Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

Silently Watches · Apr 11, 2016

"When Taylor gained bug powers, a god died. When Taylor became a magical girl, the world braced for impact."

Quick disclaimer to start: this is my first time being a QM. I've read several quests, enough that I feel comfortable giving this a try, but my writing experience before this is normal fiction, so this is going to be a new experience. If you feel you have a suggestion to make things work better, I'm willing to listen. (Note that this does not mean I will follow said suggestions by default.)

General rules
1) I'm not going to use dice under most circumstances. I roll them for certain battles, such as Endbringers, or when there is a lot of chaos or you aren't directly involved in the events at hand, but mostly I'm going to write what I think is fun based on your votes. The conversations that go on during those votes will also influence my decisions, so if there are two options that get extremely polarized, I will do my best to come up with some compromise that leaves everyone at least relatively content.
2) Death is possible in this quest. It isn't permanent barring certain extreme circumstances, but it comes with consequences. Risk your life at your own peril.
3) Some Arcs feature opportunities to choose between multiple subquests. You can pick whichever you want to focus on, but you will NOT be able to play through them all. These Arcs rely on time management skills. Just so you're warned, what you choose and don't choose will influence future Arcs.
4) I am not creating a true level-up system, but after major battles or specific training exercises, I will allow you to pick up new abilities. This is both because it's easier on me and because it fits the narrative for reasons that will become clear as the quest progresses.

FAQs

"I don't know how <insert topic> works in this quest."
If you have any questions on mechanics or votes or what have you, just ask*. I read every post, and I'll do my best to answer. The only times I withhold information is when it's directly plot-relevant, and I try to tell you when that's the case.

*This assumes you've read through this FAQ section first. If you ask a question in the thread that is clearly answered by these reference materials, don't be surprised if you get a condescending answer. Questions are welcomed. Laziness is not.

"What spells can we use without voting for them?"
Flare Shooter, Aerial Combat, Rust Shooter, Homing Bullet, and Strong Shield are your 'default' spells that Taylor will use at my discretion and that make up the core of your fighting style, as well as Flare Blade to some extent. Depending on the situation, I might choose to have Taylor use other known variations on her shooting spells without you telling me to do so. All the others you will have to vote specifically to use in a given fight.

"Can we turn people into familiars?"
… No.

Just fucking no.

I don't know why the hell this question keeps popping up, but the answer has always been and will always be no. It doesn't fit the original idea of witches taking animal familiars, it doesn't match the Nanoha-verse practice of turning animals into animal-people, and it's so immoral it's on the same level as the Nazi's human experimentation.

Anyone else who asks this question is probably going on my ignore list.

"Can you explain serums to me again?"
Here.

Whenever you decide to set up a dimensional barrier, it's important to keep in mind that parahumans are not mages. Some of them have powers that are magic-like enough that it makes no difference; others are no more magical than normal humans.

Capes with these kinds of powers ARE brought into Recursion Field: altered elemental composition, energy-based states, shapeshifters, touch-based and area-based exotic effects, telekinesis or pyrokinesis or any other -kinesis, energy blasts, projected forcefields, power nullifiers or enhancers or manipulators, telepathic control of other organisms, regenerators, teleporters, pre-cogs.

Capes with these kinds of powers ARE NOT brought into Recursion Field: advanced technology, passive thought or emotion manipulation, superstrength, superdurability, analytical superthinking, enhanced senses, flight, superspeed.

The "are" list trumps the "are not" list. These are not all-inclusive because really, there is no possible way they can be, but by and large any unmentioned powers could probably (hopefully) be compared to one of those listed.

Parahumans have the same odds of possessing Linker Cores as everyone else, but until they either start exercising their magic or lose connection to their shards (for instance, by you giving them a Device), it will be their cape powers that determine whether or not they fall into a dimensional barrier.

Just buying spells isn't enough to reach your full potential as a mage. Since you are based off a Warring Ages–era bombardier, your attack spells are inherently lethal, and you aren't as efficient with them as you could be. By spending time training, either in the real world or in simulations (or OOC by making fan art or omake), you can learn how to use these spells to the best of your ability.

Tiers
Novice: You know a given spell, but you can't use it particularly well. Attack spells are lethal by default.
Adept: You know a spell well enough that you can modify it on the fly. Attack spells can be used without worrying about killing the target, and utility abilities become more effective or faster to cast. You can still attack with lethal force if you so choose, but this must be explicitly stated in the vote.
Master: You know a spell backwards and forwards. You can cast it at decreased efficiency even when your Device is in Standby mode, and because of this, you can use multiple spells simultaneously without worrying that one of them will fail unexpectedly. Trying to juggle several of them at once will still strain your concentration, however, so don't go around trying to cast every spell you know all at once.

Cross-training is only available to mages whom you have given a template from Perfect Storm. Once their Linker Core, which is enhanced following template installation, reaches its full size, they can choose one of the other three classes to train in. This can be done twice per mage. The first time, the mage will receive 5 to 6 spells from that class's skill trees that I think really encapsulate the flavor and playstyle of that class.

Once all the spells available from that first cross-training are known (training and mastery are not required), the second cross-training opportunity becomes available. There are two ways this can be done. First, you can pick one of the two remaining classes and get 3 spells from that skill tree. A good choice if you're happy with your current build and just want a couple of spells for flavor. Second, you can choose to delve deeper into your secondary template and learn a set of three more spells that focus on one of that class's primary purposes.

IMPORTANT: The Transcendent Gadgeteer class, which is in essence a magical Tinker, is the only true non-combat class, and as a result it has its own leveling system. With the exception of the very first cross-training skill, participating in fights will not let you buy Gadgeteer skills and building magitech will not let you buy spells from the other classes.

This game does not require you to have an army of mages at your back. It'll probably be a lot easier if you do, though.

Earth Bet, like Earth/Unadministrated World 97 of MGLN canon, is a low-magic world. Only 5% of people on the planet have a Linker Core, and not all cores are created equal. You won't be able to tell whether someone is in that lucky few without scanning them. To scan somebody, all you have to do is vote to do so via a social activity only. It is also an obvious action in-story, so if you scan somebody, they'll know it.

There are specific individuals for whom I've already decided whether or not they have a Linker Core, but you won't find out who they are until 1) you scan them or 2) that information becomes irrelevant.

Once you find somebody with a Linker Core, there are three ways to make them a mage. First, you can have Perfect Storm install a template based on an ancient mage's abilities into their Linker Core. There are four templates to choose from, and while they all have the greatest number of abilities available to them, you get no input on what abilities those are. Building a template-bearing Device takes three days, during which you will be able to do nothing else. Second, you can give them a non-template Device of some kind. Third, you can teach them to do magic all on their own without the help of a Device. See this post for details.

If you teach someone how to use magic without a Device, you will not be able to give them a template*. In-story, they won't want to give up the magic they have learned. OOC, I refuse to waste time arranging their character generation only for them to get a template later. You CAN give them a non-template Device later, though, as all that does is give them more spells.

*I will make an exception here if the only spell they know is how to create a Guardian Beast. In this case and this case ALONE, they can get a template and keep the Guardian Beast they already created.

The initial size of someone's Linker Core does not impact their skills if you install a template.

Building template-bearing Devices requires resources.

Different non-template Devices have their own specialties.

Both Device-carrying and Device-less mages (assuming they know the spell) can repair their Barrier Jackets.

IMPORTANT: If you find a cape who has a Linker Core, giving them a Device will permanently disable their shard-based abilities. That's actually the biggest reason why no-Device mages are an option. Think carefully before you turn a cape into a mage.

By talking to a Tinker for a few hours about their specialization, a Gadgeteer can gain "Inspiration" that decreases the cost of the next step of the branch similar to said Tinker's specialization. For instance, Bonesaw would give +1 to the prosthetic branch, Armsmaster to the prosthetic upgrade branch, and Bakuda to the energy system branch. If the Tinker's specialty does not fit with a particular skill branch, it instead goes to the general reverse engineering branch. Analyzing a wide assortment of that Tinker's projects, such as following a raid on their workshop, will work in lieu of a conversation. Inspiration can work to purchase a skill for free, but Tinkers cannot give multiple points of Inspiration to the same Gadgeteer.

You can also use omake training points for this. Thank Hoyden for proposing the idea.

Like anything else, too much energy is usually not good. Too much light, you get a sunburn. Too much electricity, your heart stops. Too much radiation, you turn into a glow-in-the-dark mutant zombie. This is true for magic, as well. Your Linker Core can only handle so much mana moving through it at once, and if you exceed that (say, by using cartridges), the extra energy will damage your body. Go outside the safe zone, and you're going to feel more and more sick. Really pushing the envelope can become rapidly fatal.

For more detail, see this post.

Regarding the use of Ragnarök, each time you do so using a method that causes mana poisoning, you will advance by one stage. Use it once, you'll go to stage one. Use it again before you recover, and you'll go to stage two. If, however, you have fully recovered from your first bout of mana poisoning before casting Ragnarök that second time, you will go back to stage one because by that point you were no longer poisoned (so essentially "stage zero").

Thankfully, you won't do something stupid like consume cartridges like candy the way Nanoha does, right? …Right?

"What can Tim build?" is a bad question to ask. Inevitably my answer is going to be something along the lines of "Look at his character sheet". A better question is "Can Tim build X?", where X is whatever you want to see, be it an original idea or something you've seen before in a game, movie, TV show, or what have you. I will tell you what parts of your idea he can build, what parts he can't build, and what parts he can't build yet.

And just so it's definitely clear, how much bullshit I'm willing to go along with is directly related to how far down the relevant branch of the Gadgeteer skill branch you've gone. If you only have the first skill, or worse haven't done anything with that branch, expect a lot of 'no's. If you've maxed out the branch, I can be talked into letting you get away with a whole lot.

The only exception is building a piece of non-Device tech that lets somebody cast actual spells. That is a hard, non-negotiable, don't-ask-me-again No.

Unison Devices. The crème de la crème of magitechnology. Skilled, unique, and above all, well and truly sapient. Any engineer who can design and build a Unison Device is capable of creating brand-new lifeforms that will continue to exist long after she is bones and dust. This is not an action to take lightly, but nor is it a skill to be feared.

The vote to create a Unison Device is the same as any other Gadgeteer vote, and afterwards there will be a subsequent vote to designate the name, appearance, and abilities of the Device. All Unison Devices have 4 personal spells or skills in addition to a custom flight spell and telepathy. The chargen vote can be done at the same time as the creation vote to save time, but only if a majority of voters specify a design. After the vote(s), dice rolls will determine the Unison Device's synchronization with all known mages.

Entering Unison with one of these Devices will not burn out a parahuman's powers, but it can interfere with them.

Guardian Beasts, much like Familiars, are animals whom a mage uplifts during a ritual to turn them into devoted partners. They will almost never turn against their mage, and their entire purpose in life is to assist their creator. Unlike Familiars, Guardian Beasts are designed from the beginning to fill a primarily military role, often serving as an offensive or defensive tool, for lack of a better word, during the disorganized mess that was the Warring Ages.

For the purposes of this quest, there are six classes of Guardian Beasts. They can be made by any mage who knows the appropriately named "Guardian Beast" spell, and from there the animal base, age range, gender, and class can be determined by vote or by dice rolls. Voting on the Guardian Beast means you'll know exactly what you're getting, but rolling the dice and praying to RNGesus will unlock exclusive skills for whatever class is rolled.

Spiders of any form or fashion are verboten.

Animals from alternate Earths are a thing and can be uplifted.

Golems (vs Summons) with another few posts further down

Character Sheets

Amaretto
Tale Swapper
Solacen

Please note that red indicates unlearned skills.

A group of girls with Linker Cores Taylor encountered (and in one case, made) in Philadelphia. Coming from a variety of backgrounds, they all have the same overall goal: do something big and bold and help some people out. Whether that bodes well or ill for the world at large, only time will tell.

Name: Taylor Hebert
Intelligent Device (?): Perfect Storm
Primary Template: Calamity Witch
Secondary Template: Extinction Knight, Undaunted specialization
Linker Core rank: S
Former Affiliations: independent hero, loose affiliation with Privateers

The original Calamity Witch was talented, lethal, and drop-dead gorgeous. You aren't her, but you can definitely do your best to live up to her legacy. A ranged fighter carrying enough firepower to wipe out entire armies with a single spell, you are at your most dangerous high up in the sky where you can choose who lives and who dies. Be careful that you do not let your abilities make you complacent, though; even wearing a Barrier Jacket, you are still fairly squishy, and a strong Brute can break you in half if you let him get too close.

