How to Powergen the Fun Way

by ColdGold

Introduction
Hi. I’m ColdGold, a regular member of the IRC for a few years, as well as an experienced GM of the
#WDSanRaul campaign and #WDMadison campaign before that. I’m also experienced as a player in the
WeaverDice roleplaying system, having played capes such as Gungnir, The Artful Dodger, Index, and
Megaphone. I’ve created or assisted in the creation of a lot of powers during my time on the server, and I
often see newcomers intimidated or confused by the powergenning process. They feel unsure how to
translate their ideas into mechanics, or come up with a cool idea in the first place.

Sometimes it can be hard to come up with a fun idea for a specific category with the themes presented in a
trigger, but in this guide I’ll be attempting to give some tips on how to spice up a power, with specific notes for
individual power classifications, and making powers that are fun and exciting for the player and the GM. Even
if you’re a fanfiction writer trying to make a power for your character, all of the steps up to the visualization
can help you. This guide is about making cool and fun powers first and foremost.

Table of Contents
General Tips

Category guides

Thinkers
The trigger event
How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?
The final mechanical write up

Strangers
The trigger event
How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?
The final mechanical write up

Masters
The trigger event
How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?
The final mechanical write up

Trumps
The trigger event
How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?
The final mechanical write up
Movers
Strikers
Vote on the next guides

General Tips
ColdGold’s powergen process

Step One:
 Thematic Trends in Worm / Worm-esque Powers and How to Identify Them

It might be tempting to jump straight into categories after reading the trigger, but it's important to nail down
the themes before you draw conclusions about the power classification, rather than the other way around.

A trigger might see some argument about what category fits best, but the themes can help that discussion go
by quicker. A trigger that sees disagreement about whether it’s Thinker or Tinker might see the popular
opinion skew towards Tinker when something like a theme of a long term build of resentment is considered,
for example.

Example:

Example trigger goes here. Discuss themes that are exemplified in the trigger.

Step Two:
Power Classification

Now consider the category. There are twelve different categories. The category you pick strongly influences
the way the power is going to be used.

Classification Power type(s) Typical Trigger Cause

Ranged, offensive attacks of some form. Can include blasts, Hostile ambulatory threat at a
Blaster thrown or moved objects, grenades. Not always damaging, but distance, attacking or approaching,
generally deleterious. posing a physical threat.
Abstract physical danger or harm,
Has the ability to alter themselves to a different state in which difficult to define pain or stress
Breaker they maintain different abilities. Appends other powers, but (not mental or physical.)
only in this state. Can also include general altered states. Frequently arises from the hardest
triggers to label.
Has enhanced strength or durability, most dangerous in a melee,
Brute typically very difficult to put down. While the execution may Experiencing physical harm or pain.
remain fairly similar, the source of this power can vary.
Can alter their form, appearance, and/or natural abilities
Issue in physical state. Body image,
through some manipulation of their bodies. Does not include
Changer or a crisis of self image vs. social
new powers beyond natural weapons, tools, armor, or
expectations.
durability.
Has the ability to control others. Can include degrees of control
Master (swaying attitudes or emotions) and a wealth of controlled Isolation, alienation, exile, betrayal.
entities (individuals, animals, objects, created beings).
Has the ability to transport themselves and/or others to other
Mover locations, by means of enhanced speed, teleportation, flight, Drive to escape, flee, run.
vehicles or the like.
Can affect a broader area, asserting some degree of control over Environmental danger, ambient
Shaker the battlefield. May include gas, explosions, forcefields, and danger, often nonhuman or only
ambient or radiated effects. abstractly human.
Powers predominantly lend themselves to infiltration. Ability in Unwanted attention threatening
Stranger question might bypass defenses, mislead, or help to avoid emotional security, or social
notice. pressure.
Has a power that applies on physical contact. Often applies a Immediate, in-your face threat,
Striker changed state, like the breaker classification, but isn’t personal. usually a singular object or
Melee range, but not strength or durability, as per Brute. individual.
Thinker Possesses enhanced knowledge, skills and/or perceptions Emotional or mental strain,
 beyond any reasonable norm. Includes clairvoyance,
reaching a crisis point in a short
precognition, skill acquisition, enhanced hearing and enhanced
period of time.
sight.
Issue proves difficult to resolve,
Can create devices or alter existing devices well beyond usual
Tinker unsolvable problem, typically over
restrictions of education, knowledge, resources, and/or physics.
an extended period of time.
Can manipulate powers in some capacity, altering, granting, Involvement of nearby parahuman
Trump strengthening, weakening or removing them entirely, or has in circumstances of trigger, either
powers that interact solely with the powers of others. directly or indirectly. Rare.

When making a power that consists of multiple categories, consider which category or categories are more
prominent, and how the two aspects might combine into one cohesive whole. What does each category bring
to the table, and how do they impact the capabilities and weaknesses of the powers you make from the
themes?

Powers that span multiple classifications don't necessarily mean that the cape has two discrete powers --
rather, it's better to give the cape a power that qualifies for all of the intended categories.

A category is often just a way of applying the themes. For example, considering a trigger where fire is a theme,
be it due to proximity to actual fire, or a secondary connection (the cape's life 'going up in smoke' after a
physical fallout with a significant other, the backlash after 'burning bridges' with immediate family, or the
threat of fire, being doused in gasoline, etc)...

Example Trigger: Burn notice. It's not a phrase someone in your line of business likes to hear. Branded as an
unreliable source of information, you find yourself out of a job, and on very much the wrong side of the
network of criminal contacts you've built up over the years. Picked up off the street and hauled into a van, you
find yourself in a dimly lit room, almost hot enough to be a sauna. The sensation of cool liquid splashing onto
you is what wakes you up, in the end, though the stench of gasoline is a close second. Some operation or
another went wrong due to faulty intel, conclusions are drawn, and it seems as if you're the one at fault.
Hardly even the issue at the forefront of your mind, though. The man standing in front of you taps a lit
cigarette against his thigh, sending ash and ember scattering to the floor. You fixate on the glow of the
cigarette, fully aware that an errant spark could set you ablaze in an instant.

The trigger in question looks pretty close to a Striker - an in your face threat that promises a lot of physical
harm in the near future. There's plenty of ways to implement the theme of flames across one or more
classifications, though...

As is: The cape can ignite objects and victims on contact, with a degree of fine control that ranges from 'sear'
to 'cremate'. With an immunity to high temperatures, they can apply this effect to held objects, favoring
metals, heating them red-hot to a degree where objects struck melt through like butter or crumble to ash.

The man steps out of the room, no longer interested in speaking with you. As an afterthought, he flicks the still-
lit cigarette stub straight towards you...
Blaster: The cape can conjure baseball-sized orbs of flame that passively circle them, up to a maximum of
three, that can be fired and launched, homing towards a designated target with the ability to melt through
intervening obstacles based on charge time.

After a moment without a word the seemingly bored man turns and steps out of the room. You think it’s over
for now until the door opens and closes again behind a flung and still lit cigarette. You go up in flame almost
immediately after it touches the ground, and the pain is unbearable…
Brute: The cape is capable of heatingcapable heating up, but not personally catching fire. They glow a hot red
like an ember, and while they’re hot their Athletics and Brawn rise to Superhuman levels. They’re also capable
of melting or igniting anything they touch with long enough contact (time necessary dependingdependant on
the material) they can pull in started flames to lessen wounds and “catch fire” for temporarily boosted
offensive benefits.

Your captor is a psycho, they tell you between drags of a cigarette that they like to see their victims squirm
before they die. With that explanation, he gets up and makes it clear that he’s lighting a long wick that leads
to a puddle in the corner. He gleefully leaves you there with it and you can see both him watching from the
window, and the flame on the wick slowly approaching closer.
(Power example here)

All the above could be called pyrokinetics technically, but the differing categories result in wildly different
applications.

