======Powers====== ===== Introduction ===== When generating a character, you get 4 points to spend on your [[Skills]] and **8 points** to spend on both Powers and [[Skills]]. Powers go up to a maximum level of 5. However, 3 is the highest level available at character creation. During [[Advancement]], it costs 1 point to raise your level, with the exception of a 2 point cost to increase a power to level 5. Superpowers are separated into seven different categories. Each of these categories encompasses a broad range of actual superpowers, but it is up to you to decide what your abilities within each category are. However, whatever flavour of abilities you choose, two powers that both have the same level of a given category will be just as powerful as one another. It can be assumed that any natural enhancements to your power come along with the power itself (e.g. if you summon fire, you can assume your hands won't be burned off). Each category below lists example powers (for specific power sets) you might expect to have at each level, but depending on your power, the limits will change - upon character creation, the GMs will give you a list of what each level in your current power will correspond to for future advancements. Also note that repeatedly pushing your Powers to their limits will quickly tire out your character, or wear out the tech they are using, but the abilities of lower levels of power can be used more frequently. For example, someone with Transport 4 would need to push themselves to their limits to outrun a speeding train and would likely need to slow down for a bit afterwards, but could quite happily keep pace with traffic whenever they need. ===== Banned Powers ===== For various reasons, we have decided that certain superpowers are not appropriate for CRISIS! As such, the following is a list of superpowers that players are unable to have in game. However, there are so many potential powers that this list cannot be complete - other powers may be disallowed at GM discretion if we think they might lead to problems. If you have a zany power that you think might not be allowed, feel free to ask us about it! * **Mind control / manipulation** - You cannot take control another character (PC or NPC), or alter their mind in any way. This ban applies to intelligent life, so while manipulating a human, intelligent alien life, enhanced lab animal, etc., is not possible, you may be able to manipulate creatures with simpler minds, such as ants or dolphins. * **Mind reading** - You cannot read the minds of any intelligent life form, but it may be possible to derive simple thoughts or ideas from less intelligent life (see previous point). * **Precognition/prophetic visions or otherwise seeing or predicting future events** - It is not possible to see into any kind of future, whether it is the future of your timeline, or the future of a timeline running in parallel. However, gaining some information from time travelling may be possible before game start. For more information, see [[History#Time Travel|History]]. * **Retrocognition** - It is not possible to see into any kind of past, from your timeline or otherwise (see previous point). * **Necromancy** - It is not possible for your power to bring someone completely and totally back from the dead. The most that can be managed is reanimating corpses with, at best, animal intelligence. Resurrecting a soul or a consciousness of someone who has passed away is also impossible. * **Power nullification** - Your powers cannot include nullifying other people's powers. Through research, thievery, or other sensible-yet-significant effort, it may be possible to nullify one specific person's powers e.g. through stealing their supersuit, but this __will not be permanent__ for the nullified powers in question. * **Power draining** - Your powers cannot include draining someone's power to use as your own. * **Power copying** - Your powers cannot include copying someone's power to use as your own. * **Time travel** - You cannot time travel during the course of the game. However, it may be possible for you to have arrived at this time and place due to time travel (whether accidental or intentional). For more information, see [[History#Time Travel|History]]. Please note that due to the high energy costs of time travel, it would be impossible for your power to involve small time jumps (e.g. ten seconds, a minute), or brief time freezes. Even if your character were theoretically able to use this power, they would die before they managed to implement it successfully. * **'Meta' powers** - e.g. altering the probability of events, changing the gravitational constant. * **Super intelligence** - Your powers cannot include enhanced intelligence. Intelligence is described by the skills your character has. You may choose to explain the way your character obtained/learned their skills as due to some kind of 'intelligence enhancement', but your skills at a given level will be considered no better than anyone else's at that level. =====Alteration===== Alteration encompasses pretty much all powers that allow you to change the properties of something external. Powers that allow you to heal others also fall under the Alteration category. These powers will not