Soul Energy

Varyon · 05-15-2015, 08:06 AM

This was an idea I had, based partially on the Stormlight from Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Chronicles, as well as from several other ideas I've had bouncing around in my head. I'm going to lay out the full system here, but in addition to critiques and comments what I'd really like are some ideas on character point costs and the like.

This is meant to be used in conjunction with The Last Gasp (Pyramid #3/44) and with Ritual Path Magic. I also intend to use it with my Semi-Cumulative Wounding System (based on lwcamps'), although this version is modified for use with the default GURPS wounding system.

All sapient beings have Soul Energy (or Chi, Prana, or whatever you'd prefer to call it), which is slowly and passively gathered from the environment and stored away for later use. When Soul Energy is used, the character glows slightly - the more that is used, the stronger the glow, although it doesn't serve to illuminate the character's surroundings at all.

Each character has two "pools" of Soul Energy, Soul Points (SP) and a Soul Reserve (SR). By default, every character has SP 10 and SR 10, and each SR can be exchanged (free action at any time) for 10 SP. Most abilities that make use of Soul Energy use SP, which passively regenerates at a rate of 10% (1 SP) every 5 minutes. SR regenerates more slowly, at a rate of 10% (1 SR) every 6 hours, and it only regenerates while SP is at full. Resting allows SR to regenerate more quickly - 10% every 4 hours if resting, 10% every 2 hours if sleeping. Like FP, burning through SR can be exhausting - every full 30% (3 SR) you are missing results in a -1 to DX, IQ, and HT and -10% to ST, and completely running out of SR increases these penalties to -5 and -50%, respectively. You can spend 1 SP to ignore these penalties for up to 1 minute, after which point you must pay additional SP to extend it (1 SP per minute).

Everyman Abilities: Anybody can make use of Soul Energy for the following abilities, and no roll is required to do so.

Extra Effort: Extra Effort can make use of Soul Energy to reduce the fatigue cost. Instead of 1 FP, you can instead pay 3 AP (this replaces the normal AP cost of the action, unless it would normally cost more than 3 AP) and 1 SP. Esoteric skills that use FP, like Breaking Blow and the like, can also make use of this option.

Action Points: At any time, you may use 2 SP in lieu of 1 AP.

Strengthen: By spending 5 SP (which will not regenerate during the duration), you can imbue your body with energy for 1 minute. This grants a +10% boost to Move and Damage, and a +20% boost to BL.

Healing: Immediately upon suffering a wound, a character can focus Soul Energy into it to make it heal more rapidly. Divide the injury by 10. Spending twice this much SP will make the wound heal more rapidly - each time you succeed at a daily healing check, you recover twice as many HP as normal until this extra healing is enough to negate the initial damage. You can increase the healing rate, healing at up to 5x the normal rate for 5x the value in SP. Round final cost up. It may be appropriate to scale this to HP, dividing injury by HP rather than by 10. If doing so, round up to the nearest tenth.

For example, consider being stabbed by a spear for 8 injury. 8/10 is 0.8. Twice this is 1.6, 3x is 2.4, 4x is 3.2, and 5x is 4. So, the character could spend 2 SP to heal at double normal rate, 3 SP to heal at triple normal rate, or 4 SP to heal at 5x normal rate. If scaling to HP and the character had HP 14, 8/14 rounds to 0.6 (for 1.2, 1.8, 2.4, 3.0), meaning the character can spend 2 SP to heal at triple normal rate or 3 SP to heal at 5x normal rate.

Magic: Mages get further use out of Soul Energy, using it to gather and shape the local mana into spells and rituals.

Gathering: Minor spells do not cost any SP, but longer ones do. Every third gathering attempt (that is, each time you suffer an iteration penalty), you must pay 1 SP to continue gathering. Additionally, at any time while gathering a caster can burn 2 SR to get an instantaneous gathering attempt that doesn't contribute to (and isn't penalized by) the iteration penalty. This can only be done for rituals the caster has Ritual Mastery for, and it doesn't benefit from the +2 for that Perk, or any other bonus (such as being in a Place of Power, using a Grimoire, and so forth).

Energy Source: Soul Energy can serve as an energy source, generating 1 energy for every 5 SP sacrificed.

Varyon · 05-15-2015, 08:07 AM

Specialist Abilities: There are more esoteric uses of Soul Energy, which are listed below. The skills for using these abilities are based on Will, although most are further limited by Potency. I currently have them set as Hard difficulty, but for some this may not be appropriate. The GM may opt to require Unusual Background or similar to have access to such abilities.

Increased Soul Energy: As I noted above, characters start with 10 SP and 10 SR. It should be possible to increase - or decrease - the amount of each (and possibly increase how much SP each SR is worth), but I have no clue on fair prices.

Potency ([5]/level): This is an Advantage representing the sheer metaphysical power of your soul. It is fully trainable. Most specialist skills default from the lower of Will and 10+Potency.

Recharge (Will/H): Recovery allows you to regenerate SP far more rapidly than usual, although it can be tiring. With a special Concentrate maneuver - which costs 1 AP - and a successful roll against Recharge, you can drop a minute off the time needed to regenerate 1 SP (thus you need to Concentrate for 5 seconds for each SP restored). Recharge is not limited by Potency.