Step three:
Visualize the power in action.

Think about how the power idea you have would look in action. Let’s say the Trigger features someone getting
shot at by their own sibling in the kitchen after being caught stealing from them in their home. There’s a build
up where the sibling repeatedly warns the triggered that if they keep stealing from them there’s going to be a
problem.

After analyzing the themes you decide the themes are negative emotions at the betrayal, ignoring warnings,
consequences for actions, siblings turning on one another, being fired on from behind cover (the kitchen
counter) with the attacker their own sibling approaching closer by the gunshot. With the themes in mind, you
decide the power is Blaster primary with strong Master and Stranger secondaries. Based on that you have a
quick idea, the Blaster shoots poison ethereal liquid blades from their palms. When the blades hit they cause
some kind of negative emotional effect. Now how do I turn that into a mechanical write up? Well I’d say to
visualize what the power does. What makes it look cool in your head

For this in my example visualization I see a cape hurling a rain of strange blades on an enemy from far away.
The blades go through walls and cover and such and they kind of hurt when they hit at first. Not too bad but
bearable. But then the enemy feels something negative well up in them. Shame, sadness, they can’t bring
themselves to look at the person raining the blades down on them and the poison and small stab wound/cuts
are starting to wear them down more and more… All the while the Blaster is shrugging off emotional attacks
and stab wounds alike from enemies due to the natural resistances they get from Manton benefits.

Step four:
Translate the vision into mechanics.

Now that you see in your head what your power can do, think about the rules. With the poison emotion knife
power above we know the player blasts knives. Aim is handled with Dex so in the write up you’d outline that
the player can aim these blasts with a Dex check. Since we see the knives going through cover, maybe we give
the enemy a debuff to dodging or negate cover bonuses. Get creative with the bonuses, there are many ways
to mechanically apply your ideas.

The blades aren’t meant to do crazy physical damage so they only do Lesser Cuts, but the DC for the emotional
effect to be resisted should be fairly high and cumulative which will allow you to include the powerful
emotional aspect you want to include. Give them a passive defense towards pierce wounds and you’ve got a
full mechanically defined power.

I later decide to add a backstab mechanic to allow for combos to set up for that option if desired, and to fit the
themes of familial betrayal in the trigger. Look how I incorporate a minor striker element to reflect on how the
ranged threat is approaching into closeness.

This is how your final write up might end up looking.

 Blaster (Master/Stranger)- The cape may launch ethereal purple blades that go clear through inorganic
substances but pierce organics. They’re aimed with Dex (Aim). These blades deal Lesser Pierce wounds on
hit and apply a poison that slowly saps the will of the target and gives the Blaster more control of them. If
the blade hits a target in the back the damage goes up to Moderate Pierce. These blades negate cover
bonuses to evasion.

Any poisoned target will immediately gain a poison pip (capped at 3) and begin to feel a deep level of shame
bubble up inside themselves that causes them to be unable to bring themselves to look at the cape. This
manifests as a -1 towards Wits checks regarding the cape, and a -1 towards aiming attacks at the cape. The
target can take a half action to use a DC 4 Guts (Willpower) check to break this effect. This effect stacks, but
only twice. (DC 6)

Furthermore as poison pips are accumulated the cape may take a half action to leverage the existing poison
in an enemy for a powerful emotional attack. When used the target is forced to remain still for a turn to
gather themselves against an onslaught of negative emotion or face a morale check that if failed forces
them to stay still anyway. If resistance is attempted the next turn they also gain the pain debuff for a turn
regardless of whether they passed or failed. Everytime this attack is used it uses up a pip. The enemy’s
morale check starts at a DC 3 difficulty but goes up by one for every poison pip accumulated.

The cape can hold one of their blades in hand and attack with it with Dex (Finesse)

The cape’s powers give them manton related protections to pierce wounds, either downgrading them a
severity or outright ignoring them at GM discretion. Emotional effects on the cape from powered sources
also have less potency.

Write ups cover aesthetic and mechanical description. This is your player's guide book so make sure you
outline the base of the power in an easy to understand way.

Step five:
Apply luck and apply the finishing touches.

Luck can drastically change, alter, or add to a power. Make sure to pay attention to the wording of the perk or
flaw, and think of interesting ways to apply the changes so that the player can use them to create an
interesting character. Remember that the power flaws and perks present in Worm (E.g. Bitch’s altered
mentality, Burnscar’s emotional volatility, or Accord’s eccentricity. Or on the Perk side Armsmaster becoming
Defiant, Skitter learning new abilities with her powers over time, and Chevalier seeing Shards) were all a result
of a perk or flaw. These have the potential to result in really interesting characters so be creative.

If you’re in the Weaverdice server and you’re genning for a campaign make sure to $Claim and $increment if
you don’t know how to use these commands send a private message to [ATM] and type $help claim and $help
increment they’ll show you the proper syntax.

Now that I’ve addressed some general tips I’ll get in depth with specific categories.

Category guides
Thinkers
Strangers
Masters
Trumps
Movers
Strikers
Thinkers
Why are Thinkers so hard to gen?

It’s commonly said amongst the users in the #WeaverDice IRC channel that Thinkers alongside Strangers,
Trumps, and Movers are the hardest classes to gen. The category is very broad because it includes such a wide
variety of capabilities, another reason why it’s such a common secondary category. In just one category you
can see a cape that can view someone remotely with a touch (Kusakabe, an NPC from Antioch’s Cleveland
Campaign) to someone like Victor who can steal skills and is more physically capable because of it.

However effects can get kind of samey or seem like it does the same thing as other powers. An example of this
is tremor senses, super hearing, and the ability to smell so well you can tell where everyone is 25’ around you
might all impart the same bonus of a few pips in Wits or Awareness. This can make it hard to keep things
interesting or active for the player and GM as suggestions begin to boil down to simple stat bonuses and such.

How can I approach Thinkers the fun way?

When I think of Thinkers in a powergenning scenario I like to think of some of my favorite heroes, characters
or whatever I’ve seen in movies or read about in books that might not necessarily have powers but are just
fucking awesome.

We’ve all seen Batman beat hordes of enemies back like he’s some kind of martial arts god but that came from
years of training. How about someone like Varys in Game of Thrones who somehow always knows who to talk
to or where to look to get the information he needs.

We’ve seen someone with heat vision goggles, track, ambush, and evade enemies with precision; now imagine
someone with heat vision eyes and a bonus to doing all those things to things they can see go to work. Even
getting into characters with powers someone like Toph in AtLA can see through the tremors in the ground and
pulls off impressive reactionary maneuvers because of it.

Think of the impressive feats those characters performed in those stories, and think of a Thinker power that
will allow the player to pull those things off with ease all while looking like the coolest/most
likeable/smartest/most dangerous person in the room

General Thinker Genning Suggestions

1. Give Thinkers active abilities they can call on to give them a little more flavor on top of the stat
bonuses they have. If a Thinkers power to read emotions is giving them a +1 to Social, and maxed out
skill points in Scrutinize, the cape might be able to use the active skill
○ “Twist of the Knife: The cape can target uncovered emotional weak points with their words or
actions and impose morale destroying attacks this way. This prompts Willpower checks that
given failure can cause the person to become completely overwhelmed and give up.”
Active skills like this can be the thing that takes your power to the next level.
2. Thinkers are unique in that they often don’t have much external flare (unless they’re paired with other
categories). While a Blaster might be recognizable in aesthetic for the shimmering golden tridents they
blast at enemies, or a Changer might become a monster you’d see in a movie, a Thinker generally
won’t have that. What the Thinker does have is feats to make them impressive.

