Chapter 5: Perks

A "perk" is a useful trait that gives you a mental, physical, or social "edge" over someone else who otherwise has the same abilities as you. Each perk has a cost in character points. This is fixed for some perks; others can be bought in "levels", at a cost per level (e.g. Acute Vision costs 10 points/level, so if you want Acute Vision 6, you must pay 60 points). Perks with "Variable" cost are more complicated; read the perk description for details.

You can start out with many perks as you can afford – although some perks are forbidden to certain kinds of characters. You can also add perks in play, if the GM permits. For instance, all the beneficial social traits in Chapter 3 (Status, Wealth, etc.) are perks, and you could realistically acquire any of these in the course of the game. Magic and high technology can often grant perks as well. For information on adding perks in play, see Chapter ?.

Turning Perks Off & On

An perk that never inconveniences you (e.g. Intuition), that has to be on at all times to be of benefit (e.g. Resistant), or that reflects a permanent trait of your species (e.g. Extra Arms) is always on. You cannot turn it off.

Most other perks are switchable: you can turn them off and on at will. To do so requires a one-second Ready maneuver, with activation or deactivation occurring as soon as you execute the maneuver. Unlike certain skills and magic spells, this does not require concentration; switching a perk is second nature, and cannot be "interrupted". The default condition (while sleeping, unconscious, etc.) is "on".

Attacks – notably Affliction, Binding, and Innate Attack – are only “on” while you are attacking. A perk like this requires a one-second Attack maneuver to use; you cannot switch it on continuously without a special enhancement.

Exceptions to these guidelines are noted explicitly.

Perk Index

M/P/Soc tells whether a perk is mental, physical, or social.
X/Sup tells whether a perk is exotic or supernatural. A dash in this column means it is mundane.

Perk List

Affliction

10 Points/Level

You have an attack that causes a baneful, non-damaging effect: blindness, paralysis, weakness, etc. This might be an ultra-tech beam weapon, a chemical spray, a supernatural gaze attack, or almost anything else. Specify the details when you buy the advantage.

By default, Affliction is a ranged attack with 1/2D 10, Max 100, Acc 15, RoF 1, Shots N/A, and Recoil 5, although you can apply modifiers to change these statistics.

If you hit, your victim must make a DCX 95 FORT check to resist. Increase the DC by five times the level of the Affliction (so Affliction 1 gives a DC 100 check). The victim gets a bonus equal to their DR unless the Affliction has one of the following modifiers: Blood Agent, Contact Agent, Cosmic, Follow-Up, Malediction, Respiratory Agent or Sense-Based. To reduce the effects of DR, add the Armor Divisor enhancement. The DC drops by an additional +3 if the victim is beyond 1/2D range.

If the victim makes their FORT check, then they are unaffected. If they fail, they suffer the effects of the Affliction. By default, they are stunned. They may make an additional FORT check once per round to recover, but once again at a penalty equal to five times the level of the Affliction (DR has no effect on this roll).

If your Affliction causes an effect other than stunning, this is a special enhancement (see below). You can inflict more than one effect by giving your Affliction multiple special enhancements. These effects occur simultaneously, except where noted.

Successive Afflictions that produce the same effects are not normally cumulative. Use the single worst effect.

Use the special enhancements below to create specific Afflictions. Many Attack Enhancements and Limitations are also logical. For instance, a blinding flash is Sense-Based; most drugs have Follow-Up, Blood Agent, or Contact Agent; supernatural attacks like the "evil eye" use Malediction; and touch attacks call for Melee Attack.

If an Affliction produces two or more effects due to the special enhancements below, some of these effects may be secondary. Secondary effects occur only if the victim fails the FORT check by 25 or more or rolls a critical failure. A secondary effect is worth 1/5 as much; e.g. Secondary Heart Attack is +60% rather than +300%.

Once you have chosen all the modifiers on your Affliction, describe the nature of the attack as detailed for Innate Attack.

Allies

Variable

Many fictional heroes have partners - loyal comrades, faithful sidekicks, trusted retainers, or lifelong friends - who accompany them on adventures. These partners are "allies".

The other PCs in your adventuring party are, in a sense, "allies", but they can be unreliable allies indeed. Often they are chance acquaintances, first encountered at a roadside tavern only hours ago. They have their own hidden goals, ethics, and motives, which might not coincide with your own.

