Test Aspects

Aspects are traits and abilities, what other systems sometimes call feats or perks. They change how a character mechanically operates in the game world, bestowing bonuses or additional capabilities.

The max number of aspects that a character can select is limited by the resource slots available to them. These are derived from the character's level.

The below are available to any character that meets the prerequisite values in the appropriate stats. Players should be encouraged to decree how their abilities and talents operate in-universe, even if their body slam is mechanically identical to their fellow party member's telekinetic projectile!


Ablate
Prereq: Speciality +4
Type: Power (Utility, Combat)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by Speciality
Make a double action attack. Instead of resolving damage as normal, any N damage MP/HP loss is immediately converted to temporary attribute damage, recovered at the end of an encounter. Ablate counts as a talent for the purposes of aspects that affect them. When based off a Combat Speciality, this attack challenges Resilience as normal but may be used on any target. When based off a Utility Speciality, this attack bypasses the Resilience of targets vulnerable to the Speciality but is completely ineffectual versus any others (a Tech attack that shorts out an essential component just tickles the 400lb mutant). At Attribute 10, this aspect may be used on any target, bypassing Resilience, regardless of the Speciality that powers it. Ablate cannot be stacked but it can be Empowered as normal.

Adaptor
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Power (Utility, Tactical)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by Attribute
The character may opt to add Pure, Splash, or Elemental to the damage/effect traits of a chosen action, triggering cooldown.
Flavour: Dealing burning damage with your bare hands by pinching just the right nerve, dealing EM damage with a knife by knowing exactly which wire to slice, performing a feint with a weapon and turning a bludgeoning physical stun into a confusing mental stun. GM fiat applies, but at the very least a player who takes Adaptor should be allowed to deal damage to an otherwise borderline-invulnerable target.

Adept
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Universal)
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
The dice of the character's effect rolls are always assumed to show their average value or higher, rounded down (3 on a d6, and so on). Spending an Edge point on the action allows either you or the beneficiary of the ability (when repairing, healing, inspiring etc) to benefit from a free Surge, triggering cooldown. A character may purchase Adept multiple times, each time affecting a different Speciality. Adept does not affect Advantage dice or dice added as the result of a critical success. The maximum number of dice that can be affected by Adept in a turn is capped at an amount equal to half the user's Attribute.

Adrenaline
Prereq: Attribute 3
Type: Passive (Universal)
When the character dips below the halfway mark in their HP or MP, due to harm not wilful expenditure, they recover an Edge point and gain a bonus to all effect rolls. This bonus is equal to half the Attribute. Each instance of an Adrenaline aspect may only trigger once in an encounter, unless the Attribute is at 10. Multiples will not stack. When healed beyond the halfway mark, the effect roll bonus is lost but the character retains the Edge point (assuming they haven't spent it already).

Annihilate
Prereq: Supreme, Attribute 8
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When Maximising a skill roll or performing a Feat, opt to trigger cooldown. Convert all of an action's effect dice to d20s. This includes Advantage dice.

Assassinate
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: Spending Advantage
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by Attribute
When spending Advantage, opt to trigger cooldown and upgrade the MD of a double action attack to Auto/Lethal/Special (pick 2 of the three each use). +1L dealt when opting to perform the double action attack as a full turn action, and a further +1L dealt at Attribute 10. Assassinate may be Empowered, but any damage increase is N only.

Assault
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Passive (Combat, Psionic)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
On a critical hit, or when using an Edge power, opt to trigger cooldown and add your Attribute to the effect roll. This attack gains the Auto damage trait: the target cannot use an active defence. If the target is already incapable of using an active defence (due to Knockdown or a similar status effect), double the bonus applied to effect rolls. At Attribute 10, Assault applies to all crits without triggering cooldown.

Barrage
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Power (Psionic, Combat)
Cost: 2MP/HP + Full turn action
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by half of Speciality
The character consumes 2MP/HP and a full turn action, and may perform a number of single action attacks equal to their Speciality's base competency, directing them against targets as normal. These single action attacks are based off the weapon/technique's effect dice. Single action attacks made with Barrage must use a lone effect dice, even if the weapon/technique's normal SAs use two or more, but Barrage allows a character to double a weapon's normal dice pool: in the hands of a BC 7 character, a 4d8 sword (2, 3, 4) may deal seven 1d8+Melee attacks. A 3d8 sword would be capped at six attacks, and so on.

Barricade
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Utility, Psionic, Combat)
Cost: Double action, token (Utility), Double action, 2MP (Other)
Render an arena impassable. Impenetrable to mobs, but potentially reversible by elites or boss characters with the same Speciality, assuming they can spend an uninterrupted full turn action to counter it. A character may only have one Barricade active at a time, unless they expend Edge point(s). A Barricade will increase the cover rating of adjacent tiles by one category. A Barricade blocks enemy line of sight but will not impede the Ranged attacks of the user or their allies. If an arena is occupied when a Barricade is placed, the occupants are hit with Push 1 (unavoidable) and moved.
Flavour: Collapsing a tunnel, toxic area denial, sealing a door, maintaining a telekinetic shield.

Beacon
Prereq: Attribute 3 (Psionic, Tactical)
Type: Power, maintained (Psionic, Tactical)
Cost: Double action, once established 1MP per turn active
The character expends a double action and broadcasts an enemy's every move to their allies. The target gains Marked and Vulnerability statuses equal to the Speciality rank being used. The ability will drain 1MP for every following turn that it is active, and can be cancelled at will. Spending Edge to plant the Beacon will not drain MP per turn. Only one Beacon may be maintained by a character at any one time, unless they expend an Edge point (or multiple points) in order to cast additional Beacons.