Modifiers: You may use a Committed or All Out Concentrate at +2 or +4 to the attempt, respectively. Alternatively, you can skip the Concentrate maneuver - making it a free action, but still requiring you spend AP - by rolling at -5. You can also pay +1 AP and take a -2 for each additional minute you wish for the attempt to count toward. Every third failed attempt, as well as every full SP regained, imposes a cumulative -1 penalty to further attempts within an hour.

Soaking (Will/H): Soaking takes the everyman ability of Healing to the next level, recovering from damage instantly. Whenever you are injured, you may roll against Soaking. Success allows you to take some or all of the damage to SP instead of to HP. Any Failure means you fail to Soak and cannot attempt to use Healing for the wound, while Failure by 3+, or any Critical Failure, means you also lose SP equal to half the injury (round up). This is less efficient, but more immediately useful, than Healing. As with Healing, it may be appropriate to scale this to character HP (every SP negates 0.1xHP worth of injury). Soaking doesn't prevent Blood Agents and the like from entering the body, and it also doesn't prevent weapons from getting stuck (in fact, if a weapon is left in the wound the damage reduction from Soaking doesn't apply until the weapon is removed, and if it's left in there for 5 minutes or longer the Soaking attempt is wasted).

Thunderfall (Will/H): When falling from height or suffering another collision (but not when struck by a Crushing weapon), a successful roll against Thunderfall allows the character to cushion himself from the impact using Soul Energy. Visually, this is in the form of an explosion of light, like a small lightning bolt, and is accompanied by a small thunderclap (hence the name). Determine the speed of the impact, as usual. For every SP spent, reduce this speed by 7.5 yards per second. The character still suffers full knockback (if appropriate), and whatever he collides with takes normal damage.

Windrunning (Will/H): Windrunning allows a character to use Soul Energy to modify the pull of gravity. There are two different ways to use the skill, and these can be used concurrently; each is a free action. The first, Unlashing, lessens the pull of natural gravity. A roll against Windrunning will reduce gravity for yourself and gear up to Medium Encumbrance by up to 50%. You may also opt to take a penalty of -1 for every further 10%, to a maximum of -4 to reduce gravity by 90%.

The other use, Lashing, is to increase the pull of gravity in any direction that isn't opposed to the natural pull of gravity (so it can be at up to a 90 degree angle compared to normal gravity). A roll against Windrunning will produce up to 1G of gravity. You may opt to take a penalty of -1 for every further 0.5G.

Rather than deal with addition of vectors, the best way to handle Lashing is as follows. An unpenalized roll against Windrunning gives you 10 Lashing Points (LP). Each -1 gives you an additional 5 LP. Each LP can be used to increase the force of gravity, regardless of its current direction, by 0.1G. LP can also be used to tilt gravity by up to 85 degrees, increasing total G in the process. Use the following table.

Code:

Angle	LP	G
0	0	1
5	1	1
10	2	1
15	3	1
20	4	1.1
25	5	1.1
30	6	1.2
35	7	1.2
40	8	1.3
45	10	1.4
50	12	1.6
55	15	1.7
60	18	2
65	22	2.4
70	28	2.9
75	38	3.9
80	57	5.8
85	115	11.5

If you are Unlashing to decrease natural gravity at the same time, or if you are in a location that has gravity other than 1G, multiply the needed LP and the effective G by the pull of gravity, rounding up. For example, if Unlashing at -4 for -90% to gravity (0.1G), you can use an 85 degree angle for only 12 LP, increasing gravity to 1.2G in the process.

Cost: Unlashing and Lashing each cost 1 SP per minute to maintain (if using both at once, it is therefore 2 SP per minute). If you are taking a penalty for increased effect, each -1 results in an additional surcharge of 1 SP per 2 minutes. You may dismiss the effect at any time.

Repeated Attempts: Once you've successfully used Windrunning, you can maintain it as long as you feed it Soul Energy. If you wish to modify your current Unlashing or Lashing (changing strength and/or direction), you must dismiss it and redo it. Every failed attempt at Windrunning results in a cumulative -1 penalty to further attempts within the next hour, but these penalties accumulate seperately for Unlashing and Lashing.

Flash Step (Will/H): Flash Step allows for near-instantaneous travel. The character vanishes with a flash, leaving a glowing afterimage. This image vanishes and reappears at the destination, and another flash accompanies the character reappearing. Flash Step requires line of sight to your destination, and your legs must be unrestrained (you can't Flash Step if tied up or grappled). The total distance traveled cannot exceed Move, and vertical movement costs extra - each yard up counts as 2 yards, each yard down counts as 1.5 yards. You may improve Move for purposes of Flash Step by taking a -1 to skill for every +20% to Move. If you have a Top Speed that is higher than Move (due to having Enhanced Move or similar), the penalty is instead only -1 for every +50% to Move until you reach Top Speed.

Flash Step is unaffected by encumbrance, although anything beyond Medium is left behind. Flash Step has no effect on your momentum - if you're falling at 50 yards per second and Flash Step to the ground, you are still moving at 50 yards per second and take normal collision damage.