○ A normal person gets shot if someone shoots at them. A Thinker can deflect a barrage of
gunshots with a knife in hand. A normal person would fall scaling a building. A Thinker might
climb a building like a monkey up a tree, all while fending off attackers they can feel nearby.
When you’re stuck on finding flavor for your Thinker thinking of ways or themes to allow for
 cool feats and tricks can be a way to take your power to the next level.

3. Allow the player to be creative as fuck. Tattletale said shards use Thinker headaches to limit them
because they’d be too powerful otherwise. Thinkers can’t make fire out of nothing, they can’t tame
wild beasts with just a whispered word, but somehow they deserve limitations that way. Why’s that?
Because they’re the best at what they do.

○ If a cape can see through invisible stationary orbs they place like security cameras after they
trigger from seeing that their family has placed security cameras all over their home following a
serious misbehavior, wouldn’t it make sense that they can shoot better because they see
multiple angles to aim from? Dodge better because they can see the attack coming? Move at
the perfect time behind cover as a person turns a corner to avoid being seen? All that should
logically be possible. Make sure to express in the write up that the cape is free to discover
tactics like those and that the player be rewarded for being creative.
4. Break the rules! Thinker powers basically improve on things humans can already do. Or they get
something new they can do entirely. If the rulebook is trying to outline how the world works for
regular people, then the Thinker should be able to operate outside of the bounds of the rules set for
normal humans or outright abuse them.
○ Regular humans that land a bash have to have the wound for a bash attack and limb that is hit
randomly rolled, but a Thinker with the ability to perfectly gauge the power of their punches
might be able to choose which wound effect is triggered and what limb they hit.

Can you show me these tips in action?

Yes actually, I can

The trigger event

This is your job, it’s simply triage after this attack, this Endbringer attack had been particularly grisly compared
to the other less exceptional incidents you’d helped with. Still, it was the least you could do to help with your
EMT and search experience, and you’d hope someone would do this if you were caught in this carnage
instead.

Then you happen across the body, a villain you recognize, one that was definitely not a minor force,
completely impaled from shoulder to thigh by a piece of debris. You decide to move on after marking the black
tape, they’re surely dead, but before you get out of earshot you hear them faintly wheeze out a cry for help.

This person has killed, destroyed lives, but they’re asking you for help, and you came here to save people. It
would be so easy, moving them at this moment would kill them, undo any of the evil they’d inflict on the
world after this. But this is a human life, you could call them in and they could be saved with that crazy hero
that’s here specifically for this.

But how many people would that kill, just because you don’t want to feel guilty? In a battle between what the
right thing to do is, the villain starts bleeding out in earnest while you fight yourself. Trigger.

How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?

The themes I see are trigeree’s considerations of the consequences and ramifications of their actions in the
future. As well as the dilemma of right vs. wrong. The paralyzing consideration that if they don’t make the
perfect decision things could go poorly. Things are up close and personal here so I see a Striker manifestation
of the ability here. Activation through touch.

Now that I have the themes I move onto the mental image. When I picture a cape using a power made of
those themes translated into a Thinker power with a Striker application I picture someone seeing things
shortly into the future every time they make an action. Everytime they touch something they get a blast of the
short term future that informs their next action.
In combat I see them using this to use the sight of future they get from punching someone in the face to watch
the perfect way to turn that punch into karate flipping that person over their shoulder. Then they replicate
their vision with precision. I see them getting visions of the future of someone shooting at them and they turn
and throw a knife into their weapon arm before their finger can pull the trigger.
Out of combat they’re just as intimidating. They move with little to no room for error, and with a quickness
that belies a guaranteed confidence in their actions. Now how can I translate this into a write up?

[If I type something after a segment in the write up like this, I’m commenting on how I accomplish the vision I
set out for above through my mechanical interpretation]

The final mechanical write up

The cape has a sense that expands in about a 5' radius from anywhere the Thinker makes physical contact.
This sense allows sensing forward in the short term in regards in chain reactions and actions resulting from
and towards them. [Striker application, theme of seeing shortly into the future]

This imparts the cape the ability to perform "Chain moves" by reading their physical impacts to perform
actions with extreme precision or react as if they were a minor precognitive.
Upon succeeding on a dice roll (offensive or defensive) the Thinker can call another action. Examples of this
include turning a successful punch into a called throw maneuver. Climbing up a wall chained into leaping to
a nearby wall and back like mario. Grabbing a knife from where it's sitting and throwing it in one fluid
motion. [Gives the cape the desired ability to follow up with future sight to Parahuman levels]

In defensive scenarios called maneuvers can be used to attempt to interrupt or sabotage an action at the
expense of an active called move the next turn. Called maneuvers get an extra +1 to perform. (Stacks with
the passive bonus, this can't be used to punch then punch or jump then jump. The called action has to be a
logical extension of the first) [Extends versatility into defensive capabilities as well. The repeated action limit
is there to discourage the player from spamming simple and uncreative double attack strategies to abuse
the attack speed rules]

The impacts from their footfalls against the ground provide a few minor quality of life benefits. This provides
them an auto pass on quick actions regarding their hands (e.g. quickly drawing a weapon, quickly locking a
door, grabbing a doom remote in hand's reach before the Tinker who built it does) from knowing the
immediate best choice in how to handle those things. It also makes them impossible to trip up with rough
terrain or the like.

In combat this translates to a +1 to hit, and a +1 to dodging including bullets. It also translates to a +1
towards using tools, and operating devices/machinery they're using.
[This final couple paragraphs of the write up is included to clarify some of the logical benefits a power like
this would provide a person. They’re also there to tie into tip #3 above; allow the player to be creative. By
using these bonuses in tandem with some of the active options in the power]

Strangers
Why are Strangers so hard to gen?

Just like Thinkers, Strangers are generally considered to be one of the harder classes to gen interesting powers
for. This is because this category causes some genners to fall into some of the same traps that Thinker powers
do. With a Stranger it’s easy to make powers that do the same things, aren’t very strong aesthetically, or just
boil down to a bonus to sneaking. It’s very very important to not fall into the trap of making a Stranger too
passive. Just because they aren’t as direct does NOT mean they are passive. It means that due to what a
Stranger is by its nature they need to approach things from hard to expect angles.

How can I approach Strangers the fun way?

A person can generally trust the things they sense. A strawberry tastes like a strawberry, a kitten’s purr won’t
elicit the same reaction hearing a scream will. We know what we see and remember. Now imagine you can’t
trust your own senses. You don’t know if that person over there is real, you can’t hear or see where these cuts
are coming from at all, it’s too dark to see, suddenly things are causing you to react in a way that doesn’t make
sense. Strangers alter the playing field on a fundamental level. Down to a person's very own senses. They
might not have a ton of tools to directly handle conflict but when their powers make it so that you’re always
playing their game and by their terms, being direct isn’t very necessary.

General Stranger genning suggestions

1. We know the character is good at sneaking around, they’re a Stranger of course they are. If sneaking
well is all your power does then you probably need to add something. How does the Stranger take
advantage of the fact that they’re hard to pin down? What can they do while they’re hard to see?
When they emerge from their hiding? Consider all of this.
2. Moving attention somewhere else, knowing when someone is looking at you, teleporting to unseen
places, and Imp-lite powers have all been done a million times. Please think hard before making these
guys, and consider approaching such concepts from a new angle.
3. It’s scary to not be able to rely on something that works a certain way everyday. Remember to
consider the benefits the Stranger might gain from throwing their enemies off balance, the penalties
for those affected by the Stranger’s power might suffer. How does the Stranger’s power take a mental
toll on their enemies.
4. Strangers are rarely 'pure,' but tend to have mechanical bleed with other types. Pure Strangers often
overlap with Masters.
5. Use other factors of the trigger to introduce mechanics. Minor shaker elements to the trigger could
imply use of cover, while direct confrontations could lead to blaster or striker components.
6. If you’re having trouble with flavor regarding a Stranger try bringing other categories into the mix.
Stranger powers blend very well.