Blast
Prereq: Attribute 4 or Speciality +3
Type: Power (Psionic, Combat, Utility)
Cost: Double action, 1MP/HP
When making a double action attack, opt to consume 1MP and deal half damage/effect to everyone else in the target's arena. When Maximising an attack, this aspect can apply automatically. A Blast counts as an AoE attack versus the initial target for the purposes of active defences like Evasion. Blast may be used with persistent effects, with each turn it is active costing an additional HP/MP. Blast can be used on attacks that affect an entire arena already, dealing half damage to the occupants of adjacent arenas, for double the normal cost. If Blast is used with an ability with a cost greater than 1MP/HP, applying the Blast property to an ability will cost as much as the ability alone did: effectively doubling its cost in return for an area of effect. One instance of the Blast aspect can apply to multiple Attributes/Specialities as long as they all meet the prerequisite.

Blindside
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive, Power (Tactical)
Gain a +Speciality bonus to skill rolls against targets that you've gained Advantage against. When spending Advantage you may perform a free Edge power. One instance of Blindside can apply to multiple Specialities, as long as one of them meets the prerequisite. The free Edge power may only be used once per Speciality per encounter, and once the free power is used the +Speciality bonus won't apply even when Advantage is regained. Blindside's bonus will not stack against enemies with statuses such as Priority or Marked.
Flavour: A precise backstab, a sucker punch, making good use of a distraction or exploiting knowledge of an enemy's weaknesses to the fullest.

Bolster
Prereq: Attribute 4, Speciality +2
Type: Power (Psionic, Tactical, Utility)
Cost: Edge point
As an immediate action, the character can expend an Edge point and grant nearby party members a bonus to a single defence (Resistance, Reactions, Resolve) for the duration of the encounter. This bonus is equal to the caster's Speciality and will not be lost early if the beneficiaries leave the character's side. Bolster is a persistent effect, but is not cancelled by disables such as Stun or Lockout. Bolsters affecting the same defence cannot be stacked! At Attribute 10, Bolster can be used to grant additional armour, physical or mental.

Bolt
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: 2MP/HP
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by Attribute
As a single action, immediately inflict 2N on a target in an adjacent arena. This increases by 1 if the user's Speciality rank is at +5, and an additional point is added at Attribute 10, to a max of 4N. Resilience applies as normal. Bolt can deliver status effects. Bolt can be Empowered.

Bonus Edge
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Passive (Universal)
Increase your base Edge by 1 point. This aspect may be taken multiple times, each time connected to a different Attribute.

Bonus Health/Mind
Prereq: Attribute 3
Type: Passive (Universal)
Increases your HP or MP by 2 points depending on the selected Attribute. This aspect may be taken multiple times, each time connected to a different Attribute.

Brawler
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Combat, Tactical)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When performing an action to deliver a status effect, opt to trigger cooldown. The action now deals damage as well as the status effect, using the same effect value rolled. When Empowering a use of the Brawler aspect, the damage or the status effect are boosted, not both.

Break
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
As a free action the character may expend 1HP/MP, triggering cooldown, and be allowed to make an opposing check regardless of circumstances. If that check succeeds the character also cancels all status effects, up to but not limited to Priority, enemy Advantage, Stun and Lockout. Break cannot counter Knockdown or wounds. Break may be used to cancel status effects directed towards allies in the same arena.
Flavour: Hiding in plain sight with Stealth, being nimble enough to use Evasion despite being stranded in an exposed space, opposing the grapple of a much stronger opponent.

Bury
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
Change the basic damage output of a full-turn attack to a number of wounds equal to the cover rating of the arena that the target is currently occupying. I.e., if a target is in +4/+40 heavy cover, a 2N full attack would become 4N. Bury can of course also be used to deliver the effects of a talent. The damage inflicted by Bury cannot be more than twice the user's Attribute.

Greater Aim
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Combat, Tactical)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by Speciality
Double the skill/effect bonus when making an Aim action, triggering cooldown. When using Greater Aim, damage is considered to have the Splash trait. One instance of the Greater Aim aspect can apply to multiple Specialities regardless of whether they meet the prerequisite rank, but the cooldown is shared.

Challenge
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Power (Combat, Tactical)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by Speciality
Tied to a move action: advance into a new arena and deliberately grant yourself Priority. Gain armour equal to your chosen Speciality's governing Attribute. This armour reduces by 1 per turn. When the character is granted Priority by enemy or ally action, they may trigger Challenge's cooldown as an immediate free action, gaining the bonus armour. Multiple uses of Challenge will not stack.

Clash
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: Free or potentially a full turn action
Once per turn, as a free action, make an opposed Speciality check against a hostile in an adjacent arena (this can be either skill or effect and may include saving throws). The loser parts with 1T HP/MP as Special damage, bypassing Resilience. Clash may be performed as a full-turn action, increasing the damage dealt to 1N (2N at Attribute 10). Clash may be used in conjunction with a talent effect, and in this instance the losing character suffers the talent's penalty instead of losing HP/MP. Clash can be selected for use with the Talent aspect to increase Clash's damages to 2T/2N (3T/3N at Attribute 10).
Flavour: As simple as a Melee combatant headbutting another, or a blinding exchange of jabs and parries ending with one fighter finally landing a hit. Leading a less perceptive opponent to walk into a tree branch. A staring contest, and someone blinks.