An NPC Ally, on the other hand, is wholly reliable. Perhaps you fought side by side in a long war, trained under the same master, or grew up in the same village. The two of you trust each other implicitly. You travel together, fight back-to-back, share rations in hard times, and trade watches through the night.

Your Ally is usually agreeable to your suggestions, but he is not your puppet. He will disagree with you from time to time. An Ally may try to dissuade you from a plan that seems foolish to him - and if he can't talk you out of the plan, he may refuse to cooperate. An Ally may even cause problems for you: picking fights, landing in jail, insulting a high noble... Of course, the Ally will also try to bail you out when you make mistakes.

The GM will not award you bonus character points for any play session in which you betray, attack, or unnecessarily endanger your Ally. Blatant, prolonged, or severe betrayal will break the trust between you and your Ally, and he will leave you permanently. If you drive your Ally off in this way, the points you spent on him are gone, reducing your point value. Leading your Ally into danger is all right, as long as you face the same danger and are a responsible leader.

The point cost for an Ally depends on their power and frequency of appearance. Only PCs who take NPCs as Allies pay points for the privilege. Two PCs can be mutual "allies" for free, as can two NPCs – and NPCs never pay points for PCs as Allies. An Ally is specifically a skilled NPC associate for one PC.

Allies in Play

As with Dependents, the GM will adjust your Ally's abilities in order to keep his point total a fixed percentage of your own as you earn points. This will keep his value as an advantage constant. The GM decides how the Ally evolves, although he might ask you for your input.

If your Ally dies through no fault of yours, the GM will not penalise you. You may put the points spent on the deceased Ally toward a new Ally. The new relationship should normally develop gradually, but the GM might allow an NPC to become an Ally on the spot if you have done something that would win him over (e.g. saving his life). This is especially appropriate in cultures where debts of honor are taken seriously!

There is no penalty for amicably parting ways with your Ally. You may use the points spent on him to buy a new Ally met during play. At the GM's discretion, you may trade in any remaining points for money, reflecting parting gifts.

Familiars

Wizards, telepaths, and so on are often supernaturally linked to special Allies known as familiars. These are usually animals or spirits.

Work out a familiar's basic abilities with the GM, starting with the racial template of an ordinary creature of its kind. If its racial INT is 30 or less, raise it to at least 31. Consider buying off Cannot Speak, if applicable. Most familiars have supernatural advantages: Extra Lives for a cat (it has nine lives, after all!), Mindlink and Telesend for a familiar that can transmit its thoughts, etc.

Once you have determined the familiar's abilities, work out its point total and its base value as an Ally. Select frequency of appearance as usual. This may be how often your familiar is available (on a failed appearance roll, it is sleeping, reporting to a demon lord, etc.) or how often its powers work (on a failure, it is no more capable than an ordinary member of its species, and cannot use or grant special powers) – your choice.

This kind of Ally usually has one or more special modifiers. Minion, Summonable, and Sympathy are common. Unwilling is typical of demonic or otherwise evil familiars. Take Special Abilities only if your familiar grants you powers; e.g. extra Fatigue Points with which to fuel spells or exotic or supernatural advantages that emulate the familiar's own abilities (such as Flight, for a bird). You have no access to these abilities on a failed appearance roll; if your familiar is stunned, unconscious, or dead; or in areas where your special link does not function (GM's decision). Buy these abilities with a -40% Accessibility limitation: "granted by familiar".

You can apply the following enhancements and limitations after calculating group cost (if applicable) and multiplying for frequency of appearance:

Special Enhancements

Minion: Your Ally continues to serve you regardless of how well you treat him. This might be due to programming, fear, awe, or lack of self-awareness. Examples include robots, zombies, and magical slaves. You are free of the usual obligation to treat your Ally well. Mistreatment might result in an inconvenient breakdown (mental or physical), but the Ally will not leave. See Puppet for additional options. +0% if the Minion has INT 0 or Slave Mentality, as the benefits of total loyalty are offset by the need for close supervision; +50% otherwise.

Special Abilities: Your Ally wields power out of proportion to his point value. Perhaps he has extensive political clout or access to equipment from a TL higher than your own; perhaps he grants you exotic powers. Don't apply this enhancement simply because your Ally has exotic abilities. If his powers are very uncommon, you will already be paying extra: your Ally requires an Unusual Background, which raises his point total and his value as an Ally. +50%.