Can you show me these tips in action?

Of course I can.

The trigger event

Your father was a wealthy man, there was no doubt about it. Everybody loved him too, he seemed so perfect,
so humble. He helped old ladies cross the street like it was second nature.

You were different though, timid, weak, a smidgen creepy as well. What people didn't know was that as long
as you could remember, your father kept you that way. Your father was a control freak, and a murderer, and
you helped him. That's why he kept you weak mentally, physically, so you'd never be strong enough to break
free of him, turn him in. He watched your every move, controlled every aspect of your life.

You were too scared to tell anyone, especially since you'd helped him. You were just as bad as he was. It was
his ritual, inviting them over to your house, distracting them before ultimately having you beat them down
with a hammer so that he could enjoy the "fun parts". You got good at it too, just like he wanted you to.

One day you hit puberty and like teenagers do, you started to think for yourself, get smarmy. A small part of
you always knew it was wrong, but now, it all came to the top. You trigger as he prepares to beat you mentally
and physically, realizing that then, now, and forever you were the murderer's little monster.
How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?
I see the themes of a split identity as puberty comes along and the cape starts to think for themselves, there’s
a guilt in the voyeuristic pleasure the triggeree gets from seeing people hurt, and how they enjoy their role in
retrieving their target no matter the costs. There’s a dangerous force in their father that they can never
escape.

Once I have the themes locked down, I decide that Stranger is the primary category as they want to escape
their controlling father’s attention, and that Changer/Breaker work equally well as the application for the
cape’s powers because of the identity crisis and the conflict due to the pleasure they get from hurting people.
I come up with a basic idea, a form with two identities. One that watches and plans from the shadows, that
always knows where you are. The other is the muscle, the one who retrieves the stalked target by any means
necessary, no matter where they run.

Once I move onto visualizing the power I envisioned something like a horror movie monster. In horror movies
the monster is strong, durable, up for a chase, and you might get away but they always seems to know where
and how to find you and sneak up on you. No matter how many times you get away from it’s shambling chase
it will tire you out and get you eventually. I pictured a form like that whose scratch could tie into the other
form. A ghost that watched and planned the moves of the monster form from far away. The two work in
tandem to become the perfect hunter.

[If I type something after a segment in the write up like this, I’m commenting on how I accomplish the vision I
set out for above in my mechanical interpretation]

The final mechanical write up

Parahuman separates into two forms: a blood-mist ghost where the consciousness resides and a shriveled,
revenant-like body, linked together by a thin “puppet string” of blood.
The main body has a striker power which can break down inorganic matter in its way, nails which inflict a
moderate cut on successful attacks, as well as immunity to pain or mental debuffs. Body gets +1 Dex, +1 die
to Withstand, Stealth, and Mobility (has supernatural movement options, jump high, cling to walls-ceilings,
stuff itself into small gaps, etc.) [Strong, can set up ambushes super well, can maneuver well. Scary as hell.]

The blood ghost form holds perception, and the ability to sever the tie to the revenant form, leaving the
revenant form inert. The ghost form can then travel independently, allowing perception from a distance,
within 50m of body’s location. When traveling independently, the ghost form has a +2 die to stealth checks.
[Can use this form to follow and spy on scratched targets, allowing the cape to plan their next strike with
their revenant body.]

If blood is drawn, the ghost form can flawlessly track down the last injured party, regardless of distance. If
the body takes lethal damage, the ghost can use dead flesh or fresh blood nearby to repair, or can latch onto
another human being, and make an opposed Wits check to drive their consciousness out, subsuming them
and claiming their body.
[No matter how many times you kill the monster it never really dies until you kill it for real, once and for all.]

Masters
Why are Masters so hard to gen?

“This seems like a Master, I can see themes of isolation here.” = the famous last words before a trigger that
isn’t a Master power is subjected to one. Masters; the class so plentilly genned that there was a soft ban
placed on the category for a little bit in the Weaverdice IRC server. Master triggers are some of the
hardest to properly pin down because isolation plays such a big factor in them, and isolation plays a part in
almost every trigger. This causes many people to attempt to make Masters in places where they don’t belong.
If you’re reading isolation and you’re suspecting Master, try to ascertain whether the isolation is of a social
nature.

When genning Masters people also tend to make the power uninteresting or uninteractive. If the Master’s
Hunter Cat/Lizard minion moves and acts on its own, all that does is give the GM more work and take volition
from the player. If all the player has to do is look at a target to assume full control that leaves zero room for
interactivity/creativity for the Master and the target.

How can I approach Masters the fun way?

When I picture a Master I picture a regular person. A tactician, a teammate, a commander, the muscle, the
hidden brain of the operation. Masters come from all sorts of walks of life but there’s something they share in
common. Brutes have access to both incredible amounts of offense and defense on both sides of the scale,
Thinkers get extra senses, and Movers are the most mobile beings on the planet. Masters are often
individually much less inherently threatening, but luckily a Master never moves on their own. They leverage
the control they have through other beings whether it’s a personal minion (or minions) or a human whose
control has been arrested from them.

I picture a robed villain with a turban on the building tops, looking down from out of reach as a pack of
mutated creatures with weak powers tear an enemy cape to shreds. A humanoid minion with powerful
strength whose power is to buff their Master up to super strength and durability, allowing them to work in
tandem. Someone who can set a condition, and upon it being disobeyed the target falls under the cape’s
control for a duration of time.

General Master genning suggestions

1. In the case of a people controlling Master, try to include some kind of condition or qualification the
Master has to reach to put the full effect of their power into play. When a Master doesn’t have full
control they should be able to prod at their target and perform weakened versions of what they do to
wear them down. This adds more challenge and interactivity towards Mastering someone for both the
Master and the subject of their power.
2. In the case of a Master that relies on minions, make sure that the Master has some way of directly
controlling or leading their minion or minions. Nothing feels less like playing like a cape than being a
regular human that also happens to have an autonomous minion running around. It’s like having an
NPC teammate.
3. Give the Master options and bonuses for performing in tandem, and working with the subject/minions
of their power. Facing a Master means you’re essentially facing more than one enemy, and the Master
should feel like they have the benefit in force of numbers over an enemy. Also keep in mind that the
Master may be in possession of more than one set of awareness (or their minion might be capable of
relaying that kind of information to them), so allow room for bonuses to reflect that.
4. The cape should be able to meaningfully use their skills as a human being before having powers to
interact in special and meaningful ways with their minion. For example, if someone was a horseback
rider before gaining a minion akin to a large combat ready alien bull, they might be able to apply their
skills towards learning to ride it quickly. Another person with the same minion might use their talents
in archery to take to receiving bonuses for firing from ‘bullback’.
5. Archetypes like negative emotion Masters happen to be made in spades so really consider whether
that’s the proper way to take the Trigger or not.

Can you show me these tips in action?

Is water wet?
The trigger event
Your parents are alcoholics. It’s probably one of the most cliché setups for a traumatic childhood, but they are,
and they made your first few years an isolated hell. Thing is, though, they finally got help for it. It took them a
while, but they eventually realized what was happening and went into rehab, surprisingly willing to get better.
It even worked. They stuck with the program, followed the 12 steps, got involved in AA, the whole shebang.
And you? You got involved in Al-Anon, the support group for family members of recovering alcoholics

It was great at first: you had people you could connect to, share experiences with, and relate to on an entirely
different level. Yet it started dwindling. Family members relapsed, friends moved away to “start fresh”, and
some of your closest peers just became straight-up disinterested. The day that the last member of your group
tells you that they won’t be coming back, you go home to find your parents once again drunk off their asses.
You trigger as you realize that you’re back to the hell you started in.