Consolidate
Prereq: Speciality +4 or used as an Inherent property on a weapon
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Maximise one of an action's rolls by spending twice as long on it (spending additional actions) or spending twice the resources (weapon charges, HP/MP, Utility tokens). As a full turn action, grant yourself an Edge point. This Edge point must be spent on your Speciality on the next turn, or it will be lost.

Creativity
Prereq: Primary Attribute 6
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
Using Creativity allows the use of a power without spending points (up to 2HP/MP or 1EP) or triggering the ability's cooldown.

Critical Aim
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
Total critical chance in the chosen Attribute's Specialities is doubled or increased by 10% (whichever grants the higher bonus) when Aiming.

Deep Pockets
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Utility)
Gain two bonus minor item slots, increasing to three bonus slots at Speciality +5 with a further one granted at Attribute 10. Deep Pockets cannot add properties to extant items. This aspect will not allow a character to carry more tokens than allowed by their Speciality rank. Deep Pockets can only be taken once.

Defender
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive, Power (Psionic, Combat, Tactical)
Gain bonus physical or mental armour equal to your Speciality rank. This is an active defence, but applies only to armour and not skill rolls. As a free action, a character with Defender can instead opt to grant the bonus armour to an ally in their arena for that turn. At Attribute 10, Defender becomes a hard passive and cannot be disabled by status effects such as Knockdown.

Defiance
Prereq: Attribute 3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by Attribute
When afflicted with a static negative status effect (Priority, Exposed, Exhausted, or an enemy gaining Advantage against you) trigger cooldown and perform your next 1HP/MP power for free, and with a +Attribute bonus to effect or skill, rising to a 2HP/MP power at Attribute 6. At Attribute 10, Defiance grants the use of a free Edge power.

Deplete
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by Speciality
When selecting this aspect choose whether it will target Resistance, Reactions, Resolve or armour (it cannot affect damage reduction such as Resilience aspects). Trigger cooldown and perform any double action attack using your chosen Speciality. After rolling, pick one of the attack's effect dice and reduce the target's chosen defence by the amount shown, instead of applying its value to determine damage. Deplete cannot reduce a defence below zero, and Deplete attacks of the same type cannot be stacked upon the same target unless the user has Attribute 10. When resolving the damage of the attack that delivered the Deplete effect, the damage is applied to the target's stats before the reduction applies. When Empowering a use of Deplete, use an additional dice to reduce the defence instead of increasing MD as normal. Deplete may be taken multiple times, with each instance targeting a different defence.

Discipline
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive, Power (Universal)
Cost: Optional 1MP/HP
Gain bonus defence equal to half your chosen Attribute. Discipline applies to Resistance, Reactions, and Resolve, but can only affect one in a turn: if multiple attacks and abilities target different defences, only one can benefit. Opt to spend 1MP/HP and also apply the bonus to active defence rolls (skill defence) for a turn and double the normal effect bonus. Discipline may not be tied to a primary attribute.

Durable
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
Gain bonus HP or MP. These bonus points are equal to half the attribute, rounded down, and you may choose whether they are HP or MP regardless of whether the chosen Attribute is physical or mental. Durable may be taken multiple times, each time used with a different Attribute, but it may not be tied to a primary Attribute.

Ego
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
When Empowering an action, grant a bonus to skill and effect rolls based off half your chosen Attribute (+20/+2 at Attribute 4), or the full Attribute if spending 2MP to Empower (effectively performing a Feat for MP instead of Edge). Ego may not be tied to a primary Attribute.
Flavour: As Discipline, Ego is traditionally a WIL-based power. If using a physical attribute, substitute MP for HP.

Evacuate
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Utility, Psionic)
Cost: 1MP/HP
Full-turn action, 1MP, affects an arena up to 2 tiles away. Enemies within that arena must pass a defence check versus the user's Speciality check or be forced to make a standard movement away from the affected arena and miss their next turn, although they can still attempt active defence checks. In addition to this, and even on a save, the occupants of the arena will be afflicted with Priority. Once targeted with Evacuate, an enemy cannot be affected by it again for the duration of the encounter unless the user counters this by burning an Edge point.
Flavour: Flushing hostiles out with smoke, using telempathy to terrify them into retreat.

Exertion
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: Single action, 1T Attribute damage
The character may avoid spending up to 2HP/MP on actions made with the chosen Attribute by spending a single action and suffering a temporary injury. The injury bypasses Resilience and can only be recovered at the end of the encounter, not through beneficial abilities such as Surge. Exertion may be used even under the effects of the Exhausted and Lockout statuses. At Attribute 10, Exertion may be used to fuel Edge powers.

Exploit
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power, passive (Tactical)
Gain a +Speciality bonus to effect rolls against targets that you've gained Advantage against. When Advantage is present against a target, the character may Empower rolls against that target for half the usual cost (to a minimum of 1HP/1MP). One instance of the Exploit aspect will apply to multiple Specialities as long as one of them meets the prerequisite.

Finisher
Prereq: Attribute 3
Type: Passive (Universal)
When using double action attacks or higher, the user treats targets as if they have Marked 1 and Vulnerability 1 for every HP (or MP, if using a mental attack) that they are missing. Finisher will not stack with Priority or other applications of the Marked and Vulnerability status effects.

Flay
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Universal)
Add 1d20 to action's dice pool when the skill roll is a critical and/or the target is defenceless. Flay serves as an Advantage dice, but must be spent in the same turn that it was earned. Flay may only trigger once in a turn. At Speciality +5, an attack made with Flay deals Pure damage.

Follow-up
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Passive (Combat)
Select a talent effect. When a target is afflicted with that talent effect, you may now add a bonus effect dice to actions against them. This counts as an Advantage die. Follow-up applies to the Knockdown status, but only if it triggered as a result of the talent effect nominated for use with this aspect.