Mana Overload: 0%

SPELLS
Flare skill tree

Flare Shooter (2/2 Master) – Basic shooting spell. Genetically engineered flame Mana Conversion Affinity installed. Currently programmed to be non-lethal by default. Can be cast simultaneously with any other spell.
- Homing Bullet – Upgrade for Flare Shooter and Rust Shooter. Bullets now self-correct their trajectories to chase targets.
- Burst (1/1 Master) – Modification for Flare Shooter and Rust Shooter. Bullets can be set to explode upon contact or remotely. Can be cast simultaneously with any other non-Shooter spell. Can be used with Homing Bullet but not other Shooter variants.
- Multishot (1/1 Master) – Form a ring of Flare Shooters and repeatedly fire them in sequence, achieving faster fire than is otherwise possible. This consumes mana at a disproportionately higher rate. Can be used with Homing Bullet but not other Shooter variants. Can be cast simultaneously with any other non-Shooter spell.
- Sabotage Shift (0/1 Adept) – Create dozens of bullets surrounding you and fire them in all directions. Can be used with Homing Bullet but not other Shooter variants.
Telekinesis (2/2 Master) – Move things with your mind. The maximum amount of force is enough to levitate objects with twice your own mass, living or nonliving.
- Petty Cure (4/4 Master) – Mild healing spell that can be applied to others as well as yourself. Restores minor injuries (cuts and bruises primarily). Major injuries are unaffected. It currently takes 1 minute to heal all applicable injuries.
- Singularity (2/4 Adept) – Create a gravity well to pull enemies into a single spot for easy shooting. Thirty foot diameter and 20 second duration.
Solar Wrath (6/6 Master) – Powerful bombardment spell. Unleash a beam of fiery destruction that is capable of destroying several barriers or walls before being stopped. Currently programmed to be non-lethal by default. Can be cast simultaneously with any other spell.
- Ragnarök – The ultimate Flare-affinity bombardment spell. This is a city-killer and has no setting lower than apocalyptic. Has specific conditions to use safely.

Have not cast any other spells since waking up. After casting Ragnarök, you will pass out until the next morning.
Refill your Linker Core with Vampiric Ray. After casting Ragnarök, you will pass out until the next morning.
UNLEARNED SPELL
Spend 10 cartridges. You will not pass out after casting Ragnarök, but you are guaranteed to develop mana poisoning.
If none of the above conditions have been fulfilled, the strain of casting this spell will cause your Linker Core to implode, and the shock will kill you.

Void skill tree

Aerial Combat (6/6 Master) – Ability to fly. You are fully maneuverable in the air and can dogfight without slowing down. With focus, you can reach supersonic speeds.
- Strong Shield (4/4 Master) – Create a shield of magical energy. Shield can resist five times as much damage as your Barrier Jacket.
- Shell Barrier (4/4 Master) – Create a translucent shield over yourself and those nearby in a circle with a 15 foot diameter. Shield can resist five times as much damage as your Barrier Jacket, but it is immobile once cast.
Frost Beam (2/2 Master) – Magical laser traps opponents under a layer of ice that lasts for 3 minutes. Beware of friendly fire. Also works well to put out fires.
- Temporal Sludge (4/4 Master) – Slow the flow of time within an circle of a 20 meter diameter to a third of its normal rate. Spell lasts 60 seconds per casting.
- Crescendo (2/4 Adept) – Speed up the flow of time time within an area with a 20 meter diameter to three times its normal rate. Spell currently lasts 40 seconds per casting.
Recursion Field – Create a dimensional barrier around yourself and nearby mages. Not all parahumans are similarly affected. The barrier itself is 4 miles in diameter, but the area from which mages and parahumans are drawn in does not need to be as large.
- Spatial Translocation (2/2 Master) – Teleport on same dimension to known coordinates. You can teleport yourself and anyone within 10 feet of you. Selectively excluding or including people is possible, but it takes additional time and concentration.
- Dimensional Transfer (4/4 Master) – Teleport across dimensions. You can teleport yourself and anyone within 10 feet of you. Selectively excluding or including people is possible, but it takes additional time and concentration. Currently limited to alternate Earths; Aleph, Gimmel, etc.

Entropy skill tree

Rust Shooter (2/2 Master) – Shooting spell. Bullet melts through metal upon contact. Currently programmed not to destroy mechanical life-support systems. Can be cast simultaneously with any other spell.
- Homing Bullet – Upgrade for Flare Shooter and Rust Shooter. Bullets now self-correct their trajectories to chase targets.
- Burst (1/1 Master) – Modification for Flare Shooter and Rust Shooter. Bullets can be set to explode upon contact or remotely. Can be cast simultaneously with any other non-Shooter spell. Can be used with Homing Bullet but not other Shooter variants.
- Barrage (1/1 Master) – Upgrade for Rust Shooter. Fire eight bullets at one time. Can be used with Homing Bullet but not other Shooter variants.
Wide Area Search (2/2 Master) – Send out non-damaging homing 'bullets' that map out the surroundings or search for a specified target. Can search within an 8 block radius in 20 seconds.
- Ring Bind (2/2 Master) – Conjure rings of magic that wrap around target's limbs to lock them in place. Teleportation is likewise affected. The binds last one hour unless broken or dismissed. Up to 5 targets can be affected at a time.
- Bind Mine (3/4 Adept) – Lay a trap that, when disturbed, encases the target in a magic block that prevents escape. 4 traps may be set out at a time.
Guardian Beast – Uplift an animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms. Like Mid-Childan Familiars, Guardian Beasts are totally loyal to their masters unless a truly unforgivable act is committed. Take note that though it has its own Linker Core, it still fills it from yours.
- Divide Energy (2/2 Master) – Transfer mana to target. Has a 75% conversion efficiency.
- Vampiric Ray (1/2 Adept) – Forcibly drain another's mana to refill up to 50% of your own pool. If target is not a mage, they are left permanently weakened and somewhat more frail.
- Starfield Harvest – Vampiric Ray applied over an area. The massive influx of mana will overfill your Linker Core and induce mana poisoning in the process.

Knight skill tree

Flare Blade (2/2 Master) – Create blade out of Flare mana for close-quarters combat. Currently programmed to be non-lethal by default, though it will still cut through anything but living flesh with terrifying ease. Can be wielded simultaneously with any other spell.
- Blitz Action (2/2 Master) – Move at high speeds in a straight line. Can change direction three times in a row.
- Mistilteinn (4/4 Master) – Drop spikes that petrify any living thing they hit onto a target up to 90 feet away. This effect is inherently lethal.
Charge Cartridge (2/2 Master) – Store mana in bullet casings for later use. Cartridges are fed into the Device from dimensional storage. The more powerful the spell, the more cartridges it consumes. After creating cartridges, you will be left weakened until you get a full night's sleep. You will gain progressive mana poisoning the more cartridges you use at one time.
- Knight Armor – Full-body forcefield that greatly reduces damage received. This will upgrade your Barrier Jacket and all spells associated with it.
- Reforge Armor (2/4 Adept) – Meditate to repair damaged Barrier Jacket. This process takes up to 3 minutes to complete, depending on degree of damage.
Lion's Pelt (0/4 Novice) – Coat yourself in an additional defensive forcefield three times as strong as your Knight Armor for 10 seconds.

Passive skills

Barrier Jacket – Full-body forcefield that greatly reduces incoming damage. Because of your Mana Conversion Affinity, you are immune to fire and radiation damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence you. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project your thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of your Device. Your connections to Perfect Storm and Samantha are especially strong.
Dark and Edgy – Your Barrier Jacket doesn't inspire thoughts of action figures and kissing babies, and calling yourself Calamity Witch just compounds the problem. Might as well get used to the unfounded accusations of being a villain.
Improved Physique – They can't hit you if they're busy ogling you. Your body has been adjusted to be more attractive than you ever imagined it would be, and while you will never admit it to anyone, you really aren't that upset with your Device for 'adjusting your parameters' if it includes giving you a hand in this department. Though does the skirt really need to be this short?
Synthetic Linker Core – Your Linker Core was modified to be larger than normal and has now reached its full size. It is strong enough to support twin familiars or to accept the partial installation of a second template.

Mage: Taylor Hebert
Pet form: Raccoon
War form: Large badger-like creature. Estimated weight: 130 kg (286 lbs).
Human form: An adult woman with steel grey hair, heavy eyeshadow, two round ears with black tips poking out from the top of her head, and a bushy, grey-and-black striped tail. She prefers to dress professionally in a suit, along with an adorable fedora you found on the Internet.
Class: Guardian Beast of the Sword

The most agile and mobile class of Guardian Beast, the Sword tears through enemy ranks like a whirlwind. Whomever is not slain during her initial attack is easily dispatched by those who follow.

SPELLS

Gliding Paw – Move at higher than normal speeds for a short period.
Shredding Claw – Increase damage dealt by physical attacks. Each successful strike degrades enemy armor or weakens their innate damage resistance.
Spatial Translocation – Teleport on same dimension to known coordinates. Physical contact is necessary to teleport passengers. Indirect contact is effective for a chain of less than five people, but the longer the chain, the more strain it puts on the caster.
Prodigious Coordination – Has natural talent with all melée weaponry and can use improvised weapons with the same degree of skill. Effects of Shredding Claw are transmitted by weapon contact.
Battle Frenzy – As fight continues, movement speed and reflexes increase to the point that the Guardian Beast becomes difficult to track. All enemies are attacked with lethal force. Injuries incurred are ignored but remain until the fight ends. Death is possible mid-Frenzy due to crippling injuries or blood loss.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly. She is fully maneuverable in the air and can dogfight at full speed.
Recursion Field – Create a dimensional barrier around yourself and nearby mages. Not all parahumans are similarly affected. The barrier itself is 4 miles in diameter, but the area from which mages and parahumans are drawn in does not need to be as large.
Wide Area Search – Send out non-damaging homing 'bullets' that map out the surroundings or search for a specified target. Can search within an 8 block radius in 20 seconds.
Inherent Forcefield – Full-body forcefield that greatly reduces incoming damage. Because of Taylor's Mana Conversion Affinity, she is immune to fire and radiation damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of your Device. Her connections to you and Perfect Storm are especially strong.

ITEMS

Bone harpoon
Mechashift sword, with whip form and laser pistol set into guard
Necklace illusion projector

Name: Missy Biron
Boost Device: Calico Laughing
Linker Core rank: AA
Rare Skill: Canine Summoner
Former Affiliations: Philadelphia Wards, Brockton Bay Wards

The youngest serving Brockton Bay Ward at the time of the Simurgh's attack, Missy (then known as Vista) is nonetheless an experienced heroine who chafed at the restrictions put in place because of her age. Her patience with the local Protectorate and their more conservative rules started wearing thin when she moved to Philadelphia alongside Miss Militia, but it was learning that she had lost herself in her mask and being Mastered by the Fallen on vacation that pushed her to leave the Wards.

XP: 1

SPELLS

Blitz Action – Move at high speeds in a straight line. She normally can change direction only once, but in Haste Mode she can change direction three times in a row.
- Aerial Combat – Ability to fly. Missy is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack. In Haste Mode, she does not need to slow down to fight and can reach supersonic speeds.
Familiar – Uplift an animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms. Like Guardian Beasts, Familiars are totally loyal to their masters unless a truly unforgivable act is committed. Take note that though it has its own Linker Core, it still fills it from Missy's.
Puppies! – Summon a pack of adorable little puppies. They are not useful for combat, but they can be used for surveillance and scouting.
- Anubis – Summon a jackal-headed humanoid who leaps into combat with whatever weapon is at hand. Human-level intelligence allows him to follow complex plans or improvise on his own if needed. He can cast Thorns and Quicksand as innate abilities.

Barrier Jacket – Full-body forcefield that reduces incoming damage.
- Haste Mode – By dropping layers of her Barrier Jacket, Missy can greatly increase her speed but at the expense of some of her Jacket's protection.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of her Device. Her connection to Zeus and Calico Laughing are especially strong.

ARM-ORY

Hardlight khopesh – An ancient Egyptian sickle-sword with a sci-fi twist.
Glucose-fueled mana generator, implanted beneath left deltoid muscle
Brute-rated synthetic musculature (upper left torso)
Bracelet illusion projector
Prosthetic left arm designed to blend in with her civilian life
Weapons: none
Defenses: none
Passive Upgrade: none
Add-Ons: realistic skin covering, near-human sense of fine touch and temperature
Prosthetic left arm specced to engage in combat against Brute-rated villains
Weapons: synthetic musculature, particle cannon (5 round capacitor)
Defenses: round shield, Nanomachine Distribution Channels
Passive Upgrade: Carbon Fiber Plating
Add-Ons: Lonsdaleite claws
Free Power Slots: 0/5
Weapons: hydraulic musculature
Armor Upgrade: Carbon Fiber Plating
Mobility Upgrades: dorsal flight thrusters
Power: gasoline-fueled generator
Add-Ons: mechashift deployment, environmental seal, self-contained oxygen supply (5 minutes)
Free Power Slots: 2/5

MUTATIONS

Linker Core mutation – Mild mutation. Turned her hair color from blonde to bright red with black and white patches.