How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?

When I think of the themes for this trigger I think of a relapse, and a vicious cycle. I see a reliance on a support
system unified by one common thing, and alcohol is heavily tied into the theming of the trigger. The trigger
screams out Master to me without a doubt. I immediately want to take the Master power in a
people/emotional direction because of these themes, and I want to make the emotions in line with the
present themes. That leads me to consider what alcohol does to people. There are good sides and bad sides.
Alcohol is a double edged sword so I picture them both helping allies, and hurting enemies with the same
effect.

When I picture all of these themes as a power I see someone manifesting liquid like droplets of alcohol
secreting from the cape’s hands like sweat, this liquid can be flicked or rubbed onto other human beings to
alter their mental state providing some of the more negative drawbacks similar to those associated with
inebriation, but also the benefits. This poison could also be used for enhanced effects. The cape would be able
to buff allies and debilitate enemies with the same effects alike.

I want to make sure that the power has active use abilities, and options to keep it interesting so the power
doesn’t boil down to “I make this person feel sad” with no room for creativity or counter play. I also want to
include meaningful combos and things to keep the power interesting in the long term.

[If I type something after a segment in the write up like this, I’m commenting on how I accomplish the vision I
set out for above in through my mechanical interpretation]

The final mechanical write up

The Master may manifest blood like droplets of different colors from their fingertips that represent different
emotions. These emotions grant bonuses, but can be flexed to emphasize the negative aspects. When
flicked or touched onto someone it is absorbed into their skin granting an assortment of different effects for
three rounds before needing to be reapplied. Touching is applied with finesse, and droplets can be flicked at
someone within 15' at a -1 malus, and 10' unpenalized, aimed with dex. [The different colors stop the power
from being too on the nose with the liquid literally looking like alcohol. They also provide aesthetic value.
Aiming rules are outlined as logical, flipping droplets doesn’t seem like it’d be accurate at long range.]

Red- Anger causes the subject's physical stats to flair up granting a flat +1 bonus to brawn, and guts and
causing them to lash out at the closest enemy that isn't the cape themselves.
Flexed- Causes the angered enemy to lash out at the target of the Master's choice, including themselves (No
outright killing themselves, but a wound's worth of effects)
[The passive use is to lash out and buff’s brawn and guts. In allies this can be used to set a mook on an
opponent with increased vigor, and strength. On enemies it can be used to turn an enemy on themselves or
a nearby friend. The flexed option allows more choice, allowing me to expand the toolbox as intended.]

Blue- Makes the subject sad and spiteful, halving their movement speed and causing them to be generally
immobile otherwise, but increases their Dex, and Wits by 1.
 Flexed- The cape can cause the affected enemy to be overcome with sadness, robbing them of all their
actions for a turn. This can only be used once before the liquid needs to be reapplied.
[This can both be turned towards turning allies that are remaining in the backline anyway into
sharpshooters, and scouts. This also doubles as a way to steal the mobility from an opponent and lock them
down. It’s limited because robbing an action can be incredibly punishing.]

Yellow- Makes the subject manic and irrational, granting a +1 to Ath, and Social and grants the subject an
extra half action per turn.
Flexed- Causes the enemy to overdo their actions, causing a backlash. Their attacks and aggressive power
uses stagger them, and failed Ath rolls on any movement apply the knocked down debuff.
[Allows the cape’s allies to move more quickly, and perform social tasks without any anxiety or worry, just
confidence. There’s less inherent passive use against enemies, but when used in tandem with the active use
the cape can leverage the Mastered subjects desire to move against them to turn predicted actions into
perfectly timed staggers and knockdowns.]

[All three of these serve as different options that can be utilized both passively for their bonuses on allies in
the correct situations, and for their maluses on enemies in the right situations. They also each have active
components that can be activated for an expanded toolbox, and to open up combo potential.]

These effects apply a Teacher effect, slowly causing the users to become addicted to the substance.
Furthermore the Master can given enough time, bottle a large number of these droplets to create "potions"
with enhanced versions or combinations of the droplet versions effects.
[This is the icing on the cake, allowing for long term return as the Master powers not only benefit allies in
the short term, but make them loyal in the long term. This also allows the cape the creative freedom to
combine and intensify the potency of their existing options to their hearts content through the use of
concentrated bottled liquids.]

Trumps
Why are Trumps so hard to gen?

I honestly believe that Trumps are the hardest class to properly create for one reason. Sure they’re strong, but
they’re very easy to make boring. Due to the nature of the classification, many a Trump gen will stall because
people are struggling to come up with unique ideas. What they do for the most part is very straightforward,
and not just a perceived way like the bad rap people give Brutes or Blasters. Trumps will copy, steal, change,
turn off, grant powers, or sometimes feature multiple separate power sets like Eidolon. Genning for the last
variety is straightforward enough to get creative with, but for the most part, the rest can be straight up hard
to do in a unique way.

With Trump's it’s on the genners to flex their visualization skills, but with discernment. What might look like a
cool Trump power on paper, or in your vision could be better off on an NPC if it’s too passive or uninteractive.

How can I approach Trumps the fun way?

Trumps are rare, Trumps are strong, everyone wants them on their team, nobody wants to fight them. Rolling
one is getting really lucky, and allows a player to step into a unique pair of shoes. While the functions of Trump
power and its inherent subcategories don’t change much, variety can be added by changing the method by
which that function is performed.

A power thief that hands out powers to allies, and a thief that hordes powers as they transform them into
physical stones to be used one time at will like they’re pulling it out of their bag of tricks. Perhaps someone
who can shut off just the Manton restrictions of powers around them, coupled with an ability to turn a cape’s
own powers against them.
General Trump genning suggestions

1. Just like Tinkers, Trumps come with a handy Bow made supplement that can help you at least figure
out which flavor of Trump you’re rolling with before moving onto molding into an individual power.
Don’t be worried about following these supplements like a bible, but there are some good things here
that can really help you step your Trump genning game up.
2. Trumps are just stronger when it comes to conflict with other capes, it isn’t fair to others but that’s just
the hand they’ve been dealt.
3. The downside to point number two is that when it comes to unpowered enemies, while any other
category would walk all over them in a fight, the Trump might actually face difficulties with them. We
all remember how it was a member of the Dragon’s Teeth who took out Jack Slash in the end. A good
way to balance a Trump power is to consider its usefulness against the unpowered. Some Trump
powers might be more useful against unpowereds, while others might not have many options against
them at all.
a. Disclaimer: It’s important to note that even if the Trump is weak against unpowered enemies,
they should be given at least something to deal with them. It isn’t fun to not have any options
in certain situations.
4. Passive auras, and simple execution may be tempting here but really think of ways to make the
Trump’s power fiddling shenanigans active. Instead of an aura that indiscriminately shuts off powers,
maybe the powers need to be suppressed by something the cape has to actively continue keeping up
and can be interrupted or even prevented.
5. Like Masters sometimes people assume a power has Trump when it isn’t there because a cape is
mentioned somewhere in the trigger. Really consider whether there is a meaningful influence by a
shard granted power in the triggering of a new shard activating.
6. Pure Trumps aren’t often very interesting, try combining the category with another one.

Can you show me these tips in action?

What kind of question is that supposed to be?

The trigger event

Your heart swells. Thethe Boss has put you on bodyguard duty tonight, after your marksmanship skills saved

the day in a spat with a rival gang last week. You all pile into an SUV, and your finger your shiny new SMG,

nervous and excited. You're headed to a summit between rival gangs- a long awaited effort to broker peace.

You guard the perimeter, anticipating a PRT raid, given half the town's big players are at the meet

You're as surprised as anyone when the building implodes. Some cape with a demolition power, perhaps, or a

bomb. All you know is, there's no way anyone survived. The demolition was haphazard, rubble flying

everywhere, and in the midst of the ensuing dust cloud, something sharp and hard pins you to an adjacent

building.