Summonable: You conjure your Ally instead of rolling to see whether he appears at the start of an adventure. To do so, take a Concentrate maneuver and roll against frequency of appearance. On a success, your Ally appears nearby. On a failure, you cannot attempt to summon him again for one full day. Dismissing your Ally is a free action, but you may only dismiss him if he is physically present. +100%.

Special Limitations

Sympathy: If you are stunned, knocked out, mind-controlled, etc., your Ally is similarly affected. The reverse is also true, so you should take special care of your Ally! -25% if the death of one party reduces the other to 0 HP; -50% if the death of one party automatically kills the other. If your wounds affect your Ally, but your Ally’s wounds don't affect you, reduce these values to -5% and -10%.

Unwilling: You have obtained your Ally through coercion (e.g. blackmail or magical binding). You do not have to treat him as well as you would a normal Ally. However, he hates you and is likely to act accordingly, reducing his overall reliability level. If you endanger such an Ally or order him to do something unpleasant, he may rebel (GM's option) if the consequences of doing so would be less severe than those of doing your bidding. An Ally who rebels is gone, along with the points you spent on him. -50%.

Altered Time Rate

500 Points/Level

Your rate of time perception is faster than that of a normal human. The first level of this advantage lets you experience time twice as fast as a normal – that is, you experience two subjective seconds for each real second that passes. Each level past the first increases this ratio by one: three times as fast at level 2, four times as fast at level 3, and so on.

Each level of Altered Time Rate lets you take three additional action on your turn in combat, allowing you to cast spells quickly by taking multiple Concentrate actions, run very fast by taking multiple Move actions, etc. Your turn doesn't come any sooner, however! This advantage affects how fast you move when you react, but not how quickly you react in the first place.

Out of combat, Altered Time Rate allows you the luxury of extensive planning, even in crisis situations, as everything seems to happen in slow motion. You may always attempt a Sense roll, or an INT-based skill roll to make plans or recall information (GM's decision), at no penalty to additional actions.

In order to do anything that depends on someone else's reactions, you must deliberately "slow down" and function at his speed. This applies both when making a Feint in combat and when making an Influence roll out of combat. For instance, if you choose to Feint, that consumes one third of your actions. (On the other hand, you could make an All-Out Attack followed by an Attack in order to beat down their defenses through sheer blinding speed!)

Alternate Identity

25 or 75 Points per Identity

You have multiple, seemingly legal identities. Each time you purchase this trait, your fingerprints (or other biometrics used to verify identity in your world) are registered under another name, and you have an extra set of identity documents (birth certificate, licenses, passport, etc.) good enough to pass close inspection. These identities may also have valid credit cards and bank accounts, but you must supply the money – additional wealth is not included in the package!

If an intelligence or law-enforcement agency attempts to identify you with no clue as to your name – for instance, using biometrics or photoanalysis – there is an equal chance for each of your identities to come up. The search will stop... unless they have reason to believe you are a ringer. If the search continues, your other identities will eventually surface, and you will be unmasked. Once a government agency determines who you really are, your Alternate Identities are lost for good.

There are two types of Alternate Identity:

Legal: Some spies and undercover policemen and, in settings where they are backed by the government, even supers may have a legal Alternate Identity. This requires at least 10 points in Legal Enforcement Powers, Legal Immunity, Police Rank, Security Clearance, etc.; the GM sets the precise prerequisites. If a super has official permission to conceal his original name (e.g. to protect his family) and to hold property in his "super" name, then that is a legal Alternate Identity combined with a Secret Identity. 25 points.

Illegal: A criminal or foreign agent may have an illegal Alternate Identity. This has the advantage of being completely unknown when you first start out, and of course it cannot be revoked by the government. On the other hand, should it ever be discovered, you will face a stiff fine, a jail sentence, or execution, depending on the time and place. 75 points.

Ambidexterity

25 Points

You can fight or otherwise act equally well with either hand, and never suffer the -20 CORD penalty for using the "off" hand. Note that this does not allow you to take extra actions in combat – that’s Extra Attack.

Amphibious

50 Points

You are well-adapted to movement in the water. You do not suffer skill penalties for working underwater, and you can swim at your full Speed. You still require air (but see Doesn't Breathe). Typical features include smooth, seal-like skin and webbed fingers and toes.

If you can move only in the water, take the Aquatic disadvantage instead.

