From: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Subject: FUDGE 12/12: Section C and D (4 of 6)
Reply-To: sos@oz.plymouth.edu (Steffan O'Sullivan)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 19:27:16 GMT

Version: December 12, 1992

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C  Supernormal Powers
---------------------

C1  Terms
---------

Supernormal power: any ability that is beyond the capability of human
beings as we know them.  They are basically very powerful gifts.  Some
may have associated skills (which are taken separately, using the
normal skill rules).  Some may have superfaults to balance them.
Often abbreviated to Power.

Power: a supernormal power.

Mana: an invisible substance that can be detected and manipulated by
magicians to alter matter, time and space.

Magic: the art of influencing events through manipulation of mana, or
through compelling supernormal beings from another dimension, or
channeling power from some other source.  Magic may be studied by
humans, but it is inherent in some races, such as the Fay.

Miracle: magic performed by a deity.  Holy persons can attempt to work
miracles by invoking their deity.

Psi: any power that involves mind over matter, time or space.

Superpower: any supernormal power that is an inherent ability, whether
because of mutation, exposure to radiation, a gift of space aliens,
etc., or granted by a device, such as an alien-science belt.  Examples
of superpowers include super strength, the ability to fly, see through
walls, cling to ceilings, become invisible, etc.

Non-Human Races: certain fantasy and science fiction races have
abilities beyond the human norm, such as being much stronger, or able
to fly, etc.  Most of these abilities could also be classified as Psi
or Superpowers, so they are not treated separately.

Cybernetic Enhancement: any mechanical or electronic enhancement to a
normal body that gives the character supernormal powers.

C2  At Character Creation
-------------------------

Supernormal powers may or may not be available in a given game.  They
are not appropriate to all genres.

The best way to design a supernormal character is through close
discussion with the GM.  A player should describe what he wants the
character to be able to do, and the GM will decide if that's within
the limits she has in mind for the game.  If not, she'll make
suggestions about how to change the character to fit her campaign.

Supernormal powers are treated as very powerful gifts, with
availability set by the GM.  The GM may decide that each player can
take 2 Powers, for example, or 5, or more.  The player may make a case
for further Powers, but may need to take superfaults to balance them.

Some Powers might be so effective as to be worth more than other
Powers.  The GM may set the cost of a certain supernormal power equal
to two or three "average" supernormal powers.  In some cases, the GM
will probably veto player suggestions outright: Omniscience is a good
example!

The GM may decide that supernormal powers may be pooled with other
traits for trading purposes.  In this case, 1 (average) Power is worth
2 gifts.  This is most likely done by a player who wishes to play a
magician in a fantasy setting.  He will need to trade some skill,
attribute, or gift levels to buy magical Powers.

Undefined Powers are non-existent - that is, they are not considered
Fair, like attributes, or Poor, like skills.  If a supernormal power
is not defined for a character, he can't do it.

C2.1  Powers Available
----------------------

The GM needs to design the type, number allowed, and drawbacks of
Powers in her game.  Some examples:

Types of Powers: the GM may allow only magic, or only psi, or only
superpowers, etc., or some combinations of the above.  In addition,
she needs to decide how finely a supernormal power is subdivided: is
there a generic ESP Power, or are Precognition and Clairvoyance
separate Powers, for example.  Is magic subdivided into spells, or
groups of spells (such as elemental magic) or simply the ability to
break the laws of nature in any way that can be imagined, and so on.

Number of Powers allowed:  the GM may allow only one Power per
character, or 20 Powers (or even more if they are individual spells),
or anything in between.

Drawbacks of Powers:  Using a Power might have no inconvenience, or it
might be physically or mentally taxing, or time consuming, or
unreliable, or uncontrollable, or have side effects, or only work in
certain conditions or with certain materials, or be risky to the
character, or be limited to a certain number of uses per day, or
affect the mental stability of the character, etc.

C2.2  Power Scales
------------------

Most supernormal powers do not have levels.  If a Power can logically
be described in levels, such as super strength, the GM can handle it
one of two ways:

A) Have the character buy Super Strength as a supernormal power
(gift), and raise or lower his Strength attribute separately to show
how he is compared to the average super-strong superhero; or

B) Have Super Strength be a separate supernormal attribute.  In this
case, it starts at Non-existent, and each level raised counts as a
supernormal power taken.  For example, to get Super Strength Fair by
this method would use up four supernormal powers.  This option is more
costly.

C2.3  Associated Skills
-----------------------

If a Power logically requires a skill to use it efficiently, the skill
must be bought separately.  For example, the superpower Flight allows
a character to fly, and usually no skill roll is needed.  But to be
able to make intricate maneuvers in close combat without slamming into
a wall requires a roll against a Flying skill.  (Some GMs will ignore
this, of course, and simply say that the Power Flight means never
needing to make a roll for any flying maneuver.)

A very common skill might be Throwing, to hurl a ball of fire or bolt
of energy at a foe.  Or the GM might rule that being able to aim it
comes with the power for free: no roll needed, it automatically hits
the target every time unless they make a Good degree task Dodge.

This can be especially true with magic: the ability to cast spells at
all may be a gift, but to do it right is a skill, or even many
different skills.

C2.4  Combat Powers
-------------------

If a supernormal power is used to attack a foe, it is usually handled
as a propelled weapon, such as a gun, or as being equivalent to a
certain melee weapon.  In other words, when the Power is defined at
character creation, the GM must determine the Strength of the Power
for damage purposes.  This can just be expressed in terms of damage,
though.

In the case of a magical attack, the higher the strength of the
attack, the greater the penalty to the skill level and the greater the
fatigue (or other disadvantage to use).

C3  Magic
---------

Magic should only be allowed in games where it is appropriate, of
course.