When the dust clears, you see it's a beam of some sort, right through your gut. You're skewered into the wall

three feet off the ground, like a butterfly in a collection. You trigger as you watch yourself bleed out.
How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?
Most of the themes inherent in this trigger event happen to be of the physical variety, although there are a
few I see that aren’t and play heavily in how I’m going to interpret and move forward with this trigger so I’ll
start with those. There’s an important opportunity gone turned against the triggered, an attack from inside
while they’re looking outwards. The more physical themes include sudden impacts, and explosive/unexpected
attacks.

Once I look at these themes I see a lot of things that can play into small aspects of the power, but the main
things are the Trump for the influence of the explosion causing power, and constant exposure to capes. Brute
is a give me and I think the cause of injury warrants something of a Shaker application too. With these things
in mind I visualize a few ideas.

The cape needs to be able to pull themselves off of a skewer on the wall and survive, or deal with the wound
somehow. They should be able to turn their enemies opportunities against them with Brute force and
durability, and they should be able to setup attacks that explosively catch their enemies off guard.

[If I type something after a segment in the write up like this, I’m commenting on how I accomplish the vision I
set out for above in through my mechanical interpretation]

The final mechanical write up

The Cape’s body is toughened by manton protections to set their Guts at 5, and grant two pips and a
specialty in Endure, this is because for their power to work they’re expected to take and shrug off a good
amount of pain. Their unarmed attacks are also capable of dealing Moderate Bashes, but can be pulled to
deal Lesser Bash instead.
[This is to allow the cape to be capable of something like pulling themselves clean off of a piece of debris
they’re pinned to a wall by. These passive quality of life Brute benefits are somewhat boring on their own
but set up for the rest of the power. The Brute aspect here is more defensive than offensive.]

Any and all damage or power effects (including Master and Stranger effects) the cape takes can be bled off a
turn after receiving them as a free action into a hard to see (DC 4 Wits check) sphere or bubble that floats
near the cape. If the damage or effect was successfully withstanded the bubble forms immediately. Expelling
the bubble reverses the wound effect, and the damage of the wound but still leaves the wound slot ticked.
The bubbles change in outline and inner color depending on what forms them.
[This is where the power ties together and becomes what it really is. The sort of plain Guts benefits are
complemented by the fact that they’re only meant to bridge the gap until the cape can outright reverse the
consequences of their wounds. The bubbles being hard to see represent the theme of an unexpected
explosive impact. The bubbles/spheres/orbs also tie into more later, and settle the Trump’s much needed
aesthetic theme.]

When wound slots are filled the cape must make KO checks as usual (Or Death Sentence checks, but those
are to be treated as having the same consequences of a KO check, save for the higher DC). The damage from
the wounds may disappear but after a certain limit is reached (Their Guts score) the cape begins to get very
tired and starts to fall into a hibernation like rest. The more times the cape falls asleep this way, the longer
their sleep, with potential that one day they’ll never wake back up.
[This is included for both characterization, and balancing purposes. With the ability to reverse wounds, it’s
possible for the cape to become functionally invincible unless someone dumped five wounds on them in one
turn or dealt an overwhelming amount of damage they couldn’t recover from to them. This limit is in place
for that reason. The cape can push themselves to limits farther than a normal person because they’re a
Brute but over time they can see it’s taking a toll on them. This cape needs to be just as wary of falling
unconscious as any other.]

If the bubbles come from an unpowered source they have the effects listed in the table below. If they come
from powers the bubble contains the power that was used to damage or affect the cape. Upon striking, the
cape can pull these bubbles (powered or unpowered) into the way of the impact for one of three options

Append The bubble wraps around the striking limb or held object as it goes through it, attaching the
 the power contained in the bubble to the Brute’s next strike. If it’s an unpowered bubble its
effect is listed in the unpowered table below dependant on the wound type in the bubble.

Break The cape breaks the bubble immediately upon impacting it, sending the power in the bubble
exploding outwards in a 15’ radius. If it’s an unpowered bubble or the power damage can be
summed up by a wound effect, its effect is listed in the unpowered table below dependent on
the wound type in the bubble. This is aimed with Brawn, and the Brawn roll sweeps and
applies to the whole explosion in its full radius.

Rattle The cape sends the bubble flying upon striking it, sending it moving at a reasonably quick
speed. This is aimed with Dex (Aim) if it’s being aimed at a target. This move can also be used
for repositioning, allowing the cape to take a roll free half action to knock the bubble towards
a designated location. (Including floating in the air) Tactics actions/checks can be used to do
pinball maneuvers with bouncing bubbles.
Upon impacting a surface or with a concentrated half action on the cape’s part a bubble can
be detonated to deal the power in them in a 15’ radius. If it’s an unpowered bubble, its effect
is listed in the unpowered table below dependent on the wound type in the bubble.

[These attacks options fill in the necessary portion of the Brute’s offense quota, while also offering a couple
of sensible Shaker options, and just options in general. I think this ability is what really makes the character
Trumpy as well as potentially a funhouse for creative maneuvers.]

The cape can also use a reflexes action to pull a bubble in the way of an attack, reducing its severity by a tier
and blowing up the bubble in a 15’ radius around them.
[This is just something I thought would be logically possible for someone who can move the bubbles around]

Unpowered Damage Table

To create a full unpowered bubble two lesser need to be bled off, or one moderate needs to be bled off.

Wound Type Append Effect Break/Rattle Effect

Bash Bubble The Cape’s next strike operates as Everyone affected by the bubble’s
if it’s being aimed with an extra explosion is afflicted by the
+2 Brawn, and auto wallops. knocked down debuff.

Pierce Bubble The Cape’s next strike pierces Destroys layers of armor,
straight through armor, cover, compromises cover and terrain
and surfaces and deals a with holes, and everyone affected
Moderate Pierce (or Lesser if by the bubble’s explosion whose
pulled) instead of a Bash. armor didn’t take the damage is
afflicted by the bleed debuff

Cut Bubble Allows the cape’s next attack to Those that fail the evade check
be swung like a blade and aimed must brace themselves with a
with Dex/Finesses alternatively. Guts (Withstand) check, or take a
The range of the attack is Lesser Cut wound. This allows the
extended another 5’ (So close to cape an action of opportunity.
10’ total accounting arms length)
and deals Moderate Cut. This cut
goes through armor, cover, and
surfaces.

Shock Bubble Electrocutes things touched, Deals a lesser shock, and robs a
turns damage of cape’s strike into half action from those caught in
Moderate shock instead of a the explosion.
Bash.

Burn Bubble Ignites things touched, turns Deals a lesser burn, can catch
damage of cape’s strike into things on the environment on
Moderate Burn instead of a Bash. fire, and cause costume damage.
 Bubble combos are possible but use bubbles up faster. An example would be appending a burst bubble into
a Break on another accumulated bubble to make the Brawn sweep roll have an extra +2 added to it due to
Bash append’s Brawn bonus.

[This is included to grant some options against non power damage that both Cape’s (Through general
powers like pyrokinesis or electricity, or those that prefer weapons), or unpowered opponents. Without
these they just aren’t as Brute-y. Sometimes a table is necessary when something isn’t as easy to make up
on the fly like adding an NPC’s power effect to the bubble is.]

(Ed. Note while this IS Trump, it may be moved to the Brute guide, and replaced with
another Trump power example when the Brute guide comes out)

Movers
Why are Movers so hard to gen?

Movers seem pretty straightforward, and they are. They fly, teleport, and without taking variations into
account often boil down to going from point A to point B very quickly. So if they’re so straightforward why are
they hard to gen? Well it’s that same straightforwardness in combination with the fact that they emphasize
movement, avoidance, running away. I like to consider Movers the Strangers of the physical power classes.
They break the rules, and make people have to keep them on the back of their mind, but in a more physical
rather than mental way.