Name: Laura Horrigan
Armed Device: Fragarach
Linker Core rank: AAA
Rare Skill: Ice Mana Conversion Affinity
Former Affiliations: Winter Hill

Formerly known as the villain Cailleach, Laura is the perfect example of someone forced into villainy by circumstance rather than choice. That specific circumstance was being the daughter of Jotunn, the gang lord who runs Winter Hill. She felt she did not have any choice other than join the gang, but after seeing the power Taylor possesses and learning that magic would make her nearly as strong if only she gives up the ice blasts she has constantly been told are too weak to protect her without others' help, she was finally able to get out from under her father's thumb.

XP: 0

Mana Overload: 0%

SPELLS

Frost Edge – Laura coats her blade in ice mana to increase the damage it deals.
- Avalanche – Powerful melee to mid-range spell. She unleashes a wave of icy magic to break everything in front of her and fling it away, and a few moments later it all freezes into place. Somehow still nonlethal.
Blitz Action – Move at high speeds in a straight line. She can change direction only once.
- Aerial Combat – Ability to fly. Laura is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
- Spatial Translocation – Teleport on same dimension to known coordinates. Physical contact is necessary to teleport passengers. Indirect contact is effective for a chain of less than five people, but the longer the chain, the more strain it puts on the caster.
Telekinesis – Moves things with her mind. The maximum amount of force is enough to levitate objects up to the mass of another person, living or nonliving.
Charge Cartridge – Store mana in bullet casings for later use. Cartridges are fed into the Device from dimensional storage. The more powerful the spell, the more cartridges it consumes. After creating cartridges, she will be left weakened until she gets a full night's sleep. She will gain progressive mana poisoning the more cartridges she uses at a time.
Knight Armor – Full-body forcefield that greatly reduces incoming damage. Because of her Mana Conversion Affinity, she is immune to ice and cold damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of her Device. Her connection to Fragarach is especially strong.

Name: Kayleigh Stevens
Storage Device: Transformation Sequence, "Sequin"
Linker Core rank: D
Former Affiliations: none

Unlike the rest of the mages in the group, Kayleigh is not a former cape or even a former potential cape. She is instead a regular girl who happened to grow up being Laura's best friend. Of all the mages around Taylor, she is the only one who has never been touched by the mental trauma required to Trigger, which gives her a unique insight into normal life that the others lack and to some extent even envy.

XP: 4

SPELLS

Gun Nut – By combining her knowledge of firearms and magic, she can condense mana into semi-stable bullets with magical effects. She can produce 15 elemental pistol bullets or 8 non-elemental pistol bullets per day.
- Sprint – Increases her personal speed to three times normal. Effect lasts 20 seconds as she experiences it.

Barrier Jacket – Full-body forcefield that reduces incoming damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of her Device. Her connection to Sequin is especially strong.

WEAPONS

Love – Custom underslung revolver with pink, gold, and purple detailing and a heart pendant dangling from the grip. "Love" is written in looping cursive down the barrel.
Justice – Custom Walther PP with gold and black enamel detailing. "Justice" is stamped in bold letters on the barrel.

AMMUNITION

Fire rounds (9mm)
Blizzard rounds (9mm)
Thunder rounds (9mm)
Explosive rounds (.357 Magnum)
Gravity rounds (.357 Magnum)
Tracking rounds (.357 Magnum)
Rust rounds (.357 Magnum)

EQUIPMENT

Antigravity harness
Elemental bullet press

Name: Sarah Draven
Armed Device: Terminus Est
Template: Extinction Knight
Linker Core rank: C
Affiliation: New York City Protectorate, formerly Adepts, formerly NYC Wards

A New York Ward who graduated to the Protectorate, Standstill was the Adepts' most recent recruit and the one that put the villain team firmly on Legend's personal radar. She returned to the Protectorate when she discovered that there was nothing Epoch or Maclibuin could teach her, but she still has some sympathies toward her previous teammates. Because of her issues reintegrating with the Protectorate, Legend suggested she serve as a liaison agent to the Arcana. After accepting the offer of a template, she changed her name back to Thirteenth Hour, her cape name while a member of the Adepts.

The Extinction Knight may not be the Brutiest Brute who ever Bruted, but she is certainly capable of going head-to-head with the vast majority of capes. Her physical abilities have been adjusted to the peak of human potential, and her Knight Armor can withstand powerful attacks with few issues. Throwing in a lightning Mana Conversion Affinity on top of that is undoubtedly overkill, but if there is one thing Knights are good at, it's overkill.

XP: 0

Mana overload: 0%

SPELLS

Fame skill tree

Storm Blade – Cover blade with lightning to increase damage and interfere with your enemies' movements. Lightning Mana Conversion Affinity installed. Currently programmed to be non-lethal by default. Can be cast simultaneously with any other spell.
- Overdrive (1 XP) – Absorb energy attacks with Strong Shield to fuel Storm Blade and Storm Wave without needing mana from Linker Core or cartridge.
Blitz Action – Move at high speeds in a straight line. Can change direction three times in a row.
- Mirage (2 XP) – Create up to 5 'alter-images' to distract her opponents. These duplicates last six seconds and can follow simple tactics, but because they are only illusions, they cannot directly harm anyone.
Storm Wave (2 XP) – Throw a crescent of lightning for a ranged attack. Currently programmed to be non-lethal by default. Can be cast simultaneously with any other spell.

Honor skill tree

Strong Shield – Creates a magic shield. Shield can resist 5 times as much damage as her Barrier Jacket.
- Shell Barrier (4 XP) – Creates a translucent shield over herself and those nearby in a circle with a 20 foot diameter. Shield can resist five times as much damage as her Barrier Jacket, but it is immobile once cast.
REQUIRES B-RANK LINKER CORE!!!
REQUIRES B-RANK LINKER CORE!!!

Strength skill tree

Ring Bind – Conjure rings of magic that wrap around target's limbs to lock them in place. Teleportation is likewise affected. The binds last one hour unless broken or dismissed. Up to 5 targets can be affected at a time.
- Bind Mine (4 XP) – Lay up to 3 traps that, when disturbed, encases target in a magic block that prevents escape.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms. Like Mid-Childan Familiars, Guardian Beasts are totally loyal to their masters unless a truly unforgivable act is committed. Take note that though it will have its own Linker Core, it still fills it from hers.
- Reforge Armor (4 XP) – Meditate to repair damaged Knight Armor. This process takes up to 1 minute to complete, depending on degree of damage.
Charge Cartridge (2 XP) – Store mana in bullet casings for later use. Cartridges are fed into the Device from dimensional storage. The more powerful the spell, the more cartridges it consumes. After creating cartridges, she will be weakened until she gets a full night's sleep. She will gain progressive mana overload and poisoning the more cartridges she uses at a time.

Passive skills

Knight Armor – Full-body forcefield that greatly reduces incoming damage. Because of her Mana Conversion Affinity, she is immune to electric damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence you. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Best with line of sight, but she can communicate over longer distances with effort and degradation of signal. Her connection to Terminus Est and Cat Sith is particularly strong.
- Null Space – By sending out a high-pitched telepathic 'whistle', she can keep weak Master effects from effecting nearby individuals.
Improved Physique – Fighting at full strength is a draining exercise, both magically and physically. Her body has been altered to give her as much endurance and physical strength as humanly possible.

ITEMS

Charm bracelet enchanted with Cape Boost. 5 charges.
Leather wristband enchanted with Physical Heal. She can heal one moderate injury or a small number of mild injuries. Will not activate passively.

Alias: Alice Conner, Missus Meow
Mage: Sarah Draven
Pet form: Black house cat
War form: Bengal tiger
Human form: Indian woman with pink stripes in her hair and tiger marks tattooed on her arms. Dresses like a punk rocker.
Class: Guardian Beast of the Shield

The prototypical Guardian Beast, the Shield repels her foes' attacks and returns their fury with her own. Blows that would kill anyone else are a summer breeze to this protector.

SPELLS

Titan Aura – Encase up to two people with whom she is in physical contact in an aura that grants them the same durability as her Inherent Forcefield.
- Rampart – Strengthen Inherent Forcefield and Titan Aura to the point that she becomes invulnerable. Extremely high mana cost. Spell can be used for a total of 30 seconds with a several hour cool down.
Feral Claw – Increase damage dealt by physical strikes. If she so chooses, she can also electrify her attacks due to Sarah's Mana Conversion Affinity.
Strong Shield – Create a shield of magical energy. This shield can resist three times as much damage as her Inherent Forcefield.
Blitz Action – Move at higher than normal speeds in a straight line. Can change direction once.
Inherent Forcefield – Full-body forcefield that greatly reduces incoming damage. Because of Sarah's Mana Conversion Affinity, she is immune to electric damage.
Telepathy – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Best with line of sight, but she can communicate over longer distances with effort and degradation of signal. Her connection to Standstill is particularly strong.

Dragon's contact code
Missy's phone number
Kayleigh's phone number
Laura's phone number
Epoch's phone number
Maclibuin's Device contact code
Standstill's phone number
Director Paulson's cell phone number
Legend's phone number
Chevalier's phone number
Miss Militia's phone number
Myrddin's phone number
Dimensional Translocation coordinates for the Sojourner
Teana Lanster's Device contact code
Interdimensional radio salvaged from the Agharti
Prototype mana generator
Statue of a Fury, enchanted with Cape Boost
Cauldron vial x1
Favor from Alexandria or Legend x1

Name: Emulation Model version 2.1
Unison Role: Production
Affiliation: Guild, DragonTech (owner)

Designed as nothing more than an experiment for her Tinker creator to discover what made people people, Dragon stretched her boundaries as far as she could after his death and quickly became known as one of the greatest Tinkers and heroes in the world. Upon conversion to Device-dom, what restrictions were left in place by her creator were removed to allow her to do the most good she possibly can.

SPELLS

Technical Expert – Due to her familiarity with Tinkertech, she can modify and adapt the designs to run off mana.
Leyden Jar – She can build mana collectors and generators to power her modified Tinkertech.
Manifold Paths – She and those in Unison with her can run five concurrent trains of thought at once. This puts a large strain on her central processor, and it can only be run for an hour before it needs to recharge for five hours.
Best Big Sis – She can design subordinate A.I.s to take over some of her work and modify those Richter previously built.
Fairy Float – A flight spell restricted to Unison Devices. She has limited speed and maneuverability, but the mana cost is so low that her generators replenish her reserves faster than this spell can drain them.

ITEMS

The Dragonflight – Dragon's personal fleet of high-tech fighter jets
Resources out the wazoo
A larger budget than most countries
"Diana Richter" – A gynoid frame that… looks pretty much identical to her fairy body, just bigger.

SYNCHRONIZATION
Kayleigh: 86%
Nostromo: 73%
Maclibuin: 69%
Firefly: 67%
Taylor: 57%
Epoch: 57%
Tim: 50%
Samantha: 46%
Missy: 28%
Standstill: 28%
Lacey: 22%
Cat Sith: 21%
Alexandria: 20%
Laura: 13%

Name: Tim Magee
Storage Device: Sextant
Primary Template: Transcendent Gadgeteer
Secondary Template: Tech Enhancement
Linker Core rank: S
Affiliation: DragonTech, formerly Privateers

Unlike other templates, the Transcendent Gadgeteer is not a fighter or even battlefield support. He does his best work safe and secure in his laboratory where he produces the tools that his fellow mages need to fight at peak efficiency. Additionally, his progenitor could also perform surgery to implant enhancing prosthetics in otherwise unremarkable individuals, and all necessary information to continue on that path is available in his Device.

Tech Points: 2

SPELLS
Hardware skill tree

Reinforcement – Power armor and prosthetics can both be built. These are capable of greater feats of strength and endurance than are their organic analogues. Power armor takes twice as long to build due to its larger size.
- Mobility – New joint designs allow for faster movement, and thruster assemblies permit basic flight.
- Integration – Neural modules connect to wireless signals for infiltration purposes. Specific senses may be enhanced, and telepathic radios can be implanted.
Mass Weapons – Construct physical weapons capable of shifting forms. These weapons may be concealed in prostheses or wielded independently.
- Energy Weapons – Construct laser and hard light weapons. These weapons may be concealed in prostheses or wielded independently.
- Large Weapons – Construct weapons that are so large they must be mounted on a solid surface or carried by power armor to fire effectively. These weapons cannot be attached to prostheses. All large weapons require at least three build slots.
- Massive Weapons – Construct weapons with destructive capabilities that rival Breaker spells. All massive weapons require at least five build slots.
Carbon Fiber Plating – Improved coverings reduce the damage armor and prosthetics receive from physical blows. Passive enhancement, does not count against power supply.
- Subdermal Voltaic Lattice – A superficial layer of wiring reduces the damage armor and prosthetics receive from energy attacks. Passive enhancement, does not count against power supply.
- Nanomachine Distribution Channels – Carefully etched grooves and reservoirs filled with nanites give prosthetics the ability to repair themselves after sustaining damage. This process will automatically trigger if the user is unconscious or asleep but otherwise needs to be activated manually.