Fusion
Prereq: Speciality +5
Type: Passive (Utility, Combat)
The character may base their Speciality's skill modifier off two Attributes rather than one, and add 50% of the second Attribute to effect rolls (e.g., Attribute 6 grants +30 skill as normal but only +3 effect). The chosen Speciality must already be linked to the Attribute in some way: for example, VIT working in conjunction with STR for Resistance checks, or AGI and STR working in conjunction in Melee when the user already has a Martial Agility aspect. Fusion may be taken multiple times but both the Attribute and Speciality must be different.

Gambit
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: Full turn action, 1HP/MP
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
Cost 1HP/MP. As a full turn action, perform a double action with the Gambit effect: increase your critical chance, but if it is not a critical it fails outright. The increase in critical chance is based off the Speciality rank being used; 15% bonus crit chance per Speciality rank. Cooldown only triggers if Gambit is successful, although action and HP/MP cost is always spent.

Ghost
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Tactical, Psionic)
Cost: 2MP/HP
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by Attribute
The character spends the MP/HP, triggering cooldown, and makes a full-turn move action. While making this move action the character's defences, passive or otherwise, are all doubled: this stacks with the normal Evasion bonus from making a full turn action, tripling rather than doubling their active defence. Ghost bypasses all terrain obstacles, as long as arenas are not entirely impassable. Ghost cannot be used with any other attacks or actions, even manoeuvres such as charges or free actions. This restriction is removed if an EP is spent in place of the 2MP/HP.

Hardcore
Prereq: Attribute 8
Type: Passive (Universal)
The character can continue making checks in Attributes even when that Attribute has been reduced to 0 by injuries or trauma. One instance of the Hardcore aspect can apply to two Attributes, granting the trait to both physical and mental checks, as long as they both meet the prerequisite. A character with the Hardcore aspect cannot be Exhausted.

Haste
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When using aspect abilities tied to the same Attribute (or its Speciality), you can reduce the time taken to perform the ability by spending 1HP/MP and reducing the time by 1 action, to a minimum of 1 action. Quickening an action with Haste does not invoke Hurry penalties, and a full-turn action performed with Haste will no longer grant Priority. Haste's cooldown is added to any existing cooldown associated with the ability.

Improved Charge
Prereq: Attribute 5, Speciality +3
Type: Passive, Power (Combat)
Cost: 1HP/MP
All charges now deal +Attribute in effect instead of +Speciality. Opt to spend 1HP/MP and further increase effect by Attribute + Speciality when charging. When performing a charge after spending HP/MP, either opt not to end your turn with a charge (making single action charges viable) or to move as if performing a higher category of move action (for example, making a double action attack but being entitled to use your entire triple action movement allowance to reach your target).
A character may still not charge with a full attack action. If using a Ranged weapon or a technique specified as not benefiting from charges, move and fire without applying Hurry penalties. Improved Charge will allow Specialists with non-Melee/Ranged based attacks to charge with them, assuming they have a Combat Speciality to purchase this aspect.

Improved Critical
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
Critical success on actions made with the chosen Attribute now deal +50% on effect rolls as well as being Maximised. If the Speciality being used is also at +5, this increases to a +100% bonus to effect rolls. Improved Critical may be taken a second time (stacking with the original, for +150%/+200%) once the Attribute reaches 8.

Talent
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Passive (Universal)
Select a status effect. When using any action to deliver this status effect, the character is granted an additional N success on hitting a target. At Speciality +5, Talent grants 2N instead of one. Talent cannot be tied to damaging abilities and status effects of the same type may still not be stacked. Talent may be taken multiple times, each time selected for use with a different status type.

Improvise
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Utility)
Cost: Utility token, optional 1EP
You may spend a Utility token in place of 2MP or 2HP when powering special abilities. If using a weapon with limited attacks, you may spend a Utility token in place of up to 2 charges (this cannot be attempted when the weapon is already empty or suffering from Lockout). On demand, you may burn an Edge point and pull another token from thin air. At Attribute 10, you may spend a token in place of an EP.

Increased Critical
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
Critical chance in a chosen Speciality is increased by an amount equal to the character's Speciality BC. When Attribute hits 10, increase the bonus by 5% (e.g., total bonus of 15% at BC 10).

Inferno
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by Speciality
When target(s) are hit with an attack, opt to trigger cooldown: they gain Vulnerability 2 (1T worth of that status effect) x the number of effect dice in the attack that hit them. This Vulnerability lasts for a number of turns equal to the number of effect dice minus 1, to a minimum of 1 turn. E.g.: a 3d8 attack would inflict Vulnerability 6 for 2 turns. If used with an ability that targets an entire arena, the Vulnerability can be tied to the arena itself for the duration rather than the occupant(s). Spending an Edge point to perform Inferno doubles the Vulnerability and its duration.
Flavour: At the GM's discretion, Inferno may be tied to any T-strength status effect, not just Vulnerability.

Jury Rig
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Utility)
Cost: 1EP
Expend an Edge point and successfully perform any Utility check as a double action. The result is temporary, and will fail at the end of the encounter. Jury Rig may be used to guarantee success when attempting to resupply Utility tokens at the end of an encounter, but any tokens gained with this method will disintegrate unless used in the next encounter.
Flavour: While appropriate for Tech characters, using this through Medic might have dire consequences after the encounter! Jury Rigging a person is suggested to result in them lapsing into a critical state (bleeding out) at the encounter's end.

