[quarkstomper]

Back when I was running an INFINITE WORLDS campaign, I had my group encounter a member of the Cabal who wound up becoming a regular NPC; (my wife's character thought he was cute). But he was from a world where the American Revolution was being fought with magic and I could not decide whether the Cabal that the NPC came from was actually a trans-dimensional conspiracy, or rather this world's analogue to a conspiracy that exists independantly on other worlds. It never became a big plot point, so I never had to resolve the question.

I decided that the NPC would be able to use magic on Homeline, but only by performing a ritual involving the shedding of some of his own blood -- basically burning a hit point -- to temporarily raise the mana level in his immedeate area. He kept this a secret from the PCs as long as possible; he didn't want them to know that he was not completely powerless on Homeline.

The world he came from was an interesting one. He'd been sent to accompany General Gates to America in order to kill Benjamin Franklin who had stolen sorcerous secrets from the Cabal during his stay in England. Great fun. I probably should develop that world a bit more someday...