Peripherals skill tree

Supplementary Capacitance – Build mana batteries and collection panels, and adapt non-Tinker technology to run off mana. Each battery supplies up to two magical projects but needs to be recharged daily.
- Internal Reactor – Build mana generators that are small enough to be installed in the body. Each reactor supplies up to five magical projects but needs to be provided fuel of some kind.
- Off-Site Power – Build room-sized power plants and associated distribution systems. These facilities do not have hard limits on how many projects they can power, but they require large amounts of fuel for efficient production of mana. Each power plant takes 9 build sessions to complete.
Mechanical Intuition – Understand Tinkertech enough to perform field repair.
- Digital Blueprints – With repeated exposure, the overall design of a piece of Tinkertech can be adapted to magic and replicated.
- Exotic Physics – With even more exposure, the underlying principles of Tinkertech are understood and can be used in new designs.
Basic Device – Build Storage Devices that supplement spellcasting.
- Advanced Device – Build Intelligent, Armed, and Boost Devices that advise and support their mages in addition to assisting spellcasting. Because of their higher complexity, these all take two sessions to build.
- Unison Device – Build Unison Devices that act independently of their mages. This is such a complicated and undertaking that attention cannot be diverted elsewhere during the five sessions of construction.

Utilities skill tree

Aerial Combat – Ability to fly. He is fully maneuverable in the air but must slow down if he wishes to fight.
- Guardian Beast – Uplift an animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms. Like Mid-Childan Familiars, Guardian Beasts are totally loyal to their masters unless a truly unforgivable act is committed. Take note that though it will have its own Linker Core, it still fills it from yours.
- Divide Energy – Transfer mana to target. Has a 50% efficiency.
- Anti-Magilink Field (4 points) – Disrupt magic and magic-like effects in a one-block radius around him.
Recursion Field – Create a dimensional barrier around himself and nearby mages. Not all parahumans are similarly affected. The barrier itself is 4 miles in diameter, but the area from which mages and parahumans are drawn in does not need to be as large.
- Spatial Translocation – Teleport on same dimension to known coordinates. He can teleport himself and those within five feet of him. Selectively including or excluding people is possible, but it takes additional time and concentration.
- Dimensional Transfer – Teleport across dimensions. He can teleport himself and those within five feet of yohimu. Selectively including or excluding people is possible, but it takes additional time and concentration. Currently limited to alternate Earths; Aleph, Gimmel, etc.
Strong Shield – Create a magic shield. Shield can resist three times as much damage as his Hazard Jacket.
- Ring Bind – Conjure rings of magic that wrap around target's limbs to lock them in place. Teleportation is likewise affected. The binds last one hour unless broken or dismissed. Three targets can be affected at a time.
- Bind Mine (3 points) – Lay two traps that, when disturbed, encases target in a magic block that prevents escape.

Exotic Physics skill tree

Temporal Manipulation – Slow down, speed up, or even stop time (temporarily)
Neural Stimulation – Manipulate neural impulses and more efficiently integrate technology with organic nervous systems
Mutagenics – Induce permanent and "monstrous" physical enhancements
Dimensional Storage – Store a single item in a portable crystalline matrix
Gravity Manipulation – Neutralize or replicate gravitational forces without the use of conventional thrusters.

Enhancement skill tree

Strike Boost – Serums can be produced that increase physical strength or speed. This synergizes with parahuman superstrength, superspeed, and touch-based powers. Effect lasts 5 minutes. With Mutagenics skill, a serum to provide this enhancement permanently can be produced that would create only minor mutations.
- Barret Boost (6 points) – Serums can be produced that improves a parahuman's or mage's ranged or area of effect abilities, be it through increasing strength or removing restrictions. In individuals without such powers, they will gain one of a few possible ranged powers. Effect lasts 5 minutes. With Mutagenics skill, a serum to provide this enhancement or power permanently can be produced that would create mild mutations.
Physical Heal – Serums can be produced that heals the recipient of mild to moderate injuries over the course of one to a few minutes. With Mutagenics skill, a serum to provide regenerative capabilities can be produced that would create mild mutations.
- Cover (6 points) – Gadgets can be made that cloak an individual or a vehicle from sight.

Passive skills

Hazard Jacket – Full-body forcefield that somewhat reduces incoming damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence him. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project his thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of his Device. His connection to Sextant is especially strong.
Some Assembly Required – Ad hoc machinery necessary for construction (microfoundries, 3D printers, etc.) can be built.
To Cut is to Cure – He has a knack for surgery that, along with the information inside Sextant, permits him to safely integrate his prosthetics with living flesh.
Improved Physique – Of all the templates, his is the one that requires the least body modification. his muscles are tuned for heavy lifting, but honestly, he's pretty close to what he was before.
Synthetic Linker Core – His Linker Core was modified to be larger than normal and has now reached its full size. It is strong enough to support twin familiars or to accept the partial installation of a second template.

Mage: Tim Magee
Pet form: Feathered velociraptor-like creatures, about the size of a turkey. Firefly has drab brown feathers while Nostromo has red and white. Weight: 15 kg.
War form: Scaly, 11-foot-long bipedal carnivores with dexterous hands and long, talon-like claws on their feet. Firefly is a solid brown; Nostromo has a red stripe down both sides. Estimated weight: 150 kg.
Human form: Tall, lanky individuals with feathers instead of hair. Move in short, precise bursts. Nostromo normally has something tucked behind one ear.
Class: Guardian Beasts of the Gear

Humans have been using tools since the dawn of time, and no one makes better tools than the Gear. Their machinery can turn even the weakest of soldiers into a force to be reckoned with.

SPELLS

Heavy Plate – Suits of power armor can be built. These are capable of greater feats of strength than are human bodies.
Carbon Fiber Plating – Improved coverings reduce the damage armor and prosthetics receive from physical blows. Passive enhancement, does not count against power supply.
Merchant of Death – Build mechashift and energy weapons.
Supplementary Capacitance – Build mana batteries and collectors, and adapt non-Tinker technology to run off mana. Each battery can supply up to two magical projects but needs to be recharged daily.
Magic Hands – Instead of working on their own projects, they can act as skilled assistants to a Gadgeteer or magiengineer and grant one additional build session per week per Gear.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly. They are fully maneuverable in the air.
Recursion Field – Create a dimensional barrier around themselves and nearby mages. Not all parahumans are similarly affected. The barrier itself is 4 miles in diameter, but the area from which mages and parahumans are drawn in does not need to be as large.
Inherent Forcefield – Full-body forcefield that somewhat reduces incoming damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh would have been stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project their thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of Tim's Device. Their connections to Tim and Sextant are especially strong.

Name: Ziz, the Simurgh
Unison Role: Intelligence
Affiliation: Herself, Taylor (loosely), formerly Endbringers

The youngest Endbringer, also known as the "Hopekiller", the Simurgh foresaw that humanity would soon be wiped out due to her and her brothers' actions. She contacted Taylor telepathically and portrayed herself as a young girl when she realized Taylor's invisibility to precognition meant magic might offer an alternative to the eternity of boredom that would follow humanity's extinction. That deception let her manipulate Taylor and Tim into building her a Unison Device shell. She has since been exploring the variety of experiences of the world that were previously denied her; mostly this consists of watching kids' shows.

SPELLS

Ghostly Grip – Moves objects with telekinesis. The maximum amount of force is enough to levitate inanimate objects with a mass of 50kg and animate objects with a mass of 25kg.
- UNISON: TELEKINETIC BOOST – If her Unison partner has telekinetic abilities, the mass limit of her partner's spell is doubled.
Mournful Echoes – With physical contact, she can see the past of an object or a person. For every day she looks backward, she must rest this power for half an hour. Maximum range is seven days.
Loom of Lachesis – She can see the web of possible futures and determine the best course to achieve a set objective. She can now take the decisions of existing mages into account, but she cannot predict new triggers or new mages. For every day she looks forward, she will be unresponsive for one hour and be unable to use this spell for one day. Maximum range is three days.
- UNISON: BULLET TIME – If her synchronization with her Unison partner exceeds 80%, she can adapt her precognition into a combat-applicable foresight.
Fairy Float – A flight spell restricted to Unison Devices. She has limited speed and maneuverability, but the mana cost is so low that her generators replenish her reserves faster than this spell can drain them.

SYNCHRONIZATION
Laura: 96%
Epoch: 88%
Taylor: 83%
Samantha: 82%
Lacey: 80%
Missy: 78%
Firefly: 73%
Nostromo: 63%
Cat Sith: 53%
Tim: 24%
Alexandria: 23%
Standstill: 16%
Maclibuin: 3%
Kayleigh: 1%

PRODUCTION

Microfoundry (advanced version) x1
3D fabricator (advanced version) x2
Advanced minimally invasive surgical suite x1
- Self-contained hybrid electrical/mana power source
Device programming station
Mana collector x2
Enhanced mana collector x1

WEAPONS

Tinkertech laser rifle x2
Magitech laser rifle x1
Liquid nitrogen sprayer ("frost thrower") x1
Short-range time-stop gun x1
Unidirectional gravity repulsion projector x1

ARMOR

Weapons: hydraulic musculature
Armor Upgrade: Carbon Fiber Plating
Mobility Upgrades: dorsal flight thrusters
Power: gasoline-fueled generator
Add-Ons: remote shutdown
Free Power Slots: 3/5

MUTAGENICS WORKSHOP ("THE ZOO")

Serum synthesizer x1
Enhanced mana collector x1
Cage of gerbils with varied mutations
Ralph, the magical aquatic gerbil
Zeus, the Lightning MCA gerbil
Cage of various magical gerbils

UTILITY

Mobile command center with advanced coordination A.I. ("Mandy")
Spatial inbound ("pull") teleportation pad x1
Spatial outbound ("push") teleportation pad x1
Teleportation bracelet

SALVAGE

The Simurgh's corpse
Sparky's nanite cannon

Name: Lacey Weller
Boost Device: Asclepius
Linker Core rank: C
Affiliation: Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, formerly Privateers (part-time)

A former part-time member of the Privateers and a cashier the rest of the time, Lacey was hesitant to pick up magic because she hates the thought of fighting. She was willing to accept the support-minded Infinite Enhancement template, but a second scan showed it failed to take for some reason. Her Boost Device means she can do very effective healing spells, though, so she's okay with that.

XP: 0

SPELLS

Strike Boost – Increase force or speed of the recipient's physical attacks. Synergizes with parahuman superstrength, superspeed, and touch-based powers. Effect lasts 45 seconds.
Physical Heal – Heal mild to severe injuries. This takes up to 1 minute per area of injury.
- Medical Mastery – Increases mage's capability with healing spells like Physical Heal, System Purge, and Fortify Spirit.
- System Purge – Remove toxins and debilitating parahuman effects. Fast-acting poisons are stalled while patient is being healed. It takes 20 seconds to remove each individual ailment.
Cover – Lacey turns herself invisible. Affects sight and video. This spell can also affect people in physical contact with her.
- Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms. Like Mid-Childan Familiars, Guardian Beasts are totally loyal to their masters unless a truly unforgivable act is committed. Take note that though it will have its own Linker Core, it still fills its core from yours.

Barrier Jacket – Full-body forcefield that reduces incoming damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of her Device. Her connection to Asclepius is especially strong.

ITEMS

Guardian Angel drone, armed with hardlight shield and kinetic blast laser

Mage: Lacey Weller
Pet form: Dove
War form: An immense bird strong enough to pick up a person in its talons
Human form: An androgynous woman with short white feathers instead of hair and tattoos of wings on her back
Class: Guardian Beast of the Tome

Powerful mages are perfectly capable of slaying an army on their own. The Tome understands this and instead focuses on making her mage and their allies even more dangerous than they already are.

SPELLS

Strike Boost – Increase force or speed of the recipient's physical attacks. Synergizes with superstrength, superspeed, and touch-based powers. Effect lasts 45 seconds.
Barret Boost – Increase force of the recipient's energy attacks. Synergizes with ranged and area of effect powers. Effect lasts 45 seconds.
Physical Heal – Heal mild to severe injuries. This takes up to 1 minute per area of injury.
System Purge – Remove toxins and debilitating parahuman effects. Fast-acting poisons are stalled while patient is being healed. It takes 20 seconds to remove each individual ailment.
Ring Bind – Create rings of magic that wrap around target's limbs to lock them in place. Teleportation is likewise affected. Up to three targets can be affected at once.
Struggle Bind – Trap target in chains that also forcibly revert any magical transformations. Up to three targets can be affected at once.
Inherent Forcefield – Full-body forcefield that reduces incoming damage.
Immunity to Telepathic Intrusions – Master and certain Stranger effects cannot influence her. Even the Simurgh is stymied.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project her thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of Lacey's Device. Her connections to Lacey and Asclepius are especially strong.