When done wrong they make characters with one note strategies in their movesets, and incentive to run away
from or avoid conflict which can get old pretty quick. They don’t need to play by their opponent’s rules, so
they might just decide to do what they need to do and run away unscathed in the end.

How can I approach Movers the fun way?

Think of the coolest Movers you’ve encountered in fiction, or wherever. Think of the feats they’ve
accomplished, and how cool they looked doing it. Think of how when you see Nightcrawler, or Quicksilver in
Xmen they are often using their abilities in very active/aggressive ways. When they or other Movers are
running away it often it isn’t to escape outright. It might be to set up an attack from somewhere else, regroup
and lick their wounds, or creating a diversion for their allies. And you know they’ll be doing it quickly enough
that they’ll be back to annoy you again soon enough.

Imagine a teleporter blinking around a Tinker’s lab while they’re distracted with the Mover’s Brute teammate.
The Tinker takes their eyes off the damn porter for a moment, and in the next moment half their lab is
trashed, and the teleporter is behind them giving them a wedgie. Or the flying artillery comes rolling through,
and nobody on the other team can fly. All the sudden everyone has to play by the flier’s rules. They’re up in
the sky, they’re laughing at your cover and hiding spots, and you can’t get to them, they can just fly higher if
anything. Movers are fun, haha.

General Mover genning suggestions

1. Movers aren’t always going to be outright powerhouses like the other classes. How they make up for
that is the amount of utility they come with. This class makes the world their toolbox. They can often
go, and get access to anything they can get their eyes on, and they can do it in ways that mean they
can make a lot of clutch and crucial plays in just mere moments. They’re game changers.
a. A Mover by its very nature trivializes travel time, and as a result the amount of time it takes to
get things done. When a Mover is around the pace of the fight moves at the pace the Mover
sets it at, and that’s often going to be QUICK.
2. I made the comparison between Strangers and Movers earlier, calling Movers the more physical
version, but how they get that done is by completely opposite means. During power gen every
 potential Mover power has a Catch 22 that can be played with. The Mover cannot be ignored, but if
you pay attention to them, they’re really good at avoiding retaliation.
a. A Mover/Blaster might have weaker blasts that numb, and do trivial but annoying effects on
their own. But their high fire rate, and ability to skate around on ice trails allow them to pepper
things with shots and stack up to dangerous levels of freezing cold if left undealt with. Good
luck catching them, though.
b. A cape that can run at several times regular speeds, and make an extra action, all whilst getting
a free (albeit weaker) attack opportunity on anyone that runs within a certain range of them.
You have their annoying attacks to deal with, but they’re also setting off an alarm to alert the
authorities, sealing all the exits, setting up traps, and other things you don’t even see while
they’re doing it.
3. Don’t make the power just about moving, and that’s it. That should obviously be a part of it, because
that’s the point of the class, but a power that just teleports and nothing else is pretty plain, and not
wormy at all. Think of a twist. Also obviously if the power focuses on just fleeing, it’s pretty lame.
4. Tying into point #3, if the power is about moving then give that movement a purpose, or give them
something to do while they’re moving. You can really dig into the themes for good ideas. Why do they
want to escape? What? Where do they want to go? How can they get there?
a. Giving the movement purpose: A Mover/Shaker power starts with a basic premise, the cape can
detonate waves of force in a radius around themselves, and also propel themselves in bursts
with this. Once you have the basic premise, it’s time to expand. E. G. they can set a visible
marker to move to where they can chain their movement’s destructively to move towards even
quicker than usual, and upon arrival detonate an even more powerful version of their small
force explosion. Maybe bigger in radius, with increased effects. This gives their movements a
purpose. Move to the target for increased effects, making it visible also adds counterplay and
things for the Mover to tool with.

Can you show me these tips in action?

I kind of have to to finish the Mover section up.

The trigger event

First they called you a troubled teen. They sent you to a camp for rehabilitation. Then, when you refused to
play their game, they called you dangerous. Parent and coordinator probably made some deal behind the
scene, because you didn't go home after the camp. They sent you straight to a hospital, and not a nice one.
The world wants to forget you, to invalidate you.

They call you insane, unhinged, dangerous, and you're not. You're perfectly sane. All your life, you've refused
to bend when wronged, and you refuse to budge here. You fight them every step of the way, a road that leads
to two men in scrubs seizing you, and a woman with a syringe aiming to tranquilize you. Roaring your sanity
to the world, you pull away, and you flee, hiding.

It's not about the syringe or the assault. You'll never really be able to get away from it. It's about the
allegation, that drives them to use the syringe and to condescend to you. That you're mad. You trigger.

How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?

This trigger has a lot in it that can lead to a lot of different classes right off of a first read, so with this trigger I
think it’s very important to make sure to focus on the themes first here. The themes I see are an uphill battle,
people calling the trigeree crazy even though the world makes perfect sense to them, that they’ll never be
able to escape even if they do escape in the moment. The syringe close up is also a point of focus.

Once the themes are worked out I decide on a base of Mover because I think the main drive is wanting to
escape, and I give everything a Striker vector because of the focus on the syringe close to the end of the
trigger. I try to think of a power that the cape can use to move very quickly, with versatile application… /for
them/. For others what makes sense to the Mover doesn’t make sense to them, and can even be turned
against them. To reflect the themes of different perspectives and the idea of craziness the Mover’s tools
would also double as their weapon.

[If I type something after a segment in the write up like this, I’m commenting on how I accomplish the vision I
set out for above in through my mechanical interpretation]

The final mechanical write up

The cape manifests portals on touch. These portals serve as short-lived exits, remaining for 2d2 minutes. The
cape may create a brief (one-round) portal in front of them to teleport themselves back to an exit of their
choice.
[This allows the Mover very easy, and quick movement. There’s a lot of room for set up, as well as a sort of
ramp up as the Mover creates more and more portals to use and act with, as well as they continue to
establish new ones. By setting portals as the vector of movement I add a visual element as a balancing and
tactics related factor.]

The cape's Striker ability allows a touched victim or object to be shoved back, a portal manifesting behind
them, with the intended exit being any existing portal. A Brawn (Strongarm applies) check may be needed to
shove heavy and/or resisting targets into a portal.
[The very portals the cape uses to move can also be turned against the enemy. This action also creates more
portals to be used later on. This gives the user more options.]

Sentient victims that travel through a portal are disoriented by a warping, non-Euclidean landscape, and
take one round to travel. The victim must make a Willpower check or take a morale penalty.
[While it’s all fine and dandy for the cape to go through the portals, and from their perspective everything is
fine, it grates on the sanity of others who are subjected to them to reflect on the themes on the
perspectives of madness.]

Upon exiting, the victim is violently ejected from the portal (lesser bash / (friction) burn where applicable,
upgrades to moderate bash if impacting an object / surface). Objects may be clumsily launched from portals
as a projectile (Aim applies, with a -2 penalty).
[This is here to outline the mechanical aspects of attacking and damaging with the Striker aspect of this
mover power in a few different situations. It also outlines that aiming through a method like portals
wouldn’t be incredibly precise, and thus could be done but at a penalty to keep things balanced and stop the
power from unintentionally becoming a Blaster.]

Strikers
Why are Strikers so hard to gen?

I personally feel that Strikers are one thankfully one of the easier classes to gen, and I also consider them one
of my favorite classes. I think that their room for versatility and room for creativity is unparalleled, maybe
because they get to be up and close and personal when they act. But that’s not to say genning them is a walk
in a park.

