Chapter Six Sample - Supernova (Patreon)

Supernova

As described in Chapter Three (p. XX), Variations have intentional limits to their range, duration, and scale. A Deviant in End Stage, however, can often break those boundaries. Most of the time, End Stage merely supercharges one aspect of each of the Broken’s Magnitude 5 Variations until the end of the chapter. This can still have a considerable impact:

Control: Scar Finesse rolls to activate or target the Variation enjoy a +3 bonus.

Enlarged Area: The Variation affects a larger area than usual.  If it is not Directed, it grants its benefits to all allies, all non-enemies, or all logical targets within 10 yards/meters. If it is an Aura, its radius extends twice Scar Power times farther than usual (doubled at 1 Scar Power, quadrupled at 2 Scar Power, etc.). If it is Directed, the Deviant may affect multiple targets per turn (no greater than Scar Finesse) and any number of targets may fall under its sway at a time (rather than being limited by Scar Power); resolve multiple targeting as a long burst (Deviant, p. 198). Alternatively, a Directed effect’s range is increased by a factor of 10.

Greater Duration: Once activated, the Variation lasts until the end of the chapter instead of until the end of the scene. If the Variation has the Perpetual keyword, once activated, it counts as being Persistent and Perpetual even if ordinarily Controlled or Involuntary.

Instinctive: The Remade may activate or deactivate the Variation reflexively. If Directed, the Broken can direct its effects as a reflexive action once for each of her turns. She can do this at a time other than her own turn, but once she directs the Variation reflexively, she may not do so again until the beginning of her next turn.

Limitless: Variation effects that are limited to once per scene, chapter, or story do not have this limit.

Shifted Scars: The Scar entangled with the Variation changes. This could be a difference within the same Scar (which things trigger his Phobia, for example, or what behavior Subliminal Conditioning compels), or it could be a complete change in the Scar.

Super-Potent: The Variation gains capabilities normally impossible for it (see below).

Synergy: The Variation’s effects bleed into one or more of the Broken’s other Variations.

Super-Potent Examples

The below are examples of what a Variation might be capable of if made super-potent or if synergizing with similar Variations. Each lists several examples of Variations appropriate to the effect, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

•            Awareness: The Broken’s senses penetrate phenomena relevant to the Variation with perfect clarity. She enjoys a two-die bonus to Wits rolls. She may also ask the Storyteller questions about anything in the Variation’s purview that she can perceive and receive accurate answers, although the Storyteller may call for Scar Finesse rolls for unusually subtle phenomena. Predator’s Cunning, Precognition, Sensor Array, Specialized Sense

•            Disaster: The Deviant may create a level 4 Extreme Environment relevant to the Variation. He is immune to this environment’s effects and any Environmental Tilts it causes. Bioluminescence, Electrokinesis, Environmental Adaptation, Pyrokinesis, Storm-Caller

•            Gargantuan: The Remade can take the shape of larger objects or creatures, increasing maximum Size by 10. Animal Transformation, Gigantic, Matter Transformation

•            Ghost: The Deviant is undetectable and can pass through any substance at her normal Speed. Boneless, Camouflage, Miniaturization, Out of Phase

•            Kill: Whether by means of a powerful Lash or telepathic power that causes victims to die of fright, the Deviant’s Variations become honed for killing. Each turn, as a reflexive action, the Remade may make a Scar Finesse roll. Each success takes a Baseline in range out of the fight. Creeping Dread, Lash, Superhuman Strength, Telekinesis

•            Mark: The Remade inflicts permanent damage on the target, imposing a Magnitude 3 Scar appropriate to the Variation (Magnitude 5, if the roll to target the Variation is an exceptional success). This is permanent for most Baselines; others can overcome it by devoting a story to recovering from the damage in some way. Cryokinesis, Fate’s Agent, Lash, Memory Thief, Telepathy