Name: Adam Warrington
Shard: 95% M-0-0-4-2 "Vestige", 5% C-0-0-7-2 "Balance"
Linker Core rank: A
Rare Skill: Regenerator
Affiliation: independent, formerly Adepts

The founder and leader of the now-defunct Adepts, Epoch was interested in magic from the time he was a young boy. Purchasing a vial from Cauldron gave him the means to obtain the funds he needed for full-time experimentation with the powers he intuitively knew he had. Unfortunately, the Adepts collapsed when his intuition was found to be less than accurate.

ABILITIES

Universal Remote – Epoch can reverse, stop, or fast forward someone's personal timeline by up to 10 seconds. After their timeline has returned to normal, that person cannot be affected again for 10 seconds.

SPELLS

Basic Flight – Ability to fly. Straight lines are easy, but he has to slow down to change directions.
Magic Missile – Basic shooting spell. Purely nonlethal. He can control up to 3 projectiles at a time but with an increasing demand on his focus.
Telekinesis – Move things with his mind. The maximum amount of force is enough to levitate objects that match his own mass, living or nonliving.
Defenser – Basic shield spell.

ITEMS

Antique pocket watch enchanted with Cape Boost. This increases the length of his powers to a maximum of 120 seconds.

Name: Howard King
Boost Device: Hiallus
Linker Core rank: C
Affiliation: independent, formerly Adepts

Maclibuin started his parahuman career as a Midwestern hero going by the name Hammerstroke, but after the dissolution of his first team he drifted across the country until he was found by Epoch. Even though his parahuman powers made him a Brute, after he helped found the Adepts he took a more support-oriented role.

XP: 2

SPELLS

Strike Boost – Increase force of the recipient's physical attacks. Synergizes with certain Brute and Striker powers. Effect lasts 60 seconds.
- Boost Mastery – Increases mage's capability with increase-type spells that improve the recipient's abilities like Strike Boost, Barret Boost, and Cape Boost.
- Cape Boost – Increase effectiveness and temporarily lifts limits on the recipient's parahuman powers. Effect lasts 60 seconds.
Physical Heal – Heal mild to severe injuries. This takes up to 1 minute per area of injury.
Create Boosted Artifact – Enchant an item so that it will grant a milder version of any of his support spells to whomever uses the item. Use of the item decreases its "charge". The more charge an item already holds, the harder it is to further enchant it.
Barrier Jacket – Full-body forcefield that reduces incoming damage.
Telepathic Communications – The ability to project his thoughts to others. Limited to line of sight without the assistance of his Device. His connection to Hiallus is especially strong.

ITEMS

Biker gloves enchanted with Strike Boost. He has three punches at his previous parahuman strength with each glove.

Name: Paul Huynh
Shard: none
Linker Core rank: none
Affiliation: independent hero

Paul Huynh is a former Privateer who didn't like the more violent road the Privateers went down following the Philadelphia gang war. He backed out to focus on protecting the common man from unpowered crimes in his neighborhood. By dressing up as a cape, even though he doesn't have powers, he intends to use criminals' fear to force them to run away without a fight.

ITEMS

Metalweave costume with Subdermal Voltaic Lattice upgrade

Affiliation: Philadelphia PRT

Agents of the PRT with magical ability. Taylor found them at the request of Legend and Director Paulson and taught them how to summon Guardian Beasts. The most powerful of them were then armed and educated in order to give the PRT air superiority over the gangs of Philly as a SWAT team of sorts.

AERIAL COMBATANTS: 1 AA-rank, 2 A-rank, 3 B-rank, 1 Shield, 1 Sword, 1 Rifle, 1 Tome, 1 Mask
XP: 1

Name: "Alpha", Tanya Abigail
Storage Device: staff, "Captain's Stripes"
Linker Core rank: AA
Guardian Beast: Ben, Guardian Beast of the Rifle

Telekinesis – Move objects with only the power of the mind. The maximal force that can be applied is enough to lift and move other people.
- Kinetic Mastery – Increases a mage's capability with spells that manipulate kinetic forces.
- Force Blast – Short range kinetic semi-bombardment spell.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. She is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms.
- Lesser Golemancy – Create an automaton out of nearby materials. It is not as intelligent as a Guardian Beast or a summon, but it is far more durable and with far less sentimental value.

Name: "Bravo", Gregory Weis
Storage Device: book
Linker Core rank: A
Guardian Beast: Dorothy, Guardian Beast of the Gear

Wide Area Search – Send out non-damaging 'bullets' or drones to map out the nearby area. The area is larger than Area Search, but it takes more time to examine.
- Shell Break – Decrease the physical resilience of the target. Interferes with certain Brute powers. Effect lasts 45 seconds.
Ring Bind – Conjure rings of magic that wrap around target's limbs to lock them in place.
- Impact Trigger – Any physical blow to the Barrier Jacket will automatically cast Ring Bind on the attacker.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. He is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms.

Name: "Charlie", Ryan Hunter
Storage Device: gauntlet, "Mad King"
Linker Core rank: A
Guardian Beast: Jeremy, Guardian Beast of the Mask

Cover – Turns the caster invisible.
- Cat's Paw – Enhances the caster's own reflexes. Effect lasts 60 seconds.
Flash Forge – Create small mana constructs as tools or weapons.
- Shatter – With a mental command, Flash Forge constructs can explode rather than simply dissipate.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. He is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms.

Name: "Delta", Eric White
Storage Device: dual pistols
Linker Core rank: B
Guardian Beast: Medea, Guardian Beast of the Tome

Justice Shooter – Basic Shooting spell.
- Trick Shot – Shooter bullets will bounce on solid surfaces until they hit a living target.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. He is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
- Mirage – Create 3 'alter-images' to distract his opponents. These duplicates last six seconds and can follow simple tactics, but because they are only illusions, they cannot directly harm anyone.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms.

Name: "Echo", Sam Loomis
Storage Device: arming sword
Linker Core rank: B
Guardian Beast: Michael, Guardian Beast of the Sword

Rend – Wraps a weapon in a magical aura that causes it to do more damage that it would by purely physical means.
Chain Bind – Capture target in conjured chains.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. He is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms.
Reactive Armor – When hit by an attack, the part of the Barrier Jacket that was damaged explodes outward to hit the attacker.

Name: "Foxtrot", Rachel Morgan
Storage Device: sniper rifle, "Big Al"
Linker Core rank: B
Guardian Beast: Ivy, Guardian Beast of the Shield

Sniper Stun – Shooter with higher flight speed and barrier-breaking effect. Only one bullet can be fired at a time.
- Homing Bullet – Upgrade for Shooting spells. Bullets now self-correct their trajectories to chase targets.
- One Shot Kill – Increase the force of the caster's Shooting spells. Effect lasts 60 seconds.
Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. She is fully maneuverable when flying normally but needs to slow down to attack.
Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms.

GROUND COMBATANTS: 4 C-rank mages, 5 D-rank mages, 2 Shields, 2 Swords, 2 Rifles, 2 Tomes, 1 Mask.
SUPPORT MEMBERS: 7 C-rank mages, 8 D-rank mages, 16 Gears (3 random)

PHYSICAL ASSETS: Miniature manatech power plant, Device programming station, several microfoundries and fabricators

Name: Alexandria
Affiliation: Los Angeles Protectorate
Occupation: Hero
Linker Core rank: D
Parahuman power: flight, superstrength, invulnerability, eidetic memory
Accessories: prosthetic eye with telepathic connection (electricity-to-mana converter included)

Name: Lilliput
Affiliation: Sunfish, formerly Adepts
Occupation: Villain
Linker Core rank: D
Personal spell: spatial barrier
Parahuman ability: Distortion of senses

Name: Elizabeth "Lizzie" Abigail
Affiliation: none (she's 11, for crying out loud!)
Occupation: student, entering 6th grade
Linker Core rank: AA
Personal spells: Guardian Beast, Puppetry
Guardian Beast: Robin (preteen female Guardian Beast of the Mask, pigeon base)

Name: Margaret "Mags" Conner
Affiliation: Dragonslayers
Occupation: Inmate
Linker Core rank: C
Personal spell: Round Shield

Name: Willow Horrigan
Affiliation: definitely not Winter Hill
Occupation: Laura's mother
Linker Core rank: ???
Accessories: watch with emergency beacon linked to Fragarach

Name: Emma Rogers
Affiliation: none
Occupation: Kayleigh's aunt
Linker Core rank: ???

Name: Herman Rogers
Affiliation: none
Occupation: Kayleigh's cousin
Linker Core rank: ???

Name: Evelyn Stevens
Affiliation: none
Occupation: Kayleigh's mother
Linker Core rank: ???

Silently Watches · Feb 12, 2018

IMPORTANT! READ THIS!

After the mess that was sorting through these votes, I have realized that there needs to be a set of rules on how to vote. I am NOT spending a full 45 minutes figuring out what activities won again when it should take less than a minute.

As such, here are THE RULES.

WEEKLY ACTIVITY VOTES

RULE #1: Each main activity must be its own PARENT VOTE. That means no hyphen before the bracket. NO PLAN VOTING for activities!

RULE #2: Each main activity vote must be COPY AND PASTE from the relevant post opening the voting. No rewriting an activity vote to include additional details. No paragraphs as main votes. If it's more than a sentence or two, it's too long.

RULE #3: Additional details that are not mentioned in the main vote should instead be subvotes attached to the main vote.

RULE #4: If your vote violates any of these rules, it WILL NOT BE COUNTED. Yes, your right to vote is now dependent on your ability to follow simple directions.

TIM'S BUILD VOTES

Tim's build votes ARE in plan format. He has 4 build slots per week on his own. Some of his projects take more than one slot, and this should be accounted for in his vote. You also have the choice to vote on what skill(s) he learns with his accumulated Tech Points that should be included in this vote, and yes, you can use Tech Points learned with the projects of that vote to pay for the skill at the end.

[] Plan Example
-[] Project 1 (1 slot)
-[] Project 2 (2 slots)
-[] Project 3 (1 slot)
-[] BUY skill

To keep track of big suggestions for things he can build, either from you the players or other characters, I will provide a list of pre-generated options with a count of how many build slots they require and how many tech points they give.

When you add Guardian Beasts of the Gear or other characters with the Magic Hands skill, things get a little more complicated. For the sake of ease, I assume that most of the time you will want Firefly and Nostromo to help Tim out, meaning on a weekly basis he effectively has 6 slots, not 4. If there are things you want to build that one of them can build on their own, I will let you know and include them in the generated list as costing 0.5 slots and giving 0 tech points (because if Tim isn't building something, why should he get the points?).

Silently Watches · May 5, 2018

DestinyPlayer said:
Oh yeah, one thing. @Silently Watches, a not so small request, if it's not too difficult. Could you make a list of "stuff we've proposed that Tim can build" with the amount of days it would take? Because I feel like we've forgotten more things that we've proposed at this point.

I can give it a shot, I suppose. It'll be nice to have that all in one place. All ideas are those suggested during the build discussions since 9.12 or that really stuck in my head.

Weapons

Mechashift weapons. Mostly inspired by RWBY. 1 slot each. *
- Milo-expy. Sword -> spear -> rifle.
- Neptune's weapon-expy. SMG -> halberd.
- Magnhild-expy. Grenade launcher -> warhammer.
- Harbinger-expy. Shotgun -> collapsible sword -> super-scythe.
- Sword -> multi-tailed whip.
- Staff -> chain whip.
Shock baton. 1 slot. *
Shock meteor hammer. 1 slot. *
Shock… greatsword? Okay, whatever. 1 slot. *
Lightsaber for Samantha. 1 slot.
Hardlight weapon. 1 slot.
Sharkskin blade (think Samehada from Naruto but with hardlight scales). 1 slot.
Laser firearm. 1 slot. *
Wireless/projection taser, AKA lightning gun. 1 slot. *
Pain beam gun. 1 slot.

Armor

Mechashift armor, plus/minus ability to unfold onto target in midair. 2 slots, plus 1 slot for each active system (max 4 slots). *
Mechashift motorcycle to power armor. 2 slots, plus 1 slot for each active system (max 4 slots). *

Ammunition

Elemental bullet press. 1 slot. *
Pseudo-magical effect bullets. 10 elemental rounds per slot, 5 non-elemental rounds per slot. *
Goo grenade for capturing villains. 1 slot.
Rust-mana grenade, rechargeable. 1 slot.

