Fantasy Genre Abilities

At tier 3, your fantasy character gains a mid-tier genre ability from those described below, and at tier 6 you gain a high-tier genre ability. In addition, at tier 6, you can replace one of your mid-tier genre abilities with a different mid-tier ability.

However, the following stipulations apply:

• Check with your GM to make sure all the genre abilities fit their campaign—for instance, your GM may decide that in their game, the hunter-gatherers of the northern steppes (where your people come from) eschew magic. Or perhaps in your GM's swords & sorcery game, magic is almost entirely in the hands of NPCs. In other words, your character might not be able to choose genre abilities tagged as explicitly magic.
• When it is time to choose a genre ability at tier 3 and tier 6 but you're not finding one below that seems like a natural fit for your character, work with your GM, who might grant you the option to pick an ability from elsewhere—such as from foci.

Mid-Tier Fantasy Abilities

A Bit of Magic (Magic): Each day you can pick a different magical effect and cast it as a spell. Choose a low-power or medium-power manifest cypher. You can cast that spell as an action, costing 3 Intellect for a low-power cypher or 5 Intellect for a medium-power cypher. Thisspell does not count toward your cypher limit. Unlike when using a cypher, you do not lose this spell after casting it. As part of making a ten-hour recovery, you can change which cypher you’ve taken as a spell. At tier 6, you can use this ability to choose a low-, mid-, or advanced-power cypher as a spell. You can castan advanced-power cypher spell as an action, costing 7 Intellect. Ten minutes to prepare a cypher as a spell;actiontocast a cypher as a spell.

Cypher Use: You can bear one additional cypher at a time. You can gain this ability multiple times. Each time you do, you can bear one additional cypherat a time. Enabler. Danger Instinct (3 Speed): If you are attackedby surprise, whether bya creature, a device, or simply an environmental hazard (such as a tree falling on you), you move an immediate distance before the attack occurs. If moving prevents the attack,you aresafe. If the attack can still potentially affect you—if the attacking creature can move to keep pace, if the attack fills an area too big to escape, and so on— your defense against it is eased. Enabler. Disappear Into Shadow: Even if in full view of up to three creatures, your successful stealthtask allows you to slip away from them and hide from view in a nearby shadow, behind a tree or furnishing, or in the nextroom as your action. Effort: Attempt to slip away from one additional target looking directly at you (attempt a separate stealthtaskagainsteach). Enabler.

Discerning Mind (2 Intellect): Your mind resists injuryfrom one mental attack, psychic trauma, or similar effect, reducing its wound severity by one step (major to moderate, moderate to minor, minor to none). Enabler. Elemental Protection (4+ Intellect) (Magic): You and every creature you designate within immediate range gains protection against one kind of energy damage (such as fire,electricity, or cold). The creatures reduce the severity of wounds from that energy by one step (major to moderate, moderate to minor, minor to none).This protection lasts fora creature until they use a one-hour or longer recovery; one individual endingthe cypher doesn’t affect the duration for other creatures. Effort: Reduce the wound severity by another step. Action.

Enhanced Stat: You gain 4 points to one Pool of your choice.Enabler. Expert Follower: You gain a level 3 follower. Enabler.

From the Shadows: Your successful attack against a creature that was previously unaware of your presence deals +3 damage. Enabler. Fury (3 Might): Your melee attacks inflict +2 damage. This abilitylasts until you use aten-minute or longer recovery. Action. Pry Open Defense (4 Intellect) (Magic): With a successful Intellect attack, you tear apart the defensesofacreaturewithinlongrange.Anymagic-baseddefensestheyhave(suchasawardingspell) are negated. If the creature has no magical defenses, its Armor is reduced by 2. If it has no magic-based defenses or Armor, its defense tasksare hindered. This lasts until you use a ten-minute or longer recovery. Action. Puncturing Attack: Yourattacks ignore 2 points of your opponent’s Armor. Enabler.