Flash Step typically takes an entire Move maneuver, but you can do it faster. Flash Steps always take 0.2 seconds (if it matters, you vanish, your afterimage remains for 0.1 seconds, your afterimage warps to your destination, and 0.1 seconds later you reappear), which can leave time for further actions. To be able to take additional actions, you use Flash Step in lieu of a normal Step (or in lieu of movement equivalent to a Step, for maneuvers that allow for more movement). This is at -2 to Flash Step and any other action (excepting Active Defense) taken that round, and you may only travel up to half Move with each Flash Step. A further -4 to skill allows you to travel up to full Move. You can chain multiple Flash Steps together (up to 5 in a round) if desired. You may also use Flash Step defensively, in lieu of a Retreat and Dodge - this requires a roll against Skill/2+3 and allows travel up to half Move.

Using a Wait maneuver to strike a foe using Flash Step (by striking at their before-image) is difficult but leaves the foe little time to react - you suffer a -2 to your attack, but the foe suffers a -2 to their defense. If the foe is between Flash Steps, you instead suffer a -4, and the foe's only legal defense is a defensive Flash Step (which takes the place of the normal Flash Step they intended to do).

Cost: 1 SP if traveling up to 20% of Move, 2 SP if traveling up to 60% of Move, 3 SP if traveling up to full Move. If the character is taking a penalty to increase their effective Move score, use their new score instead. Additionally, the character may sacrifice SP for a bonus to the Flash Step roll, at a rate of +1 per 1 SP.

Varyon · 05-15-2015, 08:08 AM

Binding (Will/H): Binding creates a powerful bond between objects, holding them together for a short while. This can be used for a variety of purposes, but only works on inanimate objects, and will not affect someone else's gear (provided said gear doesn't exceed Medium encumbrance) unless the bearer allows it.

Binding creates a bond of a given ST (see below) between two objects, one of which the character must be in contact with, as a free action. This bond can hold objects weighing up to 15x the BL for the bond's ST - objects that weigh more than this are unaffected. Attempting to break a bond requires a roll against the higher of DX and Forced Entry, at a bonus or penalty equal to the difference between your ST and the ST of the bond. The creator of a bond may dismiss it at any time, provided he is in contact with one of the bound objects. He may also attempt to replace the bond with a new one, simply overwriting whatever already exists; this requires a new roll, just as though he were creating a new bond.

Binding typically creates an ST 30 (BL 180, holds up to 2700 lb) bond that lasts for 1 minute. This can be modified by taking a penalty. Every -1 to skill is +5 to the bond's ST. A further -2 penalty allows you to modify how long the bond lasts - you may multiply time by whatever factor suits you, and must divide the bond's BL by this same factor, adjusting ST accordingly (so a 5 minute bond has 1/5th the BL and ST around 13, while a 12 second bond has 5x the BL and ST around 67).

Cost: Binding costs 1 SP. Every -1 to skill for purposes of increasing the bond's ST results in a cost of +1 SP.

Repeated Attempts: Every third failed attempt costs 1 SP.

Edgedancing (Will/H): Edgedancing modifies friction between yourself (and anything you're carrying, up to Medium encumbrance) and other surfaces. Like Windrunning, this allows for two primary uses.

The first is Slicking, which reduces friction for parts of your body (typically, everything but your palms and soles). A successful roll gives you Slippery 8, and this can be improved by 2 for every -1 to skill.

In addition to making escapes easier, Slicking can be used for movement - dash forward and fall to your knees, allowing your slipperiness to keep you sliding forward. Slippery 8 means a loss of 30% of current speed each second of sliding, Slippery 10 is 20%, 12 is 15%, and so forth, following SSR. Slippery 18+ (5% and less) is considered to have low enough of a loss rate that it can be ignored - you may continue sliding indefinitely. While sliding, you can use your hands to propel yourself forward more quickly, adding 20% of Basic Move to current speed with a Move maneuver. Sliding in this fashion always counts as High Speed Movement.

The other use of Edgedancing is Clinging, which increases friction (typically, only on your palms and soles). When grappling, this reduces a foe's Slippery by 8 levels (this can actually result in negative levels), making it easier to keep a hold on them. It also grants a +4 to Climbing. Clinging can also allow the character to climb normally unclimbable surfaces - treat rough surfaces as though they would normally be -8 to climb, normal surfaces as -10, and smooth surfaces as -12 (so -4, -6, and -8 with the Clinging bonus). This same bonus also applies to attempts to keep your footing on treacherous terrain. Taking a penalty to skill allows you to reduce Slippery by a further 2 levels and gain a further +1 to climbing for every -1 to skill.

Cost: Each of Slicking and Clinging cost 1 SP every minute, and each -1 to skill is a further +1 SP per minute.

Repeated Attempts: Every third failed attempt at any form of Edgedancing costs 1 SP.

Draw Arrows (Will/H): This attracts nearby projectiles, causing them to strike an object the character is in contact with instead of their original target. Designating a shield is ideal, as doing so adds twice the shield's DB to skill. Draw Arrows can be used actively, creating a "bubble" around the character that causes projectiles that pass through during the next second (or longer, if the character opts to maintain it) to strike the attractor. Alternatively, it can be used defensively, simply drawing nearby projectiles at that instant toward the attractor. Active use simply requires a roll against Draw Arrows and causes projectiles within a yard of the character to strike the attractor instead, up to a maximum of 5 projectiles, +5 per MoS, per second. You may add an additional yard to radius for every -1 you take to skill. Defensive use is an Active Defense, using Skill/2+3 for the roll. It also works within 1 yard of the character, and at maximum can attract 1 projectile, +1 per Mos. Again, you may add an additional yard to radius for every -1 to skill (thus typically 2 yards per -1 to the check).