Legendary [Speciality]
Prereq: Speciality BC 8+
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: 1EP
The character can expend an Edge point to Maximise a check in a particular Speciality; it will be upgraded to a critical success.

Lens Aura
Prereq: Two Attributes at 4+
Type: Power, maintained (Psionic, Tactical, Utility)
Cost: Double action, 1MP when invoked, optional EP
Consume a double action. For the duration of the encounter, the character loses 1MP for every turn that an ally or an enemy makes an attack; all enemies are afflicted with Weaken and Vulnerability equal to the caster's Speciality rank. This power may be cancelled at will, and the aura's effective range encompasses adjacent arenas. Lens Aura is cancelled if the caster suffers a Stun, Lockout, or similar interrupt. If a character spends an Edge point when casting Lens, they will not lose MP when it is triggered: if the Edge-powered version is cancelled by an interrupt, it reverts to the standard 1MP-when-invoked model.
Flavour: Tactical supremacy, a compound that weakens enemies and strengthens allies, a strange telekinetic field.

Longshot
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Universal)
For every 1HP/MP you spend on an action, increase its effective range by one arena. For purposes of Longshot, Edge points and Aim actions count as 2HP/MP. Longshot does not affect the size of an ability's area of effect.

Lure
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Utility, Psionic)
Cost: 1MP/HP
Single action, 1MP, affects an arena up to 3 tiles away. Enemies adjacent to that arena must pass a defence check versus the user's Speciality check or be forced to spend a standard double action movement and enter the affected arena.
Flavour: Tricked or influenced into advancing into an area, pulled in by a telekinetic vacuum.

Malleable
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
Base a derived stat on an Attribute other than its default. Note that the replacement attribute is still limited by the original, in the sense that it may not be more than double the score of the attribute usually responsible for the derived stat: any additional increases in the derived stat granted by points above this limit will be ignored. Examples: replacing STR or WIL for natural armour ratings, replacing AGI for use with movement.
Malleable may instead be tied to a physical/mental attribute to designate that attribute as a primary, altering your HP or MP count and the maximum number of injuries you can suffer. For the purposes of Malleable, Speciality ranks and skill/effect modifiers do not count as derived stats: to alter these for Combat Specialities, see Martial below. Malleable may be taken multiple times, tied to different Attributes, but the Attribute prerequisite will be 1 point higher for every aspect taken after the first (4 becoming 5 for the second aspect, then 6 for the third, and so on).
Flavour: Originally this aspect was Marathon, allowing the same functionality with movement/AGI alone, and Broadminded, allowing a different attribute to be designated as a primary attribute.

Martial
Prereq: Speciality BC 4
Type: Passive (Combat)
For a chosen Combat Speciality, choose to use the Attribute of your choice for all its modifiers instead of the default. One instance of the Martial aspect can apply to multiple Specialities.
Flavour: GM fiat applies. Perhaps Martial Agility may only work with small weapons such as knives and pistols, Martial Strength the reverse.

Maim
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
Change the basic damage output of a full-turn attack to a number of wounds equal to the HP/MP that the target is currently lacking. I.e., if a target is at 5/10 HP, a 2N full attack would become 5N. Maim can of course also be used to deliver the effects of a talent. The damage inflicted by Maim cannot be more than the user's Attribute.

Minded Matter
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Psionic, Tactical)
As a double action, establish a persistent effect that grants 1 additional point of mental Resilience (tied to armour as normal) and allows HP damage to challenge mental defences and remove MP instead, or vice versa. The target of this persistent effect may be either you or any ally in an adjacent arena: if an ally is targeted, any HP damage they take challenges your MP. The Minded Matter effect instantly fails if either you and/or the targeted ally become Exhausted. Only one instance of this power can be active in an encounter. Pure damage bypasses the effect, but Special does not (even if Special damage ignores Resilience, it will still be delivered as physical or mental according to the caster's choice).
Flavour: This aspect was originally Shield, and only available to telekinetics.

Missile
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 5 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When selecting this aspect, choose whether its attack type is Pure or Splash (both at Attribute 10). As a single action, trigger cooldown and direct a 2d6 attack against a single target in an adjacent arena. At Speciality +3 this becomes 3d6, and so on.
Flavour: This basically exists because someone asked how Magic Missile would fit in the system.

Myriad Mind
Prereq: Primary Attribute 6
Type: Passive (Insight, Tactical)
You may now perform a Feat on any roll using a primary Attribute as a modifier (default VIT or INT), even if the Attribute isn't usually responsible for the roll's modifiers. You may Empower actions by spending either form of point, HP or MP, regardless of the action type.

Nuke
Prereq: Attribute 6 and Speciality +3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: 1EP
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
As a double action, immediately inflict a number of wounds on a target up to 2 arenas away. The number of wounds are determined by the character's Speciality rank. This counts as a Special damage attack, connecting automatically, bypassing defence rolls and Resilience. Any N damage inflicted by Nuke can instead be delivered in the form of status effects. Nuke can be Empowered, but added damage from Empower attempts does not count as Special and will be opposed by Resilience as normal.

Power Attack
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Combat)
Cost: 1HP/MP
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by Speciality
On demand, opt to make a double action (or higher) attack with a Ponderous penalty equal to your total skill modifier in return for adding your Attribute and Speciality to the effect. To use this ability while ignoring the Ponderous penalty, expend 1HP/MP and trigger the cooldown.

Precision
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Passive (Utility)
The character's Utility specialities now serves as to-hit bonuses versus enemies of the appropriate type, although said bonuses cannot be more than the attack's basic to-hit modifier. When the character critically hits such an enemy, their Speciality serves as a further effect bonus.
Flavour: Anatomical precision for a doctor who can handle a weapon, an anti-tank specialist skilled at taking down high-tech targets.