It may be easiest for the GM simply to translate whatever magic system
she is familiar with into FUDGE.  If the GM isn't translating another
game system's magic rules to FUDGE, she should consider what being a
magician means to her.

What is the source of magic?  A natural process, but hidden to most,
such as mana manipulation?  Or is it summoning otherworld entities to
do your bidding?  Or finding a source of Power and channeling it to
your ends?  Or some other system not mentioned . . . ?

Each of these options then requires further self-examination: can
anyone learn to work magic, or is it an inherent talent (that is, does
it require the character to have a supernormal power)?  If the latter,
are there levels of the Power available, and what would having more
levels mean?  Of course, even if a magician must have a Power to cast
spells, there may also be magic items that anyone can use - these are
very common in tales and legends.

If beings are summoned, are they evil, good, neutral?  How do they
feel about being commanded to work for the magician?  Can they
adversely affect the magician if he fails a spell roll?

If Power is being channeled from an external source, is that source in
the physical plane or astral?  Is it from a living being, or contained
in an inanimate object as inert energy, like a piece of coal before
going into a fire?

How reliable is magic?  How long does it take to cast a spell?  Are
any material components needed to cast a spell?  Are spells precise
formulae (often lengthy) that must be memorized exactly?  Can they be
read out of a book?  Improvised on the spot?  Are there any drawbacks?

Once these issues have been resolved, and the degree of magic in the
game decided on, the magic system can be created using FUDGE
mechanics.  See Section F5, FUDGE Magic, for a sample magic system.

C4  Miracles
------------

All miracles are powered by a deity.  Some miracles may happen at the
deity's instigation (GM whim, in this case), and some may be
petitioned by characters.

("Deity" is here used in a pagan sense: any being greater than human,
that can live in another plane beyond the material.  To many
religions, of course, there is only one Deity, and to speak in the
plural is blasphemous.  In these cases, the term may refer to beings
in between human and Divine power, such as angels, demons, djinni,
efriti, etc.)

The GM must decide whether miracles can occur in her world, and
whether they can be called by character petition.  If the latter, then
she has to make many other decisions: can any character petition a
particular deity?  Does it matter if the character is actually a
member of a religious order?  How important is the character's
behavior: would a deity help a member of a particular religious order
even he had been acting against the deity's goals?  How certain is the
miracle to occur?  How soon will it become manifest?  How broad and
how specific can requests be?

The answers will vary from GM to GM - no generic system of miracles is
possible.  See Section F6, FUDGE Miracles, for a sample system.

C5  Psi
-------

Again, it is probably easiest for the GM to translate whatever
psionics rules she knows to FUDGE.

As a *very* simple system, each psionic ability is a separate
supernormal power.  The ability to read minds, or foresee the future,
or telekinetically move an object, etc., each cost one supernormal
power (2 gifts).

Just *how* powerful the psionic ability is depends on the level of psi
the GM wants for the game world.  Someone who can telekinetically lift
a battleship is obviously more powerful than someone who can't lift
anything heavier than a roulette ball - though the latter may make
more money with his power, if he's highly skilled!

If the game world has more than one level of power available, then a
character must spend multiple free power levels to get the higher
levels.

The GM should also require skills to use these powers.  Having the
psionic ability to use telekinesis just allows you to pick an object
up with your mental powers, and move it crudely about.  To do fine
manipulation, such as pick a pocket, requires a successful degree task
against a telekinetic skill.

C6  Superpowers
---------------

If the campaign has superpowers as in "comic" books, then there will
probably be a wide variety of powers available.  A common treatment of
superheroes is the concept of superfaults, though, which might make
more powers available to the players.

There are far too many powers to list in FUDGE - browsing through a
comic store's wares will give you a good idea of what's available.  As
with psionics, each power costs one of the free supernormal powers
available, and some can be taken in different levels.  Very potent
ones might cost two or more of the "average" superpowers.

Note that super strength is treated as a separate scale - see Sections
B9, Non-Human Scales, and C2.2, Power Scales.

C7  Cybernetics
---------------

Artificial limbs, organs, implants and connections to computers are
common in some SF settings.  If these grant powers beyond the human
norm, they must be bought with supernormal power levels.


D  Character Development
------------------------

After playing a bit, perhaps each session, the player will want the
character to grow in abilities.  At this point, initial GM-set skill
limits (such as 1 Superb, 4 Greats) can be exceeded as the character
naturally develops.  There are two ways to handle character
development, or "experience," as it's often called.

D1  Subjective Way
------------------

When the player feels the character has accomplished enough to warrant
improving in some trait (and he feels he's been roleplaying well), he
petitions the GM for permission to raise it.  A trait can only be
raised one level at a time.  A trait must be used much more to raise
it from Good to Great than Fair to Good, and so on.

Likewise, the GM can simply award an improvement in a trait she feels
deserves to be raised.  In these cases, there is never a corresponding
reduction of another trait - this is character development, not
creation.

D2  Objective Way
-----------------

Alternately, the GM can award experience points (EP), which the player
can trade in any way he wants at the following rates (only one level
per trait at a time, however):

Raising a skill up to Fair level: 1 EP per level.
Raising a skill from Fair to Good: 2 EP.
Raising a skill from Good to Great: 3 EP.
Raising a skill from Great to Superb: 4 EP.
Raising an attribute: triple the cost for skills of the same level.
Adding a gift: 6 EP (or more), *and* GM approval.
Adding a supernormal power: 12 EP (or more), *and* GM approval.

As a guideline, good roleplaying should be rewarded with 1 to 4 EP per
gaming session, with an upper suggested limit of 5 EP for flawless
roleplaying.  Players may save EP as long as they wish.

-- 
  - Steffan O'Sullivan		         sos@oz.plymouth.edu