Cost: Active use costs 2 SP per second, defensive use costs 1 SP per use. In either case, each additional 1 SP (per second or per use) results in a +1 to skill.

Soul Blast (Will/H): This gathers Soul Energy into the hands, allowing you to strike with greater force or throw it at a foe in order to strike at a distance. Successfully gathering the energy requires a roll against Soul Blast and a Concentration maneuver. A success "charges" your hands with the energy. Thereafter, your first successful unarmed strike does an additional thr cr damage with double knockback. Alternatively, you may strike a foe at a distance, using the better of Innate Attack and your normal unarmed striking skill at -2 (and suffering normal penalties for range), for thr cr damage (+ any bonus for high unarmed skill) with double knockback. Soul Blast has Acc 3 and Range 5/10. When gathering, you may take a penalty to skill - each -1 can be traded in for +2 Acc, or doubled (+2 SSR) range, and each -2 can be traded in for +1/die to damage.

Cost: Soul Blast is tiring, costing 1 AP + 4 SP to gather and 1 AP to fire. You may reduce this for a damage penalty - 3 SP is -1/die, 2 SP is -2/die, and 1 SP is -3/die. On the other hand, each additional SP invested in gathering is good for a +1 to Soul Blast skill.

Repeated Attempts: Each failed gathering attempt costs 1 AP and 1 SP.

Varyon · 05-15-2015, 08:33 AM

In case anyone is curious about the influence of Stormlight into this...

Extra Effort, Action Points, and Strengthen are based on the passive effects of holding Stormlight, which makes a person faster, stronger, etc. Healing and Soaking are both based on the ability of Stormlight to heal non-fatal wounds. Thunderfall is due to all Surgebinders being consistently immune to falls from great heights as long as they have Stormlight. Windrunning is the Basic Lashing used by Windrunners. Flash Step is Elsecalling (the Surge of Transportation), but only as a limited version of Warp rather than being Jumper + Warp. Binding is the Full Lashing used by Windrunners. Edgedancing is the Surge of Friction used by Edgedancers - while Lift is only shown to use it for Slicking, the Edgedancer description in Words of Radiance (the book within the book) implies Edgedancers were able to use their abilities to climb as well (Lift doesn't need to waste Stormlight on this, as she can interact with spren). Draw Arrows is yet another Windrunner Lashing, this time the Reverse Lashing. As for Soul Blast, that's not based on anything from The Stormlight Archives, but seemed an appropriate ability.

The Surges not represented are Division (unseen in the books, but some sort of destructive ability), Progression (accelerating plant growth and healing others), Illumination (illusions), Transformation (transmuting one substance to another), Cohesion (unseen in the books), and Tension (unseen in the books). Division, Progression, and Transformation should all be covered by RPM casting. I actually wrote up a skill for Illumination, but it seems to conflict with the nature of a lot of the other skills so I left it out for now. As for Cohesion and Tension, those haven't even been hinted at in the books so far, but from descriptions in interviews it seems like Cohesion would function as Tunneling, while Tension allows you to temporarily make flexible things rigid and rigid things flexible (so you could make a suit of plate become was as flexible as mail or leather, or pick up a reed and turn it as rigid as steel). I haven't worked out skills for those yet, and felt I should get some feedback on what I already have before doing so.

archypetro · 05-15-2015, 10:02 AM

This is awesome.
I've been trying to figure out a way to actually make some similar effects for this 'style' of character. Pretty much exactly the same.

I'm not sure how balance works, i've not thought about that, but in cinematic games it's all about the rule of cool right?

Anwyay when you say gathering is free, unless you do it for a long period of time are you suggesting that gathering generally works in the same way as RPM?

Varyon · 05-15-2015, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by archypetro

Anwyay when you say gathering is free, unless you do it for a long period of time are you suggesting that gathering generally works in the same way as RPM?

Gathering is free for minor spells, that is, for spells that require only 2 gathering attempts. Gathering works just like it normally does in RPM, with the addition that each time you suffer an iteration penalty (that is, on gathering attempt 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, etc) you must spend 1 SP to keep going. I view the iteration penalty as representing the mana you've gathered trying to leech out and escape, and for this you're being forced to burn a tiny bit of your soul to keep the gathering maelstrom at bay.

archypetro · 05-15-2015, 11:19 AM

Ah,

I understand now. When you buy RPM to represent the 'soul energy' version of it how exactly do you manage it?

I had the idea of using P.I or (soul based) Magery as standard but then base everything off Will rather than IQ. Also, regarding defaults from thaumatology, what skill do you use?

I appreciate i might be de-railing your thread just slightly here but this is quite literally something i've been wracking my head to build the past week.

Varyon · 05-15-2015, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by archypetro

Ah,

I understand now. When you buy RPM to represent the 'soul energy' version of it how exactly do you manage it?

I had the idea of using P.I or (soul based) Magery as standard but then base everything off Will rather than IQ. Also, regarding defaults from thaumatology, what skill do you use?

I appreciate i might be de-railing your thread just slightly here but this is quite literally something i've been wracking my head to build the past week.