Prediction
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive (Insight)
The character can use their Insight Speciality as a bonus to their skill rolls, including active defences. This bonus may not be more than the modifier granted by the governing attribute of the benefited Speciality/Specialities. Prediction's bonuses will not function if the character is Exhausted or if targets/attackers have a higher Attribute than the user. Bonuses from Prediction will not increase the category of effect dice used for a Speciality.

Rampage
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Social, Psionic)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by Attribute
When Empowering an attack or ability, opt to trigger cooldown. For every HP/MP spent on the Empower, deal 1 point of Special damage to all the occupants of the user's arena. Rampage can only be triggered by spending HP or MP, and will not work in conjunction with abilities such as Creativity, Siege, or Defiance.

Rapid Fire
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Universal)
Reduce Hurry penalties by -10/-1, to a minimum Hurry penalty of -10/-1. When making three single action attacks, you may perform a fourth with the normal Hurry penalty (Rapid Fire's passive improvement does not apply to this fourth shot). One instance of Rapid Fire can apply to multiple Specialities, as long as they all meet the prerequisite.

Readiness
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by Attribute
When spending an Edge point to Maximise a roll, the character grants an Advantage die to their team mates, applied to the next roll they make, triggering cooldown. Readiness will apply retroactively when determining Initiative. The bonus effect dice is based off either the user's value or that of the beneficiary, whichever is higher.

Refresh
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive (Universal)
Cooldown: 12 turns, reduced by half of Attribute.
When spending an Edge point to end an ability's cooldown, all abilities on cooldown become available again. The cooldown of the Refresh ability itself may not be circumvented through Edge powers, aspect passives, or any other means.

Resolute
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive (Universal)
When succeeding on a defensive roll associated with that Attribute, recover 1 lost HP/MP. Resolute can only trigger once in a turn (twice at Attribute 10).

Resilience
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Passive (Universal)
Gain 1N or 2T additional damage reduction, physical (HP) or mental (MP) depending on Attribute choice. Resilience will stack with the damage reduction from worn armour or Specialist techniques. Resilience may not be taken twice.

Ricochet
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When an attack fails to connect or fails to do harm, opt to trigger cooldown and deal half of the attack's MD as Special to the intended target or a target in the same arena- e.g., a 2N attack would deal 1 Special. One instance of the Ricochet aspect can apply to multiple Specialities as long as they meet the prerequisite. By spending 1EP when invoking Ricochet, the effect can be applied to successful attacks as well as failures.

Riposte
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Universal)
After successfully defending against an attack, add the defence modifiers you used (skill and effect) to the first Speciality action you make against your attacker in the next turn. At Attribute 10, Riposte applies to all actions made against that target in the turn. Riposte may be taken multiple times, each time affecting a different Speciality.

Rumble
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Cost: 1MP/HP
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by Attribute
Spend 1MP/HP and target an enemy with a double action attack or higher, negating the arena's cover and using the armour rating granted by that cover as a bonus to the skill or effect. You may also opt to reduce the arena's cover rating by one category for the duration of the encounter: any damage inflicted to the arena is assumed to be easily rectified. When Maximising an attack, Rumble can apply without additional MP/HP cost, triggering cooldown as usual.
Flavour: Telekinetically bludgeoning an enemy with chunks of the very cover they were attempting to use, smashing an opponent through obstacles during a brawl.

Rush
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive, Power (Universal)
Cost: Optional 1MP/HP
The character can add the Speciality used in the encounter (Melee in a fight, Social in an argument, and so on) to their Initiative roll. When the character is hit with a Stun, Daze, or similar effect that applies a penalty, the Rush effect is lost until the next encounter: potentially moving them down in the action order. The character can spend 1MP/HP and regain the Rush bonus regardless of the situation, although it can be potentially cancelled again as normal.

Sap
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: Full turn action
Cooldown: 6 turns, (rising to 12 if Empowering) reduced by half of Attribute
Perform a double action attack as a full turn action, and change any N wounds to E, triggering cooldown. Sap can be Empowered as normal, but this will trigger the longer cooldown. Sap counts as a cancel for the purposes of countering the target's persistent/maintained effects even if the attack fails to connect. At Attribute 10, Sap's cooldown will not increase when Empowering.
Flavour: Tech characters hack and scramble the Energy of machines and cyborgs. Psionors, tacticians, and Social experts analyse an enemy and expose their weaknesses. Medics unleash something they cooked up in the lab earlier. Melee experts just perform a grapple and punch them in the gut.

Scourge
Prereq: Speciality BC 6+
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Cost: Full turn action, 1EP
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
Target an adjacent arena. Consume 1EP and a full turn action and deal Effect dice*Attribute attack power to the arena's occupants, not allowing active defence rolls.
Flavour: A fighter who steps into a room and shatters every limb within sight in a frenzy of blows, a heavy weapons specialist that hits an enemy squadron dead centre with a HE rocket, a telekinetic who scours the land bare with the breath of a vexed god.

Shrug Off
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
When Maximising a defence roll, active or otherwise, gain 1 additional point of Resilience for the purposes of calculating damage taken in that turn. This increases to 2 Resilience at Attribute 10.

Siege
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Combat, Psionic)
Cost: 1 action
Spend an action. For that turn, the character may avoid spending 1 HP/MP on an Empower or any other ability by instead applying Ponderous 3 to the action taken. The character may gain as much as two free HP/MP if they opt to increase this penalty to Ponderous 6. Siege may not be used in conjunction with any ability that forsakes skill rolls and applies damage or a status effect automatically. At Attribute 10, Siege can deliver Edge abilities at the Ponderous 6 level.

