Adept Powers

Adept Powers require variable amounts of power to cast, based upon efficiency of the power. Consult the Adept Powers Tables for more information.

Astral Perception
Cost: 2 Power Points

You have the ability to see and reach into Astral Space via Astral Perception. You cannot use astral projection. Adepts with this power follow all the normal rules for astral perception.

Attribute Boost
Cost: .25 Power Points per level

You can call upon your inner strength to perform amazing feats beyond your normal abilities. Attribute Boost can be purchased for any Physical Attribute: Strength, Body, or Quickness. It cannot be purchased for a Mental or Special Attribute. It must be purchased separately for each of the Physical Attributes. To gain the boost, make a Magic Test against a target number equal to one half the base (unaugmented) rating of the Attribute being boosted (round up). If there are no successes, the Attribute is not boosted. Otherwise, the Attribute is boosted by the level of the power. The boost lasts for a number of Combat Turns equal to the number of successes. No Attribute can be boosted to greater than twice its Racial Modified Limit. When the boost runs out, you must make a Drain Resistance Test. The target number is equal to one-half the boosted Attribute value (round up). The Drain Level is based on the level of the boosted Attribute rating compared to your character’s Racial Maximum or Limit for that Attribute. Consult the Attribute Boost Drain Table. To offset the Drain, make a Drain Resistance Test using Willpower against the Drain target number. Every two successes reduce the Drain Level by one. Any Drain damage taken is stun damage. Attribute Boost is not compatible with any artificial (cyberware) enhancements, nor spell-based increases. It is compatible with the Improved Physical Attribute power.

Body Control
Cost: .25 Power Points per level

Your power of mind-over-body allows you to resist the effects of toxins and diseases. Each level of Body Control provides 1 additional die for Resistance Tests against such effects.

Combat Sense
Cost: See Combat Sense Power Table

Combat sense provides an instinctive sense about an area and any potential threats nearby. Each level gives you a number of extra Combat Pool dice, as well as the ability to spend a percentage of your Combat Pool dice on your Reaction Test in surprise situations.

Enhanced Perception
Cost: .5 Power Points per level

This power sharpens your senses. Each level provides an additional die for all Perception Tests, including Astral Perception, if you also have that power. You cannot have more Enhanced Perception dice than your Intelligence or Magic Attribute, whichever is less.

Improved Ability
Cost: See Improved Ability Costs Table

This power gives you additional dice for use with a specific Active Skill. Dice purchased for the Active Skill carry over equally to any specializations of the skill you know. If you are defaulting to the improved skill, only half (round down) of the Improved Ability dice may be used. You cannot have more additional dice than your base skill rating or your Magic Attribute, whichever is less. For example, an adept with Pistols 4 and Magic 5 cannot have more than 4 Improved Ability (Pistols) dice. Remember that Improved Ability does not actually improve a skill’s rating, it only provides additional dice for tests involving the skill.

Improved Physical Attribute
Cost: .5 Power Points per level

With this power, you can improve a Physical Attribute (Body, Strength, or Quickness). Each level of this power increases the Attribute by 1. If you later want to increase the Attribute using Karma, the cost is based on the total Attribute, including the magical improvements. Improving Quickness improves Reaction and Combat Pool normally. This power allows you to exceed your racial modified limit, but each level over the limit costs double (1 point per level).

Improved Reflexes
Cost: Improved Reflexes Cost Table

This power increases the speed at which you react, just like Wired Reflexes. For each level, you receive +2 to Reaction and an additional Initiative die. The maximum level of Improved Reflexes is 3, and the increase cannot be combined with technological or other magical increases to Reaction or Initiative.

Improved Sense
Cost: .25 Power Points per improvement

You have a sensory improvement not normally possessed by your race. Improvements include Low-Light or Thermo-graphic Vision, High- or Low-Frequency Hearing, and so on. Unless an improvement involves radio or similar technological phenomena, any sense provided by cyberware can also be provided by this power. Unlike cyberware, there are no package deals on cost. Additional Improved Senses are described here.

Direction Sense: Your sense of direction is so acute you know what direction you are facing, and whether you are above or below the local ground level, with a successful Perception (4) Test. This ability is especially useful for tribal hunters, guides, spies and runners who pursue similar occupations.