I don't intend there to be a specific Soul Energy version of RPM - the intent is simply that normal RPM, in a setting using my Soul Energy, requires burning some SP to keep the spells stable.

If you're intending to base RPM on Will, I would suggest having the Base Skill (that which replaces Thaumatology; call it Soulcasting if you'd like) and/or the Path Skills be limited by Potency. I introduced the trait for the sole purpose of preventing everyone who wanted any of the esoteric skills from just buying them up to Will+1 (for [4] each) and then maxing out the cheap Will (at [5]/level) to raise them. At least with Potency ([5]/level), you need to have two of the skills before such a scheme becomes feasible (you're paying [2] more than just raising skill, but are getting a bonus to fright checks and the like as well), three before it's advantageous to go that route.

05-15-2015, 08:06 AM	#1
Varyon Join Date: Jun 2013	Soul Energy This was an idea I had, based partially on the Stormlight from Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Chronicles, as well as from several other ideas I've had bouncing around in my head. I'm going to lay out the full system here, but in addition to critiques and comments what I'd really like are some ideas on character point costs and the like. This is meant to be used in conjunction with The Last Gasp (Pyramid #3/44) and with Ritual Path Magic. I also intend to use it with my Semi-Cumulative Wounding System (based on lwcamps'), although this version is modified for use with the default GURPS wounding system. All sapient beings have Soul Energy (or Chi, Prana, or whatever you'd prefer to call it), which is slowly and passively gathered from the environment and stored away for later use. When Soul Energy is used, the character glows slightly - the more that is used, the stronger the glow, although it doesn't serve to illuminate the character's surroundings at all. Each character has two "pools" of Soul Energy, Soul Points (SP) and a Soul Reserve (SR). By default, every character has SP 10 and SR 10, and each SR can be exchanged (free action at any time) for 10 SP. Most abilities that make use of Soul Energy use SP, which passively regenerates at a rate of 10% (1 SP) every 5 minutes. SR regenerates more slowly, at a rate of 10% (1 SR) every 6 hours, and it only regenerates while SP is at full. Resting allows SR to regenerate more quickly - 10% every 4 hours if resting, 10% every 2 hours if sleeping. Like FP, burning through SR can be exhausting - every full 30% (3 SR) you are missing results in a -1 to DX, IQ, and HT and -10% to ST, and completely running out of SR increases these penalties to -5 and -50%, respectively. You can spend 1 SP to ignore these penalties for up to 1 minute, after which point you must pay additional SP to extend it (1 SP per minute). Everyman Abilities: Anybody can make use of Soul Energy for the following abilities, and no roll is required to do so. Extra Effort: Extra Effort can make use of Soul Energy to reduce the fatigue cost. Instead of 1 FP, you can instead pay 3 AP (this replaces the normal AP cost of the action, unless it would normally cost more than 3 AP) and 1 SP. Esoteric skills that use FP, like Breaking Blow and the like, can also make use of this option. Action Points: At any time, you may use 2 SP in lieu of 1 AP. Strengthen: By spending 5 SP (which will not regenerate during the duration), you can imbue your body with energy for 1 minute. This grants a +10% boost to Move and Damage, and a +20% boost to BL. Healing: Immediately upon suffering a wound, a character can focus Soul Energy into it to make it heal more rapidly. Divide the injury by 10. Spending twice this much SP will make the wound heal more rapidly - each time you succeed at a daily healing check, you recover twice as many HP as normal until this extra healing is enough to negate the initial damage. You can increase the healing rate, healing at up to 5x the normal rate for 5x the value in SP. Round final cost up. It may be appropriate to scale this to HP, dividing injury by HP rather than by 10. If doing so, round up to the nearest tenth. For example, consider being stabbed by a spear for 8 injury. 8/10 is 0.8. Twice this is 1.6, 3x is 2.4, 4x is 3.2, and 5x is 4. So, the character could spend 2 SP to heal at double normal rate, 3 SP to heal at triple normal rate, or 4 SP to heal at 5x normal rate. If scaling to HP and the character had HP 14, 8/14 rounds to 0.6 (for 1.2, 1.8, 2.4, 3.0), meaning the character can spend 2 SP to heal at triple normal rate or 3 SP to heal at 5x normal rate. Magic: Mages get further use out of Soul Energy, using it to gather and shape the local mana into spells and rituals. Gathering: Minor spells do not cost any SP, but longer ones do. Every third gathering attempt (that is, each time you suffer an iteration penalty), you must pay 1 SP to continue gathering. Additionally, at any time while gathering a caster can burn 2 SR to get an instantaneous gathering attempt that doesn't contribute to (and isn't penalized by) the iteration penalty. This can only be done for rituals the caster has Ritual Mastery for, and it doesn't benefit from the +2 for that Perk, or any other bonus (such as being in a Place of Power, using a Grimoire, and so forth). Energy Source: Soul Energy can serve as an energy source, generating 1 energy for every 5 SP sacrificed.