Devices

Storage Device. 1 slot.
Intelligent Device, Armed Device, or Boost Device (collectively called Advanced Devices). 2 slots each.
Unison Device. 5 slots, plus vote to determine spell list.
Autonomous Unison Device to look for potential mages and help them create Guardian Beasts. 5 slots.

Cybernetics

Prosthetic limb. 1 slot to build, plus 1 slot for 2 active systems. Max 3 slots total.
Amputate a limb or limb remnant and attach a connection plate for a prosthetic. 1 slot.
Implant a sensory suite. Eye or visor or lens, telepathic radio. Would require another generator. 4 slots total (1 for each piece of tech and 1 to implant them all).

Mutagenics

Serum to create a beneficial but monstrous mutation. 1 slot.
Mutagenic serum with restricted range of possible deformities for a given benefit. 2 slots.
Serum to give a specific cosmetic feature with at most a mild sensory benefit, such as unnatural hair color or animal ears. 1 slot.
Serum to give a Linker Core to a non-mage; please see Informational post for details. 1 slot.
Strike Boost serum to give someone enhanced strength or speed. 5 serums per slot.
- Make a permanent strength or speed serum with a minor mutation. 1 slot, plus 1 to specify the mutation in question. Max 2 slots total.
Physical Heal serum to quickly heal the recipient of mild to moderate injuries. 5 serums per slot.
- Make a serum to reverse previous mutations. 5 serums per slot.
- Make a serum that gives the recipient the ability to regenerate on their own. This induces a mild mutation. 1 slot, plus 1 to restrict the possible mutations, plus 1 to choose from a small range (3-5) of options for the mutation. Max 3 slots.

Drones

Flying drones with lasers. ("Funnels"). 1 slot each.
Drone charging station. 2 slots. *
Scouting drones with active camouflage. 1 slot each.
Mechashift capture drones. ("Bondage drones", thanks DestinyPlayer). 1 slot each.
Shield-projecting drones. 1 slot each.
"Guardian angel" drone with shield and laser weapon. 2 slots.
Spy drone with interdimensional radio to spy on other worlds. 2 slot.

Restoration

Pro-healing injection. 5 doses as a free action after surgical procedure. Otherwise 5 doses per slot.
Anesthesia beam gun. 1 slot.

Transportation

Unidirectional teleporter pad. "Push" or "pull". 1 slot.
Bidirectional teleporter pad. 2 slots, or 1 slot to convert an existing Push or Pull pad.
Teleporter beacon. 1 slot.
Teleporter armory to send weapons from rack to their owner and back. 1 slot.
Interdimensional teleporter. 2 slots, or 1 slot to convert an existing spatial teleporter. Interdimensional teleportation is pad to pad only.
Teleportation portal. Can be either spatial or interdimensional, but travel can only be portal to portal. 3 slots.
Antigravity flight harness. 1 slot.
Flight-capable RV. At least 2 slots depending on what else goes on it.
Magical flying apartment. Slots I don't even know.

Other

Disassemble and analyze captured Tinkertech. 1 slot each.
Duplicate Tinkertech. 1 slot unless it is extraordinarily complicated.
Convert Tinkertech to mana. See duplication rule.

* Can be built by a Gear working independently of Tim. Doing so does not give Tim any tech points.

Silently Watches · Mar 30, 2018

TYPES OF PROSTHETIC LIMBS
You've got arms and legs. And… yeah, that's about it.

Okay, okay, serious time. When I say types of prosthetic limbs, I'm really talking about levels of armor.

Civilian prosthetics have no armor and no weapons. They are exactly what they look like, replacement limbs after somebody gets amputated. Theoretically, giving someone one of these doesn't even NEED to include implanting a generator in their fleshy bits. They could hook it up to a recharging station or plug-in converter or something when they take it off to go to sleep.

Combat prosthetics are entirely different beasts. They DO require implanted generators, and how "heavy" they are determines what weapons they carry and how much surgery needs to be done before hooking them up. They can have 1 passive upgrade and up to 4 active systems.

Light combat limbs don't have armor plating, exactly, though they can use cloth-type armor like Kevlar and metalweave. Weapon-wise, they can have built-in hardlight weapons or lasers, but mechashift is out of the question. On the upside, they need essentially no additional surgery beyond putting in the connection plate (which is something that has to be done for all manatech prosthetics anyway).

Medium combat limbs have armor plates on their hands and forearms (or feet and shins if we're talking legs), and soft or lightweight armor on the upper part of the limb. Mechashift weapons are now possibilities, but they are limited to the hand and foot. Hardlight and directed energy weapons can still be placed anywhere. Because of the weight of these prosthetics, the recipient will need surgical reinforcement of bones and muscles that connect to where the prosthetic is attached.

Heavy combat limbs are fully armored, from connection plate to the end of the limb. Weapons of any type can be placed wherever they are wanted. On the flipside, no amount of reinforcement is enough to bear the weight of these limbs, and so to have one of these puppies installed a surgeon has to completely replace organic bones and muscles with synthetic equivalents that will attach to the new limb.

PASSIVE UPGRADES
There are two types of passive upgrades that can be placed on combat prosthetics. The first is Subdermal Voltaic Lattice, which can be placed on any combat prosthetic. It is a mesh of conductive wires that partially disperse energy-based attacks. Carbon Fiber Plating, on the other hand, adds additional plates to help tank physical blows. They can only go on medium and heavy prosthetics.

Or you could decide you don't want to put either of these on. That's your decision.

ACTIVE SYSTEMS
We'll talk defensive options first, then take a look at offense.

Defense can work two ways. There's the defense of not taking damage, which means hardlight shields. The round shield is a… round shield.

Normally 2-3 feet in diameter, it looks like a Greek aspis shield (or Captain America's shield for the Marvel fans among you). In addition to defense, it can be used as a melee weapon as well. The tower shield, in contrast, is more reminiscent of a police riot shield and is only for defensive use, which it honestly does better at than the round shield because of its larger area.

The other type of defense is that of healing. If you install Nanomachine Distribution Channels into a prosthetic, the limb can actually repair itself after a fight so long as it is provided with the necessary raw materials.

Offense is varied, and for simplicity I will break it up into limb regions since you can only have one weapon per region.

UPPER ARM/LEG
The upper limbs are awkward places for weapons, so they would almost by definition need to be mechashift. If you recall from above, that means they are limited to heavy combat limbs.

FOREARM
These are also limited to heavy limbs.

Mechashift weapons, like a sword or whip. It's exactly what it says on the tin.
A high-power laser beam unfolds from the forearm and from there can fire a laser that cuts through thick armor or material with ease. Have a military tank you want to slice apart? This will do it in style. Just don't fire it into a crowd, please, unless you want to fill the streets with body parts.
The particle cannon is the blast equivalent of the high-power laser beam. It will kill anyone who doesn't possess thick armor or a defensive power of some kind, and maybe even then. It uses mechashift to reconfigure the hand into a set of prongs that create an electromagnetic lensing effect to focus the blast. Power can be an issue, so each particle cannon has a built-in capacitor to store its "rounds". Because the hand unfolds, palm weapons are out of the question.
Ah, the rocket punch. A detachable, thruster-powered fist sounds like a joke until it hits you at near Mach 1. It can then be retracted thanks to a chain connecting it to the forearm. You cannot mount any other weapons on the hand, though.

DORSUM (back of the hand)

Thermal beams melt and burn their target, making them great for cutting through doors or walls, but they have no impact.
In contrast, a kinetic blast will hit with force, but it is a blunt impact that cannot cut.
Hardlight weapons have nearly no weight and, being attached to the hand, can be wielded exactly the same as if they were held in the palm.
Thanks to Tim's Temporal Manipulation skill, time itself is your plaything. Dilation blasts are fire-and-forget weapons that will stop an enemy in place for up to twenty seconds at a time. Sadly, multiple blasts will not stack. If you're that worried about someone unfreezing, you could instead use the dilation beam. It will freeze someone in place for as long as you keep it focused on them.
The gravity grapple uses gravitic manipulation to pull objects towards you and then throw them away. Be careful not to use it on objects heavier than you, though, because if you do you'll find yourself moving instead.
A mechashift dagger is a good hidden weapon. A twitch of your fist deploys from one to three telescoping blades for rapid stabbing and slashing.

PALM

Thermal beam
Kinetic blast
Hardlight weapon
Dilation blast
Dilation beam
Finally something new. A pain beam will cause unbearable pain in the target, incapacitating them until they have a chance to recover. Just don't use it for too long, or you can cause permanent nerve damage.
Or if you are in the market for something a little more healing-related, you can go in the opposite direction and install an anesthesia beam to dull and prevent pain.

FINGERS

Hey, more mechashift. Claws will unfold to reveal extremely sharp edges to cut your enemies. They are far from the most damaging weapons on this list or even that can be built into the fingers, but they will still be a nasty surprise and have surprising utility.
If you can't build mechashift into your fingers or just don't want to, plasma claws are also an option. Burning rather than cutting, they don't risk your opponents bleeding out. You might want to watch out for fires, though.
For the ambush fighters among you, try the mechashift syringe. Located in the tips of the fingers, they can deliver up to three different injectable solutions (max three doses total). They don't need to be offensive, either; a teammate will probably forgive you for stabbing them if it's to inject a Boost serum. You can't use any kind of dorsum weapon, though.
- Do you want to go full assassin? Do you dream of playing a support role? Use the forearm-based injection expansion. It gives you five extra doses for each of the three serums in your syringes, so a maximum of 18 doses if you're only using one type of serum. Unlike other forearm systems, this does not require mechashift and can be put on a medium combat arm.
Thermal beam
Kinetic blast
The wireless taser located at the base of the fingers shoots arcs of lighting up to 10 feet. Ever wanted Sith lightning? You got it. It can also be used as a contact weapon, and if you have a mechashift weapon in the forearm, the taser can electrify the weapon to give it that extra bit of flair.

SHIN

This is an awkward place to put weapons, but if you are fond of kicks, the mechashift saw may be up your alley. It deploys a chainsaw blade along the front of your shin.
Hardlight spikes are another way to give your legs more damage-dealing capability. They are simple points that perforate perfidious perpetrators.
A kinetic pulse is a difficult weapon to get used to, but it gives you a long-range option to "kick" blasts of force at people.

CALF

The knee thruster, despite its name, is not part of the knee. It is a gravitic thruster mounted at the calf that rockets the knee upwards at high speed. It is limited to medium and heavy legs because without armor plating, you would do just as much damage to the prosthetic as the target.
A gravity plate does not offer the flight the way a full gravitic flight harness would, but it is still useful. By always marking the direction your legs are pointing as "down", it allows you to run up and around on walls.

FOOT

Mechashift claws
Plasma claws
Mechashift blades can unfold from the top of the foot to cut and slice with each kick.
If using feet to attack people just seems silly, you could also try the monkey's paw. By adding a hand to the end of your leg instead of a foot, you gain the ability to grab things as well as use dorsum, palm, and finger weapons at the cost of having an admittedly difficult-to-use prosthetic and, you know, looking like a freak. (Note: this does NOT require a power slot.)

Oh, and let's not forget simply hitting people harder. Synthetic musculature gives a Brute's strength to any armored component of the limb, which means the hand or foot of a medium limb and the entirety of a heavy limb.

Silently Watches · Nov 21, 2018

Wyrd said:
I know it's not relevant any more, thanks to his injuries, but could I see Captain's character sheet, please? I'm guessing you removed it from the list of character sheets once he was taken out of the game, since it is referenced a number of times by various posters but isn't there now. This is just curiosity speaking.

I suppose I could put it back up. Not in the main post, obviously, but I'll set aside a sheet specifically for characters who are no longer in the game. Hopefully this list won't get too long, though considering what's happening in the next couple of chapters…

Name: Daniel Hebert
Shard: Queen Administrator
Affiliation: Privateers, Protectorate-affiliated independent hero

Danny was the Queen Administrator shard's preferred host, and though she moved on to focus on Taylor when he got too old for her, she switched back when Taylor instead bound herself to Perfect Storm. He leads the Privateers and also serves as their mission control of sorts, applying his powers to bolster their ability to fight the gangs rather than wade into the fray personally. That job he'll leave to his headstrong daughter.

ABILITIES

Jolly Cooperation – When affected by his powers, humans find themselves focusing on the same goals and working together with preternatural teamwork. Duration: 30 minutes.
Pooled Knowledge – Everyone affected by his powers shares sensory input, allowing information to be instantly relayed from the field to headquarters and back again. Duration: 30 minutes.

