Origins & Manifestations

Origins

Origins determine how you acquired your abilities. You should pick a single Origin for each distinct Power you possess. Your Origin determines whether you may take some Origin-specific tropes, and your specific Origin may also become relevant during the game.

When specifying your Origin, you should add some explanation as to how exactly it happened. For example:

“Origin - Developed: Kate has been buying up magical books for years now, and has (through study, experimentation, and more than a few mishaps) acquired knowledge of a few spells”

Innate

An Innate Power is one your character was born with, or has intrinsically. Perhaps it's in your character's genetics (Genetics Manifestation), they're an alien growing up with symbiotic nanobots in their blood (Tech Manifestation), or they were simply born with psychic powers over bees (Magic Manifestation), but your character's Power has been with them for their entire life, and they've adjusted to that.

Acquired

An acquired power is one that your character acquired from some external agency. Perhaps your character was experimented on (Genetics Manifestation), was given cybernetic augmentation (Tech Manifestation), or is sponsored by some mystical entity (Magic Manifestation). Or they just found (or stole) whatever empowers them. Either way, your character's power isn't entirely of their doing.

Developed

A Developed Power is one acquired by your character through work and training, entirely of their own doing. Perhaps they've been building gadgets for years, giving them a set of technological Powers - perhaps even an armoured suit (Tech Manifestation). Maybe they've been acquiring a magical library, and gradually learning spells (Magic Manifestation), or they've modified their own DNA over years of experimentation (Genetics Manifestation).

Manifestations

Your character's Manifestation is their general Power type and source - whether genetics, technology, or magic. You should pick a single Manifestation for each distinct power you possess. Your Manifestation will determine how your Powers work, open up Manifestation-specific Tropes, and may alter how certain events affect you in the game.

Genetics

Powers from your character's genetics - for example, genetic modifications or mutations giving them the ability to quickly self-repair, non-human limbs, or even abilities from not being human in the first place (belonging to an alien species with echolocation, for instance) would all belong in the Genetics category. (Note: The Genetics Manifestation does not necessarily tie your character to an Innate Origin, as they can have acquired these modifications at any point during their life)

Magic

Magical Powers of any description - for instance, the ability to liquefy stone, scrying remote locations, or shapeshifting into a small flock of starlings could be part of a Magic Manifestation. If you choose this, be sure to tell the GMs how exactly your character's magic works, and what they do to use it (this also affects your character's limitations, of course: if their magic requires hand movements, a situation in which they can't do so will render their Powers temporarily useless).

Tech

Powers acquired from technology: for example, cybernetic augmentation, a powered exoskeleton, or damage-repairing nanobots in your character's bloodstream. This does not include the ability to create new technology, which is covered by the Science! skill, but instead refers to your character's personal abilities stemming from technology. Levelling up in a Tech Manifestation Power can represent either the technology itself improving, your character learning to use it more effectively, or both.

origins_manifestations.txt · Last modified: 2015/06/29 12:10 by gm_cameron
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