Animal Empathy

25 Points

You are unusually talented at reading the motivations of animals. When you meet an animal, the GM rolls against your INT and tells you what you "feel". This reveals the beast's emotional state – friendly, frightened, hostile, hungry, etc. – and whether it is under supernatural control. You may also use your Influence skills on animals just as you would on sapient beings, which usually ensures a positive reaction.

This ability frequently accompanies some level of Animal Friend (see Talent), and often Sense of Duty (Animals) or Vow (Vegetarianism).

Animal Friend

5 Points/Level

You have a natural aptitude for the Animal Handling, Falconry, Packing, Riding, Teamster, and Veterinary skills. You gain the following benefits:

• A bonus of +1 per level with all affected skills, even for default use. This effectively raises your attribute scores for the purpose of those skills only; thus, this is an inexpensive way to be adept at small class of skills. (Generalists will find it more cost-effective to raise attributes.)
• A bonus of +1 per level on all reaction rolls made by animals. To receive this bonus, you must demonstrate your talent – most often by using the affected skills.
• A reduction in the time required to learn the affected skills in play, regardless of how you learn them. Reduce the time required by 10% per level of Animal Friend; e.g. Animal Friend 2 would let you learn animal-related skills in 80% the usual time. This has no effect on the point cost of your skills.

You may never have more than four levels of Animal Friend.

Fashion Sense

25 Points

Your look is always one step ahead of the crowd. You have the ability to create a fashion statement out of the cheapest and most nondescript materials. This gives +5 to reaction rolls in social situations when you have a chance to plan your attire in advance. You can also give someone else a +5 reaction bonus when you put together the outfit.

Pitiable

25 Points

Something about you makes people pity you and want to take care of you. You get +15 on all reaction rolls from those who consider you to be in a position of helplessness, weakness, or need (which never includes those with the Callous flaw). Taken in conjunction with above-average looks, Pitiable means you are "cute" instead of "sexy"; in combination with below-average looks, it means you are "appealingly homely", like a basset hound.

Trained By A Master

150 points

You have been trained by – or are – a true master of the martial arts. Your exceptional talent means you have half the usual penalty to make a Rapid Strike (see Melee Attack Options), or to parry more than once per turn (see Parrying). These benefits apply to all your unarmed combat skills (grappling, striking, etc.) and Melee Weapon skills.

Furthermore, you can focus your inner strength (often called "chi") to perform amazing feats! This permits you to learn Flying Leap, Invisibility Art, Power Blow, and many other skills – anything that requires this perk as a prerequisite (see Chapter 4).

The GM is free to set prerequisites for this perk if they wish. Common examples from fiction include Grappling (Technical), Striking (Technical), Melee Weapon skills, Philosophy, and Theology.

This ability is definitely "larger than life". The GM may wish to forbid it in a realistic campaign.

Weapon Master

Variable

You have a high degree of training or unnerving talent with a particular class of muscle-powered weapons (swords, bows, etc. – not guns).

Available classes are:

All muscle-powered weapons. 225 points.

A large class of weapons. Examples: all bladed weapons, all one-handed weapons. 200 points.

A medium class of weapons. Examples: all swords, all ninja weapons. 175 points.

A small class of weapons. Examples: fencing weapons (main-gauche, rapier, saber, and smallsword), knightly weapons (broadsword, mace, shield, and lance). 150 points.

Two weapons normally used together. Examples: broadsword and shield, rapier and main-gauche. 125 points.

One specific weapon. 100 points.

In all cases, if a weapon can be thrown, the benefits of this perk also apply when throwing that weapon.

When using a suitable weapon, add +1d10 per three dice to basic thrust or swing damage if you know the relevant weapon skill at 75+. You also have half the usual penalty to make a Rapid Strike (see Melee Attack Options), or to parry more than once per turn (see Parrying). None of these benefits apply to default use.

You are familiar with – if not proficient in – every weapon within your class. This gives you an improved default: CORD/Easy weapon skills default to CORD-5, CORD/Average ones to CORD-10, and CORD/Hard ones to CORD-15. Note that these skills are no easier to learn, and may not be "bought up" from the improved defaults in order to save points.

Finally, you may learn any cinematic skill that names this perk as a prerequisite (see Chapter 4) – e.g. Blind Fighting and Power Blow – if you could reasonably use that skill with your weapons of choice. The GM is the final arbiter in all cases.

This trait is best suited to a "cinematic" swashbuckling game. The GM may wish to forbid it in a realistic campaign.

Chapter 6: Flaws