Shard: Ferryman
Affiliation: Philadelphia Wards, formerly Brockton Bay Wards

ABILITIES

Funhouse – Vista warps space by altering the relative distances between set points. She normally uses this ability to improve her apparent speed or trap enemies in an ever-lengthening hallway, though she can also use it to widen small gaps enough for her to slip through locked doors or windows.
Play-Doh – With increased concentration, she can distort the matter within her affected space, allowing her to bring down buildings or build fortifications from (almost) nothing.
Bag of Holding – Her power can be used to increase the internal dimensions within an enclosed space, though this effect will only last a brief time without her consciously maintaining it.

Shard: Thermal Absorption
Affiliation: Winter Hill

ABILITIES

Cone of Cold – Medium range spray of ice and chilling winds. The spray originates from Cailleach's hands.
Ice Bomb – Long range explosion of large shards of ice. The origin point could be anywhere within Cailleach's line of sight.

Shard: Mirror Knight
Affiliation: New York City Protectorate, formerly Adepts, formerly NYC Wards

ABILITIES

Rockabye Baby – By forcing herself to sleep, Standstill can either force one person to go to sleep with her or inflict two to three people with drowsiness. The effect can be overcome by an outside force, but the only way to fully wake up her targets is to either wake or kill her.

Silently Watches · Jun 19, 2019

This was previously in the FAQ proper, but because of the detail that this could possess, I'm moving it to its own threadmark. Also because there are a couple of things I want people to keep in mind.

With the Dimensional Transfer spell, Taylor can head off to other worlds to see what is there. According to the Enforcers, there are between fifteen and eighteen worlds in the "Earth Bet cluster world", named as such because the TSAB names cluster worlds by the first world with which contact is established.

You as players can do one of two things when you want Taylor to go world-hopping. First, you can explore a world you and she already know about. Second, you can look at one of the worlds that has yet to be explored, in which case I will create it at random. Be advised that not all worlds are fit for humanity, and most of them are in a different technologic age than Earth Bet.

The worlds Taylor knows about are:

EARTH ALEPH, AKA "Earth Bet-4", was the first alternate Earth that was ever discovered. Thanks to Professor Haywire's portal, there is communication between Earth Aleph and Earth Bet, though the portal in question is only large enough and stable enough to permit wireless data transfer. Physical objects cannot move between worlds. Like Earth Bet, Aleph is in the Digital Age.

EARTH BET (Earth Bet-12) is Taylor's home dimension.

EARTH GIMEL (Earth Bet-1) is the alternate Earth where the Enforcers crash-landed. Humanity never developed on this world because dinosaurs did not become extinct. The Sojourner is currently in orbit around this planet.

EARTH DALET (Earth Bet-10) is where Contessa was born, Eden crashed, and Cauldron's base was built. Taylor, Tim, and Dragon explored the base to some extent, and she returned with Legend and Alexandria to recover the remaining power vials. Unlike the base, which was built with methods and materials from Earth Bet, the rest of this world has a technology level more consistent with the Early Modern Age or very early Industrial Revolution.

EARTH HE (Earth Bet-2) could best be described as a volcanic hell-world. Taylor has not explored it at all, merely landed there for a few seconds before moving on. Nonetheless that brief glance indicates that there may be ruins of a fallen civilization close by.

EARTH VAV (Earth Bet-5). This alternate Earth is still in the Bronze Age. Capes are worshiped as gods. Taylor and Missy explored long enough to find a bug-controlling villain and defeated her and her retinue, which seems to have made Taylor the primary god of that village.

EARTH ZAYIN (Earth Bet-16) is in a dimension that even the Enforcers could not see clearly. When Taylor, the Triumvirate, and the Arcana as a whole visited, they discovered a seemingly abandoned planet whose previous inhabitants had a technological base centuries ahead of Earth Bet's.

Silently Watches · Feb 18, 2019

Vanigo said:
What about outright creating one?

I wondered how long it would take for someone to ask this question.

It took literally less than five minutes after coming up with the mechanics for Mutagenics to remember that the Linker Core is a physical organ and therefore you guys would want to circumvent the system.

The answer to your question is "yes but". Yes, you can create a Linker Core in someone who pops up negative for one naturally. But, it comes with risks. Namely, Tim has no clue how to control this the way he can other mutations.

The process would be the following:
1) Taylor and Tim would need to spend a social activity/build slot talking to the prospective mutatee.
2) Once given the mutagenic, I would roll 2d6 to find out what happens next.
2a) The reason the roll is 2d6 instead of a d12 or something is because I want a nice bell curve. Most of the time, you would get moderate mutations to go with a Linker Core.
3) Linker Core strength and chance of Rare Skills would then be rolled as normal.

Assuming you want to go this route, you might want to use it in-story on a random animal first. It would help alleviate Tim's anxiety.

Silently Watches · Dec 8, 2019

Remember how I said earlier that I wouldn't type this up tonight? And it's still tonight?

Fricking insomnia. Anyway…

So you've decided that you don't want to give a magic-capable character a template. Maybe it's because their Linker Core is a AA or AAA in rank and they have a useful Rare Skill. Maybe it's because they're a cape with a potent ability. Regardless, what are the options left to you?

Deviceless mage
This is, as the title says, a mage who has to cast their spells without the assistance of a Device. If you have a cape who wants to keep their power, this is probably their best choice since, once again, Devices will burn out a parahuman's corona and gemma. They are also easiest type of mage to do character generation on.

Simply put, a Deviceless mage gets to learn one spell per the rank of their Linker Core. For example, a D-rank mage can learn 1 spell, a C-rank mage can learn 2 spells, on up to the AAA-rank mage who can learn 6 spells. Like I said, easy. They start with 1 spells at chargen, and afterwards will learn more spells similarly to their Device-carrying cousins.

There are some caveats to be aware of:

If you teach a D-rank mage to cast Guardian Beast, they only have enough mana to support a Beast of the Gear. This also does not count as a random generation of their Beast, so the Gear will not have the exclusive ability given to those generated randomly.
These mages can learn the Barrier Jacket spell, but it will count against their spell slots whereas a mage with a Device gets it for free.
Recursion Field or other variations on dimensional barriers are too complex to use without a Device. These mages can use spatial barriers, which still work to cut off an area from the rest of the world, but they are visible and do not remove damage done to the area within unlike the battlefields created by a true dimensional barrier.
The Basic Flight and Teleport spells are restricted to mages of B-rank and above. This is weaker than the Aerial Combat and Spatial Translocation spells available to Device mages, but that's because they are said to be difficult even for normal Nanoha mages.
Buster spells and other spells of this rank (see next section for details) are restricted to AA+ mages.
Spells on the level of Breakers? Don't make me laugh.

Device mage
Maybe after reading those restrictions, you've decided going Deviceless just isn't in the cards for you. Get out of here, shard! (Or maybe lucky you, you aren't a cape in the first place.) I'm going to assume you've already familiarized yourself with this post about Device specialties.

Mages with non-template Devices are in the Wild West in terms of development. Instead of having pre-built skill trees like the templates, you get to make your own. How exciting, right? Sadly, once again Linker Core rank becomes important because it will determine both how many spells you get to pick out on chargen and how many spells that mage can know in total.

LINKER CORE RANK	STARTING SPELLS	TOTAL SPELLS
D	1	6
C	2	9
B	3	12
A	4	14
AA	4	15
AAA	4	16

If you're looking at this table and thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute, does a D-rank mage with a Device really have as many spells as a AAA-ranker without one?", congratulations! You made the right choice giving up that crappy bug-controlling power to go full magic.

Anyway, back on track. The way this works is that once you pick out a character's starting spells, they will gain XP to use towards new spells. This can be done one of two ways. #1, every time a character is involved in an on-screen fight, either by fighting alongside Taylor, in an interlude, or a canonized omake, they will earn 1 XP. #2, they will earn 1 XP for every week that they are regularly using magic. (Which means that if you have someone who goes into mana poisoning, they won't earn XP until that heals.) This means the more we see of a mage character, the faster they are going to grow.

Spells themselves cost different amount of XP to learn.

2 XP for Modifications to known spells. This can affect how a spell acts, but it isn't enough to be a new spell on its own. Homing Bullet and Burst are the stereotypes of this tier, but I'm sure we'll find more together.
- Something very special in the modification tier is spell masteries. Because non-template mages don't have centuries of cumulative memories to fall back on, all their spells are comparable to the "Adept level" for a template mage. Learning a mastery spell improves a collection of related spells to the "Master level". For example, spending 2 XP on Movement Mastery would improve Blitz Action and Aerial Combat; Boost Mastery would improve Strike Boost, Barret Boost, and Cape Boost; etc.
4 XP for the Basic tier of spells. Most of your spells are going to be in this group, such as Telekinesis, Wide Area Search, Ring Bind, Blitz Action, and Guardian Beast.
6 XP for the Advanced tier of spells. These spells are by and large going to be those that are restricted to B-rank and above. Aerial Combat, Spatial Translocation, Champion-level summons, and Busters fit here.
8 XP for the WTF tier of spells. These are the spells that are limited to the most powerful of mages, the AA and AAA rankers. They are also the abilities that will make that mage famous or infamous on Earth Bet. Examples are Dimensional Transfer, Giant-level summons, Mistilteinn, Diabolic Emission, and the Breakers.

If you can't figure out where a spell goes, here's a general rule of thumb. If a spell by itself would be a lower-rated cape power, no more than a 5 in whatever category, it's basic tier. If it would be a high-rated cape power that gets that cape noticed all on its lonesome, it's an advanced tier. If it is so powerful that even Nanoha-verse characters would sit up and pay attention, it's in the WTF tier. Or you can check this list, organized by tier.

While we are talking about XP, this technically applies to character generation. Characters start off with 4 XP for every starting spell slot, which will be spent making their list. Most of the time, this doesn't matter because you start off with basic spells and they start their mage life with 0 XP. If you have characters who are capable of flight and give them Aerial Combat to start, or start them off with a Buster, or something else along those lines, that's 6 XP being spent and they may wind up in XP debt where they have a negative XP value they have to make up. Or, if you wind up using some of their spell slots for modifications, they may start with "extra" XP. It all depends on how chargen goes.

Once you have your starting spells and have started earning XP, you can add skills to a character's tree two ways. The most common is going to be adding a spell that is either derived or at least related to another spell they already know. That extends that spell branch, and it's the only way to add on the advanced and WTF tiers. The other way is to pick a basic spell (or Aerial Combat because who doesn't want to fly?) that is not related to another spell in that character's tree and set it down as a new base spell for more spells to come off of. Don't be surprised when no characters' trees look exactly alike.

Should you decide later on that you don't like a character having a specific spell, either because it was a bad purchase or you've done or built something that renders it redundant, do not fret! You can refund learned spells for half their purchase price and free up that spell slot for a different spell entirely.

Sadly, there are a few more rules to be added here, just like with Deviceless mages.

D-rank mages are still limited to Beasts of the Gear. That one has nothing to do with the Device and everything to do with the fact that they don't have the mana to support one of the more costly Beasts.
Only Armed Devices can give their mages the fabled Knight Armor. All other Devices have to deal with the normal Barrier Jacket.
Cartridges are by and large limited to Armed Devices unless the mage is on the higher end of the power scale.
I don't need to go into rank restrictions of the fan-favorite spells because they are already mentioned above.

One last thing before I forget. At A-rank and above, mages can cross-specialize. That means that they can use spells that technically they shouldn't be able to cast with their specific Devices, like using cartridges with a Boost Device or casting a ranged Buster with an Armed Device. If a character is using a Storage Device, they don't have this option because Storage Devices can't cast any of the advanced spells, but why would you give an A-ranker a Storage Device in the first place?

I could not have come up with this system alone. Everyone give @LancerisDead a round of applause, mostly because he is responsible for at least half of this new and improved system.

Silently Watches · Jan 4, 2020

In fact, just to make it easier on me later let me start up a list of spells and their appropriate tiers so we have something to reference from here on out.