•            Narration: The Broken may introduce a convenient fact or plot twist to the scene that is relevant to the Variation. The Storyteller may veto any unreasonable suggestions but is encouraged to permit most scenarios. The first time the Deviant does this in a scene, the effect is automatic. Additional uses require successful Scar Finesse rolls with a cumulative –1 penalty, and once the Remade fails one of these rolls, she cannot attempt further plot twists in the current scene. Hidden Compartments, Pheromones, Superhuman Presence, Superhuman Wits

•            Perfection: The Deviant acts with perfect grace or thinks with perfect clarity. Choose Mental, Physical, or Social, as appropriate to the Variation. All the Remade’s actions of that type enjoy the rote quality, and she is treated as having three dots in each Skill of that type in which she has fewer than three dots. Blessing, Hyper-Competence, Omnicompetence, Superhuman Attribute

•            Portal: The Broken can open a gateway large enough for two people to walk through at a time, which remains open for a few minutes (a few turns, in action scenes). Its destination reflects the Variation used to create it. Translocation might lead to any location in the world that she has ever been, for example, Astral Travel to one of her sleeping Touchstones, and Otherworldly Connection to a random location in the otherworld connected to her. Astral Travel, Otherworldly Connection, Shadows of the Past, Translocation

•            Travel: The Deviant is capable of incredible speeds by air, land, or water (as appropriate), doubling the normal Speed of these forms of travel. She may also dodge without using her next action and does not lose her Defense when targeted by firearms and other attacks that ignore Defense. Aquatic, Enhanced Speed, Flight

•            Unkillable: The Broken is functionally invulnerable to physical harm, shrugging off damage and Tilts that reflect injury (although not ones that represent fetters or environmental factors). Anomalous Biology, Carapace, Rapid Healing, Superhuman Stamina

Extinction Burst

As the dramatic conclusion to End Stage draws near, the Deviant’s soul disintegrates under the intensity of her Variations. Most Remade in End Stage never experience this. It is a final surrender to the Divergence from which there is no coming back. Sometimes, the extinction burst reflects the Broken’s state of mind or goal at the time she entered End Stage, but oftentimes it is not so organized, simply a lashing out at random.

Systems: When a Remade has the End Stage Condition, their player may elect to experience an extinction burst. Instead of dying at the end of the current chapter, the character dies at the end of the current scene. Even the catharsis of destroying a Conviction Touchstone cannot reverse End Stage once it reaches this point. Choose one of the following, or suggest a new one with Storyteller permission:

•            Anomaly: The Deviant becomes the center point of an anomaly. The area and everyone in it might be caught in a time loop, for example, or everyone is frozen in place as the Remade’s telepathic control arrests their control over their muscles. The exact radius and duration of this effect is up to the Storyteller, but it typically affects no less than a city block and ends no sooner than the end of the current chapter.

•            Crystalize: The Broken’s powers manifest as an object, likely one of occult power. Troupes with access to The Clades Companion may build this as a prototype.

•            Divergence Event: The Deviant’s soul sends out an occult shriek that cracks the souls of all nearby Baselines. Most die or suffer Scars with no Variations, but some Diverge. The exact radius of this event is up to the Storyteller, but it shouldn’t be less than a city block.

•            Explosion: The power within the Broken explodes out of him with enough force to topple buildings. Baselines at ground zero are killed instantly. The exact radius of this explosion is up to the Storyteller, but it shouldn’t be less than a city block.

•            Miracle: Instead of exploding in a wash of terrifying or destructive force, the Deviant’s soul flows out in restorative ways. It might reverse the last few minutes, undoing the damage done by an accident or natural disaster, for example, or restore all the dead in the area to life. The exact radius and limits of this are up to the Storyteller, but it shouldn’t be less than a city block.

•             Occult Scar: The disintegration of the Remade’s soul leaves a permanent mark on the area. It might become haunted, for example, or gravity might not work as expected. The exact radius of this is up to the Storyteller, but it shouldn’t be less than the size of a small building and could encompass an area measured in city blocks — or even miles, in rare cases.