Slam
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Combat)
Cooldown: 6 turns, reduced by Speciality
When making any action, opt to trigger cooldown and deal an additional 1N Special to the target. This must be delivered in the form of a Stun or other status effect, picked when selecting this aspect. Slam may not be Empowered. Slam's output increases to 2N at Attribute 10.

Smart Bombs
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Utility)
Cost: Token, double action to throw
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
As a free action, convert a token into a smart bomb (2 at Speciality +4, 3 at Speciality +5) and trigger cooldown. A smart bomb deals Splash damage equal to a double action performed with your chosen Speciality, treated as a Specialist attack (2 effect dice, +Speciality, +Attribute), with additional armour piercing or Resistance piercing equal to your Attribute. Smart bombs target a whole arena, and anyone inside must make two active defence rolls: allies use the highest, enemies use the lowest. A smart bomb requires a double action to throw but may be Hurried as normal with a default -20/-2 penalty.
Flavour: A nanotech swarm, a nasty virus that only your allies have been inoculated against, or just a humble explosive used to amazing effect.

Smite
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Power, passive (Combat)
The character adds their Speciality rank as an effect modifer to standard full turn attacks. As a full turn action, they may opt to perform a double action attack but double the effect dice rolled and half any modifiers. E.g., a 3d6+10 attack would become 6d6+5. The base AP/RP of this attack is also 50% higher. This action grants Priority as normal.

Spotter
Prereq: Attribute 3
Type: Passive (Combat, Tactical)
If an attack or ability misses a target, for the duration of the next turn that target is Marked by 1 per Speciality rank used (Ranged +3 bestows Marked 3, and so on), aiding the attacks of the user and their allies. Spotter's Marked effect will also trigger if you spend an Aim or Advantage action on a target, even if you successfully hit the target because of that action expenditure.

Sunder
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive, Power (Universal)
Cost: Spending Advantage
Passively increase the AP or RP of all attacks by an amount equal to your chosen Speciality. When spending Advantage, opt to increase the AP (or RP) of an attack by the value shown on one Advantage die. With the Sunder aspect, the total AP/RP of critical hits is tripled rather than doubled.

Stat!
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Utility)
Cost: 1MP
By spending 1MP, the user may perform a free single action using the Utility speciality, rising to a double action at Attribute 10. This free action can only be invoked once a turn. When spending Edge to power Stat! in place of the MP, one of the free action's rolls is Maximised.

Storm
Prereq: Attribute 8
Type: Passive (Combat)
Every turn the character's action allowance is considered to be four single actions instead of three, as long as the fourth action is only spent performing actions governed by the chosen Attribute. Storm may be purchased multiple times, but only one instance can be used in a turn.

Steadfast
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: 1HP/MP, optional EP
When failing a defence roll (Resistance, Reactions, Resolve) choose to spend 1HP/MP and reroll the check using a different defence of your choice. Steadfast may be used once a turn. When spending an Edge point in place of the HP/MP, the defence roll is also Maximised. Invoking Steadfast allows a defence roll vs incoming effects/attack power, even against damage types that normally prevent it.

Steady Aim
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive (Universal)
When Aiming, the action grants a persistent effect that applies the Aim bonus to all actions made in the encounter, not just those made in the same turn as the Aim action. This effect is removed if the character moves from their position or is otherwise interrupted.

Supreme
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Power (Universal)
Once a turn, substitute one of your Attribute's effect dice for a d20. This includes but is not limited to replacing the default d10 of saving throws.

Survivor
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When using the Survive Edge power, the character may opt to cancel all damage and negative effects entirely, triggering cooldown. Survivor negates any damage type and any effect, including Lethal and/or Special damage, interrupts, and Knockdown. Survivor can also be used to perform a Surge at twice the normal effectiveness, triggering cooldown.

Sweep
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Passive (Universal)
The character's double action attacks (or higher) affect a limited number of enemies in the same arena: for every effect dice in the attack being used, apply the bonus attack to one additional enemy adjacent to the initial target. The bonus attack applied to the additional target(s) is equal to Attribute + Speciality. Sweep does not drain additional charge or expend additional ammunition, but it may not be used in conjunction with a Hurried attack. Sweep does not count as an AoE attack for the purposes of active defences. Sweep can be used with Advantage dice.

Swift
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive, Power (Universal)
Cost: 1HP/MP
You move 1 tile more when making a full-turn action. Opt to expend 1HP/MP and add one additional tile to any of the character's movement actions. This bonus tile may be used to move in any direction, potentially thwarting abilities that use forced movement to reposition characters against their will. At Attribute 10, the bonus tile applies to every movement free of charge.
Flavour: Faster, better stamina, maybe just perceptive enough to spot shortcuts. In the same way as Malleable, an aspect like Swift can be retooled to benefit a derived stat other than movement: such as increasing encumbrance limits instead, and so on.

Switch
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Power (Universal)
Cooldown: 12 turns, reduced by Attribute
Trade one status effect with an ally in an adjacent arena as a free action (Priority, Stun, and so on), shifting it from them to you or vice versa. The status effect must affect your chosen Attribute, such as only taking on a mental Stun when Switch is tied to WIL. Switch can also allow characters to trade places on the grid, even if one or both are afflicted with movement-halting effects. Switch may be used against enemies, prompting an opposed check in the Attribute's defence (Resistance, Reactions, Resolve) to determine success.
Flavour: Taking a shot meant for someone else, telepathically alleviating pain, reversing an opponent's hold.

