Supernatural Powers

## **What are Powers?**

Supernatural abilities in The Dresden Files RPG are also represented by stunts, just like the specialties and talents of “mundane” mortals (see **Mortal Stunts**). These stunts are called supernatural powersand share many similarities with mortal stunts—but there are a few key differences.

As with a mortal stunt, taking a supernatural power will reduce your character’s refresh level. But here’s the big difference: unlike the mortal version, a supernatural power usually costs more than one point of refresh, in large part because the benefits provided are more than just two shifts or so of effects. Remember, no *player character* may take a combination of mortal stunts and supernatural abilities that reduces refresh to zero or lower. Characters with zero or lower refresh have lost the mortal gift of free will and as such become tools of the story—also known as *non-player characters*. Supernatural powers also come at a greater price beyond the simple math of your character’s refresh rate. No supernatural ability may exist in a vacuum—it must come about due to specific reasons rooted in your character’s concept. At the very least, this usually means that the supernatural abilities must clearly derive from your character’s high concept.The end effect is that all supernatural abilities have requirements that must be fulfilled before they can be added to your character; these are usually outlined in the template you have chosen for your character.

You can think of powers as super-stunts, since they cost multiple refresh points and often offer many shifts of effect for more than one skill. And because they’re based on certain prerequisites (via character templates), they’re allowed to be a little more potent per refresh point than their mortal stunt cousins. Supernatural powers have effects that can be further reaching, adding trappings to skills that cover strange supernatural territory. Moreover, the trappings that supernatural powers add can cover actions and abilities that would otherwise be flatly *impossible*. In addition, they’re generally allowed to ignore the restrictions that mortal stunts have when it comes to stacking effects.

But other than that, they’re built much like several mortal stunts all smashed together, getting two shifts (and maybe a little extra) of effect for every one refresh point they cost. As such, new powers may be built using much of the same logic as mortal stunts provided on page 147—so long as they’re appropriately enabled by the character’s high concept and chosen character template. For each stunt’s worth of function (whether in shifts, added trappings or scope, etc.) that the new power provides, price that power at a cost of –1 refresh. Since taking a power means you get no Pure Mortal refresh bonus, a –1 refresh power is allowed to be a little more effective than an otherwise equivalent stunt.

### **Story Power Alchemy: Supernatural Powers and the High Concept**

By drawing straight lines from a character’s high concept to his supernatural powers, you gain all of the benefits of having an aspect riding shotgun whenever the character’s supernatural abilities are in use.

Whenever, say, a wizard goes to town with arcane spell-slinging, he can invoke his high concept (Master Evocationist) to help make it work.

If a PC shoots a charging loup-garou with inherited silver, that’s a chance for him to invoke or compel its high concept (Curse of the Loup-Garou).

However you look at this, having the high concept involved is a good thing; it ties the core idea of a character together with his special abilities and lets you milk it for all of the “story power” you can.

Not sure what we’re talking about here? Then it’s probably a good time to go back to *Aspects* and review the bedrock ideas of what aspects are about.

### **​Also See**

* ​Creature Features
* Faerie Magic
* Items of Power
* Minor Abilities
* Psychic Abilities
* Shapeshifting
* Spellcraft
* Inhuman Abilites
* True Faith
* Vampirism