Improved Scent: You can identify scents in the same way as a bloodhound. By making a successful Perception Test, you can identify individuals by scent alone, and can tell if someone whose scent you know has been in an area recently. The strong smells of most sprawls may impose Perception Modifiers on the use of this sense.

Improved Taste: You can recognize the ingredients of food or beverage by taste alone. A successful Perception Test allows adepts with Chemistry or a similar Knowledge Skill to identify ingestive poisons and drugs concealed in food or drink. A successful Perception (4) Test allows adepts to determine if a sample of water is pure enough to drink.

Flare Compensation: Your eyes adapt quickly to intense light, allowing you to avoid the effects of flash grenades and similar weapons. This power functions exactly like the cybernetic version of flare compensation.

Sound Dampening: Your ears are protected from loud noises and adjust quickly to sudden changes in noise level. The sound dampening power functions exactly like the cybernetic dampener enhancement.

Killing Hands
Cost: See Killing Hands Cost Table

Normal unarmed attacks do (Strength) Stun Damage. This power uses magic to turn unarmed attacks into lethal, physical damage. When using Unarmed Combat and Killing Hands you may do normal stun damage, or physical damage as purchased. The use of Killing Hands must be declared with the Unarmed Combat attack. The cost for each level of damage is given on the Killing Hands Cost Table. A Killing Hands attack is effective against creatures with Immunity to Normal Weapons Their defensive bonuses do not count against Killing Hands. Killing Hands can also be used in Astral Combat if you have the Astral Perception power and are using it to see into Astral Space.

Magic Resistance
Cost: 1 Power Point per level

You possess an inherent resistance to sorcery. Add 1 die per level of this power to all your Spell Resistance Tests. Your magic resistance does not interfere with spells that you choose not to resist. The only critter power this protects you from is the Innate Spell power (and critters using Sorcery, of course).

Missile Parry
Cost: 1 Power Point

You can catch slow-moving missile weapons such as arrows, thrown knives, or shuriken out of the air. Make a Reaction Test (plus any Combat Pool dice you choose to allocate to the test) against a Target Number of 10, minus the base target number for the range of incoming attack. For example, against an arrow coming from long range, the target number is 2 (10 – 8, the base Target Number for long range). If the attack were from short range, the Target Number would be 6 (10 – 4, the base Target Number for short range). To successfully grab the missile weapon out of the air, you must generate more successes with your Reaction Test than the attacker achieved on the Attack Test. Ties go to the attacker. Using Missile Parry is a Free Action.

Mystic Armor
Cost: .5 per level

This power magically toughens your skin to resist the effects of damage. Each level provides you with 1 point of Impact Armor, cumulative with any worn Impact Armor. Mystic Armor does not provide Ballistic Armor. Mystic Armor also protects against damage done in Astral Combat.

Pain Resistance
Cost: .5 Power Points per level

Pain Resistance allows you to ignore the effects of injury. It does not reduce actual damage, only its effect on you. Subtract your level of Pain Resistance from your current damage before determining your injury modifiers. For example, an adept with 3 levels of Pain Resistance does not suffer any modifiers for being Lightly or Moderately wounded. At 4 boxes of damage, the adept has only a +1 injury modifier (4 – 3 = 1, or Light damage). Pain Resistance works equally on both the Physical and Stun Condition Monitors. Pain Resistance also allows you to resist pain from torture, magic, illness and so on. The level is subtracted from your target numbers to resist pain, such as a Body or Willpower Test against the symptoms of a painful disease, interrogation, torture, and so on.

Rapid Healing
Cost: .5 Power Points per level

You recover more quickly from all forms of injury, using magical energy to boost the normal healing process. Each level adds 1 die to your Body for Healing Tests as well as Body Tests to determine if you suffer a crippling injury from a Deadly Wound. The power does not increase resistance to injury, toxins or pathogens, but does allow you to recover from their effects more quickly. Rapid healing has no effect on checks for magic loss.

Suspended State
Cost: 1 Power Point

This ability allows you to enter into a meditative state, reducing your metabolism and therefore your requirements for food, water, air, or your rate of bleeding. To use Suspended State, roll your Willpower against a target number of 4, applying any injury modifiers. Consult the description of the Hibernate spell and use the successes as indicated. If an adept with this power takes a Deadly physical wound.