05-15-2015, 08:07 AM	#2
Varyon Join Date: Jun 2013	Re: Soul Energy Specialist Abilities: There are more esoteric uses of Soul Energy, which are listed below. The skills for using these abilities are based on Will, although most are further limited by Potency. I currently have them set as Hard difficulty, but for some this may not be appropriate. The GM may opt to require Unusual Background or similar to have access to such abilities. Increased Soul Energy: As I noted above, characters start with 10 SP and 10 SR. It should be possible to increase - or decrease - the amount of each (and possibly increase how much SP each SR is worth), but I have no clue on fair prices. Potency ([5]/level): This is an Advantage representing the sheer metaphysical power of your soul. It is fully trainable. Most specialist skills default from the lower of Will and 10+Potency. Recharge (Will/H): Recovery allows you to regenerate SP far more rapidly than usual, although it can be tiring. With a special Concentrate maneuver - which costs 1 AP - and a successful roll against Recharge, you can drop a minute off the time needed to regenerate 1 SP (thus you need to Concentrate for 5 seconds for each SP restored). Recharge is not limited by Potency. Modifiers: You may use a Committed or All Out Concentrate at +2 or +4 to the attempt, respectively. Alternatively, you can skip the Concentrate maneuver - making it a free action, but still requiring you spend AP - by rolling at -5. You can also pay +1 AP and take a -2 for each additional minute you wish for the attempt to count toward. Every third failed attempt, as well as every full SP regained, imposes a cumulative -1 penalty to further attempts within an hour. Soaking (Will/H): Soaking takes the everyman ability of Healing to the next level, recovering from damage instantly. Whenever you are injured, you may roll against Soaking. Success allows you to take some or all of the damage to SP instead of to HP. Any Failure means you fail to Soak and cannot attempt to use Healing for the wound, while Failure by 3+, or any Critical Failure, means you also lose SP equal to half the injury (round up). This is less efficient, but more immediately useful, than Healing. As with Healing, it may be appropriate to scale this to character HP (every SP negates 0.1xHP worth of injury). Soaking doesn't prevent Blood Agents and the like from entering the body, and it also doesn't prevent weapons from getting stuck (in fact, if a weapon is left in the wound the damage reduction from Soaking doesn't apply until the weapon is removed, and if it's left in there for 5 minutes or longer the Soaking attempt is wasted). Thunderfall (Will/H): When falling from height or suffering another collision (but not when struck by a Crushing weapon), a successful roll against Thunderfall allows the character to cushion himself from the impact using Soul Energy. Visually, this is in the form of an explosion of light, like a small lightning bolt, and is accompanied by a small thunderclap (hence the name). Determine the speed of the impact, as usual. For every SP spent, reduce this speed by 7.5 yards per second. The character still suffers full knockback (if appropriate), and whatever he collides with takes normal damage. Windrunning (Will/H): Windrunning allows a character to use Soul Energy to modify the pull of gravity. There are two different ways to use the skill, and these can be used concurrently; each is a free action. The first, Unlashing, lessens the pull of natural gravity. A roll against Windrunning will reduce gravity for yourself and gear up to Medium Encumbrance by up to 50%. You may also opt to take a penalty of -1 for every further 10%, to a maximum of -4 to reduce gravity by 90%. The other use, Lashing, is to increase the pull of gravity in any direction that isn't opposed to the natural pull of gravity (so it can be at up to a 90 degree angle compared to normal gravity). A roll against Windrunning will produce up to 1G of gravity. You may opt to take a penalty of -1 for every further 0.5G. Rather than deal with addition of vectors, the best way to handle Lashing is as follows. An unpenalized roll against Windrunning gives you 10 Lashing Points (LP). Each -1 gives you an additional 5 LP. Each LP can be used to increase the force of gravity, regardless of its current direction, by 0.1G. LP can also be used to tilt gravity by up to 85 degrees, increasing total G in the process. Use the following table. Code: Angle LP G 0 0 1 5 1 1 10 2 1 15 3 1 20 4 1.1 25 5 1.1 30 6 1.2 35 7 1.2 40 8 1.3 45 10 1.4 50 12 1.6 55 15 1.7 60 18 2 65 22 2.4 70 28 2.9 75 38 3.9 80 57 5.8 85 115 11.5 If you are Unlashing to decrease natural gravity at the same time, or if you are in a location that has gravity other than 1G, multiply the needed LP and the effective G by the pull of gravity, rounding up. For example, if Unlashing at -4 for -90% to gravity (0.1G), you can use an 85 degree angle for only 12 LP, increasing gravity to 1.2G in the process. Cost: Unlashing and Lashing each cost 1 SP per minute to maintain (if using both at once, it is therefore 2 SP per minute). If you are taking a penalty for increased effect, each -1 results in an additional surcharge of 1 SP per 2 minutes. You may dismiss the effect at any time. Repeated Attempts: Once you've successfully used Windrunning, you can maintain it as long as you feed it Soul Energy. If you wish to modify your current Unlashing or Lashing (changing strength and/or direction), you must dismiss it and redo it. Every failed attempt at Windrunning results in a cumulative -1 penalty to further attempts within the next hour, but these penalties accumulate seperately for Unlashing and Lashing. Flash Step (Will/H): Flash Step allows for near-instantaneous travel. The character vanishes with a flash, leaving a glowing afterimage. This image vanishes and reappears at the destination, and another flash accompanies the character reappearing. Flash Step requires line of sight to your destination, and your legs must be unrestrained (you can't Flash Step if tied up or grappled). The total distance traveled cannot exceed Move, and vertical movement costs extra - each yard up counts as 2 yards, each yard down counts as 1.5 yards. You may improve Move for purposes of Flash Step by taking a -1 to skill for every +20% to Move. If you have a Top Speed that is higher than Move (due to having Enhanced Move or similar), the penalty is instead only -1 for every +50% to Move until you reach Top Speed. Flash Step is unaffected by encumbrance, although anything beyond Medium is left behind. Flash Step has no effect on your momentum - if you're falling at 50 yards per second and Flash Step to the ground, you are still moving at 50 yards per second and take normal collision damage. Flash Step typically takes an entire Move maneuver, but you can do it faster. Flash Steps always take 0.2 seconds (if it matters, you vanish, your afterimage remains for 0.1 seconds, your afterimage warps to your destination, and 0.1 seconds later you reappear), which can leave time for further actions. To be able to take additional actions, you use Flash Step in lieu of a normal Step (or in lieu of movement equivalent to a Step, for maneuvers that allow for more movement). This is at -2 to Flash Step and any other action (excepting Active Defense) taken that round, and you may only travel up to half Move with each Flash Step. A further -4 to skill allows you to travel up to full Move. You can chain multiple Flash Steps together (up to 5 in a round) if desired. You may also use Flash Step defensively, in lieu of a Retreat and Dodge - this requires a roll against Skill/2+3 and allows travel up to half Move. Using a Wait maneuver to strike a foe using Flash Step (by striking at their before-image) is difficult but leaves the foe little time to react - you suffer a -2 to your attack, but the foe suffers a -2 to their defense. If the foe is between Flash Steps, you instead suffer a -4, and the foe's only legal defense is a defensive Flash Step (which takes the place of the normal Flash Step they intended to do). Cost: 1 SP if traveling up to 20% of Move, 2 SP if traveling up to 60% of Move, 3 SP if traveling up to full Move. If the character is taking a penalty to increase their effective Move score, use their new score instead. Additionally, the character may sacrifice SP for a bonus to the Flash Step roll, at a rate of +1 per 1 SP.