work on other characters (PCs or NPCs), unless they are willing to have that change done to them. The only exception to this is healing a character who is unconscious or otherwise unable to approve the change. **Level 1:** * Able to heal minor cuts and bruises on other humans. * Able to shrink object in your hands to 1/10th of the size * Able to turn the ground below you to rubber to survive a 10m drop **Level 2:** * Able to cure most ailments and injuries in less than an hour. * Able to shrink or grow any inanimate object (up to the size of a car) up to 5 times larger or smaller. * Able to turn the ground in a 10m by 10m patch to rubber to allow several people to survive a 10m drop. **Level 3:** * Able to regrow another person's lost limbs over several hours, or heal minor injuries and ailments in minutes. * Able to shrink or grow any inanimate object (up to the size of a shipping container) up to 10 times larger or smaller. * Able to turn the ground in a 10m by 10m patch to rubber with some internal damping to survive a fall from several stories. **Level 4:** * Able to get any human back to their feet as long as their vitals are still ok. * Able to shrink or grow any inanimate object (up to the size of a building) up to 100 times larger or smaller. * Able to turn an object up to the size of a small building into rubber. **Level 5:** * Able to reconstruct any living creature from just being barely alive. * Able to shrink or grow any object (up to the size of a skyscraper) up to 100 times larger or smaller, including living creatures. * Able to turn your surroundings into rubber in a 1-mile radius. ===== Control ===== Control is the subset of Powers that allow you to manipulate a substance or creature. Whether it be Forcefields, Bees, Fire or Ice Cream, you can affect that type of item according to your will. When applied to creatures, it generally allows you some form of mental command over their actions, whilst those powers that apply more to substances or the classical elements generally exhibit the ability to manipulate the substance within your vicinity, but is of no help to you if that substance is not in your vicinity. GM Note: Please note that, as mentioned above, Control powers cannot be used to take control of humans (or aliens or other beings of equivalent intelligence), whether they be NPCs or PCs. **Level 1:** * Can slide small items around a room with hand motions. * Can command around 10 small rodents from nearby. * Can slowly levitate around 100kg of weight. **Level 2:** * Can slide medium size boxes around a warehouse. * Can command around 50 small rodents from nearby. * Can levitate something the size of a car. **Level 3:** * Can slide furniture around a stadium-sized area. * Can command around 250 small rodents. * Can levitate something the size of an articulated lorry. **Level 4:** * Can slide crates anywhere in sight. * Can command hundreds of small creatures. * Can levitate something the size of a house or small building. **Level 5:** * Can slide objects a hundred meters in any direction. * Can command hundreds of animals. * Can levitate something the size of a large building. ===== Creation ===== You can create things out of thin air. Examples include making plants and trees, or summoning fireballs. It should be noted that when conjuring something up, it may have momentum (e.g. fireballs) without points in Control, but to manipulate it after the initial creation (e.g. firing a fireball around a corner), the relevant power will also be needed. **Level 1:** * Create a few small fireballs (10cm) and send them at a slow speed away from you. * Create enough air to last around 10 minutes underwater. * Able to grow a few houseplants instantly. **Level 2:** * Create a stream of small fireballs and send them at a reasonable speed away from you. * Create enough air to breath for a couple of hours underwater. * Able to fill a garden with medium sized plants over the course of a few minutes. **Level 3:** * Create a stream of medium (50cm) fireballs and send them at a reasonable speed away from you. * Create enough air to breath for a couple of days underwater. * Able to fill a park with trees over the course of an hour. **Level 4:** * Able to create and launch a continuous stream of large (up to 2m) fireballs away from you at high speed. * Create enough air to breath for a couple of days underwater, and provide air for a group of others. * Able to fill a city with flora over the course of a day. **Level 5:** * Able to create and launch several giant (around 10m) fireballs at multiple targets in quick succession. * Create enough air for about a hundred people to breathe underwater without having to worry about time constraints. * Able to fill a city with relatively harmless flora in moments. ===== Movement ===== Movement powers are those that allow you to get from location A to location B far quicker than the average human being. Very useful for staying out of a fight, or stopping the other guy from landing a punch, whether you have superspeed, teleportation, the ability to tunnel through the Earth, or just plain old flight, you move around far more easily than those without these powers. **Level 1:** * Able to run at twice the speed of normal people. * Able to