Snipe (2 Speed): If you spend one action aiming,in the next round you can make a precise ranged attack;youhaveanassetontheattackrollanditinflicts+4damage.Action. Strategize (4 Intellect): Having anaction plan in place before facing a challenge improves the odds of success, evenif that plan is eventually changed ordiscarded once it’s put into play. If you and your allies spend at least ten minutes going over a plan of action and you trytoenact the plan before you use a ten-hour recovery, your GM provides a useful piece of information about the situation,either immediately if you’ve missed something orasit comes up sometime during the execution of the plan. The plan of action must be something concrete and executable in order to gain this benefit. Ten minutes to activate. Tough: You can take one more minor wound than normal. Enabler. Winning Smile (2+ Intellect): When you roll to persuade or influence someone and your roll is less than a 9, treat the roll as a 9. (This means you don’t get a GM intrusion if you roll a 1.) Your increased influence persistsuntil your next ten-minute or longer recovery. Effort: Increase the minimum number rolled for this ability by 3. At tier 3, the minimum number rolledfor this ability increases to 12. Action.

High-Tier Fantasy Abilities

Assassin Strike (5 Speed): If you successfully attack a creature that was previouslyunaware of your presence, you deal+6 damage. (If you also have Fromthe Shadows, add the extra damage from both abilities). Enabler. Concussive Force (7 Intellect) (Magic): You cause apulse of force to explode out from a point you choosewithinlongrange.Thepulseextendsuptoshortrangeinalldirections,dealing5damageto everything in the area (make separate attack rolls against each). Even if you fail the attack roll against a

creature in the area, it still takes 1 damage. Action. Inspire Action (4 Intellect): If one ally can see and easily understand you, you can instruct that ally to take an action.If the ally chooses to take that exact action, they can do so as an additional action immediately. Doing so doesn’t interfere with the ally taking a normal action on their turn. Action. Invisibility (4+ Intellect) (Magic): You become invisible.This effect ends if you do something to reveal your presence or position—attacking, using an ability, moving a large object, and so on—or you use a ten-minute or longer recovery. Effort: Use this ability on a creature you touch invisible instead of yourself, lasting until they use a ten-minute or longer recovery. Action.

Jump Attack (5+ Might): You jump up to 4 feet (1 m) into the air and make a melee attack against a foe on the way up or down. If you hit, you inflict damage and can attempt a difficulty 4 Might roll to inflict an additional 4 damage and knock them prone. Effort: Add 2 feet to the jumpheight and +2 damagetothe attack (whether or not you knock the target prone). Action. Magic Portal (6 Intellect) (Magic): You create a tunnel through space that allowstransportation to a locationwithin long range. You must be able to see this location or know that it exists (such as beyond a closed door or anopen space underground beneath you). This hole in reality is large enough to

accommodate you and creatures of your size or smaller. Anything moving into the hole immediately emergesfromtheotherside.Theholeremainsopenuntilyouuseaten-minuteorlongerrecovery. Action.

Mask (5 Intellect) (Magic): You transform your body to become someone else. You can change any physical characteristic you wish, including coloration, height, weight, gender, and distinguishing markings. You can also change the appearance of whatever you are wearing or carrying. Your stats, as well as the stats of your items, do notchange. You remain in this form for up to a day or until you use an action to resume your normal appearance. If using this ability as adisguise that comesunder direct scrutiny or challenge, your disguise task is eased by three steps. Action.

Resilience: You can take one more moderate wound than normal. Enabler. Spellbreaker (4+ Intellect) (Magic): You immediately end one ongoing magical effect (such as an effect created by a character ability, cypher, or magical device) within immediate range if you succeed on an Intellect attack against it. If you target a cypher or magical device and succeed on your Intellect attack, it doesn’t function until you use a ten-minute or longer recovery. Effort: Use this abilityasan enabler, allowing you to use it in response to an attack when it isn’t your turn. Action (enabler if used defensively). SpinAttack(5+Speed):Youstandinoneplaceandattackuptofivefoes,eachasanextraaction on your turn. All ofthe attacks have to be the same sort of attack (melee or ranged attacks). Make a

separate attack roll for each foe. Action.

Willofa Leader (9 Intellect): You harden your allies’ dedication and capabilities withan inspiring speech that lasts at least a minute. All allies within immediate range (including yourself) add +1 Edge to one stat (chosen by each individual). This lasts until they use a one-hour or longer recovery; one individual ending the ability doesn’t affect the duration for other allies. One minute to complete.