05-15-2015, 08:33 AM	#4
Varyon Join Date: Jun 2013	Re: Soul Energy In case anyone is curious about the influence of Stormlight into this... Extra Effort, Action Points, and Strengthen are based on the passive effects of holding Stormlight, which makes a person faster, stronger, etc. Healing and Soaking are both based on the ability of Stormlight to heal non-fatal wounds. Thunderfall is due to all Surgebinders being consistently immune to falls from great heights as long as they have Stormlight. Windrunning is the Basic Lashing used by Windrunners. Flash Step is Elsecalling (the Surge of Transportation), but only as a limited version of Warp rather than being Jumper + Warp. Binding is the Full Lashing used by Windrunners. Edgedancing is the Surge of Friction used by Edgedancers - while Lift is only shown to use it for Slicking, the Edgedancer description in Words of Radiance (the book within the book) implies Edgedancers were able to use their abilities to climb as well (Lift doesn't need to waste Stormlight on this, as she can interact with spren). Draw Arrows is yet another Windrunner Lashing, this time the Reverse Lashing. As for Soul Blast, that's not based on anything from The Stormlight Archives, but seemed an appropriate ability. The Surges not represented are Division (unseen in the books, but some sort of destructive ability), Progression (accelerating plant growth and healing others), Illumination (illusions), Transformation (transmuting one substance to another), Cohesion (unseen in the books), and Tension (unseen in the books). Division, Progression, and Transformation should all be covered by RPM casting. I actually wrote up a skill for Illumination, but it seems to conflict with the nature of a lot of the other skills so I left it out for now. As for Cohesion and Tension, those haven't even been hinted at in the books so far, but from descriptions in interviews it seems like Cohesion would function as Tunneling, while Tension allows you to temporarily make flexible things rigid and rigid things flexible (so you could make a suit of plate become was as flexible as mail or leather, or pick up a reed and turn it as rigid as steel). I haven't worked out skills for those yet, and felt I should get some feedback on what I already have before doing so.

05-15-2015, 10:02 AM	#5
archypetro Join Date: May 2009	Re: Soul Energy This is awesome. I've been trying to figure out a way to actually make some similar effects for this 'style' of character. Pretty much exactly the same. I'm not sure how balance works, i've not thought about that, but in cinematic games it's all about the rule of cool right? Anwyay when you say gathering is free, unless you do it for a long period of time are you suggesting that gathering generally works in the same way as RPM?

05-15-2015, 11:19 AM	#7
archypetro Join Date: May 2009	Re: Soul Energy Ah, I understand now. When you buy RPM to represent the 'soul energy' version of it how exactly do you manage it? I had the idea of using P.I or (soul based) Magery as standard but then base everything off Will rather than IQ. Also, regarding defaults from thaumatology, what skill do you use? I appreciate i might be de-railing your thread just slightly here but this is quite literally something i've been wracking my head to build the past week.