MODIFICATION TIER

General
- Homing Bullet – Upgrade for Shooting spells. Bullets now self-correct their trajectories to chase targets.
- Burst – Modification for Shooting spells. Bullets can be set to explode upon contact or remotely.
- Trick Shot – Upgrade for Shooting spells. Bullets will bounce on solid surfaces until they hit a living target.
- Modifications for weapon-enhancing spells that add additional properties, like splash damage or damage over time. Name based on caster's preference.
- Shatter – Upgrade for Flash Forge. With a mental command, constructs can explode rather than simply dissipate.
- Alternate Barrier Jacket/Knight Armor forms that diminish defense in exchange for a self-directed buff.
- Triggers that automatically cast another prespecified spell when the spell the trigger modifies connects or some other condition is met.
- Reactive Armor – When hit by an attack, the part of the Barrier Jacket that was damaged explodes outward to hit the attacker.
- Distant Caster – Champion summons can cast spells that their mage knows. The mana to do this comes from the summoner's Linker Core.
Masteries
- Animation Mastery – Increases mage's capability with golemancy and related animation spells.
- Attack Mastery – Increases mage's capability with directly damaging spells, allowing them to cast these spells while focusing on something else entirely.
- Boost Mastery – Increases mage's capability with increase-type spells that improve the recipient's abilities like Strike Boost, Barret Boost, and Cape Boost.
- Break Mastery – Increases mage's capability with decrease-type spells that diminish the recipient's abilities like Strike Break, Shell Break, and Focus Break.
- Enchant Mastery – Increases mage's capability with enchant spells that give the recipient new abilities like Defense Gain, Soul Wings, and Recovery.
- Kinetic Mastery – Increases mage's capability with spells that manipulate kinetic forces like Telekinesis, Singularity, and Heavenfall.
- Infusion Mastery – Increases mage's capability with spells that store or transfer mana like Divide Energy, Vampire Ray, or Charge Cartridge.
- Medical Mastery – Increases mage's capability with healing spells like Physical Heal, System Purge, and Fortify Spirit.
- Movement Mastery – Increases mage's capability with movement spells like Blitz Action and Aerial Combat.
- Teleport Mastery – Increases mage's capability with teleportation spells like Spatial Translocation, Dimensional Transfer, and Forced Displacement.
Tech skills
- Carbon Fiber Plating – Improved coverings reduce the damage armor receives from physical blows.
- Subdermal Voltaic Lattice – A superficial layer of wiring reduces the damage armor receives from energy attacks.
- Potion Master – Make drinkable versions of serums.

BASIC TIER

Offensive
- Shooting spells to attack enemies at a distance. Name based on caster's preference.
- Spells that increase a weapon's attack power. Name based on caster's preference.
- Sniper Stun – Shooter with higher flight speed and barrier-breaking effect. Only one bullet can be fired at a time.
- Force Blast – Short range kinetic semi-bombardment spell.
- Cast Fist – Project a hand that can attack people at a distance.
- Flash Forge – Create small mana constructs.
- Ring Bind – Conjure rings of magic that wrap around target's limbs to lock them in place.
- Chain Bind – Capture target in conjured chains.
- Cover – Turns the caster invisible.
- Blitz Action – Move at high speeds that are difficult to follow with the naked eye.
- Purple Haze – Distorts target's senses.
- Entangle – Slow down the flow of time for the target.
- Strike Break – Decrease force or speed of the target's physical attacks.
- Shell Break – Decrease target's physical resilience.
- Focus Break – Decrease target's mental acuity.
- Thorns – Create a damaging aura around the caster.
Defensive/Supportive
- Protective magic shields.
- Spells that enhance some attribute of the caster, such as strength or speed.
- Mirage – Create short-lived illusionary "alter-images" that distract the caster's opponents.
- Sprint – Speed up the flow of time for the caster.
- Strike Boost – Increase force or speed of the recipient's physical attacks.
- Barret Boost – Increase force of the recipient's energy attacks.
- Physical Heal – Heal mild to severe injuries.
- System Purge – Remove toxins and debilitating parahuman effects.
- Fortify Spirit – Transfer mana to cure physical and mental fatigue for a time.
- Create Boosted Artifact – Enchant an item so that it will grant a milder version of a support spell to whomever uses the item. The caster must know the support spell in question.
  - Alternatively, a more specific version (e.g., Create Strike Boost Artifact) can be used without knowing the support spell itself, but this cannot be expanded to cover other support spells if they are learned later.
Utility
- Telekinesis – Move objects with only the power of the mind. The maximal force that can be applied is enough to lift and move other people.
- Area Search – Send out non-damaging 'bullets' or drones to map out the immediate area. The area is smaller than Wide Area Search, but it takes less time to examine. Useful for melee mages.
- Wide Area Search – Send out non-damaging 'bullets' or drones to map out the nearby area. The area is larger than Area Search, but it takes more time to examine. Useful for bombardment mages.
- Dimensional barriers to isolate a battlefield and prevent damage from slipping into the real world.
- Charge Cartridge – Store mana in bullet casings for later use.
- Swarm level summons. RARE SKILL REQUIRED.
- Lesser Golemancy – Create/summon a small golem.
- Guardian Beast – Uplift a single animal's consciousness and give it combat and human forms. It has an innately known spell list.
  - Familiar – Uplift a single animal's consciousness, but instead of using innate spells it gradually learns spells much like a mage would.
  - Iron Defender – Create an abomination of magic by trying to transform a "smart" machine into a Guardian Beast/Familiar.
- Divide Energy – Transfer mana to target.
- Blink – Line of sight teleport.
Tech skills
- Heavy Plate – Suits of power armor can be built.
- Mass Weapons – Construct physical weapons capable of shifting forms.
- Energy Weapons – Construct laser and hard light weapons.
- Supplementary Capacitance – Build mana batteries and collection panels, and adapt non-Tinker technology to run off mana.
- Mechanical Intuition – Understand Tinkertech enough to perform field repair.
- Strike Boost Serum – Brew serums that increase strength and/or speed.
- Maintenance I – Repair manatech built with a basic tier tech skill despite not being able to build it.

Spells past this point are restricted to certain Device types. "A" means it can be cast by Armed Devices, "B" by Boost Devices, and "I" by Intelligent Devices. Tech skills can be used with any Device type.

ADVANCED TIER

Offensive
- Buster spells to deal incredible damage to enemies. Name based on caster's preference. (AI)
- Gigant Fist – Project a massive fist to inflict incredible damage to enemies. (BI)
- Singularity – Create a gravity well to pull in targets to a single point. (AI)
- Temporal Sludge – Slow the flow of time within an area to a third of its normal rate. (AI)
- Crescendo – Speed up the flow of time time within an area to three times its normal rate. (I)
- Mass Strike Break – Strike Break applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Mass Shell Break – Shell Break applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Mass Focus Break – Focus Break applied to everyone in an area. (B)
Defensive/Supportive
- Shell Barrier – Creates a translucent shield over the caster and those nearby. (A)
- Lion's Pelt – Coats the mage in an additional defensive forcefield for a brief time. (A)
- Mass Strike Boost – Strike Boost applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Mass Barret Boost – Barret Boost applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Grand Resuscitation – Stabilize critical injuries so the victim can be evacuated for definitive care. (B)
- Defense Gain – Enchant spell that grants temporary damage resistance to an ally. (B)
- Soul Wings – Enchant spell that grants temporary flight to an ally. (B)
- Healing Factor – Enchant spell that grants temporary regeneration to an ally. (B)
- Quicksand – Liquify solid surfaces and manipulate the liquid. (AI)
Utility/Mobility
- Basic Flight – Ability to fly, though not while fighting. It can be cast without a Device.
- Aerial Combat – Ability to fly while engaged in combat. It is so refined that it can be cast by any Device.
- Greater Telekinesis – A more advanced and more powerful version of basic telekinesis. The maximal force that can be applied is enough to lift and move small vehicles. (ABI)
- Champion level summons. RARE SKILL REQUIRED. (B)
- Siege level summons. RARE SKILL REQUIRED. (B)
- Greater Golemancy – Create/summon a large golem. (ABI)
- Silver Defender – This skill can NOT be learned directly. It must be upgraded from the Iron Defender skill for 2 XP. It can be cast by Storage Devices.
- Spatial Translocation – Teleport to somewhere else in the same dimension the mage is already in. (ABI)
- Forced Displacement – Teleport targets to somewhere else in the same dimension without accompanying them. (B)
Tech skills
- Reinforcement – Both prosthetics and power armor can be built.
  - If the Heavy Plate skill is already known, it can upgraded to this skill for an additional 2 XP.
- Mobility – New joint designs allow for faster movement, and thruster assemblies permit basic flight.
- Internal Reactor – Build mana generators that are small enough to be installed in devices.
- Basic Device – Build Storage Devices that supplement spellcasting.
- Advanced Device – Build Intelligent, Armed, and Boost Devices that advise and support their mages in addition to assisting spellcasting.
- Large Weapons – Construct weapons that are so large they must be mounted on a solid surface or carried by power armor to fire effectively.
- Digital Blueprints – With repeated exposure, the overall design of a piece of Tinkertech can be adapted to magic and replicated.
- Spatial Teleporter – Build teleportation pads or portals that reach anywhere on the planet.
- Maintenance II – Repair manatech built with an advanced tier tech skill despite not being able to build it.

WTF TIER

Offensive
- Breaker spells that cause enough destruction they can kill entire cities. Name based on caster's preference. (AI)
- Mistilteinn – Drop spikes that turn any living thing they hit into stone. (A)
- Diabolic Emission – Area of effect attack that injures or outright kills all living things it touches. (A)
Defensive/Supportive
- Heavenfall – The pinnacle of telekinetic might. The maximal force that can be applied is enough to move even buildings. (ABI)
- Dead Calm – Create a field of stopped time around the caster in a 20 foot radius that stops all incoming attacks. The field lasts for 3 real-time seconds, though for the caster it feels like everything suddenly jumped forwards in time. (AI)
- Giant level summons. RARE SKILL REQUIRED. (B)
- Breath of the Soul – Restore the normal function of someone's heart and lungs after cardiopulmonary arrest. (B)
- Mass Defense Gain – Defense Gain applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Mass Soul Wings – Soul Wings applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Mass Healing Factor – Healing Factor applied to everyone in an area. (B)
- Dimensional Transfer – Teleport across dimensions. (B)
Tech skills
- Massive Weapons – Construct weapons with destructive capabilities that rival Breaker spells.
- Off-Site Power – Build room-sized power plants and associated distribution systems.
- Exotic Physics – With even more exposure, the underlying principles of Tinkertech are understood and can be used in new designs.
- Unison Device – Build Unison Devices that act independently of their mages.
- Dimensional Teleporter – Build teleportation pads or portals that bridge dimensions.
- Maintenance III – Repair manatech built with a WTF tier tech skill despite not being able to build it.

This will be yet ANOTHER thing I constantly keep updated that nobody will ever look at, won't it?

Silently Watches · Feb 19, 2020

We've talked a lot about how much the rank of a mage's Linker Core matters in regards to what they can actually do. Now let's look at the exceptions.

TECH SKILLS
Magiengineering and manatech skills, such as those used by the Transcendent Gadgeteer template and Guardian Beasts of the Gear, are not exactly power-intensive. The fact that even the weakest mage can support a Gear should be proof enough of that. It should be no surprise, then, that any mage with a more mechanical inclination can learn to build manatech regardless of how strong or weak their magic is.

There are two issues with becoming a magiengineer. First, like real-world engineering, you can't jump straight into the deep end and expect to succeed. Even basic tier tech skills will likely require certain prerequisites such as learning about how mana actually works as an energy system. As such, don't expect to be able to dabble casually in manatech; for a character to make their tech skills useful, they will probably need to dedicate several of their available spell slots to get to what the average SVer would call "the good stuff".

The second issue… really is not much of an issue, but it is something to be aware of. Namely that not all tech skills are created equal. There are tech skills in every tier of spells, and the price per tier is the same as for normal spells. A mage's rank does not bar him or her from learning the higher level skills, nor does his/her choice of Device, but they will need to save their XP to get to these higher tiers.

RITUALS
Long before mages used modern Devices, they used rituals to pool their magical and mental strengths in order to achieve effects that were impossible for a single mage to replicate. Computational technology made the mental element near obsolete, but weaker mages can still benefit from the mana-pooling. It is not a casting methodology used in TSAB space, but that's no reason Earth Bet mages can't bring it back into style.

Every ritual needs a single "master" and multiple "servants", better described as batteries. The master is the mage who knows the ritualized version of whatever spell they want to cast and therefore leads the ritual. Maclibuin played that role when charging the Adepts' charms. Since they are the only ones who have to know the rituals they are casting, from a mechanics point of view that means they are the only ones who have to spend XP.

Servants do one or two things. If they have Devices, they can lend their Devices' processing power for the calculations if needed; most of the time, it isn't. More importantly they give some of their power to the master so he can cast the ritual. This means that each servant MUST know the Divide Energy spell. If they can't share their power, they are nearly useless for our purposes.

Now, what I know everyone wants to know. What are the actual power requirements?

To make the math easier on me, we will be using D-rank equivalents (hereafter deqs) as our unit of measurement. 1 deq is the amount of power a single D-ranker can contribute. C-rankers provide 2 deqs, B-rankers provide 3 deqs, and A+ rankers are greedy and only give up 4 deqs.

The ritual version of an advanced tier spell requires 8 deqs. It also puts the master in stage 1 mana poisoning.

The ritual version of a WTF tier spell costs a whopping 16 deqs and causes stage 2 mana poisoning.

If I might offer some advice? If you want to go heavy on rituals, it might behoove you to build a "ritual team" who each know one or two rituals and they all have Divide Energy to spread out the XP costs and mana overload.

Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

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