The same versatility that Strikers enjoy is also the cause of some of the challenges that come with genning
them. They can do so many things, that sometimes it’s hard to come up with a focused and concise idea or to
clutter the power up with a lot of extra stuff. With Strikers it’s hard to strike a fine balance.
How can I approach Strikers the fun way?

Because of how broad the category is, it’s really easy to really let loose and give out some of the coolest
effects you can think of. Even causing the most mundane thing on touch can become a superpower. Take a
walk around your house and watch the house appliances work. Imagine if a person could generate the heat
from your iron with their palm, except way hotter. Or a person who can generate those sparks you see when
you plug things in.

Strikers effects also carry through into things they’re touching. Imbuing weapons, covering entire surfaces or
items with their Striker effects. That’s only touching the tip of the iceberg.
General Striker genning suggestions

1. Embrace the versatility! Strikers need to get up close, and that is their biggest limitation, but whatever
they’re close to should be extremely susceptible to whatever it is the Striker is. Try to reward the
Striker for getting into close range, and if they can’t give them something to do with what they are able
to reach.
2. This category works very well as a secondary class to others to work as an application.
3. Think about how individually powerful the effect of the power is on its own. Clockblocker’s power is
devastating on just a single touch, and as a result he shouldn’t be given any boosts towards closing the
gap. That limitation is necessary to balancing that power, but it doesn’t take away from his toolbox as
seen from his feats in story. They can also be a fun thing to play around if incorporated properly.
4. As a flip side tip to #3 Striker powers that are less immediately game-changing might benefit from
defensive bonuses to allow the Strikers to not take too much damage while they’re closing the gap, or
mobility bonuses to help them get in. Think, it’s often pretty easy to think of an extension of the
already extant Striker ability that can fill one or both of those purposes.
5. Imbuement! Use it. It can add a lot of flavor to an ability that needs some. What happens if the cape
maintains contact with something for a long period of time? How does it affect things in the long term?
Can a weapon or item channel the effect? Also remember that a Striker can generate their effects from
more places than just their hands. It’s the physical contact with the cape that’s important.
6. Does the Striker effect have different end results when used on organic vs inorganic targets? Keep that
as well as Manton protections and limits in mind...
Can you show me these tips in action?

I’d love to.

The trigger event

You know those cartoon characters that lose their glasses and fumble around uselessly, their inability to
function without eyesight played up for humorous effect? That's you to a T. You tried contacts for a while, but
the lenses were an irritant, your eyes swollen and puffy, getting headaches constantly after four hours or less
of them in.

Anyways, you picked the wrong fight one day - confident in your skills in a brawl, your opponent nonetheless
lands a lucky blow, knocking the glasses off your face. The room becomes an indistinct blur, and blows rain in
from every direction, impossible to see where they're coming from, only catching sight of them once they're
too close for you to react.

Your movements get more frenetic, erratic, no openings for you to retrieve your glasses, wherever they are,
and a haymaker with your aggressor's full weight behind it catches you into the temple, slamming your head
into the nearby wall.

How do you approach this trigger ColdGold?

This trigger is definitely very physical in nature, so I like to focus on the more physical themes present that I
think would translate to cool power elements in cases like this. There are the themes of dependence on
glasses, and facing consequences when they’re deprived of them. There’s an unseeable aggressor that’s
untrackable despite being right in their face. The triggeree is literally trying to catch their bearing (their
glasses) to change the tides

In my vision of a power reflecting these themes I see the power allowing the cape to induce a similar state of
confusion and disorientation, while also simultaneously allowing the cape to double down on their offense. I
can think of a few ways to achieve that, but I also want to go out of my way to avoid the obvious and just copy
a blurry vision effect from the trigger onto strikes. The frustration of not being able to get the glasses, and the
overall dependence on them, as well as the blows seemingly coming from everywhere give me a tiny bit of
Shaker. They’re also being beaten up so there’s definitely going to be a defensive element.

[If I type something after a segment in the write up like this, I’m commenting on how I accomplish the vision I
set out for above in through my mechanical interpretation]

The final mechanical write up

The Cape can cause anything that comes into contact with them to vibrate rapidly, or they can vibrate
rapidly in response to something coming in contact with them. The vibrations can be capitalized on. This
translates to a number of effects.
[I go with vibrating to simulate a similar blurry effect without literally going with blurriness from the trigger.]

-When used on an organic target they’re violently jarred causing them whiplash, and rattling their brain
around in their head. This imparts the unique RATTLED debuff which penalizes their Wits by an immediate -
2, which diminishes by a point per round, as well as robs them of a half action their next turn. If braced, this
can be Withstood to lower the Wits malus to a -1. With a successful reflexes check, this can also be used to
interrupt actions of people within the Cape’s striking distance. Grappling negates the diminishing of the Wits
malus, and slowly increases the intensity of the vibrations/damage done by them, for every round of
extended grappling a wound is dealt and a point is taken from Brawn, Ath, or Guts determined by a D3 roll.
[With this effect in place the disorientation of not being able to see, and being knocked around from
somewhere you can’t even tell from is present. It also makes things blurry for the opponent too, haha. It’s
important to keep in mind how grappling effects contact Striker powers so I outline that here. This also
grants a few bonuses towards outright fighting.]

-When used on terrain, it becomes impassable within 5’ necessitating an Endure (Guts/or Ath) check to
stand near/on, and become RATTLED (-1 Wits, diminishing), or be knocked away from the object and
knocked down. This lasts (Brawn score) amount of rounds. Small 5’ zones can be created on the ground,
walls, or the ceiling as well.
This can be activated upon landing, being walloped, or as an attack action (E.g. stomping) to cause anyone
within 5’ to pass a DC 4 Ath check (Or dodge check for an attack), or be lesser bashed and Knocked Down.
Continuous vibration on extended contact can damage objects or structures.
[Helps tie into the theme of nowhere around you being safe, and not being able to know where to go to
safety. While fighting, the cape can also start rattling things around their opponents to knock them around.
This can also be used defensively, and to create obstacles for opponents to help control distance, which is
very important for a Striker]

-Landing damage is negated when the cape leaps from high places (To a reasonable extent), and all bash
damaged is lowered by a tier. The cape also gets a passive die to Withstanding. Continuously using the
Striker power to vibrate makes the cape hard to see, and make out increasing the security of their secret
identity and making aiming at them from range/placing wits checks on them from a distance suffer by -1
[Some of the natural defensive elements afforded by the Brute elements in the trigger and just by what
might make sense from a person vibrating super fast. The bonuses aren’t enough to warrant a full out Brute
rating but can make the Striker pretty beefy and hard to damage]

*Note- This effect can be channeled through melee weapons (ranged weapons become unwieldy and
impossible to use), but unless the weapon is Tinker durable, it will eventually be damaged and broken by the
effect. Using a weapon with this effect adds a die towards threatening with it.

Capitalize- Upon striking any RATTLED person or object they can Capitalize, causing their vibrations and the
vibrations of the struck target to meet at the impact point for a devastating blow. When used on an organic
target they are automatically Knocked Down, and Confused regardless of whether they Withstand the
damage or not and if the attack successfully lands it severely bruises the area
(http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0154366ea2fa970c-640wi) debuffing the afflicted
part by -1 for the remainder of the battle, or blacking the target out for a turn on a headshot. If used on
terrain or an object, the entire object or area is shattered from the impact point (Up to a reasonable size, if
the object is too large only a portion is destroyed).
If the cape Capitalizes they put their vibrations on cooldown for a turn afterward, the cooldown is increased
by a turn for every time it’s used. Capitalizing with a weapon will break it.

[I included this to give the power its final bit of oomph, as well as to reflect the final haymaker in the trigger
event. I wanted to give the Striker access to a special tool to pull out, and add spice. I added a cooldown to it
so they pull it out sparingly and it isn’t used literally every turn.]

Vote on the next categories!