Toughness
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive (Universal)
The character's natural armour rating is now doubled when they are not wearing armour (STR 6 would grant AR6 instead of AR3, and so on). When the character is wearing armour, their natural armour reverts to its normal value rather than being ignored entirely.

Trickery
Prereq: Speciality +2
Type: Power (Combat, Tactical)
Cost: 1HP/MP
Expend 1HP/MP: the first talent action (status effect delivery) you use in the turn now bypasses a number of the target's Resilience points (and similar factors such as size differences) equal to your Speciality rank. Trickery will not affect abilities that deal damage.

Vault
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Passive (Universal)
As a double action movement, opt to instead jump over an adjacent arena to the one behind it. A character using Vault does not pass through the bypassed arena, avoiding triggering abilities or attacks tied to proximity, and ignoring any terrain or environmental penalties in that arena. Vault may be tied to a charge, and the charge target may be an occupant of either the bypassed arena or the one beyond. Vault can effectively be used to negate arenas rendered "impassable" by artificial effects such as Barricade.
Flavour: Typically athletic when tied to a physical attribute, but could easily be a grapple swing or a more covert/tactical move.

Wildcard
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Passive (Universal)
When rolling 1 on an effect dice, opt to substitute your Attribute value in place of using the dice result. More than one die can be affected by Wildcard in a turn, but this is capped by the Speciality being used. Wildcard may be taken multiple times, each time affecting a different Speciality.

Guidance
Prereq: Attribute 5
Type: Passive (Social, Tactical)
You may perform Edge powers, Aim actions, and Empowers on allies as well as yourself. With Guidance you may also give your Advantage die to an ally as a free action during your turn. This may be spent or held in lieu of action as normal.
Flavour: Normally the remit of leaders and analysts and telepaths, it's possible that a Medic can jab an ally with a stim to boost their faculties, or a Tech can use their gadget wizardry to achieve the same results.

Pincer
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Combat, Social, Tactical)
Cooldown: 8 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
If you are flanking an ally's target, or vice versa, when you spend 1-2HP, 1-2MP, or 1EP on a power any allies currently engaged in combat with that target can spend the same point(s) on their next action without decreasing their own counts, triggering cooldown.

Loyalty
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Psionic, Social)
Cooldown: 12 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
When an ally is KO'd or bleeding out in an encounter, trigger cooldown and recover an EP immediately. The first time you suffer attribute damage in an encounter (due to harm, not a status effect), all your allies may perform a free Surge, triggering cooldown.
Flavour: Generally an aspect of righteous indignation, reliant on empathy (psionic or otherwise). Or maybe you can just exploit a tactical opening while the enemy is busy trying to kill someone else. Depending on the kind of leader you are, maybe the latter effect is because your team is so cheered up by the sight of you in pain.

Fight as One
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Combat, Tactical, Social)
Cost: Full turn action, 1MP
Cooldown: 12 turns, reduced by Speciality
Spend 1MP. As a full-turn action, allow all your allies to perform an immediate double-action attack without eating into their own action allowance. NPC allies are affected as well, but must be in arenas adjacent to the user.

Presence
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Psionic, Social)
The first time they attack, enemies who fail an opposed defence roll (pick Resistance or Resolve when taking this aspect) become loathe to attack and gain Ponderous 3 (rising along with Speciality rank) for one turn when attacking you or allies occupying the same arena as you. Once an enemy passes the opposed roll, Presence cannot challenge them again in that encounter.
Flavour: An enemy with a superior Resolve or Resistance roll is completely unintimidated and therefore Presence has no effect. Your imposing physique or scary glower does not impress the 60-ft tall Behemoth War Mech. GM fiat applies, but Presence can potentially be used to inflict status effects other than Ponderous.

Fall Back
Prereq: Speciality +3
Type: Power (Tactical, Social, Psionic)
Cost: 1EP
As an immediate interrupt, spend 1EP. All allies occupying one arena may make a free single move action to vacate the arena, potentially nullifying an attack. Fall Back will not allow the user to move but it will allow characters immobilised or otherwise impeded to make a move action without penalty.

Hold
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Universal)
Cost: 1EP
Inspirational speech optional. Expend 1EP. You and any allies in an arena gain a universal +20/+2 bonus for the duration of the encounter for as long as they stay in the arena. If they leave it for any reason, they lose the bonus and may not regain it until the next encounter. Hold applies regardless of terrain penalties/cover modifiers in the arena. This bonus increases to +30/+3 at Attribute 7 and +40/+4 at Attribute 10.
Hold may also be used offensively, instead applying an encounter-long -20/-2 etc penalty to occupants of an arena if they leave that arena. This will stack with Priority and other status effects.

Lifeline
Prereq: Attribute 4
Type: Power (Social, Psionic)
When a nearby ally uses Survive or Surge, the aspect's owner may freely transfer their own HP or MP to that ally at a 2:3 rate (spending 4MP will replace 6 of the ally's MP, and so on) in additional to any normal healing. This ratio improves to 1:2 at Attribute 10. HP or MP granted by Lifeline cannot be used with Lifeline if the recipient also has this aspect.

Lifesteal
Prereq: Attribute 6
Type: Power (Social, Psionic)
Cooldown: 10 turns, reduced by half of Attribute
At the end of a turn opt to trigger cooldown and recover HP or MP (depending on selected attribute) equal to the total N damage dealt to target(s) in that turn. The recovery amount is capped at half the user's Attribute, rounded down. Lifesteal will not work in conjunction with abilities that deliver status effects or Edge damage.

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