teleport to an adjacent room, given a moment to focus. * Able to hover in the air for around 10 minutes, and glide at about walking pace. **Level 2:** * Able to keep pace with traffic, but with little control at high speed. * Able to teleport yourself across a large building. * Able to hover and glide at jogging pace at low altitude (up to about 20m). **Level 3:** * Able to outrun traffic on the motorways. * Able to teleport yourself and a few objects around a large building. * Able to hover and fly as fast as a sprinting human. **Level 4:** * Able to outrun a speeding train while avoiding larger obstacles. * Able to teleport yourself and some larger furniture about a mile away. * Able to fly as fast as a race-car, with about the same manoeuvrability. **Level 5:** * Able to run as fast as a fighter jet and precisely avoid collisions at that speed. * Able to teleport yourself and several people across a city repeatedly. * Able to fly as fast as a passenger airliner and make precise adjustments to your course. ===== Sensory ===== Sensory powers are those that advance your senses above and beyond those humans generally possess. Just because you are able to sense or observe something with these powers does not imply you are able to understand what you are sensing. Sample Sensory powers include: "Danger Sense", "Heightened [Normal Sense]" "X-Ray/Ultraviolet Vision" "Sensing Magnetic Fields", etc etc. **Level 1:** * Can see through thin walls for a few minutes. * Can detect the general location of large objects in a room with echolocation. * Can pick out general heat signatures of people in a room. **Level 2:** * Can see through normal walls. * Can detect the location of people and objects in a large room with echolocation. * Can differentiate between the heat signatures of people in the next room. **Level 3:** * Can see through to any room in a normal house. * Can detect can differentiate between and identify people and objects in the same house with echolocation. * Can identify and differentiate between the heat signatures of people in the same house. **Level 4:** * Can see through several layers of a thick building, such as a dam. * Can detect and notice subtle difference between people (such as what they are holding) across a stadium with echolocation. * Can identify the heat signatures of object just a couple of degrees different across from a hundred meters away. **Level 5:** * Can see through things even buried miles underground. * Can identify distinct objects across a city using echolocation. * Can spot heat signatures even behind other heat sources, and also spot areas of cold throughout a city. ===== Toughness ===== This is enhancements to your personal strength. Whether you can punch harder, or you are more resistant to fire, you still resemble your normal form when your power is used. Self-healing may come under toughness, although this may also fit into other categories. **Level 1:** * Able to heal your own minor cuts and bruises. * Your skin is heat resistant. * You can punch and kick like a martial-arts master. **Level 2:** * Able to cure most ailments and injuries over the course of a couple of hours. * Your skin cannot be cut by normal blades. * You can punch a vehicle and knock it across the road. **Level 3:** * You can regrow lost limbs over the course of a day, and heal minor injuries in minutes. * Your skin is bullet proof. * You can punch a car and knock it over a house. **Level 4:** * You are able to heal yourself enough to get back to your feet as long as your vitals are still okay, although you'll need time to recuperate. * You can survive in a vacuum. * You can do some serious damage to materials specifically designed to be resilient. **Level 5:** * Able to return to full health even if you're in several pieces. * Your skin is pretty much indestructible, even from things like radiation. * You can punch some of the strongest metal buildings into dust. ===== Transformation ===== You have the ability to alter your body. This covers anything from shrinking yourself to the size of an ant, changing your body to metal or becoming invisible. Self-healing may come under transformation, although this may also fit into other categories. **Level 1:** * You can stretch your arms by 50cm. * You can grow to twice your height. * You can transform into a wolf for about an hour. **Level 2:** * You can stretch any of your limbs by 1m. * You can grow or shrink to three times your height. * You can transform into one of a half dozen preferred forms of wolf, dog, or similar, for a few hours. **Level 3:** * You can quickly stretch any of your limbs by 5m, and slightly alter the thickness of them. * You can grow or shrink to 10 times your height. * You can transform into one of a dozen or so preferred forms of mammal for a day. **Level 4:** * You can quickly stretch any of your limbs by 20m, and each of them (and fingers and such) are malleable enough to slide under door. * You can grow or shrink to 100 times your height. * You can transform into almost any animal. **Level 5:** * You can flatten, expand, and generally alter your body into almost any shape. * You can grow or shrink to 1000 times your height. * You can transform into almost any creature, or group of creatures.