05-15-2015, 08:08 AM	#3
Varyon Join Date: Jun 2013	Re: Soul Energy Binding (Will/H): Binding creates a powerful bond between objects, holding them together for a short while. This can be used for a variety of purposes, but only works on inanimate objects, and will not affect someone else's gear (provided said gear doesn't exceed Medium encumbrance) unless the bearer allows it. Binding creates a bond of a given ST (see below) between two objects, one of which the character must be in contact with, as a free action. This bond can hold objects weighing up to 15x the BL for the bond's ST - objects that weigh more than this are unaffected. Attempting to break a bond requires a roll against the higher of DX and Forced Entry, at a bonus or penalty equal to the difference between your ST and the ST of the bond. The creator of a bond may dismiss it at any time, provided he is in contact with one of the bound objects. He may also attempt to replace the bond with a new one, simply overwriting whatever already exists; this requires a new roll, just as though he were creating a new bond. Binding typically creates an ST 30 (BL 180, holds up to 2700 lb) bond that lasts for 1 minute. This can be modified by taking a penalty. Every -1 to skill is +5 to the bond's ST. A further -2 penalty allows you to modify how long the bond lasts - you may multiply time by whatever factor suits you, and must divide the bond's BL by this same factor, adjusting ST accordingly (so a 5 minute bond has 1/5th the BL and ST around 13, while a 12 second bond has 5x the BL and ST around 67). Cost: Binding costs 1 SP. Every -1 to skill for purposes of increasing the bond's ST results in a cost of +1 SP. Repeated Attempts: Every third failed attempt costs 1 SP. Edgedancing (Will/H): Edgedancing modifies friction between yourself (and anything you're carrying, up to Medium encumbrance) and other surfaces. Like Windrunning, this allows for two primary uses. The first is Slicking, which reduces friction for parts of your body (typically, everything but your palms and soles). A successful roll gives you Slippery 8, and this can be improved by 2 for every -1 to skill. In addition to making escapes easier, Slicking can be used for movement - dash forward and fall to your knees, allowing your slipperiness to keep you sliding forward. Slippery 8 means a loss of 30% of current speed each second of sliding, Slippery 10 is 20%, 12 is 15%, and so forth, following SSR. Slippery 18+ (5% and less) is considered to have low enough of a loss rate that it can be ignored - you may continue sliding indefinitely. While sliding, you can use your hands to propel yourself forward more quickly, adding 20% of Basic Move to current speed with a Move maneuver. Sliding in this fashion always counts as High Speed Movement. The other use of Edgedancing is Clinging, which increases friction (typically, only on your palms and soles). When grappling, this reduces a foe's Slippery by 8 levels (this can actually result in negative levels), making it easier to keep a hold on them. It also grants a +4 to Climbing. Clinging can also allow the character to climb normally unclimbable surfaces - treat rough surfaces as though they would normally be -8 to climb, normal surfaces as -10, and smooth surfaces as -12 (so -4, -6, and -8 with the Clinging bonus). This same bonus also applies to attempts to keep your footing on treacherous terrain. Taking a penalty to skill allows you to reduce Slippery by a further 2 levels and gain a further +1 to climbing for every -1 to skill. Cost: Each of Slicking and Clinging cost 1 SP every minute, and each -1 to skill is a further +1 SP per minute. Repeated Attempts: Every third failed attempt at any form of Edgedancing costs 1 SP. Draw Arrows (Will/H): This attracts nearby projectiles, causing them to strike an object the character is in contact with instead of their original target. Designating a shield is ideal, as doing so adds twice the shield's DB to skill. Draw Arrows can be used actively, creating a "bubble" around the character that causes projectiles that pass through during the next second (or longer, if the character opts to maintain it) to strike the attractor. Alternatively, it can be used defensively, simply drawing nearby projectiles at that instant toward the attractor. Active use simply requires a roll against Draw Arrows and causes projectiles within a yard of the character to strike the attractor instead, up to a maximum of 5 projectiles, +5 per MoS, per second. You may add an additional yard to radius for every -1 you take to skill. Defensive use is an Active Defense, using Skill/2+3 for the roll. It also works within 1 yard of the character, and at maximum can attract 1 projectile, +1 per Mos. Again, you may add an additional yard to radius for every -1 to skill (thus typically 2 yards per -1 to the check). Cost: Active use costs 2 SP per second, defensive use costs 1 SP per use. In either case, each additional 1 SP (per second or per use) results in a +1 to skill. Soul Blast (Will/H): This gathers Soul Energy into the hands, allowing you to strike with greater force or throw it at a foe in order to strike at a distance. Successfully gathering the energy requires a roll against Soul Blast and a Concentration maneuver. A success "charges" your hands with the energy. Thereafter, your first successful unarmed strike does an additional thr cr damage with double knockback. Alternatively, you may strike a foe at a distance, using the better of Innate Attack and your normal unarmed striking skill at -2 (and suffering normal penalties for range), for thr cr damage (+ any bonus for high unarmed skill) with double knockback. Soul Blast has Acc 3 and Range 5/10. When gathering, you may take a penalty to skill - each -1 can be traded in for +2 Acc, or doubled (+2 SSR) range, and each -2 can be traded in for +1/die to damage. Cost: Soul Blast is tiring, costing 1 AP + 4 SP to gather and 1 AP to fire. You may reduce this for a damage penalty - 3 SP is -1/die, 2 SP is -2/die, and 1 SP is -3/die. On the other hand, each additional SP invested in gathering is good for a +1 to Soul Blast skill. Repeated Attempts: Each failed gathering attempt costs 1 AP and 1 SP.