool modifier for any action the target character takes.
Engulf
Type: P
Action: Complex
Range: Touch
Duration: Sustained
This allows a critter to draw a target into itself or the terrain it controls, smothering or otherwise enveloping the target and causing damage. This is a melee attack. If it succeeds, it inflicts damage equal to its Magic x 2 (see below for specific effects by element), and the critter has engulfed its target in its grasp. Net hits on the melee attack increase this damage normally. The target gets a Damage Resistance Test as normal, using Body + Armor; the attack has an AP of –(critter’s Magic).
Once engulfed, a target is trapped and cannot move. Every time its Action Phase comes up after this, until the target escapes, the critter automatically inflicts damage as above; the target gets to resist each time as above. On the target’s Action Phase, he may use a Complex Action to try to escape. To attempt escape, make an Opposed Test, rolling the target’s Strength + Body against the critter’s Magic + Body. If the target wins, she escapes and takes no more damage from the attack.
Some engulf powers have secondary effects; these are described here.
Air Engulf: The victim resists Stun as if from an inhalation-vector toxin attack (p. 408). Armor does not protect against this attack, but other protective gear might (Toxin and Drug Protection Table, p. 408). If the victim passes out from Stun damage, she continues to take damage, with the Stun damage overflowing into Physical damage as normal.
Earth Engulf: The target resists Physical damage.
Fire Engulf: The victim resists Fire damage (p. 171).
Water Engulf: The victim resists Stun damage. This is rougher than normal drowning, because the critter is capable of exerting great pressure on the victim. Victims who pass out from Stun damage continue to take damage after falling unconscious, with the Stun damage overflowing into Physical damage as normal.
Materialization
Type: M
Action: Complex
Range: Self
Duration: Sustained
Magicians and many critters can leave their bodies and project themselves into the astral plane. Likewise, many astral critters can project themselves into the physical world and form a temporary “body” to inhabit while they’re here. This lets them interact with, and affect, physical beings. Additionally, they gain Immunity to Normal Weapons while materialized. Materializing and dematerializing to return to the astral plane both require a Complex Action.
Movement
Type: P
Action: Complex
Range: LOS
Duration: Sustained
This power allows the critter to speed up or slow down the target’s movement rate. The power only works on things that are predisposed to locomotion: vehicles, characters, or critters. If used on targets other than the critter, it also only functions in terrain that the critter controls. If used only on the critter itself, this power can be used anywhere. The critter can multiply or divide the target’s movement rate by up to its Magic attribute.
Only one instance of this power may be applied to a particular target at any one time. Once the target has left the critter’s terrain/domain, the power ends and the target’s movement is returned to normal.
Using Movement on vehicles is tougher than it is on critters and characters. If the target is a vehicle, the critter makes a Magic + Willpower test with a threshold of half the vehicle’s Body (round up), with a minimum of 2. If the critter meets the threshold in this test, multiply the hits by the vehicle’s Acceleration Rating and add the result to (or subtract it from) the vehicle’s Speed in the next Combat Turn, as if making an Acceleration or Deceleration Test. The critter can continue to make Magic + Willpower Tests to increase or decrease the vehicle’s speed each Combat Turn that it sustains this power and the vehicle remains in its domain/terrain. Based on the situation, these sudden changes in speed may call for Crash Tests (p. 201) for the vehicle.
Sapience
Type: P
Action: Auto
Range: Self
Duration: Always
Sapient critters are self-aware, capable of making their own choices, and are generally at or above the level of Homo sapiens. While most critters are considered Unaware (see p. 131) of any skill they don’t possess, sapient critters are merely Untrained (see p. 131) and can default normally. They are also capable of learning new skills if they so choose.
Most sapient critters are mundane, but they are capable of Awakening and possessing a Magic attribute. Awakened sapient critters are capable of learning any magical task they set their minds to, and follow the same rules for magic as normal characters. While no sapient critters are known to have Emerged as technomancers, the appearance of “technocritters” has led many scientists to believe that it’s only a matter of time—if it hasn’t already happened.
Search
Type: P
Action: Complex
Range: Special Duration: Special
Seek, and ye shall find, but it goes a lot faster with this power. To find a target, the critter makes a Magic + Intuition (5, 10 minutes) Extended Test. Lots of things can make this harder; apply the appropriate modifiers from the Search Modifiers Table.
The critter must have seen the thing it’s searching for at some time before the search begins. Spirits may search for anything for which their summoner can provide them a mental image. Critters who can enter astral space may use this power there and do not have to materialize while searching, even if the target is in the physical world.